CleanupBot II at 09:20, 14 August 2023

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Refimprove|date=August 2012}}
{{peacock|date=August 2013}}
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{{Infobox settlement
| name = Kulasekarapatnam
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name = Kulasekarapatnam, Kulasekarapattinam
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Town
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Tamil Nadu#India
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Tamil Nadu, India
| coordinates = {{coord|8|24|0|N|78|3|0|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Tamil Nadu]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Thoothukudi district|Thoothukudi]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body = Kulasekarapatnam Panchayat
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 12.5
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 12010
| population_as_of = 2001
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 628206
| area_code_type = Telephone code
| area_code = 4639
| registration_plate = TN 69
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest city
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Thoothukudi]]
| blank2_name_sec1 = [[Human sex ratio|Sex ratio]]
| blank2_info_sec1 = 1000:1177 [[male|♂]]/[[female|♀]]
| blank3_name_sec1 = Literacy
| blank3_info_sec1 = 85.91%
| blank4_name_sec1 = [[Lok Sabha]] constituency
| blank4_info_sec1 = [[Thoothukudi (Lok Sabha constituency)|Thoothukudi]]<br /> Formerly with [[Tiruchendur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Tiruchendur]]
| blank5_name_sec1 = [[Vidhan Sabha]] constituency
| blank5_info_sec1 = [[Tiruchendur (State Assembly Constituency)|Tiruchendur]]
| blank6_name_sec1 = Civic agency
| blank6_info_sec1 = Kulasekarapatnam Panchayat Board
| blank1_name_sec2 = [[Climate of India|Climate]]
| blank1_info_sec2 = [[Climatic regions of India|Humid]] <small>([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]])</small>
| website = {{URL|www.kulasaikukieaks.com}}
| footnotes =
}}

'''Kulasekarapatnam''' (Kulasekharapattinam) is a town in the [[Thoothukudi district]] (formerly Tinnelvelly or [[Tirunelveli]]) of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]].

Kulasekharapatnam was an ancient port dating to the 1st centuries AD and was contemporaneous to the existence of [[Kollam]], [[Chera dynasty|Cheran]] Port, another [[Pandyan]] port. [[Kollam]] served the [[Pandyas]] on the west coast while Kulasekharapatnam served them on the east coast connecting them to [[Ceylon]] and the pearl fisheries in the [[Gulf of Mannar]] facing the [[Tirunelveli]] Coast. The other ports on the [[Coromandel Coast]] were [[Kaveripumpattinam]] (Poompuhar) and Arikamedu (near Pondicherry). On the west coast the ancient ports were Kodungallur and Barugachha (Broach) in Gujarat.<ref>K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, History of South India, 2nd ed.,Oxford University Press, 1958</ref> Kulasekharapatnam lost its significance once Tuticorin became a big port.<ref>{{cite news|title=Picnic on the beach|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/10/15/stories/2005101501360300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029090143/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/10/15/stories/2005101501360300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2005|date=15 October 2005|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|location=Chennai, India}}</ref>

Kulasekharapatnam the name is derived from pandyan ruler [[Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I]]. Kulasekharapatnam is referred to in [[Marco Polo]]'s travel diaries dating to 1250 AD.

Kulasekharapatnam has Muslim settlements since ancient times.

The famous [[Mutharamman Temple, Tiruchendur|Mutharamman Temple]], which is 300 years old, is located in this place. Also, at the north of this village, an ancient marvelous Temple Dharmasvardhni has situated.

Sugar factory was running very successfully till the end of the British rule. Since the British rule Kulasekharapatnam has customs office. [[British Railway]] Line was established and it was called [[Kulasekharapatnam Light Railway]] and the stations were Kulasekharapatnam Central, Kulasekharapatnam Port and KPM Sugar factory in 1933.

