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Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin), Nagercoil & Colachel

1M views 6K replies 229 participants last post by  gyme 
#1 · (Edited)
Ladies & Gentlemen,

Located 89 km on the South East of the Trivandrum City Centre is the beautiful locale - the Cape Comorin .

This place is the southern most tip of the Peninsular India.
It is the Cape in the Indian Sub-Continent , where the three seas viz.

The Indian Ocean, The Arabian Sea / Laccadive Sea and the Bay of Bengal merge.

It is one of the very rare locations on this mother earth, where we can see the Sun Rise and the Sunset as well.

Cape Comorin is also called Kanya Kumari. (Comorin is the anglicised form of Kumari). Devi Kanya Kumari is the main Idol of the famous temple located in Cape. Apart from this temple, the Gandhi Smrithi Mandapam,
Vivekananda Rock & Thiru Valluvar Statue attract millions.

Nagercoil (located 70 km South of Trivandrum) is the Headquarters of the Southermost District of India (Kanya Kumari). In Tamil Nadu, this District is more popularly called KK District and the people are known as Kumarans. The District was constituted in 1956 (at a time when the State Re-organisation took place) by dividing the elstwhile Trivandrum District and out of the eight Taluks of the then Trivandrum, four were given to Tamil Nadu.

Colachel is an ancient port city, which is historically important. The Dutch Captain Delnoy was defeated by the Travancore Navy at the end of the 'Battle of Colachel'). Colachel is located 50 km south of the Vizhinjam Port in Trivandrum District.

I welcome all to add interestng features on the development of these three places.

I shall also be adding in more informations on the other attractions like
Colachel Port, Uzhavar Chandai, Monday Market, River Thamraparni, Pechipparai Dam, Kothayar Dams, Thripparappu, Kulasekharam,
Padmanabhapuram Palace, Uppalam, Vivekananda Centre, Thiruvitamcode Tunnel,Azhakiyamandapam, Thuckalay, Veli Malay, Maruthua Malay , Marthandam, Vedivechan Coil, Mulagummoodu, Thoduvetty, Saamiyar Madom , Netta etc etc.

Cheers
 
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#81 ·
Jaleel, in a forum like this accessible by all, there is no need for revealing the identity of person. Everything goes by the 'username'.

BTW there is a point in what he said, we have to give 'courtesy' or 'copy rights' to the owner or the source. Even then, those images with 'fully restricted rights' need to be avoided. Better to ask permission of the photographer before posting any picture.

Yesterday Jan (Administrator) had got a mail from a photographer that some of his copy righted pics were being used without permission or reference in one of the cityscape threads. He had entered in to a contract with some company for his photos. I had to spend some 45 minutes finding and deleting all those photos.
 
#82 ·
Jaleel, in a forum like this accessible by all, there is no need for revealing the identity of person. Everything goes by the 'username'.

BTW there is a point in what he said, we have to give 'courtesy' or 'copy rights' to the owner or the source. Even then, those images with 'fully restricted rights' need to be avoided. Better to ask permission of the photographer before posting any picture.

Yesterday Jan (Administrator) had got a mail from a photographer that some of his copy righted pics were being used without permission or reference in one of the cityscape threads. He had entered in to a contract with some company for his photos. I had to spend some 45 minutes finding and deleting all those photos.
Agree, but as long as the user is good and he do not start a shadow fight under the ID

Fully Agree


Thanks
 
#84 ·
Padmanabhapuram Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace

A magnificent wooden palace of the 16th century, Padmanabhapuram Palace lies at the land's end of mainland India. An enticing piece to any lover of art and architecture this old palace of the kings of the erstwhile Travancore (1550 to 1750 AD) is a fine specimen of Kerala's indigenous style of architecture. Charles Correa, India architect par excellence selected as one among the top ten architects of the world by the British Institute of architects, says that it is his most favorite building. He has incorporated many ideas from this building, in his architectural style.

Padmanabhapuram fort encloses an area of around 200 acres. The strong fort walls rise to a height of 30 ft. the foundation of which is constructed in granite and the superstructure in red stone. The grand palace stands at the centre of the fort. The palace buildings lie sprawled over an area of 6.5 acres.The antique interiors are replete with intricate rosewood carvings and sculptured decor. The palace also contains 17th and 18th century murals.

