Panaikulam

Panaikulam (பனைக்குளம்) is a big village (or you can call it as a small town, because it is the only big place in that coastal area between devipattinam and uchipuli.) located in the east coastal area of Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. The total population of Panaikulam would be around 10000. I don’t know the exact figure. May be someone can update with the exact data. Panaikulam is surrounded by small villages on all sides. The small villages inlcude Sogayanthoppu (சோகையன்தோப்பு) and Puthukudiyiruppu (புதுக்குடியிருப்பு) on north, Ponkulam (பொன்குளம்), Thamaraiyoorani (தாமரையூரணி) on west, Anna nagar (அண்ணா நகர்) and Nadar valasai (நாடார் வலசை) on east and udaichiyar valasai (உடைச்சியார் வலசை) on south. Panaikulam is very well connected with the district headquarters, Ramanathapuram by roads. The minimum road distance is 17 Km from Ramanathapuram.

Magnificient Minaret of Panaikulam Jumma Mosque - வானுயர்ந்து நிற்கும் பனைக்குளம் பள்ளிவாசலின் அழகிய மினாரா

The known history of Panaikulam dates back to approximately 200 years. Before that, there is no recorded history for panaikulam. The population of panaikulam is mainly (almost 100%) Tamil Muslims. The population in the surrounding small villages is mainly Hindus (almost 100%). The adjacent big villages surrounding panaikulam are Puduvalasai (புதுவலசை) on the west and Alagankulam (அழகன்குளம்) on the east.

Language

The language spoken in the Panaikulam is Tamil. The literacy rate would be around 60%. I don’t know the exact figure. (Members…Pls update). Tamil langugae spoken in Panaikulam and adjacent Muslim villages is having a unique and special accent with lot of special words borrowed from Malay language (குறிச்சி for chair, போத்தல் for bottle, கோசம் for zero), Malaysian-Tamil (பசியாறுதல் for breakfast), Arabic (வக்து for time) and Urdu (தால்சா for dhal curry). But the origin of certain words like நடயம் (for slippers) ஆனம் (for curry) is unknown to me. Usage of certain words like அன்னாவி (for agent) has almost disappeared probably due to the heavy influence of media in promoting a particular type of Tamil dialect in their usage. I feel someone should record the uniqueness of Tamil language spoken by Tamil Muslim people in the eastern coast of Ramanathapuram district. It is continuosly disappearing. Please save it.

Religion

Panaikulam people are almost 100% Tamil Muslims. Here the stress is on ‘Tamil’ because the Muslim population in India speak Urdu as their native mother tongue except the Muslims in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Many Indians are unaware about the fact that there are Muslims who don’t speak Hindi or Urdu. They think that Muslims means they should speak Hindi or Urdu. Some of my friends had mental difficulty in accepting me a s a Muslim. They thought that I might be a convert or I am an impure/illitrate Muslim. I explained them the real picture of our Tamil Muslim community. They asked “If you don’t know Urdu how will you recite your Quran? How can you pray?”. I explained to them “Quran is in Arabic. We must use Arabic version of Quran in all our prayers. Arabic is different from Urdu. We use Arabic for our prayer. we learn to read Arabic sufficient enough to chant some verses from Quran. So there is no need to learn Urdu or Hindi to be a Muslim”. Even after this, their mental block didn’t get unblocked.

It seems that the people migrated to Panaikulam as Muslims from the surrounding places. The migrations had taken place from the surrounding places like Udaichiar valasai, kothakottai (near regunathapuram) etc., No significant conversions took place in Panaikulam. The schools of Hanafi and Shafi are followed in religious practice. The small children are sent to Arabic schools (Madrasa) where they learn to read the holy Quran. Usually they are taught to read the Quran only not the meaning of the language. There is a big Jumma Mosque in the center of Panaikulam in addition to the other small mosques. The architecture of this jumma mosque is very unique as it was built with huge and heavy natural stones. The entire roof was built with this natural stone, a very rare architectural elegance to see. Someone can make a write up on the architectural marvellous of this stone-beauty.

People

People of Panaikulam follow the old Tamil proverb “திரைகடலோடியும் திரவியம் தேடு” (Seek wealth even if it is across the sea). So there shouldn’t be any surprise to know that atleast one person is working in abroad from every family. Due to their overseas jobs, the per capita income will be very high when compared to their counterparts in rest of India. People are very friendly, energetic and enthusiastic. They are very very helpful. I often feel that entire Panaikulam is reverbrating with the energy of its people. Such a lively people and place. No wonder they make good business wherever they go.

Food

When it comes to food, there is no secondary thought. Food occupies an important place in all festivals and functions. I can say that Panaikulam’s special food is கறி குருமா. I couldn’t find கறி குருமா (Mutton kuruma) anywhere else. It is such a tasty and rejuvenating food. One should live to eat such tasty food on this earth. Other foods like இடியாப்பம் (Idiyaappam) and வட்லப்பம் (vatlappam) are very popular breakfast dishes in the festival time. தால்சா (Dhalsa) and சொதியானம் are also popular food during the festivals and functions. Since Panaikulam is adjacent to sea, getting fish daily is not a big issue. So we can find fish daily three times in the food. If fish is not available, then dry fish is cooked. Then only the vegetable dhal curry comes in to the dining table. Actually i was unaware of sambhar until I came out of Panaikulam. Thats why I say the culture and customs are much different from the rest of Indians and even rest of Indian Muslims.

Panaikulam Beach - பனைக்குளம் கடற்கரை

Other Panaikulam websites:

• To know more about the official information and data on panaikulam, please visit http://www.panaikulam.ae
• To know the latest news and happenings in Panaikulam, please visit http://www.panaikulam.me/
• To go to Panaikulam Association Malaysia, please visit http://www.panaikulam.com.my/