Kilakarai, the coastal city which is few kilometers away from Ramanathapuram, is situated in the Bay of Mannar. Ervadi which is famous for Dhargah, is situated in the Western part of Kilakarai. Sethukkaraiis situated in the Eastern part of Kilakarai. Pits were surrounded in between Ervadi and Sethukkarai. In a particular area in-between these pits, there is a large gap of about 150 Fathoms. Two beacons were kept in order to show this gap.
Thus this natural path leads the way for ships to the port of Kilakarai. In the ancient times muslims of Kilakarai were called as "SONAGAR". Since they had ships of their own, they were called as "Maraikkayar". This is due to the word "Maraikzam", which represents the ship in tamil. Now they represent their family as "Maraikkayar VDU". And in memory of those people, some streets in Kilakarai had been named according to their occupation.
Kilakarai was also called as "Bouthra MannikaPattinam", "Seppy Nadu", "Anuthugai Mangalam", "Vazra Nadu", "Vaguthai", "ThenKayal" because it was found as the heart of trading place for merchants and business people. The name Kilakarai represents red colour.
It is because that when viewing this land scape form a large distance from the sea, it appears to be red. Kayal is a considerable City governed by Astiar. One of the five brothers, kings of the country of Maabar, who was richin gold jewels, and preserves his country in a state of profound peace. On this account it is a favorite place of resort for foreign merchants, who are well received and treated by the king. Accordingly all the ships coming from the west-as from Ormus, Chisti, Aden and various parts of Arabia-laden with merchandise and horses make this port which is besides well suited for commerce.
Mosques
The Muslims of the District are the descendants of the early colonists from Arabia. They first settled along the sea coast, chiefly in Kilakarai, Davipatinam, Mantapam, Pamban and other places which enabled them to trade freely with Ceylon and gradually extended their colonies into the interior of the District. They have adopted Tamil as their language. Some great Tamil poets hail from them. In this city there is a fine mosque, built of stone, and it has also large quantities of grapes and excellent pomegranates. Here the pious Shaykh Mohammed of Nishapur, one of the crazy darwishes who let their hair hang loose over their shoulders. He had a lion with him which he had tamed, and which used to eat and sit along with the darwishes. Accompanying him were about thirty darwishes. One of whom had a gazelle. Through the gazelle and the lion used to be together in the same place the lion did not molest
Mosques at Kilakarai
* Jamma Masjid
* Old Gupta Mosque
* East Street Muslim Mosque
* Usvathun Hyshna Muslim Trust
* North Street Jammath Committee
* South Street Masjid
* Sea-Shore Mosque
* Minhajyar Mosque
No comments:
Post a Comment