Nagercoil (Tamil: நாகர்கோவில்) (Malayalam: നാഗർകോവിൽ) (aka: Nagerkoil) [3] is the 12th largest town in the southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a municipality and administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District. The town is situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula and is the southernmost town on the Indian mainland.
The town was a part of the erstwhile Travancore state, or later Travancore-Cochin state, till almost a decade after the Indian independence in 1947. In 1956, the city and the District were merged with Tamil Nadu. In its earlier days, the town and its surroundings were known as Nanjilnadu.
Nagercoil derives its name from the famous old Nagaraja Temple (temple of the serpent king) [4] which is in the central part of town. It has been an important temple for Hindus for centuries as well as a tourist attraction. According to certain accounts, it may once have been a Jain temple, as icons of the Jain Tirthankaras — Mahavira and Parsvanatha — are found on the pillars of the temple.[citation needed]
Nagaraja Temple, from which the town derives its name
Nagercoil came under the rule of various kingdoms, notably the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms, 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 state. The modern town of Nagercoil grew around Kottar, now a locality in the municipal limits. The town came to prominence during and after the reign of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, the capital of which was Padmanabhapuram, about 20 km to the north of Nagercoil. The capital was later shifted to Trivandrum, now Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala state, about 65 km to the north of Nagercoil. In the erstwhile princely state of Travancore, Nagercoil was the second most important town after the capital Trivandrum.
Maharaja Marthanda Varma's successors continued the land, revenue and social reforms he instituted. Although Travancore was considered by many to be a "Hindu" administration, the rulers generally showed religious tolerance and were not hostile to European educators, missionaries and traders. 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.
Irrigation systems (an excellent system is still found around Nagercoil), dams, roads, schools etc. developed under the administration of the Travancore royals and their Dewans. The British in India considered 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 British Raj, Travancore was essentially a vassal-state to the British, but the British never interfered in the general administration of the state.
The Clock Tower
[1] in the heart of the town, which is more than one hundred years old. The clock in the tower, was presented by the European missionary, Rev. Duthie to the Maharajah of
Travancore, when the Maharajah visited Nagercoil in the late 19th century.
At the time of India's independence from Britain, the Dewan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, preferred Travancore to be a sovereign country, but he eventually gave up after a tough stand by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's federal minister in charge of home affairs, who wanted the princely state annexed to India.
After a political fight in the 1950s led by Marshal A. Nesamony Nadar, the Government of Travancore-Cochin gave part of South Travancore (present day Kanyakumari District) to Tamil Nadu, because a majority of the population spoke Tamil in the district. This was enacted in the Indian States Reorganisation Act of 1956.[1]
Nagercoil is located at 8°11′N 77°26′E / 8.18°N 77.43°E / 8.18; 77.43 at the southern tip of peninsular India. Because of its proximity to the Western Ghats, the topography of the town and its surroundings is generally hilly. The Western Ghats are the lifeline of the town, providing water sources for drinking, temperate climate, irrigation around the city, and an eco-system influenced by this mountain range.
Sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, the town has some breathtaking scenery, with the surrounding hills (the Western Ghats), lush green paddy fields, and sandy palm-fringed beaches on the western side. Farther north 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. The rubber plant was introduced by the English missionaries in the 18th century. Some of these plantations are still owned by the descendants of these British planters; however, a majority of the estates are now owned by the rich and influential moplah (Syrian Christians) community of Kerala.
Being the southernmost municipal area of the country, and situated close to Kanyakumari, or Cape Comorin,[5] the southernmost point of peninsular India, the town is an intersecting point of culture, tradition and trade of the western and eastern coasts. The town connects two major 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 Tamil Nadu. Nagercoil is 72 km from Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum), the capital of Kerala state, connected by National Highway 47, and 85 km from Tirunelveli. In that the famous village is Thollavilai.
Nagercoil has a pleasant, though humid, climate for a major part of the year. The maximum temperature during the summer hovers around 86°F or 30°C with extremely high humidity at times. Nagercoil receives both the north-east monsoon and the south-west monsoon. It rains more often in Kanyakumari district than in any other part of Tamil Nadu, with the exception of the Nilgiris. Due to geographical conditions, the southern tip of Kanyakumari is generally 2°C to 3°C warmer than Nagercoil during the daytime, though Kanyakumari is only 20 km away.
As of 2001[update] India census,[2] Nagercoil had a population of 208,149. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Nagercoil has an average literacy rate of 100% and is the only Indian city to produce this figure. In Nagercoil, 9% of the population is between the age group of 0 – 6 years.
