Thengapattanam

Thengapattanam is located in the South western coast of India bordering the Arabian sea to the west, western ghats to the north, and vast fertile plains with intermittent Rocky hills to the east. The town is 11 km into the Tamil Nadu border from Kerala. The Kerala state capital Thiruvananthapuram is 45 km away from here, whereas Nagercoil is 35 km away. It shares borders with Erayumanthurai, and Amsi villages on either side. The mean elevation of the town is 9 ft (2.7 m) with the highest point Chentapalli Rock being 50 ft (15 m) high above sea level. The Thamirabarani River wraps around most parts of the Kanyakumari district and becomes Kuzhithurai River before reaching Thengapattanam Estuary.

The AVM Canal (Anantha Victoria Marthandam Canal) commissioned by Marthanda Varma Maharaja in the 1860s to facilitate smooth trade, and navigation, passes through this town, the waterway lost its signiface and consequently had to cess operation in the 1980s following the establishment of roadways, unmitigated moderation, and unlawful encroachments adjoining the canal. The Canal, while it functioned, merged with Thamirabarani River River at Thengapattanam, and formed a basin known as Valiyar. The development project mooted to revive AVM Canal Waterways would link Thengapattanam with Kanyakumari in the east and Kasargode in the north-west in Kerala, when it becomes operational.

Thengapattanam is classified under the Seismic Zone III, indicating a moderate risk of damage from earthquakes.

The climate here is classified under Köppen–Geiger climate classification system as As/Aw/Am, as an implication the town experiences moderate tropical climates ranging from monsoon to Savannah dry influenced by the vicinity to Thermal equator. The town has been an annual recipient of unusually high rainfall from both the North-East and South-west monsoons. The South-western monsoon spans the months of June till September, and the North-Eastern monsoon period commences by the October and winds up in the mid or late December. On an average, the Town receives 2100mm of rainfall with 104 rainy days. The summer here, spanning from the month of May to late June, is tropical dry and may reach a peak of 34 °C. The average Humidity in summer is around 74% percentage, while in June the humidity surfaces the 90% mark. The temperature during winter, on the other hand, reaches a low of 20 °C as the night falls. The winter season is marked by high precipitation and moderate rainfall.

Thengapattanam totally has 6 mosques.

The six mosques, including the Valiya Palli, the landmark of this beautiful town, are situated at five vital areas, making it convenient for all the people to come and offer their prayers. The Valiya Palli, which is at the centre of Thengapattanam, is surrounded on the four sides at the north near the bus stand by Rifai Masjid, at the west byKuzhathu Palli, at the west on the river bank of Valiyar by Attupalli, which is situated on the rocky hill and on the south close to the beach by Muhiyuddin Masjid. Chenta Palli, the ruins of which are present on the hilly rock at the eastern side is still considered as a holy place.

Thengapattanam also has Christians which each coastal area has one church from mullorthurai to kodi munnai. Not only in coastal areas amsi, maniyaramkuntru, arasakulam also has churches.

Hindus are less in thengapattanam.

It is a town which has close links with nearby towns as Thuckalay, Thiruvithancode, Colachel, Midalam, Enayam, Enayam Puthenthurai, Poothurai, Nambali and Poovar in the nearby Kerala State. Marriage and social relations thrive among the people of these towns. Other than the above, Thengapattinam has closely connected by trade and social relations with Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala State. A big number of people from Thengapattinam engage in various trade activities in Trivandrum. Houses, here, are built with separate compounds for each house. Sweet drinking water is in plenty with each house a separate well in it.

A proportionate number of people pursue trade and business activities whereas a large chunk has moved to various Gulf countries to earn their livelihood. 'Gulf' is craze here that it is not uncommon to hear that a male member of a house is working in U.A.E., Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Families living here are inter related that they celebrate family gatherings with the help of each other not feeling the absence of male-members. Though the majority of men fold is in 'Gulf', their hears go out to reach the dear and near ones in time of happiness and distress. It is common here to see a handful of men enjoying their vacation from Gulf every day.

Thengapattinam is a main commercial hub for more than 50 small surrounding places, to name a few are, Mulloor Thurai, Raman Thurai, Enayam, Enayam Puthen Thurai, Erayumman Thurai, Poothurai, Panankal Mukku, Arasa Kulam, Keezhkulam, Chentharai, Amsi, Painkulam, Parakkani, Maniyaran Kunnu etc.

A daily market locally known as "Anthi Kadai" is a main hub here for the localers and surrounding villagers for their business and trade activities.

Religious Antiquity

Thengapattinam has the unique and rare distinction of being one of the few first places in India where Islam was propagated and accepted during the time of Muhammad. Islam got firmly rooted here due to the peaceful propagation of the great spiritual leader malik ibn deenar who came from Arabia in the 7th century a.d. through kodungalloor in kerala. His Arabic team built a big mosque here made of hard rocks which is known here as ‘valiapalli’. The ancient Arabic history book ‘rihlathul muluk’ states that the headquarters of syed ubaithath kazhi’ appointed as the religious propaganda secretary of the district was located here. Many Islamic religious scholars later came to this place to propagate Islam.

The mosque built of hard rocky stones knows as malik ibn dinar palli or valia palli, the aatttupalli built on the rocky mountains by the shores of the sea and river bank, the mohideen palli located near the canal in thoppu, the chenta palli built on kuntadipattan paarai, the rifai palli located close to the bus station and the khaja palli located by the shores of the Arabian sea are the mosques of this tiny town.

Tamil is the major language here and a minority of people speaks Malayalam. Many People are bi-lingual who speak both Tamil and Malayalam. English is also spoken and understood. Tamil is spoken with Malayalam accent. Tamil spoken here is difficult to understand for other Tamils of the state. Some words originated from the influence of various cultures, such as Olungu (mosquito) etc. is spoken and understood only by the natives. The impact of Malabar Muslim culture is very much felt here. One example for this is the usage of Arabi-Malayalam (Malayalam language written in Arabic script) which can only read by those who know Arabic and understood only by those who know Malayalam.

Road transport is the main mode of transport in this town. This town has bus services from Marthandam, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Trivandrum. Taxis are also available there for short trips. Autos are available mostly. Most of the people use scooters and bikes.

The nearest railway station to Thengapattanam is at Kuzhithurai which is 12 km away.

The nearest airport to the Thengapattanam is at Trivandrum which is almost 35 km away.