Authorities turning a blind eye to the historical or heritage sites is not new and it has been a sore sight across India. Reason: Dereliction of duty on the part of state officials or the Archaeological Survey of India, a central govt. agency in charge of heritage sites, etc. Kerala is no exception to it. A case in point is the Dutch cemetery in Kollam. St. Thomas Fort (also known as Tangasseri fort), near is a ruined one in the beach town of Tangasseri (3.1 Mi from Kollam) on the shores of the Arabian Sea.
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| Thangassery Dutch cemetery, Kerala, dutchindianheritage.net |
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| 1756 Dutch Fort, Kollam colonialvoyage.com |
Initially a Portuguese trading post, when the Dutch became a dominating force here in 1661 Portuguese handed over the town and the fort the Dutch who controlled this area till 1795,when the British East India Company took possession of the fort. The British in 1823 took Fort St. Thomas for 20 years on lease from Travancore to expand the trading activities.
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| familclose to the tomb. Dutch cemetery, Kollam dutchindianheritage.net |
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| Dutch cemetery, Kollam, haven for poor people. dutchindianheritage.net |
The families here neither care for the heritage value of the old graveyard that was primarily used by the whites in the past era nor do they pay attention to the monument laws being in force. In the fort built in the 18th century by King Marthanda Varma lies an important grave - it is that of Dutch General de Lennoy. This historical cemetery needs immediate attention of the state and central officials. Triangular in shape, the cemetery has two sections one for the Dutch and the other one for the English. There are about 300 tombs here and the historical relevance of this site can not be ignored. In this graveyard there it is said there was a blade in good condition long ago, supposedly, a part of the guillotine among the heaps of debris.
Located close to the St. Thomas fort and protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), official apathy is writ all over and many nondescript structures are crumbling to become mounds of rubble and debris. ASI took control over the Thangassery fort in the 1960s and later in the 1980s it was declared a national monument. Already many families had been living there in the midst of mortal remains of Dutch and English under the tombs!!. These tombs have been there since 1750. The reality is since 1960 the Dutch cemetery has remained a neglected site and has never been cleaned and repaired, Nor has it been fenced property to prevent public entering the protected site. Consequently, after 1960 encroachment was on the increase during that period and it further encouraged more people o to get in there to stay as long as they could.
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| ruined Tangasseri fort, Kerala. mapcarta.com |
The SW monsoon season in this part will bring in more rain and may cause further damages and the pathways in the graveyard are not visible in many places. The Dutch cemetery carrying the legacy of the British and Dutch and their presence centuries ago in Thangassery during the 18th century is being mismanaged and the officials are not taking any steps firmly to remove the trespassers and those who have built small houses, huts there.
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| kollam, Kerala, selfstudyhistory.coma |
Can you believe some of the dwellers there take one step farther, besides using the nondescript historical structures and relics to do their daily laundry, etc some people have taken the liberty of building toilets and other buildings close the tombs. Just nauseating and despicable. In a chaotic scenario that tablets, headstones and plates with inscriptions are missing will make one understand the gravity of the situation and what kind of respect people give to those departed souls which died centuries ago in obscurity far away from their motherland.
. The condition of the cemetery is so pathetic the epithet on many of them are not visible .To avoid additional damages and to save the cemetery with whatever is left, the ASI has to have a tall barbed wire fence fixed all around the graveyard. Further, strict legal action must be taken against the trespassers and those who break the laws with impunity. The 20 families that lie there need to be relocated before starting the restoration work. Historians say, it is a long way to see the old Dutch cemetery back to its old glory and honor.
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