5 



K 



30. Trichendur and Virapandiyanpattanam. — At the extreme 

 south of Trichendur bay, is the little village of the same name, 

 while further north and more in the bight of the bay is the 

 landing place for the large town of Virapandiyanpattanam. 

 The latter is the handier port to reach and was selected in 1900 

 as the pearl fishery port of that year. The bay is a repetition 

 in physical character but on a much larger scale of the Kayal- 

 pattanam harbour ; the lofty headland of Trichendur shelters 

 from the south, while Trichendur reef stretching 3 miles to the 

 north-east affords good shelter, except to the north-east, to the 

 anchorage of Virapandiyanpattanam, situated 2^ miles west- 

 south-west from the northern extremity of the reef through 

 which are many passages well known to local fishers and 

 boatmen. Fishing boats using this harbour would probably 

 find it advisable during the worst of the north-east monsoon to 

 use the anchorage off the village of Alanturai which lies to 

 the south-west of Trichendur Point. Little fishing is at present 

 carried on from Trichendur bay. 



31. Manapad and Kulasekarapattanam. — These [two ports 

 are the counterparts of the two just described, Manapad being 

 a Paravar fishing town built under the shadow of the lighthouse- 

 crowned promontory of Manapad, while Kulasekarapattanam 

 is a cargo port 1~ miles northward to which small native 

 coasters resort. 



Manapad point, which is 8 miles south of Trichendur 

 pagoda, is a high rocky headland jutting boldly into the sea 

 with a submerged reef extending from 3 to 4 miles to the north- 

 east of the point and another for about 1 mile to the south-east. 

 North of the headland there is a great extent of foul ground 

 over which are heavy breakers in the north-east monsoon. 

 Westward of this broken water lies the Kulasekarapattanam 

 anchorage, reached either through the wide passage south of 

 Trichendur point or through one or other of many small channels 

 leading through the breakers. During the prevalence of east 

 and north-east winds this anchorage is insecure and subject to 

 a heavy breaking swell. At such times boats using Manapad 

 or Kulasekarapattanam might find it advisable to land their 

 catches at Periyathalai, a large fishing village five miles south- 

 west of Manapad. 



Manapad is a thriving well-kept town possessing a large 

 fleet of boat-catamarans and a fair number of canoes. When I 

 visited it on 14th October, the catamarans were landing large 

 catches of sardines. As a fishing centre it has the advantage 

 of cheap salt, a large factory being situated about 1^ miles from 

 the outskirts. 



