Manavalakurichi is a

panchayat town A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state 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 ...

. It is hardly 60 km from

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, the capital city of

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 ...

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 ...

are the common languages of people living here. Manavalakurichi has an average elevation of ).

Sea ports

Jeppiaar Fishing Harbour in Muttom is the nearest sea port. This is a private sea port and was built by educationalist and business man

Jeppiaar Dr. Jeppiaar (11 June 1931 – 18 June 2016), also known as Jeppiaar Jesuadimai and J. P. R., was an Indian politician, educationist, and industrialist. He was born in Muttom near Nagercoil, Travancore Cochin Presidency, now the Kanyakumari Di ...

. Another near sea port is

Kolachal Colachel (Malayalam: Kulachal, ) is a coastal town in the far south of India, located in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. It is a natural harbor on the Malabar coast, Malabar Coast, located 20 km northwest of Kanyakumari (town), Kan ...

. It is an ancient port, aging back to 18th century.

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

called it "Colachi". After the defeat of the Dutch by King

Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: ; 1706 – 7 July 1758) was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") ...

Battle of Colachel The Battle of Colachel (or The Battle of Kolachel) was fought on between the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company. During the Travancore-Dutch War, King Marthanda Varma's (1729–1758) forces defeated the Dutch East ...

on 10 August 1741, a victory pillar had been erected near the beach in commemoration of the victory.

Roads

The town is well connected to all parts of the state through road. Nagercoil, the district headquarters of Kanyakumari, is situated 20 km from Manavalakurichi in the north-east direction. Direct bus service from Manavalakurichi is available to

the capital city of

. This journey usually takes less than two hours. Frequent bus service to Thuckalay, another town which is 11 km away, is also available.

Rail

Eraniel railway station is the nearest railway station. The station has two platforms and falls on the

Kanyakumari Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...

–

line in the Thiruvananthapuram division of the

Southern Railway zone Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Rai ...

. All daily trains passing through the station halt in Eraniel station. The route from Eraniel to

runs through tunnels and hilly terrains. It takes one hour from Thiruvananthapuram to Eraniel by train. The Mandaikadu Bagavathi Amman Temple,

Port, I.R.E Industries in Manavalakurichi and

Padmanabhapuram Palace Padmanabhapuram Palace, also known as Kalkulam Palace, is a Travancore-era palace located in Padmanabhapuram in the Kanyakumari district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The palace is owned, controlled and maintained by the Kerala Governme ...

are situated nearby the station. The station also is the nearest railhead for two municipalities – Padmanabapuram, Colachel and for 25 villages.

Air

Departures terminal Trivandrum International Airport Kerala India

The nearest international airport is

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is an international airport that serves Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. Established in 1932, it is the first airport in the state of Kerala and the fifth international airport of ...

connects the town further to other major cities like

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, and

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

,{{cite web, url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/DCHB_Town_Release_3300.xlsx, title= Census of India 2001: District Census Hand Book, publisher= Census Commission of India had a total population of 10,969 with males 5478 marginally less over females 5491. Manavalakurichi has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 77%. In Manavalakurichi, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

Cities and towns in Kanyakumari district