Thengapattinam
has the unique and rare distinction
of being one of the few first places
in India where Islam was propagated
and accepted during the time of
Prophet Muhammad (sal). Islam got
firmly rooted here due to the peaceful
propagation of the great spiritual
leader malik ibn deenar (rah) who
came from Arabia in the 7th century
a.d. through kodungalloor in kerala.
His Arabic team built a big mosque
here made of hard rocks which is
known here as ‘valiapalli’.
The ancient Arabic history book
‘rihlathul muluk’ states
that the headquarters of syed ubaithath
kazhi’ appointed as the religious
propaganda secretary of the district
was located here.Many Islamic religious
scholars later came to this place
to propagate Islam.
The
mosque built of hard rocky stones
knows as malik ibn dinar palli or
valia palli, the aatttupalli built
on the rocky mountains by the shores
of the sea and river bank, the mohideen
palli located near the canal in
thoppu, the chenta palli built on
kuntadipattan paarai, the rifai
palli located close to the bus station
and the khaja palli located by the
shores of the arabian sea are the
mosques of this tiny town.
Life Style
@ Thengapattanam
It
is a Muslim town which has close links with
nearby towns as Thuckalay, Thiruvithancode,
Colachel, Midalam, Enayam, Enayam Puthenthurai,
Poothurai, Nambali and Poovar in the nearby
Kerala State. Marriage and social relations
thrive among the people of these towns.
Other than the above, Thengapattinam has
closely connected by trade and social relations
with Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala
State. A big number of people from Thengapattinam
engage in various trade activities in Trivandrum.
Houses, here, are built with separate compounds
for each house. Sweet drinking water is
in plenty with each house a separate well
in it.
A proportionate number
of people pursue trade and business activities
whereas a large chunk has moved to various
Gulf countries to earn their livelihood.
'Gulf' is craze here that it is not uncommon
to hear that a male member of a house is
working in U.A.E., Bahrain, Saudi Arabia
and Oman.
Thengapattinam is a main
commercial hub for more than 50 small surrounding
places, to name a few are, Mulloor Thurai,
Raman Thurai, Enayam, Enayam Puthen Thurai,
Erayumman Thurai, Poothurai, Panankal Mukku,
Arasa Kulam, Keezhkulam, Chentharai, Amsi,
Painkulam, Parakkani, Maniyaran Kunnu etc.
Dutch Invasion
This
area, once under the domain of chera, pandya
and nayakkar kings, was later ruled by the
kings of travancore. Attingal queen got
the right to rule this area in ad 1700.
During this time in the middle of the 17th
century, the naval forces headed by the
Dutch colonel nicolfwar besieged this town
and gained control of it. The Dutch records
of ‘wrin-de-herik’ state that
after the take over a Dutch infantry division,
a go down and a church were established
here in ad 1678. In ad 1694, the forces
attingal queen fought the Dutch, chased
them out and regained its control.
Kuzhanthai
Nagar - Kuzhanthayoor
The great poet of thengapattinam kunju moosa
in his epic poem “seyedathu padai
pore” refers the above names. The
real name of this poet is ‘kunju moosa
pillai’.
He Malayalam word ‘kunju’
means child or baby. A coconut sapling
is called ‘thennam pillai’
in Malayalam. So, in order to associate
the name of his native place with his
own name and also to mean as ‘thennam
pi The name ‘kuzhanthayoor’
is also referred in this epic. Here in
‘thengaiyoor’ round furrows
are dug in the ground to plant coconut
saplings. The fertile land of this beautiful
town is enriched with sea, river and canal
water which springs out and form small
‘pools’.
Coconut saplings are called ‘thai’
in Malayalam. Thus it would have, probably,
been named as ‘kuzhanthayoor’
– meaning – the place where
the sapling (Thai) grows in kuzham (pool).
llai nagar’ he would have referred
it as ‘kuzhanthai nagar’ and
‘kuzhanthayampathy’.
Work of
literature
The
great poets kunju moosa pillai and alim
lebbai haji whose famous literary works
include the two epic poems and 14 other
works such as ‘masala maalai’
ammanai’, were the natives of this
town who lived here in the 18th century.
