Kinnikannanvilai

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name=Kinnikannanvilai


latd = 8.100|latNS=N|longd=77.541|longEW=E
state_name=Tamil Nadu
district=Kanyakumari
leader_title=Village head
leader_name= Esaki Muthu Nadar
altitude=0-300
population_as_of = 2007
population_total = 678
population_density = 165
area_magnitude = 9
area_total=25.89
area_telephone= 914652
postal_code= 629 701
vehicle_code_range= TN 74
footnotes =

Kinnikannanvilai is a village along the west coast of Kanyakumari flanked by Muhilankudieruppu in the south and Koilvilai in the north. Kinnikannanvilai is bound by Pooviyur in the east and Arabian Sea in the west. The village is connected with Kanyakumari Bus Terminus (4 km) and Nagercoil town (16 km) by road. The nearest city is Thiruvananthapuram (Capital of Kerala). The holy capitals, Swamithope and Suchindrum are 4 and 7 kilometres away from Kinnikannanvilai respectively.

History

Kinnikannanvilai hamlet was once under the Travancore Samasthanam. Along with the coastal part of Koilvilai, currently it shares the ruins and remnants of the fort of King Vencalarajen. It is not known whether the descendents of the king still live here. The village along with other adjoining hamlets were once, presumed to be a part of the Chera and Pandiya regimes. The 'Vaidhyanaar nadars' are believed to be the first known settlers of this village, and are believed to have settled here since the later part of the 17th century, and are thought to have migrated from the ancient Kurumbur village of Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu. Currently the hamlet is home to over 100 houses, and about 500 people live here. The age-old Kannan Youth Club boasts of its inauguration in the 1960s by the then honourable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, K. Kamaraj (popularly known as 'Appacchi', means 'beloved father' in local Tamil). The dialect in this part of the country has its unique crux; an admixture of Tirunelveli and Nanjil Tamils with a slight mellifluous blend of Malayalam. Being nadars, the customary profession of the people of this village is palmyra juice tapping. Few others have been good businessmen. Notably, the 'Pandear Kadai' (Pandear Departmental Stores) is almost 60 years old.

Administration and principles

Kinnikannanvilai comes under the South Thamaraikulam panchayat in the district of Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. The village chieftain enjoys the right to look after the people annexed to the 'Oor Koil', means the village temple. The cadres, unanimously elected and appointed by the chieftain during the yearly discourse at the temple premises, are responsible for collecting the 'vari' (tax) from the people residing in the village. The people are responsible for maintaining their relations and prerogatives over the village by paying the 'vari' for the smooth conduct of the 'Pattabhishekam' (coronation) and the traditional 'Annam Vaippu' at the 'Oor Koil'. People abide by the rules and regulations enacted by the village council; especially elders are often advised to abstain from overt consumption of alcoholic beverages/tobacco products in front of young people. Smoking in public places is strictly prohibited in Kinnikannanvilai.

The village administration has been proudly reporting this zone of Kanyakumari district as 'No Crime Zone' for almost over the last 50 years. Students securing good marks in the public examination are felicitated annually at a special event organized by the Kannan Educational Awareness Society convened and managed by the Pachali Educational Charitable Trust.

Landscape, weather and vegetation

The bucolic and picturesque beauty of Kinnikannanvilai lies in its coconut, paddy, plantain, cashew plantations, grassy pastures and quagmires. The beautiful village boasts of its rich source of greenery and seasoned canopies. Thanks to the coconut and casuarina plantations that occupies a huge chunk of the hamlet, besides algal blooms that surface the superficial waters throughout the year! The village enjoys the south-west monsoon brought in by the clouds that hits aback the Western Ghats. The weather is pretty cold in the months of August through March, which might shift to warm and windy summers from April to July with occasional showers at times. Kinnikannanvilai relishes a cool zephyr that emanates off the Arabian Sea surface mostly in the afternoons. Along with Muhilankudieruppu, Koilvilai, Manakude, Elanthayadivilai, Narianvilai and Kombavilai belts, the thorp features a myriad of back-water flora and fauna, originally resident to the Arabian waters. Major revenue is based on small-scale coir fibre industries, paddy and plantain cultivations, cattle rearing, cashew, tamarind, areca, jack, palmyra and different variants (red, green and yellow) of coconut crops. Kinnikannanvilai enjoys the greenery mainly by virtue of the 'Thalakolam-Aalangaal' channel, a minor tributary of the 'Palayar' river.

Gastronomy

The hamlet is also famous for its unique style of Keralite-Nanjil-type seafood cuisines, especially the 'Meen curry' made out of fresh catches of 'Vela Meen' and the 'Queeni Meen' (prawnlets) from adjacent Manakude and Covalam fisherfolk hamlets. People consume rice and non-vegetarian foods excepting Fridays and Tuesdays owing to spiritual reasons. The traditional 'puttu', 'aviyal koottu', 'gundu idli', 'nethili & surakutty puttu', 'kambukizhangu koottu', 'uzhundanganjee', 'kazhiganjee', koottaanjoar', 'mundrekotthu' and 'aappam-kadala curry' are some of the favourite cuisines in this part of the country. Traditionally, one day before the 'Muhoortham' (wedding day) of the wedding ceremony at Kinnikannanvilai and adjoining villages, a conceptual 'Choru Vaippu' ceremony will be organized at the bride's and the groom's residences. The most remarkable feature of the custom relies on the fact that family members, friends and connaiseurs dressed up to the nines turn up in large numbers in dribs and drabs to the traditional grand luncheon dinner, which needless to say, hosts a large number of traditional Nanjil dishes/cuisines and food items, served at the 'Pandhi' (gathering). A similar trend also follows a house-warming ceremony at the house-holds of the thorp.

