The Republic of India (Bhārat in Hindi) is the seventh largest country and second most populous country in the world. It occupies a subcontinent of Asia that projects southward into the North Indian Ocean, separating the Bay of Bengal on the east from the Arabian Sea on the west. Before 1947 it was a patchwork of regions governed as British colonies and semi-independent princely states under British supervision. In 1947 this British Raj was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan. Several French and Portuguese colonies embedded in the territory of India were absorbed in 1950 and 1961, respectively. India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories. Lakshadweep is a union territory including twelve atolls, three reefs and five submerged banks (representing submerged atolls) in the Arabian Sea, roughly 250 km (150 mi) off the southwestern coast of the country. About 65,000 people of mixed Indian and Arab descent live on 17 inhabited islands in the territory. The Amindivi Islands are in the northern part of the territory, the Laccadive Islands are in the center, and Minicoy Island is in the south. The entire territory is sometimes called the Laccadive Islands. Britain took control of the islands during the nineteenth century as part of the British Raj and the islands remained under India's control after independence. The only historic British lighthouse in the islands is at Minicoy but since 1967 India has constructed lighthouses or light towers on all the major atolls. Tourism is encouraged but due to limited accommodations tourists need a permit to visit the islands. There is air service to Agatti island from Cochin as well as ferry service from Cochin to all the inhabited islands. In Malayalam, the official language of Lakshadweep, the word for a lighthouse is viḷakkumāṭaṁ (വിളക്കുമാടം). Dvīp is an island, aṟṟēāḷ is an atoll, and tuṟamukhaṁ is a harbor. Lighthouses and aids to navigation in India are administered by the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), an agency of the Ministry of Shipping. Lighthouses in Lakshadweep are maintained by the Kochi Directorate of DGLL. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume F of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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![]() Thinnakara Light, Agatti,December 2021 Google Maps photo by Fasweeh Ullisan |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
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Adjoining pages: East: Kerala | South: Maldives
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Posted January 16, 2006. Checked and revised August 7, 2024. Lighthouses: 20. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.