One can see: the musical bow in mahogany, windows with coloured mica, royal chairs with Chinese carvings, 'Thaikkottaram' or the Queen Mother's palace with painted ceilings, rose wood and teak carved ceilings with 90 different floral designs.

Durbar Hall with a shiny black floor specially made from a combination of egg white, jaggery lime, burnt coconut, charcoal and river sand, granite tubs to cool curd and buttermilk, secret underground passages, the King's bedroom with a four poster medicinal bed, mural paintings, pictures of Lord Krishna, hanging brass lanterns lit continuously since the 18th century, hanging cage through which eagles tore criminals to death, open air swimming bath, the King's sister's dressing room, granite dance hall, Saraswathi (goddess of knowledge) temple, large earthen urns, room for scribes and accountants, carved figures on columns holding oil lamps, pooja (worship) rooms with jackfruit tree columns, fish carvings on the ceilings, enormous teak beams, Belgian mirrors and an outer cyclopean stone wall fitted together without mortar.

The visitor is often overwhelmed by the royal splendour. Though the palace is situated in Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu State, it comes under the purview of the Government of Kerala's administration.

Best Season:
November to May

Timings : 9 Am to 4.30 Pm all days except Mondays and National holidays

Emergency Details:
Research OfficerPadmanabhapuram PalaceThuckalay.P.ONagarcoil , Kanyakumari District
For more information about THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: [*00121035click here *]

Transport Terminals:
Thakkala (Bus Stand)

Location:
Padmanabhapuram lies 55 km south-west of Thiruvananthapuram( a two-and-a-half hour drive)

How to Reach:
Nearest Railway Station: Nagercoil (15km) and local station is Iraniel (6km) from the palace
Nearest Airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, 6 km from Thiruvananthapuram city


Courtesy: "Mathrubhumi" daily.
http://www.mathrubhumi.com/travel/
 
#85 · (Edited)
Padmanaba puram palace, and the vatta kotai, fortress have unique place in the sense,that though they are within Tamilnadu government after 1957 partition, these two places are still under the control of Kerala Government and are managed by it. Another startling factor is, From Vatakotai, to Padmanabapuram palace, via Udhyakiri fort, there runs a underterestial,beneath the ground path. but might be in a dialpidated condition, but the opening is still there in the Udayagiri fort, just near the Melancodu temple
One correction to the post,Vattakottai is maintained by ASI now.During my visit last year to Vattakottai i was taken thro the history of the fort by the ASI personnel posted there.The said underground passage is still visible for a small distance from the fort.One more interesting thing abt this fort is that it used to lie at the edge of the ersthwhile Travancore kingdom(have attached a snap to show that),so it was strategically very important.As per the ASI people out there even during Tsunami the fort walls withstood the fury of sea and water came inside the fort only thro the front opening.In the inner area of fort u can sea "fish" inscribed on the roof a structure - was it ruled by the Pandyas for some time ??Eustachius De Lannoy captured Dutch Naval officer who led the Travancore army built this fort.During his leadership was the Indian form of left -right-left marching formed.The soldiers used to tie Olai(coconut leaf) on one foot and seelai(saree bit) on another and the marching words used to smthg like olakkal (left) -seelakkal(right) and so on ...i remember even my father confirming such practice in olden days in school.The area around the fort is rich in Thorium sand and as usual mafia are doing good in this area.Ok enough of history enjoy the snaps.

Opening to the tunnel from the fort


Tunnel going for some distance towards the Udayagiri fort


Fish engraved on the roof ??? - Any Pandya connection?


The river u see in the image is the boundry of Travancore kingdom,other side lies Pandia Nadu
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9012/img3206e.jpg

Inside of fort:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/118/img3209c.jpg

The English words Vattakottai came on with the De Lannoy ,beneath lies the Travancore emblem:


The colorful sands near the fort:



