Kozhikode
Kozhikode known as Calicut, is a city in Kerala and the headquarters of the Kozhikode district. The Kozhikode metropolitan area is the second largest urban agglomeration in Kerala with a population of 2 million as of 2011; the city lies about 360 km south west of Bangalore, 235 km south of Mangalore and 525 km south west of Chennai. During classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikode was dubbed the City of Spices for its role as the major trading point of Indian spices, it was the capital of an independent kingdom ruled by the Samoothiris in the Middle Ages and of the erstwhile Malabar District under British rule. Arab merchants traded with the region as early as 7th century, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed at Kozhikode on 20 May 1498, thus opening a trade route between Europe and Malabar. A Portuguese factory and the fort was intact in Kozhikode for short period; the English landed followed by the French and the Dutch. In 1765, Mysore captured Kozhikode as part of its occupation of the Malabar Coast.
Kozhikode, once a famous cotton-weaving centre, gave its name to the Calico cloth. According to data compiled by economics research firm Indicus Analytics on residences and investments, Kozhikode ranked as the second best city in India to reside in, it was ranked eleventh among Tier-II Indian cities in job creation by a study conducted by ASSOCHAM in 2007. The exact origin of the name Kozhikode is uncertain. According to many sources, the name Kozhikode is derived from Koyil-kota; the name got corrupted into Kolikod, or its anglicized version Calicut. Arab merchants called it Qāliqūṭ. Tamils called. In Kannada it was known as Kallikote. Although the city's official name is Kozhikode, in English it is sometimes known by its anglicised version, Calicut; the word calico, a fine variety of hand-woven cotton cloth, exported from the port of Kozhikode, is thought to have been derived from Calicut. It is the historical capital of Kerala as the history dates back to 1498 AD when Vasco da Gama landed in Kappad, near Calicut.
Kozhikode is a town with a long recorded history. From time immemorial, the city has attracted travellers with its prosperity, it has traded in spices like black pepper and cardamom with Arabs, Jews and Chinese for more than 500 years. As Kozhikode offered full freedom and security, the Arab and the Chinese merchants preferred it to all other ports; the globe-trotter Ibn Battuta said, "We came next to Kalikut, one of the great ports of the district of Malabar, in which merchants of all parts are found."Kozhikode was the capital of Malabar during the time of Sri Samoothiri Maharajas, who ruled the region before the British took over. The city's first recorded contact with Europe was when Vasco da Gama landed at Kappad in May 1498, among the leaders of a trade mission from Portugal, he was received by his highness Sri Samoothiri Maharaja. Feroke is a prominent commercial town located adjacent to the city of Kozhikode; the remnants of Tipu Sultan’s Fort area telltale of the Mysore Emperor’s dream to make Farookabad, now Ferok, his new capital, but that dream was never realized.
Known as Farookabad during the reign of Tipu Sultan, he wanted to make Farookabad his capital when he conquered Malabar in 1788. But it came under the jurisdiction of the British. Accounts of the city and the conditions prevailing can be gleaned from the chronicles of travellers who visited the port city. Ibn Battuta, who visited six times, gives the earliest glimpses of life in the city, he describes Kozhikode as "one of the great ports of the district of Malabar" where "merchants of all parts of the world are found". The king of this place, he says, "shaves his chin just as the Haidari Fakeers of Rome do... The greater part of the Muslim merchants of this place are so wealthy that one of them can purchase the whole freightage of such vessels put here and fit out others like them". Ma Huan, the Chinese sailor part of the Imperial Chinese fleet under Cheng Ho lauds the city as a great emporium of trade frequented by merchants from around the world, he makes note of the 20 or 30 mosques built to cater to the religious needs of the Muslims, the unique system of calculation by the merchants using their fingers and toes and the matrilineal system of succession.
