Findings

The Dansborg Fort is under the administration of the Archaeological Survey of India which is also the authority in charge of the Parade Ground (the Maidan).

The Fort is open, on all days except Friday, with a short closure for lunch. The entrance is the gate (see photo page 13, and photo below) in the Fort’s outer wall. The large grass-covered yard inside the Fort is unused.

Tickets are priced differently for Indian nationals and international visitors, i.e. Rs. 5 for Indians, Rs. 50 for foreigners. A strange visitor-unfriendly pricing system being used only in a few other countries such as Russia and Burma. A flat rate of Rs. 5 for adults, children free of charge, would be more reasonable and render the Museum a public service. At the Pondicherry Museum the entrance fee is only Rs. 2 (see page 27)

At the entrance gate a few booklets and brochures are displayed for sale.

The entrance fee covers a visit to the Fort yard and Fort Museum, but access to the roof of the Fort is not allowed.

The Museum is in total disarray. Broken showcases, moulding documents and a, almost total, lack of informative texts. Exhibits are erratic and devoid of meaningful context. A small pile of coins placed on a swab of cotton wool is just labelled “Some Danish Coins”, while stone cannon balls are labelled “Danish Balls”. Danish everyday items for use, such as clay pipes readily found on the beach just in front of the Fort, are not represented (except when labelled as Chinese porcelain); and there is nothing to represent the present or former main inhabitants of Tranquebar – fisherfolk (a catamaran or/and a sewn boat would do wonders), agriculturalists, crafts-persons, traders, Hindus, Muslims, Christians or the early presence of other European nationals than Danes.

The humidity of the Fort exhibition rooms is a problem, and certainly not suitable for the storage of documents.