Welcome viewers comments.Regards,

Subbu - Mdu
 
#87 ·
One correction to the post,Vattakottai is maintained by ASI now.During my visit last year to Vattakottai i was taken thro the history of the fort by the ASI personnel posted there.The said underground passage is still visible for a small distance from the fort.One more interesting thing abt this fort is that it used to lie at the edge of the ersthwhile Travancore kingdom(have attached a snap to show that),so it was strategically very important.As per the ASI people out there even during Tsunami the fort walls withstood the fury of sea and water came inside the fort only thro the front opening.In the inner area of fort u can sea "fish" inscribed on the roof a structure - was it ruled by the Pandyas for some time ??Eustachius De Lannoy captured Dutch Naval officer who led the Travancore army built this fort.During his leadership was the Indian form of left -right-left marching formed.The soldiers used to tie Olai(coconut leaf) on one foot and seelai(saree bit) on another and the marching words used to smthg like olakkal (left) -seelakkal(right) and so on ...i remember even my father confirming such practice in olden days in school.The area around the fort is rich in Thorium sand and as usual mafia are doing good in this area.Ok enough of history enjoy the snaps.

Opening to the tunnel from the fort


Tunnel going for some distance towards the Udayagiri fort


Fish engraved on the roof ??? - Any Pandya connection?


The river u see in the image is the boundry of Travancore kingdom,other side lies Pandia Nadu
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9012/img3206e.jpg

Inside of fort:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/118/img3209c.jpg

The English words Vattakottai came on with the De Lannoy ,beneath lies the Travancore emblem:


The colorful sands near the fort:



Welcome viewers comments.Regards,

Subbu - Mdu
The view from "Vattakkottai" is panoramic. It has found place in a number of films.

You can enjoy the beauty of the 'Bay of Bengal' and the tip of the Indian Peninsula from this lovely Fort.

During my college days (1986), I had walked the entire distance of 6 or 8 km? from Kanya Kumari to Vattakkottai through the sandy beaches. It was a great experience. There was an All India National Integration Camp as organsied by the National Service Scheme at the Vivekananda Kendra. My fellow walkers included students of different universities from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari.


A Kanya Kumari visitor always makes it a point to visit the "Vattakkottai" and the adjacent "Uppalam", where common salt is derived out of sea water.
 
#88 ·
Advisory report on Colachel Port soon

The Malaysian government has prepared the final development and financial report on the implementation of the proposed Colachel Port project in Tamil Nadu. The report would be submitted to the Indian government soon. The project, which is estimated to cost Rs 2,500 crore, will be executed by a consortium of Malaysian companies.

Under the development proposal, Colachel Port would initially handle the shipment and transshipment of 1 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) which would eventually go up to 7.6 million TEUs annually. The Malaysian government has indicated its willingness to go ahead with the first phase of the project once it receives a formal consent from the Indian government. The project would be undertaken on BOT basis with a contractual period of 25 years.

The government had signed a MoU for developing the Colachel Port, near Chennai, with the Tamil Nadu government last year.




(1/2/02)

http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=3650
 
#89 ·
TN wants Centre to develop Colachel port

TN wants Centre to develop Colachel port


Posted: 2007-04-25 00:00:00+05:30 IST
Updated: Apr 25, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST



Chennai, April 24 : The Tamil Nadu government will request the Union government to develop Colachel as a major international container transhipment hub port, 'since this project requires huge investment'. It has also sought Central support for preparing a detailed feasibility report. Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd would be the consultant for preparing detailed feasibility and detailed project reports to develop the port, Vellakoil M P Saminathan, minister for highways told the State Assembly on Tuesday.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tn-wants-centre-to-develop-colachel-port/197592/
 
#91 ·
More Trains to Kerala to pass through Nagercoil Junction

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Thiruvananthapuram Central and Ernakulam stations saturated and Kochuveli having limited traffic facilities and passenger amenities, the Railways are thinking of starting more trains running through the State from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.

The attempt is to use the spare capacity of the coaching terminal at Tirunelveli, 120 km from Thiruvananthapuram Central, for starting trains running through the State, a senior Railway official said. Three pit lines are available there and the facilities at the coaching terminal are underutilised.

The trains that are to commence operations from Tirunelveli include those to Bilaspur and Kurla in Mumbai. The two trains were announced in the last Railway Budget.

Thiruvananthapuram Central, which is to be upgraded into a world-class station, handles double the sanctioned capacity of trains, the official said.

The official said the Railways were handling four pairs of trains from Kochuveli with just one pit line and two platforms.

The pit line is saturated and new trains cannot be started from Ernakulam, Kochuveli and Thiruvananthapuram Central stations.

