Thoothukudi district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Thoothukudi.

Thoothukudi District தூத்துக்குடி மாவட்டம்
—  district  —
Pearl Fishery at Thoothukudi (1662)
Location of Thoothukudi District in Tamil Nadu
Coordinates	8°48′10.8″N 78°8′40.2″E / 8.803°N 78.1445°E / 8.803; 78.1445Coordinates: 8°48′10.8″N 78°8′40.2″E / 8.803°N 78.1445°E / 8.803; 78.1445
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
Subdistrict(s)	Ettayapuram, Kovilpattai, Ottapidaram, Sathankulam, Srivaikundam, Thoothukkudi, Tiruchendur, Vilathikulam.
Headquarters	Thoothukudi
Collector	Ashish Kumar, IAS
Municipal Corporations	Thoothukudi
Municipalities
Town Panchayats
Official languages	Tamil
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Central location:	8°48′N 78°8′E / 8.8°N 78.133°E / 8.8; 78.133
Codes • Pincode • 628xxx • Telephone • +0461 • Vehicle • TN-69[1]
Website	Official website of Thoothukudi District

Thoothukudi District(Tamil: தூத்துக்குடி மாவட்டம்), also known as Tuticorin District, is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) is the district headquarters. It is also known for Pearl cultivation with abundance of pearls found in the seas of Thoothukudi. It is known as the gate way of Tamil Nadu.

Location

Thoothukudi district is situated in the extreme South-Eastern corner of Tamil Nadu. It is bounded on the north by the districts of Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, and Ramanathapuram, on the east and southeast by the Gulf of Mannar and on the west and southwest by Tirunelveli district. The total area of the district is 4621 km². The administrative headquarters is an urban agglomeration and also one of the taluk headquarters within. Thoothukkudi District was derived from Tirunelveli District in 1986.

The district of Thoothukudi was carved out as a separate district on 20 October 1986 as a result of bifurcation of the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu State. Thiru. R. Arumugam, I.A.S. was the first Collector of this District.

History

Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) is one of the major seaports in India with its history dating back to the 6th century A.D..

The Thoothukudi district has given India many great freedom fighters, like the great poet Subramanya Bharathi, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Vellaiyathevan,, Sundaralingam etc.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Thoothukudi district has a population of 1,738,376,^[2] roughly equal to the nation of The Gambia^[3] or the US state of Nebraska.^[4] This gives it a ranking of 277th in India (out of a total of 640).^[2] The district has a population density of 378 inhabitants per square kilometre (980 /sq mi) .^[2] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 9.14 %.^[2] Thoothukkudi has a sex ratio of 1024 females for every 1000 males,^[2] and a literacy rate of 86.52 %.^[2]

Tamil is the main language spoken here, whilst English is also widely used. As per the 2001 census, the total population of the district was 1,572,273. Hindus form the majority of the population (78.58%), followed by Christians (16.71%), Muslims (4.63%) and others (0.08%).^[5]

This district is divided into 8 taluks for administration purpose and 12 revenue block for rural and urban developments. The 8 taluks are Tuticorin, Thiruchendur, Sathankulam, Srivaikundam, Ottapidaram, Kovilpatti, Ettayapuram and Vilathikulam. The 12 revenuw blocks are Tuticorin, Thiruchendur, Udangudi, Sathankulam, Srivaikundam, Alwarthirunagari, Karunkulam, Ottapidaram, Kovilpatti, Kayathar, Vilathikulam and Pudur.^[6] ondi veeran a famous brave soldier in kattabomman army too fought for freedom

Economy

Irrigation

There are no large reservoirs in this district so the Papanasam and Manimuthar dams located in the Tirunelveli district in the Thamirabarani River's flow are the main sources of irrigation. Other than the Thamirabarani River, the river Vaipar in Vilathikulam taluk, the river Karumeni which traverses through Sathankulam, and Tiruchendur taluks, Palayakayal are all sources. In Ottapidaram taluk, there is one small reservoir at Eppodumvendran village. And banana tree is famous in Kulaiyankarisal here most banana leaf is delivered to various district

