Alappuzha Lighthouse
Lighthouse in Kerala, India
The Alappuzha Lighthouse is situated in the coastal town of Alappuzha, Kerala. It was built in 1862 and is a major tourist attraction. This is the first of its kind in the Arabian sea coast of Kerala.
01History
Alappuzha, the place where India's Alleppey Lighthouse stands, was one of the busiest ports and trade centres of Kerala. Alappuzha, a part of Travancore, was ruled by Rajas of Erstwhile Travancore before India's independence. After the arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch and English traders, Vizhinjam, Kollam, Travancore and Purakad were the main ports of Erstwhile Travancore through which foreign trade flourished.
The decline of the Port of Purakkad necessitated the rehabilitation of the traders for which Alappuzha was selected as a port and infrastructure was developed. The port was opened to foreign traders in 1792. There was no regular lighthouse provided in the 18th century, only a light on the pier head served the mariners.
As port activities increased, the authorities had to provide for a lighthouse. The construction of the present lighthouse began in the reign of Marthanda Varma II (ruler of Travancore) and was completed during the reign of His Highness Rama Varma Maharaja of Travancore. The first stone was laid by Mrs Mary Anne Crawford on 26 April 1860.
The 27 m high lighthouse has a teak spiral staircase. A piece of first-order optical equipment with coconut oil double wick lamp light-source supplied by M/s. Chance Bros., Birmingham, was installed and commissioned into service on 28 March 1862. The same equipment continued to serve till 1952 when it was replaced by 500 mm drum optic and DA gas flasher of AGA make.
The current 4th order optic with a 1000 watt electric lamp was installed in 1960. The mains supply was extended to the station in 1960, this enabled the installation of an electrically operated 4th order revolving optic system supplied by M/s BBT, Paris, this replaced the old equipment and was commissioned on 4 August 1960.
The direct drive system was incorporated on 8 April 1998, and a separate emergency light in the 300 mm lantern on 30 December 1998. The incandescent lamp was replaced by 230 V 150 W Metal halide lamp on 28 February 1999.
The lighthouse is still a staffed station. Originally painted plain white, it was repainted in red and white bands in 2000.
02Visit
The building has been open for public visits since 2007.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Alappuzha Lighthouse”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Alappuza Lighthouse2.jpg by Dr. Ajay Balachandran, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