Faiths and beliefs

People residing in Kinnikannanvilai are followers of Swamithope Ayya Vaikundasamy and Aaladi Sudalaimadasamy, the former an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the later, the youngest son of Lord Shiva. The village is blessed with the providence of the gods of three beautiful shrines; one, of the most revered Ayya Vaikunda's, 'the flamboyant Chadachhipadhee', the other of Sreeman Narayanasamy and the Sudalaimadasamy that lies beside the West Coast Road linking Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram. Ayya Vaikunda preached universal brotherhood, indiscrimination and equality among human beings and to commemorate this, it's been a ritual among 'Ayya Vazhi' followers to practice 'Pichaiyeduppu' (act of begging paddy-grain, bhiksha) at the house-holds, prepare the 'Holy Annam' at the temple premises and distribute it to people from all walks of life irrespective of caste, creed, wealth or indigence. The grand euphony of the 'Thiru Yedu Vaasippu' (Chanting of the Holy Ahilatthirattu) is celebrated for 17 consecutive evenings with great joy by the local people. While a majority of the people are followers of Hinduism, a few others also follow Christianity.

Transportation & telecommunication

Kinnikannanvilai is proud of its neat, gorgeous lanes and macadamized asphalt roads that are free of pot-holes, and the village often reminds one of the clear streets and hamlets of Mangalore. The village is connected to adjacent hamlets and towns by road. The Tamilnadu Road Transport Corporation operates state-of-the-art coaches from Nagercoil to Kanyakumari and the other way round. One need to board coach numbers 2, PCG2, 32A (Limited Service) en route to Kanyakumari from Nagarcoil, and vice versa to get down here.

Kinnikannanvilai is linked with its surroundings by a network of wires and cables, transmission towers and wireless systems in addition to the world wide web. The subscriber trunk dialling (STD) code for the zone is 04652 followed by the individual phone number. Public and private satellite television channels and dish networks are provided by private cable network operators at nominal rates. News updates are aired by the AIR (All India Radio), Nagercoil and private frequency modulation (FM) channels operating from adjoining Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Thiruvananthapuram districts. Interestingly, this zone also enjoy the melodies aired by the 'Ilangai Oliparappu Koottu Sthapanam' and the "Roopavaahini' TV (Govt. of Srilanka, Broadcasting Services) of Srilanka.

Education and professionals

Kinnikannanvilai is popular for it's friendly and peace-loving people, who enjoy halcyon years by maintaining friendly camaraderie with people of adjacent villages.

The village is home to renown local Carnatic vocalists, Bhajan singers, biomedical, agricultural scientists, IT professionals, physicians and clinicians, researchers, stage comedy artists, script writers, linguists, educationists, soap-box & pulpit performers, dias-speakers, politicians, landlords, chefs, philanthropists, social workers, businessmen, philosophists, cartoonists, artists, sportsmen and so on. Furthermore, the village boasts of its recent statistics estimating a 100% literacy rate. Thanks to the services offered by local academicians and educationists.

In the nearest vicinity

Tamil Schools

Government High School, Elanthayadivilai

English Schools

Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Kanyakumari

Gnanadeepam Matriculation School, Agastheeswaram

Colleges/Graduate Schools:

Vivekananda College, Agastheeswaram

S. T. Hindu College, Nagercoil

Women's Christian College, Nagercoil

Scott Christian College, Nagercoil

Pioneer Kumaraswamy College, Nagercoil

Medical Schools

Government Kanyakumari Medical College and Hospital, Asarepallam

Private Health Care Centres

Kumaraswamy Hospitals, Perumalpuram

Sivanthi Hospitals, Vivekanandapuram, Kanyakumari

Public Libraries

N. Manimuthu Nadar-Seethalakshmi Memorial Kannan Youth Club, Kinnikannanvilai

Muhilai Youth Club, Muhilankudieruppu (West)

Sakthi Public Library, Muhilankudieruppu (East)

Koilvilai Youth Club, Koilvilai

Gymkhana Clubs

Kannan Sports Club and Gymkhana (Govt. of Tamilnadu Sponsored)

Sakthi Volleyball Corporation and Gymkhana (Govt. of Tamilnadu Sponsored)

Koilvilai Gymkhana (Govt. of Tamilnadu Sponsored)

Hindu Shrines

Swamithope Ayya Sriman Narayanaswamy Shrine

Kumari Annai Bhagavathi Shrine

Dwarahapadhee Ayya Shrine

Suchindrum Sri Thanumaalaya Swamy Shrine

Chapels/Churches

Koilvilai Muhilankudy CSI Church

Manakude (East) Catholic Church

Elanthayadivilai CSI Church

Universities

Manonmaniam Sundaranaar University, Tirunelveli

Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram

Coach Stations

Kinnikannanvilai Bus Station (2, PCG2, 32A restricted service)

Muhilankudieruppu (West) Bus Station (2, PCG2, 32A, 1H)

Rail Stations

Kanyakumari Rail Station (CAPE)

Nagercoil Rail Station (NCJ)

Airport

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TVM)

Market Places

Kottar Market, Nagercoil

Thailiaruttaan Chanda, Panchalingapuram

Popular landmarks

Swamithope

Manakude

Agastheeswaram

Suchindrum

Postal details

Kinnikannanvilai

Agastheeswaram Post

Kanyakumari District

Tamilnadu 629701

India

References