Though the official population count (for the municipal area) is close to 2.25 lakhs, a significant population lives outside the municipal limits, in the suburbs.Tamil is the most spoken language. Malayalam and English are also widely understood in the city.
The greatest concentration of the population of the town and the District is along the coastal belt, on the eastern side, while the largely forested areas on the western side of the district (along the Western Ghats) are sparsely populated.
Tamil is official language in Kanyakumari. Tamil and Malayalam are spoken by the people. Tamil language along with English is used as a medium of teaching in all major schools. The Tamil spoken here is a mix of Malayalam and Tamil, sometimes unintelligible to the people of North Tamil Nadu.
The culture is a mixture of Tamil and Malayalam culture and traditions. Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are the major religions in the town and district. Food prepared here is also a mix of Kerala/Tamil Nadu traditions. Puttu, Appam, Idiappam are popular food items and so are rice murukku, and achu-murukku. Curries here are made with coconut and coconut oil which is now considered Kerala style cooking.
Some of the festivals celebrated here are Pongal, Onam, Suchindrum "Ther Festival", Ayya Vaikunda Avataram, Deepavali, Easter, Christmas, New Year, St. Francis Xavier's feast, Bhagavathy Amman Temple festival, Ramzan (Eid ul fitr) and Bakrid (Eid ul alha).
The foundation of several educational institutions by English, German and other Western Christian missionaries in the 19th century and the development of social infrastructure by the Travancore administration raised the social status and literacy of the people, ahead of many other urban centres in Southern India. Today, streets, schools and colleges in the town are named after these European missionaries ; many of these missionaries were also noted educationists and scholars.
The European missionaries converted a section of the people to Protestant Christianity. Roman Catholicism had been introduced earlier by St. Francis Xavier in the 16th century and later by other Jesuits.
St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral at Kottar, Nagercoil,built in 1600CE.
St. Francis Xavier, the missionary-saint resided for sometime at
Kottar, while doing missionary work in the neighbouring areas.
St. Francis Xavier, the Roman Catholic missionary, made Kottar locality in the town his principal residence for two years in the 16th century, while preaching around the town and in neighbouring Tirunelveli district.
Of the Protestant missionaries, the services of two European missionaries are particularly notable. One is 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 of his contributions to the cause of education, the Travancore Government appointed him Superintendent of Schools, and while in this office he encouraged women's education in Nagercoil and in the state of Travancore. He started the Nagercoil Mission Press, the first printing press in the state of Travancore. Mead fought to abolish forms of indentured labour rampant at that time.
The other great missionary was William Tobias Ringeltaube, a native of the then Prussia (present Germany), who established schools and worked among the poor and downtrodden around the town. He started one of the first regular schools in Travancore at Mylaudy, near Nagercoil which is still active.
Like the London Missionary Society (LMS), another organisation that rendered valuable services to the cause of education and upliftment of the socially downtrodden has been the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Both these societies still have a presence in Nagercoil (nearly two centuries after inception).
Home church is one of the important places for worship. This was built by Thurivankur King.
The Salvation Army is known in the town for their medical services in and around the town. Their Catherine Booth Hospital ([6] in the Vadasery [7] locality of the town was established in the 19th century and is still active.
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 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), Mahendragiri.
The town is a centre for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant reactors, being built with Russian assistance, which is situated in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, but is the closest major town to the facility. The public sector Indian Rare Earths Limited (IRE) has a facility at Manavaalakurichy, near the town.
Aralvaimozhi, 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.[3][4] The surrounding area is a major centre for windmill renewable-energy production, and one of the biggest centres in South Asia, both in terms of electricity generated and size of windmills, with thousands of wind-mill electricity generators on tall towers dotting the area. The total power generated from these wind mills is 540 MW with each windmill generating a power output of 1.65 MW. The wind mills are erected and technically-supported by multinational majors in the field of renewable energy like Vestas, Suzlon, and Micon. The Muppandal Wind Farm is situated on a mountain gap (pass) in the Western Ghats, through which the wind gushes for a major part of the year.
Fish-net manufacturing is a growing business in and around the town; nets for commercial fishing are supplied to the domestic and export markets.
