Tamil Nadu   

Bursting at its seams

Marthandam, a tiny town under Kuzuthurai municipal limit is famous for honey, cashew nut processing, rubber and hand-embroidered motifs. The area is full of greenery and has a river known as Tamirabarani (Kuzuthurai).

It is also a major trade centre across National Highway-47 due to its location bordering Kerala.

Marthandam is the second biggest town next to Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district.

Originally called Thoduvetty, it was a portion of Kanyakumari district which was added to Tamil Nadu on November 1, 1956. Marthandam may have got its name from King Marthanda Varma of the erstwhile Travancore state.

Kuzuthurai Railway station is a century old and train facilities are available to Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari.

Marthandam is home to educational institutions including Nesamony Memorial Christian College and Victory Embroidery School.

The latter provides work to women skilled in the art of hand embroidery from surrounding villages, including Thuckalay, Karungal, Thengapattinam, Colachel, Kulasekaram, Thirparrappu and Kaliyal.

Marthandam has an old church built exclusively of stone by the then British Government.

Cutting across caste, creed and religion, people in Kanyakumari district, particularly in Marthandam, used to celebrate Onam, Christmas, Deepavali and Pongal to ensure communal harmony.

There is a Lord Ayyappa temple in Marthandam on the banks of Tamirabarani.

This temple is known as either ‘Vettuvenni temple’ or ‘Vedivachan Kovil’. The uniqueness of the temple is the bursting of crackers by the people as well as the devotees to fulfill their wishes.

It is high time the district administration explored ways and means to decongest the town traffic by constructing an underground passage or an overbridge for the benefit of people. People, particularly students and office-goers, are put to untold hardship during peak hours. Basic amenities should be ensured on par with the growing population in the small area of Kanyakumari district, opined a cross section of the people.

P. S. Suresh Kumar

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