Abdur Razzak the ambassador of Persian Emperor Sha-Rohk finds the city harbour secured and notices precious articles from several maritime countries from Abyssinia and Zanzibar. The Italian Niccolò de' Conti the first Christian traveller who noticed Kozhikode, describes the city as abounding in pepper, ginger, a larger kind of cinnamon and zedary, he calls it a noble emporium for all India, with a circumference of eight miles. The Russian traveller Athanasius Nikitin or Afanasy Nikitin calls'Calecut' a port for the whole Indian sea and describes it as having a "big bazaar." Other travellers who visited Kozhikode include Duarte Barbosa. Kozhikode and its suburbs formed; the Eradis of Nediyirippu in Eranad wanted an outlet to the sea, to initiate trade and commerce with the distant lands. And after fighting with the king Polatthiri for 48 years conquered the area around Panniankara. After this, Menokki came to terms with the troops and people. After this, the town
Malé
Malé is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. With a population of 133,412 and an area of 9.27 square kilometres, it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll. Administratively, the city consists of a central island, an airport island, two other islands governed by the Malé City Council. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located; the city was called Mahal. It was a walled city surrounded by fortifications and gates; the Royal Palace was destroyed along with the picturesque forts and bastions when the city was remodelled under President Ibrahim Nasir's rule in the aftermath of the abolition of the monarchy in 1968. However, the Malé Friday Mosque remains. In recent years, the island has been expanded through land-filling operations. Over the years, Malé has been the center of political protests and milestone events.
Although Malé is geographically located in Kaafu Atoll, administratively it is not considered part of it. The central part of the city is formed by the island of Malé. Three more islands form part of the city. A commercial harbour is located on the central island and serves as the heart of all commercial activities in the country; the central island is urbanized, with the built-up area taking up its entire landmass. Less than one third of the nation's population lives in the capital city, the population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to 100,000 people in 2006. Many Maldivians and foreign workers living in other parts of the country find themselves in occasional short term residence on the island since it is the centre of administration and bureaucracy; the whole island group, the Maldives, is named after its capital. The word "Maldives" means "the islands of Malé"; the first settlers in the Maldivian islands were Dravidian people who arrived from the neighboring shores of the modern Indian Subcontinent and coastal Ceylon.
Comparative studies of Maldivian linguistic and other cultural traditions, in addition to folklore, point to a strong Dravidian influence on Maldivian society, centered in Malé, from ancient times. The Giraavaru people of Giraavaru claim descent from the first Tamil settlers of the Maldives, it is said. It is said that Giraavaru fishermen used to go to a certain large sandbank at the southern end of their atoll to clean tuna fish after a good catch. Owing to the large amount of tuna fish offal and blood, the waters around that sandbank looked like a big pool of blood ("maa ley gandeh": "maa". Traditionally the first inhabitants of the Maldives, which include the Giravaru people, didn't have kings, they were ruled by local headmen. However, one day, a prince from the subcontinent called Koimala arrived in the Malé Atoll sailing from the North on a big ship; the people of Giraavaru welcomed him. They allowed Prince Koimala to settle on that large sandbank in the midst of the waters tainted with fish blood.
Trees were planted on the sandbank and it is said that the first tree that grew on it was the papaya tree. As time went by, the local islanders accepted the rule of this Northern Prince. A palace was built and the island was formally named Maa-le, while the nearest island was named Hulhu-le; the names of the main four wards or divisions of Malé Island are said to have been given by the original Giraavaru fishermen: Maafannu from maa and fannu, Henveiru from en-beyru, Galolhu from galu-olhu and, Macchangolhi from mathi-angolhi. In early foreign sources, Malé was called Mahl. For the Maldivians, it was Fura i.e. "Malé the Preminent. When Ibn Battouta traveled to Malé in 1343, he provided a rather extensive description of the city as well as the Islands of the Maldives overall, he mentioned that the Queen, Reendi Khadeeja, had a residence in Malé, which from its description may be assimilated to the same palace of the sultan rulers, in the centre of the island. Within the palace compounds, several pits contained stores of cowrie shells.
