Alagankulam is a village situated on the east coast in the

Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a city Municipal Corporation in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) ...

''taluk'' and district in India. The village is situated on the banks of the

Vaigai River The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Madurai, Manamadurai, Paramakudi and Ramanathapuram. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, ...

and is about away from the seashore. The village is located east of

. The village had a population of 15,473 at the 2011 census. The carbon dating report of the artefacts excavated from Azhagankulam revealed that they dated to 345 BC. With the artefacts having Tamil inscriptions, this could prove that Tamil was older than Prakrit which is dated to be from 268 BC to 232 BC.

Tourism

The village is situated on the banks of the river Vaigai and is about three kilometers from the seashore. The most significant findings of the excavation are hundreds of potsherds of the Mediterranean region. They include Rouletted ware and Amphorae jar pieces. Pieces of Red ware with Tamil Brahmi letters have been found. They are assignable to the first century BCE. Other antiquities include beads, perforated tiles, and bricks in various levels. Three Roman coins were unearthed. They contain the figure of the head of the Roman Emperor on one side and the figure of goddess of victory, holding a globe on the other side. The legend on them shows that the Roman Emperor Valentine II who ruled around 375 CE issued the coins. Undersea exploration work was also conducted at Poompuhar in 1996–1997 in collaboration with National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. Lead ingots were obtained in the search. Alagankulam is close to Rameswaram and Devipattinam, both important pilgrimage centres. Alagankulam beach is popular in this village.

Demographics

The Alagankulam village has a population of 15,473 with a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 1067 which is higher than the Tamil Nadu state average of 996. There are 1,730 children aged between 0 and 6 (11.18% of total population). Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 3.28% and 0.02% of the population respectively. The village had 3,259 households. There were a total of 4370 workers. The literacy rate is 86.63% - 89.60% for males, and 83.85% for females.

Geography

The nearest towns include

and Rameswaram.

Transport

The village is located in southeast Tamil Nadu and connected by NH-49 to

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and

from Rameswaram. The nearest airport is Madurai Airport, which is located about away from the village.

References

Villages in Ramanathapuram district {{Ramanathapuram-geo-stub