The divisional railway authorities have finalised a Rs.250-crore proposal for setting up an operating centre for trains starting from and terminating in the capital city on 12.14 hectares of land owned by the Railways adjacent to the Nemom railway station.

The Railways are planning 10 pit lines to take care of the maintenance of 30 trains; 12 stabling lines; sick lines and quarters for railway personnel at Nemom.

General Manager of Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, M.S. Jayanth, who holds additional charge of the General Manager, Southern Railway, reviewed the second phase development work at the Kochuveli railway terminal.

Under the Rs.36-crore project, the Railways are setting up two stabling lines, two pit lines and three platforms to handle more trains.

Source The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/12/stories/2009051261871100.htm
Thanks Ajit
 
#92 ·
Kanya Kumari - Distance Calculator India

Kanya Kumari - Distance Calculator India

(Distance in km)


Agartala 4039
Agra 2539
Ahmedabad 2127
Ajmer 2653
Akola 1742
Aligarh 2622
Allahabad 2335
Alwaye 327
Ambala 2933
Amritsar 3188
Asansol 2491
Aurangabad 1594
Bangalore 681
Bareilly 2751
Belgaum 1131
Bellary 986
Bhavnagar 2314
Bhopal 2082
Bhubaneshwar 1918
Bikaner 2886
Chandigarh 2979
Chennai 683
Coimbatore 452
Cuttack 1943
Dehradun 2920
Dhanbad 2468
Dibrugarh 3840
Dimapur 3675
Dindigul 301
Durgapur 2531
Gangtok 3040
Gaya 2684
Ghaziabad 2760
Gorakhpur 2633
Gulbarga 1344
Guntur 1079
Gurgaon 2735
Guwahati 3401
Gwalior 2415
Haldia 2343
Hassan 768
Hissar 2906
Hubli 1086
Hyderabad 1243
Imphal 3885
Indore 1996
Jabalpur 1994
Jaipur 2666
Jaisalmer 2775
Jalandhar 3105
Jammu 3325
Jamnagar 2429
Jamshedpur 2312
Jhansi 2318
Jodhpur 2825
Jorhat 3704
Kakinada 1367
Kanpur 2532
Kochi 307
Kohima 3740
Kolhapur 1234
Kolkata 2359
Kota 2424
Kozhikode 488
Kurnool 1033
Lucknow 2609
Ludhiana 2246
Madurai 235
Mangalore 712
Meerut 2806
Moradabad 2806
Mullur 95
Mumbai 1630
Muzaffarnagar 2795
Muzaffarpur 2883
Mysore 617
Nagercoil 19
Nagpur 1730
Nanded 1527
Nasik 1669
Nellore 855
New Delhi 2742
Panjim 1107
Paradip 2042
Pathankot 3217
Patna 2669
Pondicherry 578
Porbandar 2521
Pune 1467
Purulia 2385
Raipur 2008
Rajkot 2343
Rameshwaram 314
Ranchi 2474
Rohtak 2803
Rourkela 2252
Sagar 2120
Saharanpur 2872
Salem 478
Sambalpur 2103
Shillong 3501
Shimla 3084
Shivpuri 2393
Sholapur 1371
Silchar 727
Siliguri 2926
Srinagar 3617
Surat 1829
Thane 1609
Thanjavur 436
Thiruvananthapuram 88
Tirunelveli 85
Tirupati 835
Trichur 386
Tuticorin 133
Udaipur 2379
Ujjain 2051
Ulhasnagar 1603
Vadodara 2014
Varanasi 2460
Vijayawada 1111
Visakhapatnam 1493
Warangal 1383
 
#95 ·
Travancore Sea Ports Limited: Colachel, Vizhinjam & Quilon

Thanks Robin & full credit to your investigation.


http://www.financialexpress.com/news/colachel-vizhinjam-port-projects-caught-in-high-seas/175610/

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=679398&page=30

Today, 03:03 PM #594
robin_a_p
Registered User


Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Trivandrum/Bangalore
Posts: 450 What about joint developement of Vizhinjam and Colachel

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An old report..but with an interesting message


Quote:
A hub port on the West Coast, close to the international sea route, is essential for India’s industrial and economic development.