Other poets of literary renown fakkir meeran
pillai, Mohammed pulavar and thoppu noohkhan
also lived here during the same time.
Pattanam-
A Tourist Spot
“Thengapattinam”,
thennaipattinam” and “thenpattinam”
are the other relevant names of this town.
it is called so because of the dense coconut
groves found everywhere here, being located
on the coast of Arabian sea, and sitting
on the southern tip of India in kanyakumari
district in Tamil nadu.
This town is a delight
to the eyes of the beholder, one of the
few picnic spots in the district, where
nature has showered her blessings abundantly.
The beautiful beach (next in comparison
with Cape-Comorin beach) with its breath
taking sunset, the tiny hill-tops and the
backwater beckon the tourists where one
enjoys a refreshingly cool wind that blows
throughout the year.
Sea-short with backwaters,
it is an ideal place for eveningers who
come from nearby places to enjoy a stay
and fun & frolic on the waters, in small
boats of Valiyar. The merger of this river
with sea (estuary / firth) known as 'Pozhi"
in local vernacular is a star attraction
and the one and only of its kind in the
State itself.
Pride of
Kanyakumari
The
history of this beautiful coastal town dates
back to more than 2000 years.It was an important
port of Chera Nadu, when trade relations
boomed with the Middle East and the Arab
world.There was direct cargo boat service
between Thengapattinam and other foreign
maritime towns around the world.
Part of the culture and
tradition found here was inherited through
its trade relations with the Arab world.
This Muslim town has a Juma Masjid known
as Valiya Palli, which is more than 1200
years old.Thengapattanam was also called
"Dharmapattanam" and "Kuzhanthai
Nagar" in the early days.
Pattanam
- a coastal town
Thengapattinam”,
thennaipattinam” and “thenpattinam”
are the other relevant names of this town.
it is called so because of the dense coconut
groves found everywhere here, being located
on the coast of Arabian sea, and sitting
on the southern tip of India in kanyakumari
district in Tamil nadu.
Naariel
Paththan
This
name is found in books “manampuri
masala” and “kunju moosa vazhthu
maalai”. The words naariel in Malayalam
means ‘coconut’ and ‘pathathan’
means town in Arabic. These are Arabic translated
names. Thengapattinam is also shortly known
as “thengai” and “thengaiyoor”.
it is also called as “thenpaththan”
a mixture of the Tamil word ‘then’
which means south and the Arabic word ‘paththan’
which means town.
Capital
of "thenga nadu"
Chilappathikaram,
the Tamil epic refers thengapattanam as
the capital of “thenga nadu”
– one of the 48 countries of lemuria,
otherwise known as ‘kumari kandam’,
where the Dravidian civilizations known
as the ‘cradle of civilizations’
flourished. The world renowned historical
research traveler ‘dalami’ refers
this place as a ‘harbour town’
in this book written in ad 100. The king
of ‘thenga nadu’ karunan thadangal
is said to have ruled from here.
The rule
of venad
The
Dutch again attacked thengapattinam, when
it became part of ‘venad’ under
the rule of marthanda varma maharaja. during
this battle fought to chase out the Dutch,
many Muslims lost their lives.
The ‘kuntadipattan
paarai’ which came under the heavy
attack of the Dutch cannons stand out to
be a ‘living memorial’ today.
Later, due to the ‘Tamil nadu liberation
movement’ this part was annexed to
Tamil nadu in 1956.
It is worth mentioning
here that the famous raja kesavadas, the
then divan of the king Rama varma of travancore
was brought up in his youth in the well
known ‘puthen veedu” here.
Languages
People
are bi-lingual who speak both Tamil and
Malayalam. English is also spoken and understood.
Tamil is spoken with Malayalam accent. Tamil
spoken here is difficult to understand for
other Tamils of the state. Some words originated
from the influence of various cultures,
such as Olungu (mosquito) ……………
etc. is spoken and understood only by the
natives. The impact of Malabar Muslim culture
is very much felt here. One example for
this is the usage of Arabi-Malayalam (Malayalam
language written in Arabic script) which
can only read by those who know Arabic and
understood only by those who know Malayalam.