There are software, research and development companies in Nagercoil. RedEgg InfoExpert Technologies now part of Thomson Reuters,[5] offerings are sold in North America as MyMediaInfo,[6] which is a media contacts database. Enrichware is the next generation web and mobile platform based software Solutions Company serving worldwide customers. EMACC (Enterprise Mobile Apps Competency Center) by Enrichware is the dedicated Research and Development facility of Enrichware. Compvue[7] is an IT services company serving customers from the Los Angeles and San Francisco area since 2005. Small Scale industries (cottage industries) include coir-making, floral trade, handloom-weaving, rubber products, food-processing units, and lace-making (export-oriented).
Prabhanjam India Handicrafts Private Limited [8] is an online marketing company doing services such as recruitment, Matrimony, Real Estate, It Solutions, and Import &Export of Handicrafts Products.
Being the major Tamil Nadu town closest to the Kerala capital, Thiruvananthapuram (65 km away and the closest international airport to Nagercoil), trading and sending supplies to Kerala and Thiruvananthapuram is a major activity for the bustling markets at Vadasery and Kottar - availability and many items being cheaper in Tamil Nadu than in Kerala adds to the thriving business.
Supply of marine and agricultural produce to the overseas export-markets are also important economic activities, though primarily done through exporters or agents in Kerala. Remittances to Nagercoil from overseas, from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) hailing from the town, is a major contributor to the local economy.
Marshal A. Nesamony, one of the leading lawyers of the Nagercoil Bar, was elected as the Chairman of the Nagercoil Municipal Council in 1943. He enlarged the town boundary, improved water supply system for the town, established a home for the destitutes and increased the income of the Nagercoil Municipality. In the same year, he was elected to the Travancore State Assembly and was also nominated to the Senate of the then Travancore University (today's Kerala University).[9] Later on Mr.K. Kamaraj, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, won from Kanyakumari constituency without even canvassing.
The district has the highest literacy rate in Tamil Nadu (88.11). Some schools and colleges in Nagercoil are more than 150 years old, like the Scott Christian College, [8], [9] built by British missionaries. 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 regular schools in South India, Sethu Lakshmi Bai Higher Secondary School, [10] is situated in the heart of town. It was established under the supervision of the Travancore administrators and named after a Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Queen of Travancore between 1924 to 1931.[10] Another school which was named after a Travancore ruler is Sri Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma Higher Secondary School.
Educational institutions include privately funded engineering colleges, the state-run Kanyakumari Government Medical College (at Asaripallam near Nagercoil), and many polytechnic colleges and arts and science colleges. As in neighbouring Kerala, women's education and career-development are given importance.
In Kanyakumari, the first Government Engineering college was started under Anna University Tirunelveli on September 2009. There is no Government Arts and Science College. All the Arts science college are under Cristian majorities, Muslim and few trust.
Some of the educational institutions in Nagercoil are:
- Comorin International School, nagercoil
- Carmel Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil
- SLB Government Higher Secondary School
- SSP Govt Higher Secondary School, Edalakudy
- Government Engineering College, Konam.
- S.R.K.B.V.Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kulasekharam.
- Yettacode Higher Secondary School, Yettacode.
- Bishop Arockiasamy Higher Secondary School, Maravankudieruppu.
- RAINBOW play school with Froebel concept of PRESCHOOL syllabus. Edalakudy
- Good Shepherd Matriculation Higher Secondary School
- The Pioneer School
- Adarsh Vidya Kendra
- Alphonsa matric hr.sec. school
- ST Hindu College, [11]
- Scott Christian Higher Secondary School
- James Group of Educational Institutions( www.jamesinstitutions.org)
- Sivanthi Aditanar College Pillayarpuram.
- Ayappa College for Women, [12]
- Sun College of Engineering and Technology
- Udaya School of Engineering
- The Muslim Arts College Thiruvithancode,
- Noorul Islam College of Engineering at Kumaracoil,
- Pan India ICFAI has one of its affiliate ICFAI National College at Vadasery,
- DVD Higher secondary School, Kottar., Nagercoil
- ST.Mary Goretty Higher Secondary School,Manalikarai
- SMRV Higher Secondary School
- The Rajas International School
- Arunachalam Higher Secondary School, Puthankadai, Thiruvattar.
- VTMNSS College Arumanai.
- Sree Narayana Guru College of Engineering, Majalumoodu, Arumanai.
^ NANJIL VELLALAR IAS ACADEMY [13] etc.