Ibn Battouta mentioned several mosques, built in wood. Malé was fortified in the 17th century by the sultan Muhammad Imaduddin, who built walls on the north and west side of the island. An inner harbour was used by fishing vessels and small dhonis, while larger vessels had to anchor in the outer harbour, between the islands of Vilingili and Hulhule; the island covered less than one square mile in size, was surrounded by a shallow lagoon. Malé had 2148 inhabitants in 1888, but population growth soon led to the search for new spaces for housing; the old forts and decrepit walls were dismantled in 1925-1927 under the reign of Muhammad Shamsuddin III, to be rebuilt on a smaller scale. Roads were widened and straightened. Former large cemeteries had been cleared out, to achieve more housing space; the Royal Palace was destroyed along with the picturesque forts and bastions when the city was remodelled under President Ibrahim Nasir's rule in the aftermath of the abolition of the monarchy in 1968. Only the National Museum buildin
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram known by its former name Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011; the encompassing urban agglomeration population is around 1.68 million. Located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, Thiruvananthapuram is a major Information Technology hub in Kerala and contributes 55% of the state's software exports as of 2016. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills; the Ays ruled the present region of Thiruvananthapuram until the 10th century. With their fall in the 10th century, the city was taken over by the Chera dynasty; the city was taken over by the Kingdom of Venad in the 12th century. In the 17th century the king Marthanda Varma expanded the territory and founded the princely state of Travancore and Thiruvananthapuram was made capital of Travancore. Following India's independence in 1947, Thiruvananthapuram became the capital of Travancore-Cochin state and remained capital when the new Indian state of Kerala was formed in 1956.
Thiruvananthapuram is a notable academic and research hub and is home to the University of Kerala, Kerala Technological University the regional headquarters of Indira Gandhi National Open University, many other schools and colleges. Thiruvananthapuram is home to research centers such as the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Indian Space Research Organisation's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, a campus of the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research; the city is home to media institutions like Toonz India Ltd and Tata Elxsi Ltd, is home to Chitranjali Film Studio, one of the first film studios in Malayalam Cinema, Kinfra Film and Video Park at Kazhakoottom, India's first Infotainment Industrial park. Being India's largest city in the deep south, it is strategically prominent and hosts the Southern Air Command headquarters of the Indian Air Force, the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station and the upcoming Vizhinjam International Seaport.
Thiruvananthapuram is a major tourist centre, known for the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the beaches of Kovalam and Varkala, the backwaters of Poovar and Anchuthengu and its Western Ghats tracts of Ponmudi and the Agastyamala. In 2012, Thiruvananthapuram was named the best Kerala city to live in, by a field survey conducted by The Times of India. In 2013, the city was ranked the fifteenth best city to live in India, in a survey conducted by India Today; the city was selected as the best-governed city in India in the survey conducted by Janaagraha Centre for citizenship and democracy in 2017. The city takes its name from the Malayalam word thiru-anantha-puram IPA:, meaning "The City of Lord Ananta", referring to the deity of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple located in the city. Thiruvananthapuram is known in the literature, popular reference as Ananthapuri derived from the Sanskrit word Syanandurapuram, meaning "The City of Bliss" in Carnatic kirtanas composed by Swathi Thirunal, erstwhile Maharaja of Travancore.
The city was referred to as Trivandrum until 1991, when the government decided to reinstate the city's original name Thiruvananthapuram. Thiruvananthapuram is an ancient region with trading traditions dating back to 1000 BCE, it is believed that the ships of King Solomon landed in a port called Ophir in Thiruvananthapuram in 1036 BCE. The city was the trading post of spices and ivory. However, the ancient political and cultural history of the city was entirely independent from that of the rest of Kerala; the early rulers of the city were the Ays. Vizhinjam, now a region in the present-day Thiruvananthapuram, was the capital of Ay dynasty. Vizhinjam was an important port city from as early as 2nd century BC. During the Ay dynasty rule, Thiruvananthapuram witnessed many battles in which the Chola and Pandyan dynasties attempted to capture the port town. After the death of king Vikramaditya Varaguna in 925 AD, the glory of the Ays departed and all their territories became part of the Chera dynasty.