Both Colachel and Vizhinjam can serve this purpose, may be with a variance in cost. Hence, from a national perspective, experts feel that instead of competing with each other, TN and Kerala should co-operate and jointly develop India’s star port.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news...h-seas/175610/

GoI, Gok and GoTN should combine the developement of Vizhinjam, Colachel and Kollam and make them under one management... probably named as Travancore sea ports Ltd...
 
#96 ·
air port in kanyakumari

Mp from Kanyakumari has rightly represented and presented fool proof,logically sound, request for an airport to the southenmost part of India
1.Government land to the tune of1000 acres in manakudi without any trees around available very nearto the sea , so that take of and landing through the searoute will fecilitate
2. Australia bound planes will land instead of goingto srilanka,

3. In case of war, it is highly necessary to shield atomic plantat koodankulam

4. the international tourist will prefer to land here
 
#97 ·
Mp from Kanyakumari has rightly represented and presented fool proof,logically sound, request for an airport to the southenmost part of India
1.Government land to the tune of1000 acres in manakudi without any trees around available very nearto the sea , so that take of and landing through the searoute will fecilitate
2. Australia bound planes will land instead of goingto srilanka,

3. In case of war, it is highly necessary to shield atomic plantat koodankulam

4. the international tourist will prefer to land here
in my opinion we should focus on improving exiting (non existing?) infrastructure. Recently it took me > 2.5 hrs to come form tvm airport to nagercoil , a grand total o 40 miles! in most other places on earth this will be considered simple suburban travel.

nh 47 is hopless, focus should be first paid to developing first class coastal highway form ngl to tvm (of course with minimum environmenal impact) . secondly the other highway (mountain highway should be developed as an alternate too). In fact may be rail is a better idea. The time has come. it should not take a whole day to travel form nagercoil to cochin.
 
#98 ·
in my opinion we should focus on improving exiting (non existing?) infrastructure. Recently it took me > 2.5 hrs to come form tvm airport to nagercoil , a grand total o 40 miles! in most other places on earth this will be considered simple suburban travel.

nh 47 is hopless, focus should be first paid to developing first class coastal highway form ngl to tvm (of course with minimum environmenal impact) . secondly the other highway (mountain highway should be developed as an alternate too). In fact may be rail is a better idea. The time has come. it should not take a whole day to travel form nagercoil to cochin.
The NH-47 from Tvpm to Kanyakumari is in bidding stage..Hope it will be started this year itself...:cheers:
 
#99 ·
Funds to promote tourism in Kanyakumari

NAGERCOIL: The State Government has allotted a sum of Rs.5 crore for tourism promotion activities in Kanyakumari district.

Collector Rajendra Ratnoo told The Hindu here on Wednesday that 22,827 foreign and 11.74 lakh domestic tourists visited Kanyakumari last year.

The Tiruvalluvar statue has attracted 97,417 students and 16.34 lakh domestic tourists. In order to provide more facilities to attract tourists, the district administration has decided to give a face lift to Kanyakumari. The improvement works, including provision of a pathway to Gandhi Memorial and Kamaraj Memorial on Beach Road, ‘sound and light’ show at Vivekananda Rock Memorial and construction of an anti-sea erosion wall at a cost of Rs.60 lakh.

The Department of Tourism has planned to operate cable car service linking the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Tiruvalluvar statue.

The cable car service would be established by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation at an estimated cost of Rs.16.13 crore to a distance of 1,738 metres.

According to Department of Tourism officials, many works had been undertaken around the Tiruvalluvar statue after its maintenance was handed over to the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation in 2002.

Works to the tune of Rs.90 lakh were executed in 2007-08 to provide granite flooring around the statue, dressed granite stone handrails and a re-laid pathway.

A sum of Rs. 80 lakh was being spent on providing poly silicon coating for the protection of the statue.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/06/stories/2009080656880100.htm
 
#100 ·
Trivandrum-Kanya Kumari Railwayline Electrification - to be a reality, very soon

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/17/stories/2009081752250600.htm

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Railways will commission 33 more Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) in the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division. This was announced by Rajiv Dutt Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager.

A crossing station will be introduced at North Panakudi in Nagercoil-Tirunelveli section this financial year. An additional platform and new pilgrim siding will be commissioned at Kanyakumari and a bay platform at Nagercoil station.

The rail electrification work of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari section would be taken up shortly, he added.
Thanx Beam.
 
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