South India · Tamil Nadu
Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu
About Thoothukudi
- Coastal
Where it is
Thoothukudi, also known as Tuticorin, is a port city on the Gulf of Mannar coast of southern Tamil Nadu, east of Tirunelveli, looking out over the waters between India and Sri Lanka.
History
The pearl beds of the Gulf of Mannar made Thoothukudi a prize for the Pandyas and, from the 16th century, for the Portuguese, the Dutch, who captured it in 1658, and finally the British. In 1906 V. O. Chidambaram Pillai founded an Indian-owned steamship company here to challenge British shipping lines, and the city's major port now bears his name.
People
Thoothukudi's people speak Tamil, and fishing, salt-making, shipping and trade have long been the main livelihoods. The August festival of Our Lady of Snows at the city's basilica draws large crowds.
Known for
- Its history as the Pearl City
- Salt pans along the coast
- Thoothukudi macaroons
- The Our Lady of Snows Basilica
- The V. O. Chidambaranar Port
Did you know?
Thoothukudi's salt pans produce most of the salt made in Tamil Nadu.
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