During the 10th century, the Cholas sacked Vizhinjam and surrounding regions. The port in Vizhinjam and the historic education center of Kanthalloor Sala was destroyed by Cholas during this period. A branch of the Ay family, controlling the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, merged with the Kingdom of Venad in the 12th century. In the late 17th century, Marthanda Varma who inherited the Kingdom of Venad expanded the kingdom by conquering kingdoms of Attingal, Kayamkulam, Kottayam, Meenachil and Ambalapuzha. In 1729, Marthanda Varma founded the princely state of Thiruvithamkoor and Thiruvananthapuram was made the capital in 1745 after shifting the capital from Padmanabhapuram in Kanyakumari district; the kingdom of Travancore was dedicated by Marthanda Varma to the deity Sri. Padmanabha; the rulers of Travancore ruled the kingdom as the servants of Sri. Padmanabha; the city developed into a significant artistic centre during this period. The golden age in the city's history was during the mid 19th century under the reign of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal and Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal.
This era saw the establishment of the first English school, the Observatory, the General Hospital, the Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library and the University College. The first mental hospital in the state was started during the same period. Sanskrit College, Ayurveda Co
Colombo
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, 752,993 in the city proper. It is the financial centre of a popular tourist destination, it is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, a suburb of, Colombo, it is the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins, it was the legislative capital of Sri Lanka until 1982. Due to its large harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago, it was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, its status as capital was retained when the nation became independent in 1948.
In 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. Like many cities, Colombo's urban area extends well beyond the boundaries of a single local authority, encompassing other municipal and urban councils such as Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council, Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, Kolonnawa Urban Council, Kaduwela Municipal Council and Kotikawatte Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha; the main city is home to a majority of Sri Lanka's corporate offices and entertainment venues. Famous landmarks in Colombo include Galle Face Green, Viharamahadevi Park, Beira Lake, Colombo Racecourse, University of Colombo, Mount Lavinia beach, Nelum Pokuna Theatre, Colombo Lotus Tower as well as the National Museum; the name "Colombo", first introduced by the Portuguese in 1505, is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhala name කොලොන් තොට Kolon thota, meaning "port on the river Kelani". Another belief is that the name is derived from the Sinhala name කොල-අඹ-තොට Kola-amba-thota which means "Harbour with leafy mango trees".
This coincides with Robert Knox's history of the island. He writes that, "On the West the City of Columbo, so called from a Tree the Natives call Ambo, growing in that place; the author of the oldest Sinhala grammar, written in the 13th century wrote about a category of words that belonged to early Sinhala. It lists kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source. Kolamba may be the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo; as Colombo possesses a natural harbour, it was known to Indian, Persian, Roman and Chinese traders over 2,000 years ago. Traveller Ibn Battuta who visited the island in the 14th century, referred to it as Kalanpu. Arabs, whose prime interests were trade, began to settle in Colombo around the 8th century AD because the port helped their business by the way of controlling much of the trade between the Sinhalese kingdoms and the outside world, their descendants now comprise the local Sri Lankan Moor community. Portuguese explorers led by Dom Lourenço de Almeida first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505.
During their initial visit they made a treaty with the King of Kotte, Parakramabahu VIII, which enabled them to trade in the island's crop of cinnamon, which lay along the coastal areas of the island, including in Colombo. As part of the treaty, the Portuguese were given full authority over the coastline in exchange for the promise of guarding the coast against invaders, they were allowed to establish a trading post in Colombo. Within a short time, they expelled the Muslim inhabitants of Colombo and began to build a fort in 1517; the Portuguese soon realized that control of Sri Lanka was necessary for protection of their coastal establishments in India and they began to manipulate the rulers of the Kotte kingdom to gain control of the area. After skilfully exploiting rivalries within the royal family, they took control of a large area of the kingdom and the Sinhalese King Mayadunne established a new kingdom at Sitawaka, a domain in the Kotte kingdom. Before long he annexed much of the Kotte kingdom and forced the Portuguese to retreat to Colombo, besieged by Mayadunne and the kings of Sitawaka, forcing them to seek reinforcement from their major base in Goa, India.
