Pulicat (), also known as Pazhaverkadu, is a historic coastal village in Ponneri taluk of Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It lies on the southern shore of Pulicat Lake, about north of Chennai, and is associated with the lagoon's fishing communities, bird sanctuary and colonial-era heritage.
Pulicat was an important maritime and textile-trading centre on the Coromandel Coast. During the seventeenth century it became the principal administrative centre of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on the Coromandel, centred on Fort Geldria.
Geography
Pulicat occupies a low-lying coastal setting beside a shallow brackish-water lagoon separated from the Bay of Bengal by Sriharikota. Pulicat Lake extends across the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh boundary and is one of the largest brackish-water lagoons in India.
The Tamil Nadu portion of the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary covers and includes lagoon waters, marshes, mudflats and coastal habitats.
The northern section of the Buckingham Canal is connected with Pulicat Lake before extending southwards towards Ennore.
History
Pulicat was an established Coromandel port before the arrival of northern European trading companies and developed as an important centre of maritime commerce and textile production.
Portuguese merchants established a presence at Pulicat during the sixteenth century. The VOC established a trading factory there in the early seventeenth century, and Fort Geldria became the centre of Dutch administration on the Coromandel.
Pulicat also became an important point in the VOC's Indian Ocean slave-trading network. Scholarly estimates indicate that tens of thousands of enslaved people were transported from Pulicat to Batavia during the seventeenth century.
The Dutch shifted their principal Coromandel headquarters to Nagapattinam around 1690. Pulicat changed hands during subsequent Anglo-Dutch conflicts and finally passed to British control in 1825.
Colonial heritage
Fort Geldria
Fort Geldria formed the administrative and fortified centre of Dutch Pulicat. Although little of the fort survives above ground, its site remains important for understanding the layout of the former VOC settlement.
The Archaeological Survey of India carried out archaeological excavation at Pulicat during the 2013–14 field season.
Dutch cemetery
The Dutch cemetery is one of the best-preserved surviving monuments of Pulicat's colonial period. Established as the Binnenkerkhof in the seventeenth century, it contains funerary monuments associated with officials, merchants and families of the Dutch settlement.
The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. The protected area occupies Survey No. 128/2 and covers ; it was formally notified on 16 June 1921.
Lighthouse
The first documented modern lighthouse at Pulicat was a brick masonry tower constructed in 1859. Its lighting equipment, with later modifications, remained in operation until 1986.
The present lighthouse was constructed in 1984–85 and commissioned on 25 August 1986. The earlier tower was subsequently dismantled. The station also carries modern navigation and positioning equipment, including DGPS and RACON systems.
Economy
Fishing and the seafood trade remain important components of Pulicat's economy. Locally traded products include prawns, finfish, jellyfish and other lagoon fisheries.
Palm-leaf handicrafts are also associated with the settlement, while boat-building is practised in communities around the lagoon.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Pulicat, recorded officially as Pulicut, had a population of 17,925.
The census recorded 8,915 males and 9,010 females, giving a sex ratio of approximately 1,011 females per 1,000 males.
Wildlife and conservation
Pulicat lies within the landscape of the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary, which was notified by the Government of Tamil Nadu on 22 September 1980.
The lagoon provides feeding and roosting habitat for resident and migratory waterbirds. Species recorded within the sanctuary include spot-billed pelican, herons, egrets, cormorants, terns and flamingos.
Culture and heritage
Pulicat's natural and built heritage is interpreted locally through the Pulicat Museum operated by the AARDE Foundation.
Pulicat Day is held in association with World Wetlands Day and includes community activities connected with the lagoon and traditional fishing culture. The fifteenth annual Pulicat Day was held on 31 January 2026 and included a traditional catamaran race.
Transport and access
Pulicat is connected by road with Chennai and nearby settlements in northern Tiruvallur district. Regular bus services operate from Chennai and surrounding towns.
Ponneri railway station is approximately from Pulicat by road and is served by the Chennai suburban railway network. Chennai International Airport is the nearest major airport.
Gallery
See also
Dutch Coromandel Pulicat Lake
References
External links