Brother Mentor NAGAPATTINAM A Coastal District of tamilnadu, on the eastern coast, Bay of Bengal, 326 Km south of the state capital, Chennai and 145 km from trichy, a middle town. It is known for its rich religious Heritage and communal harmony. Nagapattinam district was carved out by bifurcating the erstwhile composite thanjavur district on 18.10.1991. Nagapattinam is a unique district with all its historical and cultural significance. It is the house of a place of worship belongs to Major faiths. HISTROY Nagappatinam is a unique District with all its historical and cultural significance. Nagappattinam is one of the constituents of chola mandalam, acclaimed as the Most Prominent among the ancient Tamil Kingdoms. Its salient features more than anything else have contributed to the glory of the cholamandalam. Coastal town Nagappattinam was the Headquarters of a region during the period. This region has been named after Kshathiriya sigamani. One of the titles of Raja Raja Cholan. Nagappattinam was also known as Cholakula Vallippatinam . The Heritage of the town is found in‘ the Burmese historical text’ of 3rd century B.C. The same text gives evidences of a Budha Vihar built by the great Ashoka. The chineseTraveler Hiuen Tsang also mentioned the Budha vihar in his book. Nagappattinam is mentioned as Padarithitha in ancient Buddhist literature According to scholars avurithidal the name of the part of Nagappattinam might have been derived from the word Padarithitha is the name of the fruit tree Bhirtree [฀฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀฀฀ in Tamil] very common in this region. ‘ ’ ‘ ’ 1 Brother Mentor In ancient times, NagaNadu , Nagappattinam referred only to Sri Lanka. Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka had close‘ links with’ ‘this town Nagappatti’ nam. Anaimangalam Copperplate of Kulothungachola notes that Kasiba Thera’ [Buddhist Monk] Renovated the Buddhist temple in 6th century AD with the ‘the help of Buddhist monks of Naganadu This nagar annam vihar later came to be known as Nagananavihar . “Pallava King” Rajasimha“ [690-728A D]” permitted a Chinese king to“ build Buddha vihar” in Nagappattinam. Hence there existed a Chinese built budha vihar in Nagappattinam. According to Anaimangalam copper plate of Kulothunga I , sri Vijayathunga Varman of sri Vijaya kingdam built Raja Raja Perumpalli in the name of Raja Raja Cholanand [Rajendra Chola Perumpalli] in the name of Rajendra Chola in1090 A D. This budha vihar also called Sudamani vihar. painting of sudamani vihar Nagore was called so because it was inhabited by the Nagars. TheNagappatinam Kayaroganam Shiva temple existed even in the 6th century. Appar,Sambandar and Sundarar were associated with this temple ;Kayaroganam Shivatemple is based on the Laguleesa Pusuptha Cult . ‘ ’ Kayaroganam shiva temple, nagapattinam 2 Brother Mentor Soundaraja Perumal ViashnavaTemple is one of the notable features of Nagappattinam. This favorite town of Chola Kings was also celebrated latter; by Vijaya Nagara Kings. Portuguese had a commercial contact with this town during the Tanjore Nayakkas rule [Sevvppa Nayakkar] and [Acchuthappa Nayakkar] Portguese commercial centure was eastablished in 1554; Since then christianity began to take root under the commercial contact, 10 -villages are taken control of by Portugese traders With the advent of Portugese Velankanni Church came into existence. In 1658, the Dutch tried to evict the Portugese town Nagappattinam to establish the commercial centre there under the agreement reached between King Vijaya Nayakkarof Thanjavoorand the Dutch on 05-01-1662. The following ten villages namely Nagappattinam Port; Puthur; Muttam, Poruvalancheri, Anthonippettai, Karureppankadu, AzhingiMangalam, Sangamangalam, Thiruthinamangalam, Manjakollai, Nariyankudi were transferred from the Portugese to the Dutch. Ten Christian churches and a hosptial were built by the Dutch. They also released coins with the name Nagappattinam; engraved in Tamil letters. According to the agreement between the first Maratta King Egoji of Tanjore and the Dutch. Naagappattinam and surrounding villages were handed over‘ to the’ Dutch.on 30.12.1676. Latter this town fell into the hands of the British in 1781 after the prolonged struggles 277 villages with Nagur as the Headquarters were handed over to the East India companyin1779 Gold coins bearing the names Nagappattinam Varagan and ‘Nagappattinam chornam’ were in circulation during Tanjore‘ Maratha Kings period. Thus’ the Nagappattinam has the history of over 2000 years for its credit. Today Nagappattinam remains the Head quarters of Nagappattinam District. GEOGRAPHY The district of Nagapattinam was carved out by the bifurcation of the Thanjavur district in the year 1991. This district has traditionally been referred to as East Thanjavur and Paddy granary of South India. The Nagapattinam District lies on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. This is a peninsular delta district surrounded by Bay of Bengal on the East, Palk Straight on the South and land on the West and Northern side. 3 Brother Mentor It is predominantly, a coastal district having a