Nagercoil

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Nagercoil (Tamil: நாகர்கோவில் Nākarkōvil [ˈnaːɡərkoːʋil]) is a commercial and industrial city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the capital of Kanyakumari district. The city has a population of around 225,000 (2011 census), predominantly Hindus and Christians. Tamil and Malayalam are the main vernacular languages.

Nagercoil is located in the lowlands between the southern foothills of the Western Ghats and the Indian Ocean coast, just 16 kilometres northwest of Cape Comorin, the southernmost point of the Indian mainland. This makes it the southernmost major city in India. The nearest major city is the Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram about 65 kilometres northwest of Nagercoil. The river Palayaru flows through Nagercoil.

Nagercoil was formerly known as Kottar. The present name derives from a former Jaina sanctuary, the Nagaraja temple. The temple, whose name literally means "Lord of Snakes" (cf. Naga), is now a Hindu shrine. In medieval times, Nagercoil was under the rule of the Chera, Chola and Pandya. In the 18th century, the Dutch attempted to colonize the area around Nagercoil, but were defeated by the forces of the Kerala kingdom of Travancore at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. Until India's independence in 1947, Nagarcoil formally remained a part of Travancore, but it was under the suzerainty of the British East India Company from the late 18th century, or British India from 1858. After independence, the town was part of the Travancore-Cochin state. However, due to its predominantly Tamil population, it was assigned to the newly formed state of Madras (now Tamil Nadu) in 1956.

Nagercoil is a major regional trading centre for agricultural produce from the fertile surrounding area. Industry is also based on the processing of agricultural products, especially rubber, cotton, coconut fibre and foodstuffs. 61 percent of the inhabitants of Nagercoil are Hindus. There is also a larger minority of Christians (30 percent) and a smaller Muslim minority (9 percent). The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Kottar and the Kanyakumari diocese of the Anglican Church of South India. The Catholic cathedral is said to date back to the 1600s. It is dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier, who worked in the Nagercoil area in the 16th century, and also houses the tomb of the beatified martyr Devasahayam Pillai. The main language, as in the whole of Tamil Nadu, is Tamil, spoken by 98 per cent of the population as their mother tongue.

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