What is "kulasekharapatnam"

Kulasekarapatnam (Kulasekharapattinam, Tamil – குலசேகரப்பட்டிணம்) is a town in the Thoothukudi district (formerly Tinnelvelly or Tirunelveli) of Tamil Nadu, India. Kulasekharapatnam is referred to in Marco Polo's travel diaries dating to 1250 AD. Kulasekharapatnam the name is derived from pandyan ruler Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I. Kulasekharapatnam was an ancient port dating to the 1st centuries of the Christian era and was contemporaneous to the existence of Kollam, Cheran Port, another Pandyan port. Kollam served the Pandyas on the west coast while Kulasekharapatnam served them on the east coast connecting them to Ceylon and the pearl fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar facing the Tirunelveli Coast.

Kulasekharapatnam has Muslim settlements. The other ports on the Coromandel Coast were Kaveripumpattinam (Poompuhar) and Arikamedu (near Pondicherry). On the west coast the ancient ports were Kollam and Kodungallur and Barugachha (Broach) in Gujarat.

The famous Mutharamman Temple, which is 300 years old, is located in this place. The ancient port had connections with Sri Lanka. This place lost significance once Tuticorin became a big port.