Agastheeswaram | |
---|---|
Taluk | |
Nickname: Agasteeshwaram | |
Coordinates: 8°6′0″N77°31′15″E / 8.10000°N 77.52083°E | |
Country | India |
State | Tamil Nadu |
District | Kanniyakumari |
Population (2001) | |
• Total | 8,978 |
Languages | |
• Official | Tamil |
• Spoken | Tamil |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
PIN | 629 701 |
Agastheeswaram is a panchayat town in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Agasteeswaram is named after Sage Agastya who had visited this place to teach Ramayana. Most of the people from this village are well educated when compared with other districts in Tamil Nadu. Vivekanandha college is located in Agasteeswararam. Along with the talukas of Thovalay, Kalculam, Eraneel and Velavancode, Agasteeswaram was a part of the southern division (aka Padmanabhapuram division) of the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore [1] until its union with Cochin in 1949 and continued to be a part of the state of Travancore- Cochin until November 1, 1956.
Below are the words extracted from the Travancore state manual about the Agastisvaram Nadan rich chieftain who enjoyed special benefits from the Trovancore Rajah, that family belonged to the sub-caste Nadan an endogamous group among the Nadars.
The Travancore state manual says "This is also the headquarters of the Shanar tribe, where their Nadan or chieftain resides, who was formerly allowed the privileges of having a fort, of riding in a palanquin and of retaining a hundred armed attendants."
Ref: The Travancore state manual, Volume 2 Page 57
One of the principal devil temples in Travancore is that represented in the annexed engraving situated at Agastispuram, near cape comorin ; which is also the headquarters of the Shanar tribe where their Nadan, or Chieftain, resides, who was formerly allowed the privileges of having a fort, riding in a palankeen, and retaining 100 armed attendants, which he is too reduced to support now . Ref: 1871 Samuel mateer-The Land of Charity- page 219
Kottaram is one of the Panchayat town in the Agastheeswaram Taluk. It is situated 6 km from Kanyakumari. People of different religions like Hindus, Christians and Muslims live here. CSI, Catholic, AG, IPC and many other independent Christian churches can be found here.
India census, [2] Agastheeswaram had a population of 8978. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Agastheeswaram has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 50% of the males and 50% of females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The Kingdom of Travancore, also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram were parts of British India. Bordering the kingdom were the five Tamil-majority Taluks of Madras Presidency to the north, Madurai and Tirunelveli districts of Pandya Nadu region in Madras Presidency to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Arabian Sea to the west. As of the 1911 Census of India, Travancore was divided into five: Padmanabhapuram, Trivandrum, Quilon, Kottayam, and Devikulam, of which the first and last were predominantly Tamil-speaking areas.
Nadar is a Tamil caste of India. Nadars are predominant in the districts of Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar.
Travancore–Cochin, or Thiru–Kochi, was a short-lived state of India (1949–1956). It was originally called United State of Travancore and Cochin following the merger of two former kingdoms, Travancore and Cochin on 1 July 1949. Its original capital was Thiruvananthapuram. It was renamed State of Travancore–Cochin in January 1950. Travancore merged with erstwhile princely state of Cochin to form Travancore–Cochin in 1950. The five Tamil-majority Taluks of Vilavancode, Kalkulam, Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, and Sengottai were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Madras State in 1956. The Malayalam-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the Malabar District and the Kasaragod Taluk of South Canara district in Madras State to form the modern Malayalam-state of Kerala on 1 November 1956, according to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 passed by the Government of India.
Padmanabhapuram is a town and a municipality near Thuckalay in Kanyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 21,342.
Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nadu in terms of per capita income, and also tops the state in Human Development Index (HDI), literacy, and education. The district's headquarters is Nagercoil.
Thiruvithamcode, is a small panchayat town located in the Kanyakumari district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thiruvithamcode is about 20 km from Nagercoil and 2 km from Thuckalay.
