Saturday, July 04, 2009
A brief history of Kanyakumari district
````````````Kanyakumari has a rich and ancient history. It also bears Christian, Jain and Muslim influence. It is believed that when St Thomas (one of the 12 apostles of Jesus) came to Indian subcontinent in 52 AD a church was established in Kanyakumari area.
````````````It is proved that great Greek philosophers like Erosthenes, Ptolemy and Pliny had been to Kanyakumari. It also finds mention in the Periplus written somewhere around 800 AD by Arrian a Greek man of letters. Similarly, Jainism and Islam have also left their imprints on this place and have considerably contributed to the architectural wealth and literary heritage of the region.
````````````The area of Kanyakumari had seen the rule of Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas, Vijayanagara Kings, the Nayaks , Venad Kings to Dutch and then British interference.
Rise of Venad Chieftains
````````````Gradually the Chola Empire became weak with the rise of of Hoysalas and western Chalukyas. The Venad Chieftains descendants of Chera's seized opportunity and gradually established a firm grip on the areas now under modern Tamil Nadu. By 1115 AD the Venad Kings under Veera Kerala Varma and his successors achieved complete succession.
````````````In 1609 AD Viswanatha Nayak of Madurai captured Kanyakumari. Afterwards there was no real threat to Venad Kings. Kanyakumari thus became an integral part of the Venad Empire with the capital at Padmanabhapuram. King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma(1729-1758) of Venad dynasty formed Travancore ( Modern Kerala) by extending his domain further north up to Aluva. Kanyakumari thus came to be known as Southern Travancore. In 1741, King Marthanda Varma another great king from the same dynasty overcame the Dutch East India Company forces at the fiercely fought "Battle of Colachel."
Kanyakumari under British Supremacy
````````````After Marthanda Varma, the subsequent rulers were very weak and as the British forces were gradually tightening their noose over all Indian Princely states Kanyakumari was also no exception. The British established complete control over Venad Kings and continued till India's independence in the year 1947. The Kings of Travencore state ruled over Kanyakumari under the overall sovereignty of the British.
Modern Kanyakumari
````````````Travancore became part of the independent Indian Union in 1947 thus the royal reign came to an end. From 1947 to 1956, His Highness Sree Chithira Thirunal, Maharaja of Travancore continued as Rajpramukh of the Travancore-Cochin Union.
````````````In the year 1949, Kanyakumari became a part of the reconstituted Travancore-Cochin Union. The Tamil majority of Kanyakumari was not happy with this. Eventually in 1956 bowing to a mass agitation under the leadership of Thiru M.A. Nesamani Government of India amalgamated Kanyakumari District with Tamil Nadu(then Madras State).
Above history was compiled by UNKNOWN
Heavy rain lashes Kanyakumari district
Heavy rain lashed various parts of the district and the fishermen did not venture into sea for fishing for the second day on Friday.
According to sources as the sea was rough, seawater entered a few villages and residents were shifted to safer places.
Fishermen in Kanyakumari, Kovalam, Manakudi, Rajakkamangalam, Kadiyapattinam, Colachel, Kurumpanai, Vaniyakudi, Simon colony, Kottilpadu, Kodimunai, Mondaicadu, Muttom, Ramanthurai, Mullurthurai, Erayammanthurai, Thoothur, Vallavilai and Neerodi shifted their vallam and catamarans to safer places fearing that they could have been washed away.
It came to know that a few vallams were damaged by the giant waves. Electric poles and trees were also uprooted in many places, including Aralvoimozi, Kavalkinaru, Muppandal, Carmel Nager etc. Banana plantation was also damaged in Kanyakumari, Agastheeswaram, Anjugramam, Myladi, Thuckalay, Kulasekaram, Pechipparai, and Perunchani.
Traffic was affected for an hour when a tree was uprooted at water tank road in Nagercoil. Chittar I recorded 12.1 mm rainfall.
The water level in Pechipparai dam stood at 33 feet, 37 feet in Perunchani, 7.45 feet in Chittar I, 7.51 feet in Chittar II, 2.80 feet in Poigai and 4.90 feet in Mukkadal dam.
Original from:: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/04/stories/2009070452510300.htm
India Rains Cover Entire Country 12 Days Early
India's monsoon covered the entire country today, 12 days before the normal date, aiding a revival in sowing of rice, corn and oilseeds delayed by below average rains last month, the weather bureau said.
Monsoon rains, the main source of irrigation water for the nation's 235 million farmers, normally covers the entire country by July 15, the India Meteorological Department said on its Web site. Falls spread to the entire country on July 10 last year.
The monsoon may be below normal this year, the government said on June 24, paring its forecast due to the El Nino weather pattern. Near-normal rains were predicted in April. Showers in the June 1-July 1 period were 46 percent below the long-period, the weather bureau said yesterday.
"What needs to be watched now is how spatially and timely distributed rains are this month and in August," said Sangeetha Saranathan, an analyst at India Infoline Ltd.. "The good news is that there's been no incremental bad news after the forecast of a below normal rains."
India relies on the June-September rainy season to produce food for its 1.2 billion people, as more than half the nation's crop land isn't irrigated. Timely rain is crucial to boosting incomes of the 742 million people living in rural areas in an economy already forecast by the central bank to expand at the slowest pace in seven years.
The monsoon weather system revived late last month after a two week lull caused by tropical cyclone Aila, which lashed the nation's east coast on May 25.
That helped narrow the deficit to 29 percent in the week ended July 1 from 68 percent a week earlier, data released by the weather office yesterday shows.
Rice, Oilseeds
Planting of monsoon-sown crops, including rice, oilseeds and sugar cane, will gather momentum this month as rains have advanced, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said today in parliament.
"Paddy cultivation can continue up to the first week of August," he said, adding that the nation's rice stockpile is enough to last for more than one year.
Dry weather conditions in July last year hurt sugar cane production this year, turning India into a net importer for the first time since 2006.
Sowing of monsoon crops begins in June and ends mostly by July. Harvesting starts in September.
India's western coast and northeastern states may receive "very heavy" rainfall during the next four days, exceeding 25 centimeters, the weather bureau said today.
Original from:: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aq5xQnLhOxfA
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