Agriculture

Paddy is cultivated in the Palayakayal Srivaikundam, Sattankulam and Tiruchendur taluks. Cumbu, Cholam, Kuthiraivali and other pulses are raised in the dry tracts of Kovilpatti, Vilathikulam,Nagalapuram Ottapidaram, and Thoothukudi taluks. Cotton is cultivated in Kovilpatti, Ottapidaram and Thoothukudi Taluks. Groundnut cultivation is undertaken in Kovilpatti, Tiruchendur, and Sattankulam taluks. Groundnut cake is being used as manure and cattle feed. Nagalapuram makes its economy to be solely dependent agriculture. Main business of this area is dry chilly, cholam, cumbu wood charcoal, etc.

With 35% share, the district is the top producer of Cumbu in Tamil Nadu.^[7]

Palmyrah trees are grown mostly in Tiruchendur, Srivaikundam, Sattankulam and Vilathikulam taluks. In srivaikundan taluk, there are so many lakes like sivagalai kulam and perungulam near Sivagalai which is the main sources for the farmers in the village Sivagalai and its surroundings. Jaggery is produced from palmyrah juice; the production of jaggery is the main occupation of the people of Tiruchendur and Sattankulam taluks. Banana and other vegetables are raised in Srivaikundam and Tiruchendur taluks. The road going towards Kulayankarisal from Thiruchendur has banana farms on one side and a salt farm on the other; each farm needs a different type of water. Thoothukudi district is the largest exporter of bananas in Tamil Nadu.

Salt production

The district constitutes 70 per cent of the total salt production of Tamil Nadu and 30 per cent of that of India. Tuticorin is the second largest producer of Salt in India next to Gujarat.

Readymade Clothes

Puthiamputhur is one of important village involved in manufacturing ready-made clothes. The clothes are sent all over Tamil Nadu. It provides employment for more than 10,000 people mostly hailing from near villages.

Culture

St.Aloysius

Temples & Churches

• Sri Subrahmanya Swami Devasthanam, Tiruchendur.The temple is located on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. Tiruchendur temple is the second of the six abodes of Lord Murugan, enshrining Senthilandavar and is very popular with pilgrims.
• Alwarthirunagari is one of the most well known festivals of Sri Vaishnavam. It is celebrated to mark the birth of Swami Namalwar, who was born in the month of Vaikasi and the star of Visakam, hence the name. Vaikasi Visakam is a 10 day festival.
• Arulmigu Mutharamman Temple, Kulasekaranpattanam. This temple is famous for dasara fesival, it is 10 day festival. The main thing of this festival is Dasara Kuzhu.

Snows Basilica

• Our Lady of Snows Basilica, Tuticorin Church was built in 16th century with Portuguese architecture. St. Francis Xavier visited the church in 1542. The Church of Our Lady of Snows celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1982, Pope John Paul II raised it to the status of Basilica.castism prevaiing all over this district mostly the same caste peoples join together and run businees from the top to bottom
• Vanathirupathi in Punnai Nagar built by P.Rajagopal Founder, Hotel Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels is recently famous in the district.

Meignanapuram church is one of the famous churches. Its height is 196 feet.

References

1. ^ www.tn.gov.in
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
3. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. "Gambia, The 1,797,860 July 2011 est." 
4. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. "Nebraska 1,826,341" 
5. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu". Thoothukudi.nic.in. http://thoothukudi.nic.in/upinfo/drda/TUT-Map.html. Retrieved 2011-09-20. 
7. ^ http://www.tn.gov.in/deptst/agriculture.pdf

External links

• Thoothukudi
• A to Z of Thoothukudi
• All About Thoothukudi
• Thoothukudi corporation
• Thoothukudi District Friends Community
• Tuticorin City
• Thoothukudi District
• Thoothukudi Churches