Nagercoil Clock Tower

The Nagercoil Clock Tower, also known as also known as Nagercoil Tower Junction, is situated in the heart of the city of Nagercoil, India. The clock in the tower was presented to the Maharajah of Travancore by the European missionary, Rev. Duthie, during his visit to Nagercoil in the later part of the 19th century. A prominent landmark of Nagercoil, it is in a state of neglect. It has stopped ticking as there is no expert available to bring it back to action.

History

The clock tower was built to commemorate the visit of Sri Moolam Thirunal, then ruler of Travancore, in 1893, and it was designed by Hogeorf and S. Horesly of England.^[1] The Maharajah himself inaugurated it on February 15 of that year. The pendulum of the clock was made in Derbyshire by Smith of Derby Group, London. The clock is attached to a 60-foot-long chain with a weight, operated with pulleys through gravitational force. The clock tower was handed over to experts for repair by the Nagercoil Municipality in 2009. The sponsor renovated the tower twice in 2010 and 2012 by spending around Rs. 4 lakh. A technician from Thiruvananthapuram, Richard, used to repair the clock, which stopped ticking after his death.

Present

As nobody is familiar with the mechanism of the clock, the sponsor finds it difficult to make it operational. The Chairperson of Nagercoil Municipal Council, M. Meena Dev, assured that steps would be taken to make it operational at the earliest.Convener of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, R. S. Lal Mohan, said that the Nagercoil chapter was ready to adopt the heritage structure of Kanyakumari district, if the municipality was ready to hand it over. Experts to repair the clock were available with INTACH and it was possible to restore it to its pristine glory, he said.

References

1. "Time stands still at Nagercoil’s clock tower". The Hindu. January 29, 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.