Nagapattinam (District)

Nagapattinam ; District நாகப்பட்டினம் மாவட்டம்
State	Tamil Nadu
Administrative headquarters :	Nagapattinam
Area :	2,569 km²
Residents :	1,616,450 (2011)
Population density :	629 inhabitants / km²
Website :	nagapattinam.tn.nic.in

The Nagapattinam District ( Tamil : நாகப்பட்டினம் மாவட்டம் ; also: Nagapatnam ) is a district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . The administrative center of the district is the eponymous city of Nagapattinam . The Nagapattinam district has an area of 2,569 square kilometers and a population of 1.6 million (2011 census).

geography

Lighthouse at Point Calimere

Nagapattinam District is located in the east of the state on the Coromandel Coast . The district consists of two parts, which are separated by the Karaikal district belonging to the Union Territory of Puducherry . Other neighboring districts are Cuddalore in the north and Thanjavur and Tiruvarur in the west.

The area of the Nagapattinam district is 2,569 square kilometers. The district area occupies the eastern part of the Kaveri Delta . The flat and fertile land is cut through by numerous estuaries of this largest river of Tamil Nadu. The coastline of the district is 187 kilometers. The coastline to the Bay of Bengal initially runs in a north-south direction before it makes a sharp bend at Point Calimere (Kodikkarai) near Vedaranyam . The southern coastline borders between India and Sri Lanka situated Palkbucht . At Point Calimere there are extensive mangrove forests .

In the Nagappattinam district there is an alternately humid tropical climate . The annual mean temperature in Nagappattinam is 28.4 ° C, the annual mean precipitation is 1,339 mm. Most of the rainfall occurs during the northeast monsoon between October and December. It also rains during the southwest monsoons in August and September.

history

Negapatnam van Choromandel . Dutch copper engraving, 18th century.

The Kaveri Delta was the heartland of the Chola Empire, which had Thanjavur (Tanjore) as its capital from the 9th to the 13th centuries . From the 16th century, the Nayaks and later the Marathen kings of Thanjavur ruled the area. At the same time, the European colonial powers began to establish bases in the coastal area of today's district: The city of Nagapattinam was initially a base of the Portuguese from the 16th century , and in 1660 it fell to the Netherlands . Nagapattinam remained the most important Dutch possession in India before it was conquered by the British in 1781 . The Danish East India Company founded Tranquebar ( Tharangambadi ) in 1620 and built Fort Dansborg there. In 1845 Tranquebar was sold to the British. In the immediate vicinity is Karaikal , which belonged to French India from 1739 to 1954 .

In 1799 the British annexed the Kingdom of Thanjavur and incorporated the area as the district of Thanjavur in the province of Madras . After Indian independence in 1947, the area came to the state of Madras, which was reorganized in 1956 according to the language borders of Tamil and renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969. In 1991 the Nagapattinam District was dissolved as an independent district from the Thanjavur District. The district got its present form in 1997 when the Tiruvarur District was formed from parts of the Nagapattinam and Thanjavur districts.

The devastating tsunami after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake , which killed a total of around 165,000 people in South and Southeast Asia, claimed 6,051 lives in the Nagapattinam district. This made the stretch of coast around Nagapattinam, along with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the most severely affected area in India by the tsunami.

population

According to the 2011 Indian census, the Nagapattinam district has 1,616,450 inhabitants. The population density of 629 inhabitants per square kilometer is above the Tamil Nadu average (555 inhabitants per square kilometer). Only 23 percent of the district's residents live in cities. The degree of urbanization is therefore only half as high as the mean value for the state (48 percent). Thirty-two percent of the district's residents are scheduled castes . At 84 percent, the literacy rate is above the state average (80 percent).

According to the 2011 census , the Hindus make up the vast majority of the residents of the district with 89 percent. There are also minorities of Muslims (8 percent) and Christians (3 percent). As in all of Tamil Nadu, the main language is Tamil . It is spoken as a first language by over 99 percent of the district's residents, according to the 2001 census.

Attractions

The temple of Tiruvenkadu, one of the many Hindu sanctuaries in the Nagapattinam district

The Kaveri Delta is a region rich in culture and history. Especially in the northern part of the Nagapattinam district there are numerous important Hindu temples, most of which date back to the Chola period. The temple cities of Mayiladuthurai (with the Mayuranathaswami and Parimala Ranganathar temples) and Sirkali (Brahmapuriswarar temple) are primarily to be mentioned here, but there are also significant Hindu shrines in many small towns and villages in the Nagapattinam district. 58 of the 274 holy places of Tamil Shaivism ( Padal Petra Sthalams ) and 19 of the 108 shrines of Tamil Vishnuism ( Divya Desams ) are in the Nagapattinam district. In Vaitheeswarankoil , Tiruvenkadu and Keezhperumpallam are three of the Navagraha temples , a group of nine Hindu temples where the Hindu planetary deities are worshiped. Two of the most influential Hindu monasteries ( Matha ) in Tamil Nadu, Thiruvavaduthurai and Dharmapuram , are also located in the Nagapattinam district.

The Marian Basilica of Velanganni

Christians and Muslims also have important religious sites in the Nagapattinam district: the Marian basilica of Velankanni , where an apparition of Mary is said to have taken place in the 16th century , is the most important Christian pilgrimage site in India. The eleven-day church festival alone, which takes place every year in August / September, attracts an estimated two million pilgrims. In Nagore near Nagapattinam there is a shrine ( Dargah ) at the grave of the Muslim Sufi saint Syed Shahul Hamid Qadir Vali (Nagore Andavar), who lived in the 16th century. Once a year there is a 14-day festival in honor of the saint.

Tharangambadi (Tranquebar) with Fort Dansborg and two churches from the Danish colonial era as well as the mangrove forests at Point Calimere, which are designated as a nature reserve, are also of tourist interest .

Administrative division

Nagapattinam District Taluks

Nagapattinam District is divided into the following eight taluks (sub-districts):

Taluk	main place	Population (2011)
Kilvelur	Kilvelur	138,474
Kuthalam	Kuthalam	131,948
Mayiladuthurai	Mayiladuthurai	259,634
Nagapattinam	Nagapattinam	282,784
Sirkali	Sirkali	319.715
Tharangambadi	Tharangambadi	207.059
Thirukkuvalai	Thirukkuvalai	60,771
Vedaranyam	Vedaranyam	216.065

Cities

In the district of Nagapattinam, there are four cities with its own city government ( Municipalities ), eight after the Panchayat managed system townships ( Town Panchayats ) and two census towns ( census town ). The number of inhabitants is given according to the 2011 census.