Kanniyakumari

India
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Also known as: Kanyakumari
Also spelled:
Kanyakumari

News

Public access to glass bridge in Kanniyakumari suspended for maintenance Apr. 14, 2025, 11:51 PM ET (The Hindu)
Great Indian Cyclothon concludes in Kanniyakumari Mar. 31, 2025, 11:46 PM ET (The Hindu)
‘Great Indian Coastal Cyclothon’ nears finale in Kanniyakumari Mar. 30, 2025, 5:21 AM ET (The Hindu)
Kanniyakumari police launch 24x7 public feedback centre Mar. 27, 2025, 4:46 AM ET (The Hindu)

Kanniyakumari, town, southern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India. The town is situated on Cape Comorin, which is the southernmost point on the Indian subcontinent.

Kanniyakumari is a tourist and pilgrimage centre noted for its Shiva temple and its memorial to Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi. Legend claims that the goddess Kanya Kumari (“Youthful Virgin”) killed a demon on the town site. Pilgrimage rites include bathing at Pitru and Matru Tirtha, two rocks over which a monument honouring Vivekananda, a Hindu religious leader, was built in 1970.

The fertile soils inland from Kanniyakumari support an extremely dense population, while the sandy coastal plain contains worked deposits of monazite and ilmenite. The area is primarily agricultural but has some hand-loom weaving industries. Pop. (2001) 19,739; (2011) 22,453.

Tower Bridge over the Thames River in London, England. Opened in 1894. Remains an Important Traffic Route with 40,000 Crossings Every Day.
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This article was most recently revised and updated by Maren Goldberg.