Thiruchendur

Tuticorin (in English) or Thoothukudi (in Tamil) used to be called Thirumandhira Nagar. There are three theories as to the origin of the name Thoothukudi. First, thoorthu is Tamil for "dig", and kudi means "drink": The town had no rivers and the only source of drinking water was from wells. Second, thoortha means "land reclaimed from the sea" while kudi also stands for "settlement" or "colony". Finally, the Tuticorin name was used by Dutch people who got there before the English, so some people have suggested they named the city. Thoothukudi has been known for its pearl diving (thus the nickname Pearl City (Muthu Nagaram in Tamil) and for shipbuilding. Thoothukudi became the centre of the Indian independence movement in the early 20th century, with such leaders as the poet Subramanya Bharathy, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Venni Kalady, Vellaya Thevan, and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai. In 1906, the freedom fighter V. O.