Chennai Lighthouse

The lighthouse is located on Kamarajar Salai (Beach Road) opposite the office of the Director General of Tamil Nadu Police and All India Radio'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 encompassed much of south India and also Ceylon. As its capital, the city of Madras served as the nerve centre of the sea trade controlled by the British East India Company. Ships approaching the shore of Madras after nightfall faced the risk of running aground on the shoals of Covelong (Kovalam) in the south and the sand-banks of Armagaon and Pulicat in the north. 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 England, 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. In 1886, during the reconstruction of the Madras Port 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). 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 to produce light with an intensity equivalent to that emitted by about 18,000 candles. Coconut oil 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. In recent days, LED lights 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. 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) campus The second lighthouse was a tall granite Doric column erected in 1841 and is located within the compound of the Madras High Court to the north of Fort St. George. Work began in 1838 and was completed in 1843 at a cost of 75,000, and the lighthouse started functioning on 1 January 1844. 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 vapour lamps. The revolving light was supplied by Chance Brothers from Birmingham. The capillary lamp of this light was capable of producing 18,000 candelas 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. 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. 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 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 State which is south of latitude 9º00'N and state of Tamil Nadu, which is south of latitude 13º00'N and west of longitude 80º30'E and the union territory of Puducherry, which include the following lighthouses: 1. Alleppey 2. Kovilthottam 3. Tangasseri Point (Quilon) 4. Anjengo 5. Vilinjam 6. Muttam Point 7. Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) 8. Manappad Point 9. Pandiyan Tivu DGPS 10. Kilakkarai 11. Point Calimere 12. Kodikkarai 13. Ammapattinam DGPS 14. Pasipattinam 15. Rameswaram 16. Pamban 17. Nagapattinam DGPS 18. Karaikal 19. Porto Novo (Parangipettai) 20. Cuddalore Channel Buoyage 21. Pondicherry Lighthouse and DGPS 22. Mahabalipuram 23. Madras (Chennai) 24. Pulicat DGPS The director general at the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships located at Noida has under him or her four deputy director generals, namely, Jamnagar, Chennai, Kolkata and the headquarters. For administrative control, the entire coastline has been divided into seven districts having their regional headquarters at Jamanagar, Mumbai, Cochin, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata and Port Blair. 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. == 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 ==