Chennai Lighthouse
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There have been at least four
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...
s named Chennai Lighthouse ( ta, சென்னை கலங்கரை விளக்கம்) or Madras Lighthouse, which face the
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
on the east coast of the
Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The current lighthouse is a landmark on the Marina Beach, which was built by the East Coast Constructions and Industries in 1976, and opened in January 1977. It also houses an office of the meteorological department. On 16 November 2013, it was reopened to visitors. It is one of the few lighthouses in the world with an
elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
. It is also the only lighthouse in India within the city limits. It is powered by a solar panel.


Location

The lighthouse is located on Kamarajar Salai (Beach Road) opposite the office of the Director General of
Tamil Nadu Police Tamil Nadu Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is over 150 years old and is the fifth largest state police force in India.
and
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's Chennai station. The lighthouse marks the end of the promenade on the northern half of the Marina Beach. It is also the junction where Kamarajar Salai, Santhome High Road and Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai meet. The lighthouse and the surrounding areas are served by the Light House MRTS station located nearby on Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai .


History

By the end of the 18th century, the
Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
encompassed much of
south India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
and also
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. As its capital, the city of Madras served as the nerve centre of the sea trade controlled by the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. Ships approaching the shore of Madras after nightfall faced the risk of running aground on the shoals of Covelong (
Kovalam Kovalam is a region in the city of Trivandrum, around 13 km southwest of the city center, whose beaches are a tourist destination. Etymology Kovalam means "coconut grove," after the coconut trees which are common there. History Kovala ...
) in the south and the sand-banks of
Armagaon Armagaon or Armagon was the second colony of the English East India Company in Southern India. Its original name was Durgarazpatnam (''Dugarazpatam'') or Duraspatam. It was chiefly inhabited by salt manufacturers. A small port 36 miles North o ...
and
Pulicat Pulicat or Pazhaverkadu is a historic seashore town in Chennai Metropolitan Area at Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, India. It is about north of Chennai and from Elavur, on the southern periphery of the Pulicat Lake. Pulicat lake i ...
in the north. The present lighthouse is the fourth lighthouse of Chennai. Before the end of the 18th century, when Madras was an open seashore, where goods were loaded and unloaded from boats,
bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Etymology The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...
lit by fisherwomen was used to guide the menfolk to the shore. The arrangement of exhibiting light to assist
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
's vessels arriving at Madras and to enter the
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
during the 17th and 18th centuries is not known since no record is available. The first conventional lighthouse was proposed in 1795, the very year when the first census of the city was taken. In February 1795, maritime officials petitioned the British government to build a lighthouse at
Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...
to serve as a navigational aid, allowing vessels to enter the open anchorage at all times. The request was approved and the steeple of St. Mary's Church was considered as the site for the new lighthouse. However, the proposal did not materialise due to opposition from the chaplains. Hence, the terrace of the officer's mess-cum-exchange building (the present day's Fort Museum) was chosen as the location for the new lighthouse, and the first lighthouse started functioning in 1796. It used a large oil-wick lantern to aid vessels approaching the port. Situated at 99 feet above sea level, it had 12 lamps fuelled by coconut oil. Small country mirrors were used as reflectors. The beam emanating from the lamp swept the sea as far as 25 miles from the shore. Signals were exchanged with the lighthouse by merchants on the ship, who would conduct all the transactions later in the Public Exchange Hall downstairs, which served as a meeting point for brokers, merchants, and commanders of ships. The first lighthouse functioned till 1841. In 1834, further to the petition by vice-admiral Sir John Gore about the necessity to have a more advanced lighthouse, the East India Company asked Capt. T. J. Smith of the Corps of Engineers, then on home leave in
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, to suggest alternatives. When Capt. Smith returned to Madras in 1837, he brought with him a new apparatus. By then, ships, which were anchored in front of the Fort thus far, started anchoring off First Line Beach. The old lighthouse was therefore considered a location too far to the south. Incidentally, in the early 19th century, the area west of Fort St. George was the buffer zone between the Black Town and the fort which has come to be known as George Town. A fire in 1762 destroyed this area including two temples, the Chenna Kesavapperumal temple and the Chenna Malleeswarar temple that flourished in the area. The colonial government took possession of this land and facilitated the construction of these temples near the Flower Bazaar. It then considered the construction of a new lighthouse on this land. This led to the choosing of a site on the Esplanade "between the Fort and the offices of Parry & Co" as the location for the new lighthouse. Thus, the second lighthouse was erected during 1838–1844 on the north side of Fort St. George. Work began in 1838 on a granite column in the compound of the present High Court. The column was designed by Smith, who had by then been promoted to Major. The stone for the construction was sourced from quarries in
