X'mas spl prayers held after 300 yrs in historic Ziegenbalg

: After a gap of 300 years, Christmas special prayers were held at the historic house in Tarangambadi in this district, where Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg, the German-born Danish Missionary lived.

Ziegenbalg set up the first-ever printing press in India at Tarangambadiin 1711.

It was in this house that Ziegenbalg published the New Testament in Tamil in 1715.

Tarangambadi remained under Danish rule between 1620 to 1845.

Ever since his arrivalat Tarangambadi in 1706 as a missionary,Ziegenbalgcontributed a great deal for the development of Tamil language and made a profound impact on the lives of the people.

He passed away at Tarangambadi in 1719, at the age of 34 years.

He was the first priest of the New Jerusalem Church, Asia's first protestant church at Tarangambadi.

"From the palm leaf manuscripts related to the history of Tarangambadi, it was found that Ziegenbalg used to celebrate Christmas at his residence in an elaborate manner inviting the local people.

This practice ...