Kulasekharapattinam, also spelt Kulasekharapatnam is a town in the

Thoothukudi district The Thoothukkudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. On 20 October 1986, an M. G. Ramachandran-led government bifurcated the Tirunelveli district to form the district. It is shared by its boundaries w ...

Tamil Nadu, India Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Historically, it was an important port on the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

, alongside Kaveripumpattinam (Poompuhar) and Arikamedu (near

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

). From at least the 1st century CE, Kulasekharapatnam functioned as a trading hub for

Pandya Dynasty The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

. While

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

served as a major port on the west coast, Kulasekharapatnam connected the Pandyas to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and the pearl fisheries of the

Gulf of Mannar The Gulf of Mannar ( ) (; ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of .Kodungallur Kodungallur (; formerly also called as Cranganore (anglicised name), Portuguese language, Portuguese: Cranganor; Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of Per ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and Barugachha (Broach) in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. During the

Colonial Era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

, as Tuticorin emerged as a dominant port, the prominence of Kulasekharapatnam declined. The town's name is derived from the Pandyan ruler

Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I () was a Pandyan emperor who ruled regions of South India between 1268–1308 CE, though history professor Sailendra Sen states he ruled until 1310. In 1279 CE, Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan ended the rule o ...

. Kulasekharapatnam is home to the 300-year-old Mutharamman Temple and the Dharmasamvardhini Temple, which lies north of the village. The town is particularly known for its grand Dussehra celebrations. During

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

, a

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

factory operated profitably in the town. The British also introduced the Kulasekharapatnam Light Railway, which, as of 1933, had stations including Kulasekharapatnam Central, Kulasekharapatnam Port, and KPM Sugar Factory. In recent years,

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister o ...

announced plans to establish a space launch pad at Kulasekharapatnam, positioning it as a key location for India's

space missions Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as ...

Rowthers & Marakkars settlement

During the reign of the Pandyas, Kulasekharapatnam was also known as the Rowthers Palayam, a section of Muslims that had military cavalry, followed traditional customs, and were horse traders. Kulasekharapatnam was an important trade center even before the arrival of Islam. The current Muslim population of Kulasekharapatnam is known as the Marakkar or Marakkayars, who engaged in maritime trade. They had come from

, and it is said that

Kunjali Marakkar Kunjali Marakkar was the title inherited by the Admiral of the fleet of the Zamorin, King Samoothiri / Zamorin, the King of Calicut, in present-day Kerala, India. There were four Marakkars whose war tactics defended against the Portuguese Emp ...

's family members came from Kerala. Typical of most port towns, Kulasekharapatnam has a lighthouse, located near Manapad. The city has been inhabited by

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

since the 8th century CE. Kulasekarapatinam Perumal Temple

Origin of Marakkars

Marakkar are distinctive

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-speaking

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

people of the states of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The name Marakkar is different from Marakkayar (Marikkar & Maricar are other spellings used in history books). According to numerous historians, Moppila or Moplah is Maha Pillai (great son) and Marakkar means (Marakkalam is a wooden boat) 'boatmen'. Thurston, in his work 'Tribes of South India', states the following - The word Marakkar is usually derived from the Tamil ''marakalam'', meaning 'boat'. It was also a titular name for maritime traders. Marakkar was a prized title given by the Zamorin of Calicut. Derived from Marakka Rayar, it signifies the captain of a ship ('Rayar' meaning 'king' or, here, 'captain' and 'Marakkalam' meaning 'ship'). They are also called ''marakala rayars,'' from ''marakalam'' ('wooden boat') and ''rayar'' ('king') in the Tamil language. The captains of the vessels are called ''malimars'', coming from the Tamil words ''malumi'' ('captain') and ''yar'', and crew members are called ''sherangs.'' Traditionally, the Marakkars engaged in mercantile

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

. They are primarily located along the coasts of the southernmost states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India. The Marakala, also known as the Mogela or Mogaveera, community is an influential fishing community in coastal Karnataka. They are traditionally fishermen, and their caste profession is fishing in rivers and the sea. The Barkoor Bennekudru Kulamahasthry temple, Uchila Mahalaxmi temple, and Bagvadi Mahishamardini temples are major Mogaveera ''

kuladevata A ''kuladevata'' (), also known as a ''kuladaivaṃ'' (), is an ancestral tutelary deity in Hinduism and Jainism. Such a deity is often the object of one's devotion (''bhakti''), and is coaxed to watch over one's clan (''kula''), gotra, family, ...

'' (relating to ancestral tutelary deities) temples in coastal Karnataka.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Kulasekharapatnam * https://web.archive.org/web/20111015080841/http://indianmuslims.in/kunjali-marakkar/
Kudi Maraikayar of eastern Sri Lanka
Villages in Thoothukudi district