Thuckalay
|
Thuckalay தக்கலை തക്കല |
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
| Country |
 India
|
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Kanyakumari |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 629175 |
| Telephone code | 04651 |
| Vehicle registration | TN-75, TN-74 |
| Nearest city | Nagercoil |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Nagercoil |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Padmanabhapuram |
Thuckalay or Thakkalai (Tamil: தக்கலை) is a town in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Thuckalay comes under the Padmanabhapuram Municipality. Thuckalay is the administrative headquarters of Kalkulam Taluk. The Revenue Divisional Office is located in Mettukadai. Thuckalay is connected by road from both Thiruvananthapuram (51 km) and Nagercoil (17 km). The nearest railway station is located in Eraniel, which is approximately 5 km from Thuckalay. The nearest airport is the Trivandrum International Airport, which is approximately 51 km from Thuckalay.
Thuckalay is a part of Padmanabhapuram, which was once the capital of erstwhile Travancore. Thuckalay also known as south border for Trivancore samsthanam and the name came as in therku yellai of Trivancore called as Thuckalay.
The Thuckalay Government Higher Secondary School is the largest Government Educational institution in the region. There are also age old institutions such as Amala Convent, which is run by a local church and an international school.
Kanyakumari district's headquarters hospital is located near Mettukadai. There are also privately run hospitals and clinics.
The Padmanabhapuram Palace is located 1 km from Thuckalay Town. The palace is built in the Travancore architectural style, containing 17th and 18th century murals, and underground passages.
The Dutch commander Eustachius De Lannoy was buried in a nearby place called Udayagiri Fort. Udayagiri Fort is situated near the Padmanabhapuram palace. It is built of massive granite blocks around an isolated hillock, 260 feet (79 m) high enclosing an area of almost 90 acres (360,000 m2). The fort was said to have been destroyed by Raja Raja Chola. The fort was rebuilt in the reign of Marthanda Varma, the Venad king during 1741-44 under the supervision of De Lannoy, the Belgian General who served as the chief of Travancore Army loyally for 37 years and died on 1 June 1777 at the age of 62.His body was buried within the fort and a tomb in the fort is marked out, by a stone cross planted at the top, with inscription in both Latin and Tamil. The tomb is being visited by tourists within India and abroad in large numbers.
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