Nagercoil

Nagercoil
City
Clockwise from top: Nagercoil Clock Tower, Nagaraja Temple, St. Xavier's Cathedral, Nagercoil Junction railway station
Nicknames: 
Granary of South Travancore, Greenest City of Tamilnadu, City of Temple Jewels, Southernmost City of India.
Nagercoil is located in Tamil Nadu
Nagercoil
Nagercoil
Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu
Coordinates: 8°10′30″N 77°25′50″E / 8.17500°N 77.43056°E / 8.17500; 77.43056
Country India
State Tamil Nadu
DistrictKanyakumari
Named for"Temple of the Nāgas"
Government
 • TypeMayor–Council
 • BodyNagercoil Municipal Corporation
 • Member of Legislative AssemblyM. R. Gandhi
 • MayorMr. Magesh BA BL
 • Deputy MayorMrs. Mary Princy MA
 • Corporation CommissionerMr. Nishant Krishna[1] IAS
 • Member of ParliamentVijay Vasanth
Area
 • Total
61.36 km2 (23.69 sq mi)
Elevation
82 m (269 ft)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total
289,916
 • Density4,700/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialTamil
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
629001,629002,629003,629004
Telephone code91-4652 & 91-4651
Vehicle registrationTN-74 & TN-75
Literacy96.99%[3]
ClimateAw[4] (Köppen)
Precipitation2,477.7 millimetres (97.55 in)

Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil[note 1] ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an undulating terrain between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. [5][6]

Nagaraja Temple at Nagercoil

The present city of Nagercoil grew around Kottar, a mercantile town that dates back to the Sangam period.[7] Kottar is now a locality within the city limits. Nagercoil was a major town in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom till 1956. In 1956, Kanyakumari District, along with the town, was merged with Tamil Nadu.[8]

Nagercoil is a centre for a range of economic activities in the small but densely-populated Kanyakumari District. Economic activities in and around the city include tourism, wind energy, IT services, marine fish production and exports, rubber and cloves plantations, agro-crops, floral production, manufacture of fishnets, rubber products among other activities.[9]

'Nagercoil Cloves' is a distinct quality of dried cloves in the spices market, noted for its aroma and medicinal value.[10] Cloves, pepper and other spices are grown in estates in the Western Ghats, outside the town.

Nagercoil is also the nearest city to the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri[11] and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.[12]

The city, along with the district of Kanyakumari, stands at the top in many Human Development Index parameters in Tamil Nadu state, including education, per capita income, health indices, etc.[13]

The municipality of Nagercoil was upgraded as a Municipal corporation on the eve of its 100th year as a city on 14 February 2019.[14]

  1. ^ "Commissioner". Nagercoil Corporation. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Nagercoil corporation".
  3. ^ "Census2011". Tamil Nadu Population Census data 2011. Tamil Nadu Government. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Nagercoil climate: Average Temperature, weather by month, Nagercoil weather averages - Climate-Data.org". en.climate-data.org.
  5. ^ "Nagercoil Tourism, Nagercoil Travel Guide - Cleartrip". Cleartrip Tourism.
  6. ^ "Nagercoil".
  7. ^ "Nagercoil" (PDF).
  8. ^ Ramakrishnan, T. (20 July 2023). "The transfer of Kanniyakumari to Tamil Nadu amid political struggle and police firing". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Kanyakumari District Statistical Handbook" (PDF).
  10. ^ Cultivation of Spices. 11 February 2003. ISBN 9788178330648.
  11. ^ "Swadeshi success". Frontline. 21 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Site Evaluation Report for KKNPP Units 3 to 6" (PDF). npcil.nic.in. March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2022.
  13. ^ Ramakrishnan, T. (17 May 2017). "Kanniyakumari tops HDI rankings". The Hindu.
  14. ^ Mariappan, Julie (13 February 2019). "Tamil Nadu's Hosur, Nagercoil to become corporations". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 February 2019.


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