Nagercoil
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| Nagercoil | |
  Nagercoil
|
|
| State - District(s) |
Tamil Nadu - Kanniyakumari |
| Coordinates | |
| Area - Elevation |
19.37 km² - 13 m |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Population (2001) - Density |
208,149 - 9813/km² |
| Municipal Chairperson | Meena Dev |
| Codes - Postal - Telephone - Vehicle |
- 629 xxx - +91-4652 - TN-74 |
Nagercoil is a city and a municipality in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the southernmost city in South India, situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula. The town is also the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District. It was a part of Kerala, the erstwhile Travancore state, till almost a decade after India's Independence from Britain in 1947. In 1956, it was merged with Tamil Nadu. In its earlier days, the town and its surroundings were known as Nanjilnadu.
Contents |
[edit] History
Nagercoil derived its name from a famous old Jain temple called Naga Raja Temple (temple of the serpent king) which still exists in the central part of the town. Originally a Jain temple, it is now an important temple for the local Hindus and is also a tourist attraction
Nagercoil came under the rule of various kingdoms, notably the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms at various points of time ; historical records reveal that these kingdoms fought over the control of the fertile area of Nanjilnadu and Kottar (a town mentioned in old Tamil writings and maps of ancient India). Archaeological records also show Jain influences in ancient times.
The modern history of the town is interwoven with the history of Travancore. The modern town of Nagercoil grew around Kottar, now a locality within the muncipal limits. The town came into prominence during and after the reign of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, the king of erstwhile Travancore, the capital of which was Padmanabhapuram, about 20 km to the north of Nagercoil. The capital was later shifted to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the present capital of Kerala state, about 65 km to the north of Nagercoil. In the Travancore state, from the reign of Marthanda Varma up until India’s independence from Britain and Travancore’s annexation, Nagercoil was the second most important town in the state, after the capital Trivandrum
Foreign colonial powers, most notably the Dutch, tried colonizing the areas around Nagercoil and Colachel during the 18th century, but were subdued. The Dutch East India Company(also known as Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), with a keen eye on the spices of Travancore, tried to establish a trading post at the then important port town of Colachel, near Nagercoil. In the Battle of Colachel in 1741, a Dutch naval fleet under the command of Captain Eustance De lennoy gained control of the lands from Colachel to Nagercoil, but was subsequently defeated by the Travancore forces under the great king Maharaja Marthanda Varma.
Maharaja Marthanda Varma initiated the process of reforms in various sections of government, especially in the land, revenue, literacy, social and trade departments. His successors continued the reforms on the same stride. Though Travancore was considered by many to be a 'Hindu' administration, the rulers generally had religious tolerance, were not hostile to European educators, missionaries and traders.Though the king of Travancore helped the people of this land they restricted women to wear dress to cover up their chest and there was a revolt against the king and it was called as "Saree Revolt".The king of Travancore tried to subdue the Nadars the dominant caste people in this district,but during earlier times there was a revolt against this, under the leadership of "Muthukutty" who later formed the "Ayya Valli".The district got its freedom from the aggression of the former Travancore after much political fight under the leader of "Marshall Nesamony" in the year 1956 in the free india as the Kanyakumari district has a majority of Tamil speaking population.The district joined with the state of Tamil Nadu.
Until the 19th century, the coffers of Travancore were greatly helped by revenues from the trade of pepper and other spices with the European powers.
Infrastructure like Irrigation systems (an excellent system is still found around Nagercoil), dams, roads, schools etc. developed under the able administration of the Travancore regents and their Dewans. The British in India called Travancore a 'model native state'. At the time, Travancore was the most socially developed and one of the most economically developed states under the British Raj.
During the time of the British Raj in India, Travancore was essentially a vassal to the British, but the British never interfered in the general administration of the Travancore regents.
