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Nagercoil நாகர்கோவில்Nagercoil
Municipality
Nagercoil is Hill locked by the Western Ghats
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Kanyakumari
Area
• Total	49.37 km (19.06 sq mi)
Elevation	40 m (130 ft)
Population
• Total	224,329
• Density	9,813/km (25,420/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	629 xxx
Telephone code	91-4652
Vehicle registration	TN-74 & TN-75
Literacy	100%
Website	municipality.tn.gov.in/nagarcoil/

Nagercoil is the 11th largest city 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, locked with the Western Ghats on all sides 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. It also serves as the Headquarters for Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, an Space research arm of The Government of India. The public sector Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) also has its largest facility at Manavaalakurichy, near the town, which pioneers in the mining, processing and production of Thorium.

Climate

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 moderate humidity at times. Nagercoil is the only Indian Town to receive 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 3 °C to 4 °C hotter than Nagercoil during the daytime, though Kanyakumari is only 20 km away.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Nagercoil had a population of 224,329 of which 110,132 are Males and 114,197 are females. Nagercoil has an average literacy rate of 100%. In Nagercoil, 8.5% 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. English is also widely understood and spoken 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.

Culture and religion

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.

Traditional Cuisine

It is home to the famous Nanjilnadu cuisine, which is one of the two famous Tamil cuisines, the other being the Chettinad Cuisine. This cuisine is known for its unique appetizing, savory and delicious Spiced Local Touch. These food traditions are believe to have been passed on through the Chera, Chola and Pandya kings, which was found in literary works like Bhojana Kudhoogalam (Ecstasy of Food), Baga Saastram (Art of Cooking), Tamizhar Uravu (Tamil Kinship), and Marattiar Seppedugal (Maratta Copper Plate Inscriptions). The Nanjinadu seafood cuisine is also having its unique flavour followed widely in the states of Tamil nadu and Kerala. 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 Nanjil or Nagercoil style cooking. The modernisation and sophistication that has crept into the present lifestyle has not erased out most of the traditional food culture of the city. But an unique feature is that some traditional rare dishes are becoming endangered or are going extinct, due to the negligance of learning by the future generation. It 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/பலாப்பழம். Banana Chips (நேந்திரம் 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 சர்க்கரை/பனைவெல்லம். Nenthrambazha Bajji, a snack made out of banana is famous here.

Festival

Some of the widely celebrated festivals here are Pongal,which is celebrated for three days, Onam is another Festival widely celebrated among the Malayalam speaking population by drawing the `atha poo' (flower decoration) in the floor, 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).

Environmental Degradation

Due to Extensive rock blasting in the scenic and hilly regions of Western Ghat,it has lead to serious environmental changes over the past 5 to 10 years. Moreover the dust particles from these rock blasts have increased the number of Cancer patients over the last five years to 34,000, making it the largest Cancer prone people in the state and Country. The Rock Sediments from these blasting has left close to 550 Lakes, Ponds and Estuaries dry, creating an unprecedented Climate change and Causing severe Water shortage in and across Kanyakumari district. The District inspite of being the southernmost region of Western Ghats has not been protected, though they are Declared UNESCO World Heritage Site and are one of the few three last rainforest in the world, the other being Amazon Rainforest and Congolian forests

As per the Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel (WGEEP) report, all the stone quarries in the district were located in the Western Ghats and were plundering the Ghats destroying its ecology and its Significance of it being the last three Rainforest in the World. The know fact to the Indian government is that the Nagercoil region of the Western Ghat is having the second largest Diversity of plants in India after the Great Himalayan National Park.

Rapid and extensive Deforestation has taken an toll in the rainfall of the district and its surrounding Ecology. The forest coverage which was 40% of the district land with maximum rainfall of 6,000mm in 1965 has reduced to 17% with rapid decline in rainfall to 2,000mm in a short span of 45 years.

The district which was once known to been called as the "Granary of Travancore" is losing its importance and its meaning due to conversion of Wetlands and Agricultural Lands to housing plots and Real Estate Business, which is the largest direct climatic change to the descending of monsoon rain season. Moreover, irrigation sources such as tanks, ponds and other water bodies have also been converted into bus stands, playgrounds, marble godowns. Due to this drastic fall in cultivable land and food shortage fall a cross-section of people in the district want the government to amend an act related to agriculture on the lines of Kerala Conservation and Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, so as to protect paddy fields in Kanyakumari district.

Economy

The Indian Space Research Organisation- ISRO has its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre facility in the Mahendragiri hills (on the Western Ghats) off Nagercoil.

Fish-net manufacturing is a growing business in and around the town; nets for commercial fishing are supplied to the domestic and export markets.

Information technology

There are many software, research and development companies in Nagercoil. RedEgg InfoExpert Technologies is now part of Thomson Reuters set up an office with a strength of around 325 employees. The Nagercoil office has been outsourcing their product's to North America. In 2010 Hinduja Global Solution setup their third largest development center in India after, Bangalore and Chennai.

Cottage industry

Cottage industries include coir-making, floral trade, handloom-weaving, rubber products, food-processing units, and lace-making (export-oriented).

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.

Sports

Nagercoil is having the distinction of housing one of the two Sports Authority of India Centers in the state, the other being in Chennai. There are plans to make the city hub for sports in South india by merging the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Center with Headquarters in Nagercoil.

Politics

Marshal 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). Later on K. Kamaraj, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, won from Kanyakumari constituency without even canvassing. This happens to be the strongest support base for the Indian National Congress in South India and is Nicknamed "The Fort of Congress". The Nagercoil (Lok Sabha constituency) is perhaps the only Constituency in Tamil nadu to not have elected an Dravidian parties in the states History.

