Point Calimere

Point Calimere ("Kalli-medu" Tamil) also called Cape Calimere and Kodikkarai, is a low headland on the Coromandel Coast, in the Nagapattinam district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the apex of the Cauvery River delta, and marks a nearly right-angle turn in the coastline. A historic landmark here was the Chola lighthouse, destroyed in the tsunami of 2004.

The forests of Point Calimere, also known the Vedaranyam forests, are one of the last remnants of the dry evergreen forests that were once typical of the East Deccan dry evergreen forests ecoregion. The Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, with an area of 24.17 km², was created on June 13 1967. The sanctuary includes the cape and its three natural habitat types: dry evergreen forests, mangrove forests, and wetlands. In 1988, the sanctuary was enlarged to include the Great Vedaranyam Swamp and the Talaignayar Reserve Forest, and renamed the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary, with a total area of 377 km². Point Calimere is one of the few known wintering locations of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. [cite journal|title=First records of Spoon-billed Sandpiper "Calidris pygmeus" in the Indian Sundarbans delta, West Bengal|author=Sharma, Arunayan|url=http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/19pdfs/Sharma-SpoonbilledSand.pdf|format=PDF|journal=Forktail|volume=19|year=2003|pages=136-137] It also holds large wintering populations of Greater Flamingos in India. The area is dotted with salt pans and these hold large crustacean populations that support the wintering bird life. Pesticide residues running off from agricultural fields and shrimp farms has entered the ecosystem and many species have high concentrations of DDT and HCH in their tissue. [Cite journal|journal=Chemistry and Ecology| volume=19|issue=4|year=2003|pages=247–261|title=Organochlorine residues in the avifauna of Tamil Nadu (Southeast coast of India)|author=Sethuraman, A and AN Subramanian]

Not far from Point Calimere is the mangrove forest of Muthupet.

Point Calimere is also associated with the Hindu epic, The Ramayana. The highest point of the cape, at an elevation of 4 m, is Ramarpatham,"Rama’s feet" in Tamil. A stone slab bears the impressions of two feet and is understood to be the place where Rama stood and reconnoitered Ravana’s kingdom in Sri Lanka, which lies 48 km. to the south.

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