2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamiOn 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity up to IX in some areas.
VelankanniVelankanni (Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi), is a Special Grade Panchayat Town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, 350 km south of Chennai (Madras), 12 km south of Nagapattinam, and 33 km southeast of Thiruvarur. Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece, the tiny commercial center gradually lost its importance to the larger city of Nagapattinam. The canal built to link this town with Vedaranyam still lies to the west.
KeralaKerala (ˈkɛrələ ; ke:ɾɐɭɐm) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canara, and Travancore. Spread over , Kerala is the 21st largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west.
Padmanabhaswamy TempleThe Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple Dedicated to Maha Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state of Kerala, India. It is widely considered as the world's richest Hindu temple. The name of the city of 'Thiruvananthapuram' in Malayalam and Tamil translates to "The City of Ananta" (Ananta being a form of Vishnu). The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the Kerala style and the Dravidian style of architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century gopura.
AyyavazhiAyyavazhi (அய்யாவழி, അയ്യാവഴി Ayyāvaḻi əjːaːvəɻi, Path of the Master) is a Hindu denomination that originated in South India during the 19th century. Ayyavazhi is centered on the life and preachings of Ayya Vaikundar; its ideas and philosophy are based on the holy texts Akilathirattu Ammanai and Arul Nool. Accordingly, Ayya Vaikundar was the Purna avatar of Narayana. Ayyavazhi shares many ideas with Hinduism in its beliefs and practice, but differs considerably in its concepts of good and evil and dharma.
Malabar CoastThe Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent, generally referring to the coastline of Western coast of India from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of South India including coastal part of Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Kuttanad, which is the point of least elevation in India, lies on the Malabar Coast. Kuttanad, also known as The Rice Bowl of Kerala, has the lowest altitude in India, and is one of the few places in the world where cultivation takes place below sea level.
VelloreVellore (English: ), is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separated into four zones that are further subdivided into 60 wards, covering an area of 87.915 km2 and housing a population of 423,425 as reported by the 2001 census. It is located about west of Chennai, and about east of Bangalore. Vellore is located on the Mumbai–Chennai arm of the Golden Quadrilateral.
Malabar DistrictMalabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (1947-1956). It was the most populous and the third-largest district in the erstwhile Madras State.
Ay dynastyAy was a dynasty which controlled the south-western tip of the Indian peninsula, from the early historic period up to the medieval period.The clan traditionally held sway over the harbour of Vizhinjam, the fertile region of Nanjinad, and southern parts of the spice-producing Western Ghat mountains. The dynasty was also known as Kupaka in medieval period. The Ay formed one of the major chieftains of early historic (pre-Pallava) Kerala, along with the Cheras of central Kerala and the Musakas of Elimalai in the north.
AgastyaAgastya ( अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text Rigveda and other Vedic literature. Agastya is considered to be the father of Siddha medicine. Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and Puranas including the major Ramayana and Mahabharata.