Education

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Some schools and colleges in Nagercoil are more than 150 years old, like the Scott Christian College, Carmel High School (Nagercoil), 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, 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. 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 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.

Places of interest

• Krishnancoil, 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.

Notable people

• Neela Padmanabhan, 2007 Sahitya Akademi Award.
• Nanjil Nadan, 2010 Sahitya Akademi Award.
• J. C. Daniel - ornithologist and naturalist

References

1. "Successful ignition of indigenous cryogenic engine"
2. "Indian Rare Earth Ltd., a pioneer in titanium products"
3. . Climate-data.org http://en.climate-data.org/location/23976/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. Template:GR
5. "Time to ensure scientific disposal of garbage"
6. " Kanyakumari District achieves cent per cent literacy"
7. "Food from Nanjil Nadu"
8. "All Spiced Up"
9. "Taste some cuisine from Kongunadu"
10. "How to make...Keluthi Meen Kozhambu"
11. "A taste of rich food culture"
12. "Where are the steamed rice recipes?"
13. "Sea food festival begins"
14. " Pongal festival celebrated"
15. "Crowds on beach"
16. "Onam - day of flowers, feast, fun and frolic"
17. "Onam festivities begin in Kanyakumari"
18. "Stone quarries plunder western ghats"
19. "Call to stop rock blasting at once"
20. "Government urged to regulate rock quarries in Kanyakumari district"
22. "Western Ghats makes it to World Heritage List"
23. "39 sites in Western Ghats get world heritage status"
24. "Stone quarries plundering India's last diversified western ghat region- Kanyakumari"
25. "Encroachments deplored"
26. "Travancore's granary is now a barren landscape"
27. "Paddy fields disappearing from Kanyakumari scene"
28. "Test-firing of GSLV core stage halted at 150 seconds"
29. "ISRO’s most powerful rocket motor successfully tested"
30. "Fishermen thirst for scientific solutions"
31. Thomson Reuters Comes to Nagercoil
32. "Hinduja Global Solution Launches Center in Nagercoil"
33. "Sports Authority of India sub-centre coming up near Nagercoil"
34. "Regional Centres"
35. "City may lose SAI sub-centre to Nagercoil"
36. Joy Gnanadason,`A Forgotten History`,1994, Gurukul L.T. College and Research Institute, Chennai. Page:151.
37. "Kamaraj birth anniversary"
38. "Sangh power BJP's southern comfort"
39. "Chidambaram distributes welfare aid in Nagercoil"
40. "Will BJP make history by winning Nagercoil?"
41. "Dravidians don't wind up in Nagercoil"
42. "Passing the literary torch"
43. "Sahitya Akademi award for Nanjil Nadan"
44. "J.C. Daniel: Naturalist extraordinaire". Sanctuary Asia. April 2000. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2013.

External links

• Official website of Kanyakumari district
• Kanyakumari
• Kanyakumari district portal

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v t e Kanyakumari district
History	Travancore Battle of Colachel Travancore–Cochin
Administration	Taluks Agastheeswaram Kallkkulam Thovalai Vilavancode Thiruvattar Killiyoor Blocks Agastheeswaram Killiyoor Kurunthancode Melpuram Munchirai Rajakkamangalam Thiruvattar Thovalai Thuckalay Municipalities Colachel Kuzhithura Kollankodu Padmanabhapuram Municipal Corporation Nagercoil Town Panchayat Agastheeswaram Aloor Anjugramam Aralvaimozhi Arumanai Asaripallam Attoor Azhagappapuram Azhagiapandiapuram Boothapandi Edaikodu Eraniel Ezhudesam Ganapathipuram Kadayal Kaliyakkavilai Kallukuttam Kanyakumari Kappiyarai Karungal Keezhkulam Killiyur Kodimunai Kollancode Kothanallur Kottaram Kulasekaram Kumarapuram Manavalakurichi Mandaikadu Marthandam Marungoor Mulagumudu Myladi Nallur Neiyyur Pacode Palapallam Pazhugal Ponmanai Puthalam Pudukadai Reethapuram South Thamaraikulam Suchindram Thalakudi Thengampudur Theroor Thingalnagar Thirparappu Thiruvattar Thiruvithamcode Unnamalaikadai Valvaithankoshtam Vellimalai Verkilambi Vilavoor Villukuri Revenue divisions Nagercoil Padmanabhapuram
Religious sites	Thanumalayan Temple Kumarakoil Marunthuvazh Malai Mondaicaud Bhagavathi Temple Nagaraja Temple Our Lady of Ransom Church, Kanyakumari St. Arockiya Nathar Church, Vavathurai Pancha pathi Peer Mohammed Dargah Sivalayams Adikesava Perumal Temple St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Kottar Swamithope pathi Thirunadhikkara Thiruppathisaram Thirucharanathumalai Chitharal Jain Monuments
Tourism	Kanyakumari Kalikesam Mathur Aqueduct Mukkadal Dam Muttom Olakaruvi Padmanabhapuram Palace Pechiparai Reservoir Sothavilai Beach Thirparappu Udayagiri Vattakottai Fort Vattakottai Vattaparai Falls
Education	Colleges Cape Institute of Technology Bishop Agniswamy College of Education CSI Institute of Technology Malankara Catholic College Nesamony Memorial Christian College Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education Ponjesly College of Engineering Scott Christian College S.T. Hindu College St. Xavier's College of Engineering Amrita College of Engineering & Technology University College of Engineering,Nagercoil Schools Carmel Higher Secondary School Excel Central School Excel Global School Scott Christian Higher Secondary School
Railway stations	Eraniel Kanniyakumari Kuzhithura Kuzhithurai West Nagercoil Junction Nagercoil Town Viranialur
See also: List of villages in Kanyakumari district

• Cities and towns in Kanyakumari district