Pallavaram Pallavaram (originally Pallava Puram) is a residential neighborhood of Chennai, India. Pallavaram was a part of Alandur until August 2015 and since then a new taluk with headquarters at Pallavaram was created. The town is known for its canto ...
. Work was completed in 1840 at a total cost of 60,000, on which the wick lamp was shifted as the supply of the new equipment by Stone Chance,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
was delayed. The apparatus cost a further 15,000 and was of the most sophisticated kind for its times. On 9 October 1843, a public announcement was made that the new Madras Light was completed and it would be fully functional from 1 January 1844. Major Smith was asked to remain in charge until a team was trained to take over the handling of the equipment. He handed over charge to the master attendant of the Madras Harbour on 6 October 1845. The lighthouse had a full complement of staff comprising a superintendent, a deputy, a headman and six lascars. The monthly operational cost, inclusive of 208 measures of oil was 227 and 3 annas. It was to be the Madras Light for the next 50 years until 1894, when the British government felt the height of this lighthouse was not sufficient and decided to build a new, taller lighthouse, leading to the High Court's tallest dome becoming the third lighthouse of Madras. Today, this second lighthouse is under the watch of the Department of Archaeology as a protected monument. In 1886, during the reconstruction of the
Madras Port Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai's Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is the third-oldest port among the 13 major ports of India with offici ...
after a cyclone, the port officer wrote to the Madras government alerting them of a possible threat to vessel traffic in the region from a Tripasore reef spotted around 40 miles south of Madras near Seven Pagodas (now known as
Mamallapuram Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It is o ...
). The port officer then recommended that a lighthouse be installed to alert ships about the impending danger. Responding to this, the government shifted this lighthouse equipment with lantern onto the dome of the new High Court building. This became the third lighthouse of Chennai and was functioning from the tallest dome of the Madras High Court. It started functioning on 1 June 1894, with argand lamps and reflectors manufactured by Chance Bros, Birmingham which had originally been installed in the 160-ft-tall lighthouse tower. This lighthouse later became crucial for the development of the Madras port. The lighthouse used
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
to produce light with an intensity equivalent to that emitted by about 18,000 candles. This remained one of the primary reasons for attracting the attention of the German warship
SMS Emden SMS ''Emden'' ("His Majesty's Ship ''Emden''") was the second and final member of the of light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Named for the town of Emden, she was laid down at the ''Kaiserliche Werft'' ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The lighthouse was the main target of the attack in which the High Court campus was bombed on 22 September 1914. The attack became part of the local folklore. A ballad in Tamil, published by Vijayapuram Sabhapati Pillai in 1914, goes: An improvement of equipment was introduced in 1927. In the 1970s, the lighthouse department sought a site opposite the
Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...
buildings to construct a new lighthouse. However, this request was rejected by the state government. Thus, a new lighthouse was instead built at the southern end of the Marina in 1976. The new lighthouse was unveiled on 10 January 1977. An electrical lighthouse equipment manufactured by BBT,
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was installed on the new tower, which maintains a range of 28
nautical miles A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today t ...
for vessels and is one of the tallest lighthouses in the country.
Coconut oil frameless , right , alt = A cracked coconut and a bottle of coconut oil Coconut oil (or coconut butter) is an edible oil derived from the wick, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat; in warmer climates duri ...
was considered the best fuel for a lighthouse lamp because it made the light burn bright in the lighthouse. Gas lights were used later followed by dischargeable lamps. In the beginning, the lighthouse lamp had a steady flame. When ships began to confuse this with city lights, it was decided to use a flickering light in lighthouses. The lighthouses at Chennai and Mamallapuram use dischargeable lamps, which rotate inside a bowl of
mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...
. In recent days,
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are preferred.


The towers


The entrance channel tower (date unknown)

Located north of the port, the entrance channel tower is about high with a focal plane of , flashing white, red and green lights, and the tower is visible only from a distance closer to the entrance channel. This tower was assigned an Admiralty number of F0938 and NGA number of 27074. This tower is still active.


