• Jan 25 2016
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Thangassery Beach

5 kilometres away from the lively town of Kollam, in the district by the same name, is Thangassery – a seaside town with glimpses from the past eras, significant signs of the history of Kerala. It was once called by the name ‘Dutch Quilon’ by the Britishers, and the name it answers to now is referred to as the ‘gold village’ (Thangassery) by the locals, owing to the spice trade that once took place here with gold coins. Tourists are often attracted to not just the natural beauty of the place but also the remains which provide significant proofs of the history of Kerala, as also, of India.


Thangassery’s history revolves around the stories and monuments left behind as remnants of its past during the Colonial times, times when the European powers were hungry and greedy for establishing their own rule.

The European powers were then keen on fighting for hold of the eastern territories, and Thangassery was one such place. The first European powers to arrive were the Portuguese in 1502, who leased the land from the then queen of Quilon, the name inferred by the foreigners from what today is ‘Kollam’. They transformed the land into a trading port, leading to Thangassery being a major centre for pepper trade. Ruins of the ‘Forte de São Tomé’ (Fort St. Thomas), which the Portuguese built for protecting their land, can still be seen in Thangassery. The fort was destroyed in the later wars with the Dutch. Today, it is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India, and is undergoing restoration.