Following the fall of the kingdom in 1593, the Portuguese were able to establish complete control over the coastal area, with Colombo as their capital. This part of Colombo is still known as Fort and houses the presidential palace and the majority of Colombo's five star hotels; the area outside Fort is known as Pettah and is a commercial hub. In 1638 the Dutch signed a treaty with King Rajasinha II of Kandy which assured the king assistance in his war against the Portuguese in exchange for a monopoly of the island's major trade goods; the Portuguese resisted the Dutch and the Kandyans but were defeated in their strongholds beginning in 1639. The Dutch captured Colombo in 1656 after an epic siege, at the end of which a mere 93 Portuguese survivors were given safe conduct out of the fort. Although the Dutch
Thoothukudi
Tuticorin, known as Thoothukudi, is a port city and a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the headquarters of Thoothukudi district, it is located about 590 kilometres south of Chennai and 190 kilometres northeast of Thiruvananthapuram. According to Confederation of Indian Industry, Thoothukudi has the second highest Human Development Index in Tamil Nadu next to Chennai. Tuticorin City serves as the headquarters of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited. Major educational establishments in the city include Thoothukudi Medical College, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Maritime Academy, V. O. C. Arts & Science College, Government Polytechnic College, Dr. Sivanthi Aditanar College of Engineering and Anna University Tuticorin Campus. Tuticorin Port is one of the Fastest growing Major Ports in India. Tuticorin is an "Emerging Energy and Industrial hub of South India".
Thoothukudi is known as "Pearl City" due to the pearl fishing carried out in the town. It is a commercial seaport which serves the inland cities of Southern India and is one of the sea gateways of Tamil Nadu, it is one of the major seaports in India with a history dating back to the 6th century AD. The city is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled, at different times, by the Early Pandyas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Ma'bar Sultanate, Tirunelveli Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Chanda Sahib, Carnatic kingdom, Portuguese and the British. Thoothukudi was settled by the Portuguese, Dutch and by the British East India Company; the city is administered by a Thoothukudi Municipal Corporation covering an area of 353.07 km2 and had a population of 237,830 in 2011. The urban agglomeration had a population of 410,760 as of 2011; the majority of the people of the city are employed in salt pans, sea-borne trading and tourism. The 21 islands between Thoothukudi and Rameswaram shores in the Gulf of Mannar are noted as the first Marine Biosphere Reserve of India, have around 36,000 species of flora and fauna.
This protected area is called Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. Our Lady of Snows Basilica festival is celebrated annually during August; this and the Shiva temple festivals, e.g. Adi Amavasai and Chittirai chariot festivals – are the major festivals of the area. Roadways are the major mode of transport to Thoothukudi, while the city has rail and sea transport. Thoothukudi is known by the name'Muthu Kuzhithurai', it is called as "Sea Gateway of Tamil Nadu". Thoothukudi is part of the Pearl Fishery Coast, is known for its pearl fishing and shipbuilding industries; the ancient town of Korkai has been a centre for maritime trade and pearl fishery for more than 2000 years. Ptolemy's geography refers to Korkai as a centre of pearl fishery while describing commercial relations between western India and Alexandria, the chief eastern emporium of the Roman Empire; the Periplus says that the Pandyan kingdom extended from Comari towards the north, including Korkai, where the pearl fisheries were. Thoothukudi was the seat of Portuguese during the 16th century, the Dutch occupied in the 17th century as evidenced by Pagoda coins.
During the 18th century the British occupied the town. Being a port town, the town received attention from the rulers for improving their trade, so it was brought to Municipal status in 1866. Rao Bahadur Cruz Fernandez and J. L. P. Roche Victoria as the chairmen of municipal corporation made significant contributions, laying the foundations for a modern Tuticorin. On 20 October 1986, a new district, carved out of the erstwhile Tirunelveli district was born in Tamil Nadu and named after V. O. Chidambaranar, a prominent national leader hailing from Ottapidaram who led the Swadeshi Movement in the south. Since 1997, as is the case in other districts of Tamil Nadu, this district has been named after its headquarters town, Thoothukudi. Thoothukudi became, it was in Thoothukudi that the illustrious patriot, V. O. Chidambaram established the first swadesi Stream Navigation Company, sailing the first steamer S. S. Gaelia to Thoothukudi on 1 June 1907; the major harbour of Thoothukudi is well known as a pearl fishing centre.