At the time of India's independence from Britain, the then Dewan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, preferred Travancore to be a sovereign country, but eventually gave up after a tough stand by Sardar Vallabhai Patel, India’s federal minister in charge of home affairs. Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyer is still kept in high esteem in Nagercoil, for the many projects and developments that took place during his tenure.
When the states in India were re-organized in the 1950's, under the States Reorganisation Act, the then Government of Kerala gave Kanyakumari district to Tamilnadu (because majority of the population spoke Tamil in the district) in exchange for Palghat district from Tamilnadu.
Nagercoil has generally been a communally peaceful place, though there was some tension and violence between the Christian and Hindu communities in the 1980's. Since then, inter-religious meetings organised by various religious faiths and by District Collectors (local administrators) have helped in a good understanding between the various sections of the population .
[edit] Geography
Nagercoil is located at [1]. It has an average elevation of 13 metres (42 feet).
[edit] The Town and Surroundings
Nagercoil is located at at the southern tip of peninsular India. Because of its close proximity to the Western Ghats, the town and its surroundings are generally hilly. The Western Ghats is the lifeline of the town, with water sources for drinking, its temperate climate, irrigation around the city and eco-system being influenced by this mountain range.
Sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, the town has some breathtaking sceneries of the surrounding hills (the Western Ghats), lush green paddy fields on the eastern side of the town, and sandy, palm-fringed beaches on the western side. Further east of Nagercoil, on the Western Ghats are plantations of rubber, cloves and cardamom. Many of these plantations were developed by British planters - planters names like Simpson and Balamore are still household names in the town - Rubber plant was introduced by the English missionaries in the pre-Indian independence days. Some of these plantation estates are still owned by the descendants of these British planters ; however, a majority of the estates are now owned by the rich and influential Mapillai (also called moplah or Syrian Christians) community of Kerala.
Being close to the cape, the southernmost tip of peninsular India, the town is the intersection of the eastern and western lines of the Indian Railways with one line leading through Kerala called the Konkan route and the other through the eastern part of India (through Tirunelveli of Tamilnadu). Nagercoil is 65 km from Trivandrum (the capital of Kerala state), connected by National Highway 47, and 80 km from Tirunelveli, connected by National Highway 7.
[edit] Climate
Nagercoil has a pleasant climate for most part of the year. The maximum temperature during summer hovers around 30 degrees Celsius. Nagercoil is benefited by both the north-east monsoon and the south-west monsoon. It rains more often in this district than any other place in Tamil Nadu, with the exception of the Niligiris. The southern tip of Kanyakumari is generally 2 °C to 3 °C warmer than Nagercoil during daytime, though Kanyakumari is only 20 km away.
[edit] Demographics
Though the official population count (for the municipal area) is close to 2.25 lakhs, a significant population lives around the town, making the small district of Kanyakumari, with a population of about 1.7 million (17 lakhs), one of the most densely populated districts in Tamilnadu and in South India.
The concentration of the population of the town and the District is along the coastal belt along the western side, while the largely forested areas on the eastern side of the district (along the Western Ghats) is sparsely populated.
[edit] Culture and Religion
Tamil, Malayalam (due to its proximity to Kerala) and English are widely spoken by the people. These three languages are used as a medium of teaching in all major schools.
The culture is a mixture of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are the main religions practiced, with Christians accounting to nearly half of the populace.
Some of the prominent festivals that are celebrated here are Christmas, Onam, Bhagavathy Amman Temple festival, St. Francis Xavier's feast, the Peer Mohammed Durgah at Thuckalay and Ayya Vaikunda Avataram festival at Swamithope among others.
[edit] Influence of European Missionaries
The arrival of English, German and other Western Christian missionaries in the 19th century and the development of social infrastructure by the Travancore regents raised the social status, literacy and educational levels of the people. Today, one finds a number of streets, schools and colleges in the town named after these European missionaries. Many of these missionaries were also noted scholars.