Some colleges and schools are run by Christian minority denominations:
In the Christian theological side, the Concordia Theological Seminary established in 1924 caters to the training of Pastors of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church. A CBSE schools in Nagercoil is the Adarsh Vidya Kendra which is situated at Vetturnimadam, 3 km from Nagercoil. Play school Bachpan is located 3 km from Nagercoil. DVD matriculation school kottar nagercoil
Nagercoil enjoys a blend of Tamil and Keralite cuisine. Rice is the staple food. Fish is popular and forms a part of everyday meal for many. People generally prefer marine fish to fresh water fish.
The food is generally spicy with coconut an important ingredient in almost all side dishes and curry, very much like that of neighbouring Kerala. Seafood is popular among the people, though there are also many vegetarians in and around the town.
Banana & Jack fruit plays a main role in the town's Sweet/sour recipes. Its been told that the word Jack actually derived from Tamil name of the fruit சக்கை.
Banana Chips (ேநந்தரம் பழம்/ஏத்தன் பழம்-a special variety specially produced for making chips) a snack . Upperi (உப்பேரி) is made by dipping the banana in palm sugar locally known as சர்க்கைர/பைன ெவல்லம். Nenthrambazha Bajji, a snack made out of banana is famous here.
- The Nagaraja Temple,[19] (which gives Nagercoil its name) and the Thanumalayan Temple,[20] at Suchindrum, about 6 km from the heart of the town, are Hindu shrines for pilgrims from all over South India. The Nagaraja Temple has Nagaraja, the King of Snakes, as its principal deity, to whom milk is offered by the devout. The Suchindram Temple is unique amongst Hindu temples in that it unites the worship of the Trinity of Hinduism - Shiva (Sthanu), Vishnu (Perumal or Mal) and Brahma (Aiyan) - in the presiding deity, Thanumalayan. The tradition of the temple is that the King of the Devas, Indra, worships at the temple each night.
- Krishnancoil, [21] situated on the way to Trivandrum at NH-47 is named after the temple where the presiding deity is Lord Kishna in his childhood avatar. This temple is 1.5 km from the heart of Nagercoil town.
- St. Francis Xavier's Church, in the Kottar locality of the town, which was built in the year 1600 AD, is important due to the visit and stay of St.Francis Xavier. The church was built on land allotted to St. Xavier by the Venad king.
- Fresh water supply to the town is from the Mukkadal [22] Reservoir, about 8 km from the town - itself a scenic place, with an island in the middle of the reservoir. The reservoir is surrounded by hills of the Western Ghats.
- Another area with some fine scenery in Kanyakumari District is Boothapandi, about 10 km from Nagercoil. This place shows the Western Ghats with lush green fields all around. There are small, dilapidated, ancient Hindu Temples and structures dotting the green fields.
The hilly, undulating terrain in Kanyakumari District is partly forest land and the remaining is covered by rubber and other plantation plants. Elephants are common in this area.
- A.E. Muthunayagam-Space scientist and Father of Space Propulsion System in India.
- Viswanathan Raman - Father of Chest Medicine in India.
- Ranjan Roy Daniel- Famous world scientist for Electromagnetic Theory in Physics
- A. Sivathanu Pillai-CEO and MD,Brahmos Aerospace and Chief Controller DRDO
- Krishnan Ravi _ Prof and Head, Physiology,V.P.Chest Institute,Delhi, Eminent neurophysiologist
- Dr.Gunamudian David Boaz-Famous world psychology scientist
- [ [Pon Radha Krishnan] ], First minister From Nagercoil Lok Shapa, Ex MP,Ex minister for road, sports. TN BJP president
- Kunjan Nadar, Freedom Fighter (Freedom for Kanayakumari district from Travancore Kingdom).
- Marshal Nesamony Nadar (father of Kanyakumari District)
- Kumari Anandan, politician
- Com. J.Hemachandran, former CPI(M) MLA and CITU leader
- Ponnappa Nadar MLA,Politician, lawyer
- Vijaya Raghavan MLA,Politician
- T.S.Ramaswamy Pillai MLA,Freedom Fighter and Politician
- A.A.Razaq MP Politician, Lawyer
- H. S. S. Lawrence, Director of School Education Tamil Nadu, UNESCO Adviser Afghanistan
- Dr. Jeppiaar, Chancellor of Sathyabama University and founder of Jeepiar Group of Institutions.
- Prof.Shah Mohammed Bijli, Chief Technical Advisor to the UNITED NATIONS for more than a decade, Sr.Academician, Author
- Mr.krishnan pillai Cape foundation,Nagercoil
- Mr.N.Muralidharn, Director of ST.Hindu College, Sri Krishna Polythenic college
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