The first tower (1796–1844)

The first light at Madras is a lantern on the wall of the
Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...
. With the growth of commercial activities of the English East India Company, the company built a lighthouse at the Fort in 1796. Functioning from the roof of the Officer's Mess, now housing the Fort Museum, it comprised a lantern with large oil-fed wicks. The light has been inactive since 1844.


The second tower (1844–1894)

The second lighthouse was a tall
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
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column erected in 1841 and is located within the compound of the
Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...
to the north of
Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...
. Work began in 1838 and was completed in 1843 at a cost of 75,000, and the lighthouse started functioning on 1 January 1844. This round fluted stone tower with gallery is tall. Built on a base of 55-feet breadth, its column rises 84 feet with a tapering diameter—16 feet at the base and 11 feet at the top. The entire structure from base to tip has a height of 125 feet. The light was at 117 feet and was visible 20 miles into the sea. Illumination was by 15 "argand lamps with parabolic reflectors, arranged in three tiers." Unlike the earlier rotary model, it had a reciprocal type of light, with the ratio of bright-to-dark periods being 2:3 and with each unit of time being 24 seconds. This tower was assigned an ARLHS number of IND-027. Given the inability of brick to withstand saline breeze of the sea, the surface of the tower was built with granite procured from quarries at Pallavaram. However, following the construction of the taller High Court building in 1892, mariners started having difficulty in identifying the tower during daytime. The tower became inactive since 1894 after the lighthouse was moved atop the dome of the main tower of the new High Court building. This Light House is renovated and inaugurated in September 2018.


The third tower (1894–1977)

The lantern from the second tower was moved to one of the tallest ornate towers of the Madras High Court building, which was constructed adjacent to the second tower in 1892. The lighthouse started functioning from 1 June 1894. According to I. C. R. Prasad's book ''Madras Lighthouse'', the lantern room was erected on the gilded dome, with a cutting in the dome and the spiral staircase serving as entry to the top. The lighthouse used
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
vapour lamps. The revolving light was supplied by Chance Brothers from
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. The capillary lamp of this light was capable of producing 18,000
candela The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous to ...
s power. It was assigned an ARLHS number of IND-026. This tower became inactive since 1977, after guiding British and Allied warships of both the
world wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
.


The fourth tower (1977–present)

The present lighthouse is a triangular cylindrical, red-and-white-banded, concrete one with lantern and double gallery and is 11 stories high. The tower is attached to a three-story circular harbour-control building. The total height of the tower is with the light source standing at a height of from the
mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
. The source consists of 440V 50 Hz main supply (with standby Genset), with a range of 28 nautical miles. It is functional since 10 January 1977. The base of the present lighthouse tower was damaged by the waves from the
Indian Ocean tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
of 26 December 2004, but there were no reported casualties.


The Chennai Lighthouse District

The Chennai Lighthouse, along with 23 other lighthouses along the eastern, southern and western coast of the Indian peninsula, comes under the administration of the Chennai Lighthouse District. In accord with the Lighthouse Act of 1927 and the Lighthouse (Amendment) Act of 1985, the Chennai Lighthouse District comprises under its jurisdiction part of
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
State which is south of latitude 9º00'N and state of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, which is south of
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
13º00'N and west of
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
80º30'E and the union territory of
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry tal ...
, which include the following lighthouses: 1.
Alleppey Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in state of Kerala, India. The Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in India which attracts millions of domestic and internat ...

2. Kovilthottam
3. Tangasseri Point (
Quilon Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...
)
4. Anjengo
5. Vilinjam
6. Muttam Point
7.
Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...
(
Cape Comorin Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...
)
8. Manappad Point
9. Pandiyan Tivu DGPS
10.
Kilakkarai Kilakarai (alternatively spelled Kilakkarai or Keelakarai) is a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 38,355. Kilakarai is one of the Taluka in Ramanathapuram Distri ...

11.
Point Calimere Kodiakkarai also called Point Calimere or Cape Calimere, is a low headland of the Coromandel Coast, in the Nagapattinam district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Cape is located about south of Vedaranyam in the delta region of the Cauv ...

12.
Kodikkarai Kodiakkarai also called Point Calimere or Cape Calimere, is a low headland of the Coromandel Coast, in the Nagapattinam district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Cape is located about south of Vedaranyam in the delta region of the Cau ...