The European missionaries preached the importance and value of education even as early as the 19th century, because of which the socio-economic factors developed. They also converted a section of the people to Protestant christianity. Roman Catholicism was introduced earlier by St. Francis Xavier in the 16th century and later by other Jesuits.
St. Francis Xavier, the great Roman Catholic missionary, and believed by many to be the greatest missionary in the world ever, made Kottar locality in the town his principal residence for a period of two years in the 16th century, while doing missionary work around the town and in neighbouring Tirunelveli district.This is a majority Catholic dominated town.
Of the Protestant missionaries, the services of two European missionaries are particularly laudable. One is Rev C. Mead, who after arriving in 1817 in Nagercoil, as a missionary of the London Missionary Society (LMS), made immense contributions to the cause of education in the town and in Travancore. In 1818, he founded the Nagercoil Seminary, which became one of the first regular institutes to impart English education in Travancore state and also in Southern India. In 1855, in recognition for his contributions to education, the Travancore Government appointed him Superintendent of Schools, and while in this office, he furthered the cause of education and also encouraged female education in Nagercoil and in the state of Travancore. He also started the Nagercoil Mission Press, the first printing press in the state of Travancore. Rev. Mead also fought to abolish slavery, which was rampant at the time.
The other great missionary was Rev. William Tobias Ringeltaube, a native of the then Prussia (present Germany), who from 1806 to 1816 established a number of schools and worked among the poor and downtrodden. He started one of the first regular schools in Travancore at Mylaudy, near Nagercoil and the school is still active at Mylaudy.
Like the London Mission Society (LMS), another organisation that rendered valuable services to the cause of education and upliftment of the socially downtrodden has been the Christian Mission Society (CMS). Both these societies still have a presence in Nagercoil (nearly two centuries after inception).
[edit] Local Economy
Nagercoil is the headquarters of the state owned Arasu Rubber Corporation and the regional office of the Central Rubber Board.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a major testing facility for Cryogenic and Liquid Propulsion rocket engines on the Mahendragiri hills (on the Western Ghats) off Nagercoil. Rocket scientists and engineers from all over India work at this facility, called the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).
The town also serves as a centre for the Koodangulam Nuclear Power Plant reactors, being built with Russian assistance, which is situated in Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu, but is the closest major town to the facility.
The public sector Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IRE), also has a major facility at Manavaalakurichy, near the town.
Muppandal, a once-impoverished village, benefited from the building of the nearby Muppandal wind farm, a renewable energy source, supplying the villagers with electricity for work.[2] [3] The surrounding area is a major centre for wind-mill renewable-energy production, and one of the biggest centres in South Asia, both in terms of electricity generated and size of wind-mills, with thousands of wind-mill electricity generators on tall towers dotting the entire area. The total power generated from these wind mills are 540 MW with each wind mill generating a power output of nearly 1.65 MW. The wind mills are erected and technically-supported by multinational majors in the field of renewable energy like Suzlon, Micon, etc. The steady flow of wind for these wind-mills is made possible because the Muppandal Wind Farm is situated on a mountain gap (pass) in the Western Ghats, through which the wind gushes, throughout the year.
Small Scale industries (cottage industries) include coir-making, floral trade, handloom-weaving, rubber products, fish-net manufacturing (exported on a large scale), food-processing units, lace-making (export-oriented), etc.
Being the major Tamilnadu town closest to the Kerala capital, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) (65 km away and the closest International airport to Nagercoil), trading and sending supplies to Kerala and Trivandrum is a major activity for the bustling markets at Vadasery and Kottar (availability and many items being cheaper in Tamilnadu than in Kerala adds to the thriving business).
Supply of marine and agricultural produce to the export-markets are also important economic activities, though primarily done through exporters or agents in Kerala.
Remittances to Nagercoil from overseas, from NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) hailing from the town, also forms a significant portion of the local economy.
