Kanyakumari is now officially Kanniyakumari.
A new board installed on the campus of the District Collectorate in the southern tip of the country announces the change, even though the former is widely used.
“When the district was created it was Kanniyakumari and as per the original gazette also the district is Kanniyakumari. Now, the collectorate has been renovated by the Public Works Department (PWD) and they have used the old name,” said Collector Sajjansingh R Chavan.
The official website of the district says the district name is spelled as “Kanniyakumari” in official records, which is in tune with the spoken name of the district in Tamil language.
Petition
Kanyakumari Consumer Protection Council president S.R. Sriram and social worker N. Mohan had submitted a memorandum to the Collector urging him to revert to the old spelling. The district derives its name from the presiding deity of the temple in the seashore.
“The word Kanniyakumari is known as rettai panami (double plural since both Kanni and Kumari refer to a woman. As the deity is a virgin (kanni) she is called Kanniyakumari,” said folklorist A.K. Perumal. The deity holds a rudraksamala and is in permanent thapas and national poet Subramania Bharathi describes her “neelakkadal orathil nintru nitham thavam seiyum kumari (the meditating Goddess along the coast of the blue sea).”
As per legend, she is an incarnation of Goddess Parvathi and the purpose of her incarnation was the destruction of an asurawho could be killed only by a virgin. As Lord Siva is keen on marrying her, he visits the temple every night. “But the condition is that the marriage should take place before sunrise. As only a virgin can defeat the asura, other Gods seek to defeat Siva’s plan. Narada becomes a rooster and crow in the morning announcing the dawn and the marriage never takes place,” explains Mr. Perumal.
