Ross Island, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar India

This small island in less than a sq. km area that stands right across Port Blair, encompassing in a way the entire life of the Andamans. It was once the home of the indigenous tribe – Great Andamanese, whose number dwindled from 5,000 to just 28 within 20 years of the initial British occupation. The Island served as the capital from 1858 till 1941, when the Japanese occupied it and converted it into a PoW site. The ruins of the church and the Chief Commissioner’s house among overcrowding vines and aerial roots are the most evocative of the remains.