[edit] Education
Some schools and colleges in Nagercoil are more than 150 years old , like Scott Christian College, built by the foreign missionaries. As explained above, European missionaries, in the 19th century and early 20th century played a major role in imparting education to the people of the town and district.
One of the oldest institutions, Sethu Lakshmi Bai Higher Secondary School is situated in the heart of the town. It has a sprawling campus - one of the biggest in India - with multiple play grounds, huge and airy class rooms etc. It is named after the Travancore queen Rani Sethu Lakshmi Bai.
Educational institutions include a number of private Engineering colleges, the Government-run Kanyakumari Medical College (at Nagercoil), Polytechnic colleges and Arts and Science Colleges. As in neighbouring Kerala, women's education and career-development are given importance, almost on par with men by all communities, especially among the christians.
Several Colleges are run by Christian denominations and includes the St. Xavier's Catholic College of Engineering,St. Xavier's Catholic College of Nursing (Tamil Nadu's first Catholic diocesan nursing college) ,CSI Institute of Technology, Scott Christian College (Arts and Sciences College, with some specialised departments), Holy Cross College for Women, Women's Christian College, etc.
The South Travancore Hindu College and Sivanthi Aditanar College in the town are major Hindu Arts and Sciences colleges. The Noorul Islam College of Engineering at Kumaracoil, near the town, is a noted institution for its facilities and management education programs.
[edit] Media
The town is served by an All India Radio (AIR) FM station and a Doordarshan relay station. The entire district is networked for Cable TV operations, with one major operator. Mobile phone coverage of most mobile operators cover the whole district, except the forested areas on the east. Maalai Malar is a locally published evening newspaper.
[edit] Places of interest
- Kanyakumari, the Land's end, and the confluence of the three water bodies, is 20 km to the south of Nagercoil, with tourist attractions of its own which include the [Vivekanda Rock Memorial]], 133 ft high statue of Tamil poet-saint Tiruvalluvar - both on the mid-sea on rocky islands; the place is also famous for its distinctly beautiful (reddish) sunrise.
- Vattakkotai, or Circular Fort, is a fort near Kanyakumari, right on the sea-shore, built under the orders of De Lannoy during the reign of Marthanda varma (1729-58 AD). The view from the top of the fort, of the sea and the palm-fringed beach below is fantastic.
- Suchindrum (Thanumalayan) Temple, about 6 km from the heart of town and Nagaraja Temple (in the town), are some tourist attractions within the town.
- St. Xavier’s Church, (Kottar in the town), built in the year 1600 AD, has historic importance due to the visit of St.Francis Xavier. The church was built in the land allotted to St. Xavier by the Venad king.
- Swamithoppe Ayya Vaikundar Pathi, about 11 km from Kanyakumari, which is the religious headquarters of Ayyavazhi, is well known for its non-idolatory system of worship.
- Padmanabhapuram Palace, (22 km from Nagercoil), once the seat of the Travancore kings, is India's only palace made completely of wood (16th century).
- Chitharal Jain Monuments (about 35 km near Marthandam), impressive rock shelters and idols dated 9-11th Century.
- Thirunandikkara temple (about 20 km), rock-cut cave temple of Pallava art can be traced back to seventh and eighth century AD.
- Thengapattinam Beach. This beach is located on the west coast near Painkulam village in Vilancode Taluk. It is a fine beach adorned with coconut groves. It is also a magnificent estuary where the river meets the sea. Riding in a catamaran (small boat) in the river can be a pleasant experience which can be arranged through a local fisherman. It is 35 km from Nagercoil, 12 km from Kuzhithurai and 54 km from Kanyakumari.
- Udayagiri Fort, built by the Travancore kings, is a fort previously used for training the Travancore forces and also served as Barracks. Capt. De Lenoy's (see History section) tomb is within the fort. The fort (about 90 acres and almost full of vegetation now, with several plants, reptiles, etc.) is presently declared as a bio-diversity park and maintained by the Kanyakumari forest department.
