Suchindram is a

panchayat town A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

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 ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 ...

with Indian postal code as 629704. It is an important pilgrim centre and the site of the famous

Thanumalayan Temple The Thanumalayan Temple, also called Sthanumalayan Temple is an important Hindu temple located in Suchindram in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the 108 shiva temple revered by the Kerala Hindu culture, though this t ...

. There is an Anjaneya, (or

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

), statue which stands at 22 feet (6.7 m) and is carved of a single granite block.

Geography

Suchindram is located at Kanyakumari District. It has an average elevation of 19 metres (62 feet). Suchindram is a temple town situated in the southernmost district of

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

in Tamil Nadu, India. It is 11 km from Kanyakumari city and 7 km from

Nagarcoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("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 ...

town 105 km from adjacent

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

district and approximately 81 km from

Trivandrum 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 ...

city. The town of Suchindrum is renowned for the

and was an important

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

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 ...

History

The town along with

was part of

. It became part of Tamil Nadu in 1956.

Transportation

Suchindram is about 11 km from Kanyakumari and about 7 km from Nagarkoil lying between these two towns. Busses ply from Thirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Trivandram. The nearest railway station is Nagarkoil on the Trivandrum - Kanyakumari section of the Southern Railway.

Sthanumalayam Temple

Suchindram temple is dedicated to three different deities represented by one image in the sanctum and is called Sthanumalayam (Sthanu-Shiva; Maal-Vishnu and Ayam-Brahma) kovil. The temple is rich in sculpture and architecture and a visitor to this temple is amply rewarded with the sight of such exquisite art of hundreds of years old The entrance tower to this temple is visible from a distance as it rises majestically for 134 feet. The face of the tower is covered with sculptures and statues from Hindu Scriptures. There is a covered area in front of the main entrance and the entrance itself is about 24 feet high with a beautifully carved door. There is only one corridor running along the outer wall of the temple with many shrines and mandapams scattered in the inner area. This temple attracts both Vaishnavites and Saivites in large numbers. About 30 shrines to various deities within the temple complex, the large Lingam in the sanctum, the idol of Vishnu in the adjacent shrine and a large idol of Hanuman at the Eastern end of the Northern corridor represent almost all the deities of the Hindu pantheon. The temple has quite a few sculptures and art. In the 'Alankara mandapam' adjacent to the Northern corridor there are four large pillars each formed by a group of smaller pillars all carved from a single stone. Two of these large pillars have 33 smaller pillars and the other two 25 each. These are the famous musical pillars. Each of these smaller pillars produce a different musical note when tapped. Unfortunately these pillars are surrounded by iron grills to prevent vandalism. Step out of the 'Alankara mandapam' and you come face to face with a gigantic figure of Hanuman. The figure is 18 feet high and depicts 'visuvaroopam'. There are other carvings and sculptures on every pillar and panel throughout the temple, which are a feast to the eye and the imagination.

Festivals

There are two important festivals, one in Markazhi (December/January) and the other in Chiththirai (April/May). During the Markazhi festival, on the 9th day the deities are taken out in procession around the streets on three festival cars.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Sucheendram had a population of 11,953. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Sucheendram has an average literacy rate of 86%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 89%, and female literacy is 84%. In Sucheendram, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Neighborhoods

* Marungoor * Kannanpathy * Nalloor * Myladi * Kumarapuram thoppur

List of Schools

* MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR. SOUTH CAR STREET * S.M.S.M. Higher Secondary School * Government Primary School * Government Middle School * Arasu thodakkappalli, Karkadu. * dwarakai krishnan Hindu vidyalaya * St. Teresa Matriculation Higher Secondary School

Notable people

* T. N. Gopakumar

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Kanyakumari district