13.
Ammapattinam Ammapattinam is a coastal village in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, India with an exclusively Tamil Muslim Tamil Muslims are Tamils who practise Islam. The community is 5.7 million in India, primarily in the state of Tamil Nadu whe ...
DGPS
14. Pasipattinam
15.
Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilo ...

16.
Pamban Pamban is a town in the Rameswaram taluk of Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu. It is at the west edge of Pamban Island and is a popular fishing port. The town gives its name to the whole island. Pamban railway station is the first station on t ...

17.
Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...
DGPS
18.
Karaikal Karaikal ( /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by the Rajah of Thanjavur and became a French Colony in 1739. The French held control, with occasi ...

19.
Porto Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

20.
Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...
Channel Buoyage
21. Pondicherry Lighthouse and DGPS
22.
Mahabalipuram Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It is o ...

23. Madras (Chennai)
24.
Pulicat Pulicat or Pazhaverkadu is a historic seashore town in Chennai Metropolitan Area at Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, India. It is about north of Chennai and from Elavur, on the southern periphery of the Pulicat Lake. Pulicat lake i ...
DGPS The director general at the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships located at
Noida Noida, short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, is a planned city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Noida is a satellite city of Delhi and is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) o ...
has under him or her four deputy director generals, namely,
Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city located on the western coast of India in the state of Gujarat of Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra region. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jamnagar district and the fifth largest city in Gujarat. The city lies ...
, Chennai,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and the headquarters. For administrative control, the entire coastline has been divided into seven districts having their regional headquarters at Jamanagar,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...
, Chennai,
Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...
, Kolkata and
Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...
. The Chennai Lighthouse District is administrated under the Regional Director (Chennai), who along with the Regional Director (Cochin) comes under the deputy director general (Chennai). The Regional Office at Chennai provides information on the geographical region between Alleppey Lighthouse to Pulicat Lighthouse. The union government is planning to build three new lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse District at an estimated cost of 25 million each.


Security

The ninth floor of the tower has a viewing gallery where steel welded mesh panels have been erected for safety. This has been done to avoid suicide attempts, which were witnessed in the past. The tenth floor has a high-security radar installed and is not open to public. The elevator in the lighthouse will take the visitors directly to the viewing gallery on the ninth floor, and visitors will not be given access to any other floors. The lighthouse was open to the public until the assassination of former Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...
, following which it was shut down over fears that it would be the target of an attack. It was re-opened for visitors on 14 November 2013.


Developments

Chennai Lighthouse is one of the 13 lighthouses in India that are identified as heritage centres to portray maritime history of India. A lighthouse museum has been planned at a cost of 50 million. The union shipping ministry is planning to build museums, rooms, cafeteria, souvenir shop, viewers gallery, 4D cinema hall, gaming zone and aquarium at the Chennai lighthouse. The heritage museum will showcase the history of marine navigation, where oil-bearing large wicks, kerosene lights, petroleum vapour, and electrical lamps used in the past will be on display. Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships has planned the remote control and automation of lighthouses in Cochin, Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata directorates at a cost of 304.5 million. As a first step towards automation of lighthouses, Radone, an equipment that can detect radar signals from ships and helps captains identify the location, has been installed on most lighthouses. The automation of lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse District is estimated to cost about 50 million during the 11th Five-Year Plan. The 22 lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse district will be monitored and controlled from conveniently located positions termed as Remote Control Stations (RCSs). These RCSs will be ultimately linked to Master Control Station, proposed to be located at Chennai for effective control.


See also

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Chennai Port Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai's Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is the third-oldest port among the 13 major ports of India with offici ...
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Mahabalipuram Lighthouse Mahabalipuram Lighthouse is located in Tamil Nadu, India. It has been open to tourists since 2011. It was closed in 2001 following a perceived threat from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The first light was commissioned here in 1887 on the ...
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List of lighthouses in India There are many lighthouses along the long coastline of India and in the associated islands. They are administered by the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships, Government of India whose headoffice is located in Noida. They are catego ...


References


External links

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Photo of the original lighthouse


{{Authority control , additional=Q6546309,Q111721876,Q111721922,Q111728210 Lighthouses completed in 1796 Lighthouses completed in 1844 Lighthouses completed in 1894 Lighthouses completed in 1977 Lighthouses in Tamil Nadu Buildings and structures in Chennai 1977 establishments in Tamil Nadu Transport in Chennai 1796 establishments in British India