- Mathur Hanging Trough, near Thiruvattar in the District carries irrigation water through a canal between two hills with a one kilometre gap in between (the hills). The canal itself goes above a small river. Built on very high pillars, it is said to be one of the biggest Aqueducts in South Asia. The view from the middle of the aqueduct of the surrounding hills and vegetation and the small river flowing down below is superb.
- Olakaruvi waterfalls, about 20 km from Nagercoil is on the middle of a hill and requires an hour's trek by foot from the base of the hill (better to go in a group, as it is a forested area)
- Keeriparai - for nature-lovers and adventurers - pristine and beautiful, places like Keeriparai haven’t been publicized much by the Forest Department for various reasons - Keeriparai hills (30 km from Nagercoil) and the nearby Kalikesam are forest areas, but good picnic spots - one can enjoy water rushing through small mountain streams, ferns and pebbles in the rainforests. There are also a few small waterfalls in this area - the popular one being Vattaparai. Mountain squirrels, Jungle fowls, various snakes and other reptiles are among the fauna at Keeriparai. Wild elephants could be seen further up the hills.
- Kodhayar (called Kodhayar Lower Camp) – is about 60 km and takes travelers by some exciting hill roads (motorable roads) with some thrilling 'hair-pin bends' and U-turns - bisons and bears are famous at Kodhayar, though there are other wild animals too. Access to some areas need prior permission from the Forest Department.
- Pechiparai Reservoir, about 30 km from the town, in the hills, and also Perunchaani and Chittar dams are a must-see for the nature-lover (with clouds touching the top of the hills around the dams on a misty day !).
- Thiruparrapu Falls, is another good waterfalls, but the 'natural ambiance' is now lost, with many artificial make-overs and over-crowding of tourists.
- Muttom, a coastal village, is another popular place with tourists. The terrain in this village and its surroundings is hilly and from a height one can see an idyllic view of the place, with a Portuguese style church standing in the middle of the village. The beach-area is somewhat rocky. There is also a 100-year old lighthouse. The lighthouse, though near the sea, is situated on a land mass some 105 feet above sea level. The lighthouse originally came up here in olden days, because of the presence of a huge rock, near Muttom called 'Crocodile Rock'. The floors of the lighthouse have lot of holes as for architecture aesthetic and it will be scary for some to reach the top. Another attractive feature of this area, is a ravine-like area with reddish earth (soil) and casurina trees near the sea-side. This place with very popular with Tamil and Keralite film-makers, esp. Bharathiraja.
- Sanguthurai Beach, about 8 km from Nagercoil is a palm-fringed and sandy beach. Sothavilai Beach is another good beach, about 7 km from the heart of town. Both beaches were hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami, but authorities have taken steps to improve facilities again. There is a very good lagoon (estuary - place where the river meets the sea) at Manakudy - 10 km from the town.
- Panchappathis, the five holyplaces of Ayyavazhi, all situated within 10 km circle from Kanyakumari
Fresh water supply to the town is from the Mukkadal Reservoir, about 8 km from the town, in the interior - itself a very scenic place, with a small bushy island in the middle of the dam. The dam is surrounded by hills of the Western Ghats.
[edit] Demographics
As of 2001 India censusGRIndia, Nagercoil had a population of 208,149. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Nagercoil has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 87%, and female literacy is 83%. In Nagercoil, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.
[edit] References
- ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Nagercoil
- ^ Tapping the Wind - India (February 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
- ^ Watts, Himangshu (November 11 2003). Clean Energy Brings Windfall to Indian Village. Reuters News Service. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
[edit] External links
- Official Website of Kanyakumari district
- Kanyakumari district portal
- Census Information
- LPSC
- Current weather report in Nagercoil
- Vattakottai
- Chitharal
- Thengapattinam beach
- Udayagiri Fort
- Wind energy
- Tsunami
- Ayyavazhi
- Climate and vegetation
- Local news
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