Thirunattalam, also called Nattalam, is a Panchayat town in

Kanyakumari district Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nad ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n State of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. It is located from

Marthandam Marthandam is a major trade centre in Kuzhithurai municipality across National Highway (NH 47) in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Formerly known as Thoduvetty (another name for the Marthandam market region), it was a portion o ...

, from

Karungal Karungal is a panchayat town in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics At the 2001 India census, Karungal had a population of 15,832. Males constituted 49% of the population and females 51%. It had an average ...

and from

Thuckalay Thuckalay or Thakkalai is a town in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Thuckalay comes under the Padmanabhapuram Municipality, and is the administrative headquarters of Kalkulam Taluk. The Revenue Divisional Office is located in Mettuka ...

Demographics

2001 India census, Thirunattalam had a population of around 11,037. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Thirunattalam has an average literacy rate of 79.9%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 77%. The village was given the Nirmal Gram Puraskar award in 2006.

Religion

The last temple of

Sivalaya Ottam Sivalaya Ottam (Tamil Language:சிவாலய ஓட்டம்) (Malayalam language:ശിവാലയ ഓട്ടം) is a ritual marathon undertaken by the devotees to the 12 Siva shrines in the district of Kanyakumari on the day of Si ...

is in Thirunattalam. On the day of Sivarathri,Shivaratri: devotees of Lord Siva finish their 24-hour marathon in Thirunattalam. It is the 12th temple in this marathon. There are two temples in this village. In the first temple the main god is Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva. The god is therefore called ''Sankaranarayanar'', which means ''Siva-Vishnu''. The idol there is suggesting that ''Hari'' (Vishnu) and ''Haran'' (Siva) are one and same. In the second temple the main god is Lord Siva and Lord Parvathi. The god is therefore called ''Arthanareeswara'', which means ''half woman and God''. There is a holy tank between these two temples. It is the only temple in Travancore where Brahma's idol is found. There are morning and evening poojas in this temple. On Sivarathri day there are four special ''Yama Poojas'', every two hours from 10 PM. After the fourth yama pooja, by 4 AM, devotees will get

Vibhuti In Hinduism, ''vibhuti'' ( sa, विभूति, vibhūti), also called ''bhasma'' or ''thiruneeru'', is sacred ash made of burnt dried wood, burnt cow dung and/or cremated bodies used in Agamic rituals. Hindu devotees apply ''vibhuti'' tradi ...

and prasada, which indicates their Sivarathri fast is over. The famous Christian devotee martyr

Devasahayam Pillai Devasahayam Pillai (born Neelakanta Pillai and baptized as Lazarus; 23 April 1712 – 14 January 1752) was an Indian layman and martyr of the Catholic Church.

was born in Nattalam. A church was built in his place of birth and prayers are going regularly. Friday masses are special for the church. The Salvation Army Church is also one of the oldest and small church of Nattalam

Language

The native language was Malayalam as it was a part of the Princely state of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

and was changed to

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

after Nattalam became a part of today's Tamil Nadu followed by a riot of linguistical discrimination known as Mahanam lead by Nesamani nadar and his associates. The nearest city is

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

which is the capital of Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and is 48 km away. So, most of the village people speak both

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

Education

There are schools run by both by the government and privately.

References

Cities and towns in Kanyakumari district {{Kanniyakumari-geo-stub