[[ISRO]] has announced that a new space launch pad will be set up at Kulasekharapatnam <ref>{{cite web |title=New launch pad in Tamil Nadu to help Isro |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/new-tn-launch-pad-to-help-isro-save-fuel/articleshow/76668427.cms |website=Times of India |access-date=28 June 2020}}</ref>

== Old Harbour mentioned by Marco Polo ==
[[Marco Polo]] describes the [[Pandyan]] port city of Kulasekharapatnam which even now we can see in the seashore of Kulasekharapatnam that Some Pillars which were used to give the right direction for ships as it is at this city that all the ships touch that come from the west, as from Hormos and from Kis and from Aden, and all [[Arabia]], laden with horses and with other things for sale. And this brings a great concourse of people from the country round about, and so there is great business done in this city.

==Rowther & Marakkars settlement==
Now Kulasekarapatnam has [[Muslim]] Population as '''[[Marakkar]]s''' or '''[[Marakkayar]]s''' they were doing trade with Ships, they had come from Kerala, it is said '''[[Kunjali Marakkar]]'s''' family members coming from kerala. In Kulsekarapatnam till 1965 the small ships "Dhoni" operated from there. If one town was a port, it must have had a Light House. Kulasekharapatnam even now has a light house in near [[Manapad]]. In Kulasekharapatnam, During the reign of the Pandyas, the city was also known as the [[Rowther]] Palayam a section of Muslim that [[Cavalry|Military cavalry]] traditional peoples and Horse Traders. kulasekharapatnam was also an important trade centre even before the arrival of Islam. Since the 8th century AD, This city is inhabited by Hindus.

[[File:Kulasekarapatinam_Perumal_Temple.preview.jpg|thumbnail|Kulasekarapatinam Perumal Temple]]

== Origin of Marakkars ==
[[Marakkar|Maraicar or Maraicayar, Marakayar, Maraicar]] is a distinctive [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Malayalam]]-speaking [[Muslim]] people of the states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Kerala]] in [[India]]. The name Marakkar is different from Marakkayar (Marikkar & Maricar are other spellings used in history books). According to many other historians, Moppila or Moplah is Maha Pillai (great son) and Marakkar means (Marakkalam is a wooden boat) ‘boatmen’. Thurston in his Tribes of S India, states the following - The word Marakkar is usually derived from the Tamil 'marakalam', a boat. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Search Results Web results The Marakkar's and their origins|url=https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2009/04/marakkars-and-their-origins.html|author=Maddy}}</ref>

Was it also a titular name for seaborne traders? KVK Iyer clarifies in his history of Kerala that Marakkar was a prized title given by the Zamorin of Calicut. Derived from Marakka Rayar it signifies the captain of a ship Rayar (Captain) of Marakkalam (ship)<ref name=":0" />

Traditionally, the Maricars engaged in mercantile commerce. They can be found along coastal areas of the states of [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] in [[India]]. <ref name=":0" />

The Maraicars can be found in coastal areas of South India, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Those who settled in coastal regions of India [Tamil Nadu and Kerala] are called {{transl|ta|marakala rayars}}, (from {{transl|ta|marakalam}} which means wooden boat and {{transl|ta|rayar}} which means king in the Tamil language]) The captains of the ships are called malimars (malumiyar comes from the Tamil words {{transl|ta|malumi}} which means captain, and {{transl|ta|yar}}, and the ship crew members are called {{transl|ta|sherangs}}. Even today{{transl|ta| malimars [malumiyars]}}, {{transl|ta|sherangs}} and {{transl|ta|maricars [Marakalrayars]}} are to be found living only on the coast of Tamil Nadu. {{transl|ta|Maricars}} can be found abundance in Maraikayar Pattinam (which is thought to be the ancestral hometown of the early {{transl|ta|Maricars}}), Parangipettai (Portonovo), Kulasekharapatnam, [[Karaikal]], [[Kilakarai]], [[Adirampattinam]], Muthupet, [[Nagore]], Nagapattinam, Manjakollai and various other coastal towns.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Kulasekharapatnam's street by Fazil.jpg|thumbnail|left|Kulasekharapatnam Jumma Mosque and Matharasa]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kulasekharapatnam}}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20111015080841/http://indianmuslims.in/kunjali-marakkar/
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~lkawgw/kmaraikayar.html Kudi Maraikayar of eastern Sri Lanka]

[[Category:Villages in Thoothukudi district]]

Kulasekharapatnam - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 09:20, 14 August 2023