Kalkulam is a small village located in Kalkulam taluk, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The taluk was among several in Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 were transferred from Thiruvananthapuram district, Travancore-Cochin State to the newly created Kanyakumari district of Madras State.
Vilavancode, also spelt as Viḷavaṅgōḍu, is a town panchayat in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu state, India. It is part of territory among several taluks that were with the Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 transferred from Thiruvananthapuram district, Travancore-Cochin State to the newly created Kanyakumari district of Madras State.
Paramarthalinga Thanulinga Nadar, also known simply as Thanulingam, was an Indian politician, Tamil Nadu Ellai Poratta Thyagi, and a staunch member of the now defunct Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress and would later emerge as a right-wing activist in the State. He served as a Member of Parliament with the Indian National Congress. In his later life, he served as the State President of the Hindu Munnani and played an active role in furthering Hindutva in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu in the 1980s.
R. Ponnappan Nadar or R. Ponnappa Nadar was an Indian politician who served as a Congressional leader from the Kanyakumari district and a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
Nagercoil is an assembly constituency located in Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the 234 State Legislative Assembly Constituencies in Tamil Nadu, in India.
Agasteeswaram taluk is a taluk located in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Nagercoil. The taluk was among several in Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 were transferred from Thiruvananthapuram district, Travancore-Cochin State to the newly created Kanyakumari district of Madras State.
Kallkkulam taluk is a taluk of Kanyakumari district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Kallkkulam.Up to 1957, Kallkkulam Taluk formed part of the Travancore Kingdom and subsequently the Travancore-Cochin State. It was when the States were divided on linguistic basis that Kallkkulam, Thovalai, Vilavancode, and Agastheeswaram Taluks of the erstwhile Thiruvananthapuram District of the then Travancore-Cochin State were included in the then Madras State as Kanyakumari District.
Vilavancode taluk is a taluk located in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Vilavancode. The taluk was among several in Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 were transferred from Thiruvananthapuram district, Travancore-Cochin State to the newly created Kanyakumari district of Madras State. The present Tahsildar of Vilavancode is Mr. Abraham Denny
T. S. Ramaswami Pillai was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and former Member of the Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the Travancore-Cochin assembly from Thovalai Agastheeswaram constituency in 1952 election as an Indian National Congress candidate. Thovalai Agastheeswaram was a two-member constituency and the other winner was A. Samraj from the same party.
Nadans are a small endogamous group of aristocratic Nadars from the regions south of the Thamirabarani River in the present-day state of Tamil Nadu, India. They were hereditary tax collectors during the Nayak and Pandyan dynasties and also served as petty lords under the poligars. The Nadans possessed vast tracts of land and were one of the few subcastes among the Nadars to have practiced aristocracy. The term Nadan means lords of the land.
Nadar climbers were a sub-caste of today's Nadar community. They were regarded as the largest Nadar sub-caste. Their traditional occupation was climbing trees, gathering the sap of coconuts to make palm wine. Due to new economic opportunities, the majority of Nadar climbers have given up their traditional occupation.
The Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress (TTNC) was a political party in the Indian state of Travancore-Cochin. The party was founded by Sam Nathaniel and led by A. Nesamony, both natives of Palliyadi.
Elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state of Travancore-Cochin were held on 15 February 1954. 265 candidates competed for the 106 constituencies in the Assembly. There were 11 two-member constituencies and 95 single-member constituencies. Out of these, one single member and one two-member constituency was reserved for SC. The main contest in the election was between the Indian National Congress (INC) and the United Front of Leftists (UFL). Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress was also significant in some Tamil - significant constituencies.
The present-day Kanyakumari district and parts of tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu state in India was originally a part of the Travancore-Cochin state. Between 1945 and 1956, especially after the Government of India announced plans to reorganize states along linguistic lines, the people of Tamil-majority Kanyakumari campaigned for its inclusion in the Madras State instead of the Malayalam-majority Kerala state. In Tamil, the campaign is also known as Therkku Ellai Porattam.