large coast line and the entire district is having an area of 2715.83 square kilometers. The maximum temperature of this district is 32 degree centigrade and the minimum temperature is 24.60 degree centigrade. It has an average elevation of 9 metres (30 ft) above the mean sea level. The district has a coastline of 187 kilometres (116 mi). CLIMATE AND RAINFALL The average maximum temperature of the district as a whole is about 320 C and the average minimum temperature is 24.60C. Dust storms whirl winds and dusty winds blow from various quarters towards the end of May. The Southwest winds sets in during April, it is the strongest in June and continues till September. Northeast monsoon starts during the month of October and blow till January. Cyclonic storm with varying wind velocity affects once in 3 or 4 years during the months of November-December. The storms affect the plantation crop. During Southwest monsoon the air is calm and undisturbed. The Northeast monsoon which starts in October and ends in December contributes about 60% of the total annual rainfall. The southwest monsoon rains occur from June to September. RESOURCES LAND RESOURCES Sandy coastal alluvium and black soil types cover 88.71% and 6.58% respectively in this district. The other soils in the district comprise 4.71%. The soil of the district is mostly alluvial but varies greatly in quality. The saline soil is found in the Tirutturaippundi and Nagapattinam taluks where the drainage is very defective. AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE One of the major economic activities of the district, agriculture contributes a higher share of rice production in the State. Important crops in the district include rice, groundnut, pulses, gingelly, sugarcane and cotton. 4 Brother Mentor Details of important crops area in hectares The first crop is known as `Kuruvai' (the short-term crop) with duration of three and a half to four months from June-July to October-November. The second crop called the `Thaladi' has duration of five to six months from October - November to February-March. Third is the `Samba' (thelong-term) crop and has duration of almost six months from August to January. Other cereal crops of the district are cumbu, ragi, maize, korra and varagu. The pulses grown in the district are redgram, greengram and blackgram. Other food crops are condiments and spices, sugar crops, fruits edible oils crops (groundnuts, coconut and gingelly) and vegetables. Among the non-food crops, cotton/fibre, non-edible oils crops (castor, miger seeds, though in very small area) are the important ones. FOREST RESOURCES There are 41 forest areas in the Nagapattinam district constituting a total area of 5,311.70 ha with 35 forest areas falling under the Reserve Forest category with 5,037.21 ha and 6 under reserve land category with 274.49 ha. The division consists of 4 ranges with headquarters at Nagapattinam, Kodiakkarai, Muthupet and Thanjavur. The basic responsibilities of the division include afforestation activities like raising coastal shelterbelt, greenbelts, mangrove restoration, wildlife management and attending to environmental issues. 5 Brother Mentor The important forest and wildlife area in the division includes Point Calimere Wildlife sanctuary. The other important areas are, 1. Vaduvoor 2. Udayamarthandapuram 3. Karaivetti bird sanctuary 4. Muthupet mangroves Tropical dry-evergreen forest covers nearly 15 sq.km of Point Calimere Wildlife sanctuary. The forests are mostly of the nature of scrubland that stands on low sand dunes located on the western half of the sanctuary. Manilkara hexandra, locally called Palai is the most important evergreen species of the sanctuary. Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary and the Muthupet mangroves are the most important forests and wildlife areas of Nagapattinam district. Point Calimere Wildlife sanctuary with a total protected area of 30 sq.km is home to the largest population of the endemic Blackbuck in south India. Other animals of the sanctuary include the jackal, spotted deer, jungle cat, feral horses, black napped hare, including a variety of reptiles. From October to January nearly 90 species of migratory water birds visit the sanctuary and its surroundings. They include Flamingoes, Painted storks, Pelicans, Spoonbills, ducks, teals and a variety of shore birds. The best time to visit the sanctuary for bird watching is November December. The sanctuary is open to visitors throughout the year. MINERAL RESOURCES Major minerals The important major minerals available in Nagapattinam District are as follows: 1. Crude oil 2. Natural gas 3. Silica sand 4. Lime shell 5. Heavy mineral sand (Garnet, Iluminite, Rutile Zircon, Monozite) 6 Brother Mentor Silica sand The silica sand is an oxide of silicon which is used mainly for the manufacture of Sodium Silicate, which in turn is used in the soap and detergent manufacturing industries and also used in foundries, glass making and ceramics as an abrasives. The Silica sand deposit is 4.86 million tonnes, occuring in Vadamalai Manakkadu, Vanduvancherri, Thanikottagam villages of Vedaranyam Taluk in Nagapattinam District.