It is one of the oldest seaports in the world and was the seaport of the Pandyan kingdom after Korkai, near Palayakayal. It was taken over by the Portuguese in 1548, captured by the Dutch in 1658, ceded to the British in 1825; the lighthouse built in 1842 marked the beginning of the history of harbour development in the city. Thoothukudi was established as a Municipality in 1866 with Roche Victoria as its first chairman, it attained the status of Corporation on 5 August 2008 after 142 years of being a municipality. Thoothukudi Corporation is divided into 60 wards after its expansion in the year 2011 and these wards are comprised in four zones—i.e. East, West and South. East zone has 14–16 and 19–33 wards, West zone has 34–47 wards, North zone has 1–13 and 17, 18 wards and South zone has 48–60 wardsThe minor port of the Thoothukudi anchorage port with lighter age facilities has had flourishing traffic for over a century; the first wooden jetty of this port was commissioned in 1864. This port was used for export of salt, cotton yarn, senna leaves, palmyrah stalks, palmyrah fibres, dry fish, country drugs, other goods to neighbouring countries and for import of coal, copra and grains.
The minor port of the Thoothukudi has the distinction of being the intermediate port handling the highest traffic tonnage of over 1 million per annum
Pearl
A pearl is a hard glistening object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as a conulariid. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, deposited in concentric layers; the ideal pearl is round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries; because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine and valuable. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are rare; these wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those sold. Imitation pearls are widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of their iridescence is very poor and is distinguished from that of genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated for use in jewelry, but in the past were used to adorn clothing.
They have been crushed and used in cosmetics and paint formulations. Whether wild or cultured, gem-quality pearls are always nacreous and iridescent, like the interior of the shell that produces them; however all species of shelled mollusks are capable of producing pearls of lesser shine or less spherical shape. Although these may be legitimately referred to as "pearls" by gemological labs and under U. S. Federal Trade Commission rules, are formed in the same way, most of them have no value except as curiosities; the English word pearl comes from the French perle from the Latin perna meaning leg, after the ham- or mutton leg-shaped bivalve. All shelled mollusks can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within its mantle folds, but the great majority of these "pearls" are not valued as gemstones. Nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams. A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell.
Natural pearls, formed without human intervention, are rare. Many hundreds of pearl oysters or mussels must be gathered and opened, thus killed, to find one wild pearl. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms. One family of nacreous pearl bivalves – the pearl oyster – lives in the sea, while the other – a different group of bivalves – lives in freshwater. Saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls grow within certain species of freshwater mussels in the order Unionida, the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae; the unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection and diffraction of light from the translucent layers. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster; the iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on the surface. In addition, pearls can be dyed yellow, blue, pink, purple, or black; the best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster.
Because pearls are made of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar. Calcium carbonate is susceptible to a weak acid solution because the crystals react with the acetic acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate and carbon dioxide. Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from different sources. Freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, family Unionidae, which live in lakes, rivers and other bodies of fresh water; these freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in hotter climates, but in colder more temperate areas such as Scotland. Most freshwater cultured pearls sold. Saltwater pearls grow within family Pteriidae, which live in oceans. Saltwater pearl oysters are cultivated in protected lagoons or volcanic atolls. Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside that injures the mantle tissue; the mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation.
Pearls are thus the result of an immune response analogous in the human body to the capture of an antigen by a phagocyte. The mollusk's mantle deposits layers of calcium carbonate in the form of the mineral aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite held together by an organic horn-like compound called conchiolin; the combination of aragonite and conchiolin is called nacre. The held belief that a grain of sand acts as the irritant is in fact the case. Typical stimuli include organic material, parasites, or damage that displaces mantle tissue to another part of the mollusk's body; these small particles or organisms gain entry when the shell valves are open for feeding or respiration. In cultured pearls, the irritant is an introduc
Kollam Beach
Kollam Beach known as Mahatma Gandhi Beach, is a beach at Kollam city in the Indian state of Kerala. Kollam Beach is the first'Beach Wedding Destination' in Kerala; the beach features a park of international standard, the Mahatma Gandhi Park, inaugurated on 1 January 1961 by the Vice President of India, Zakir Hussain. Kollam beach is one among the few beaches in Kerala with a lifeguard outpost. Lifeguards were stationed at the beach from 2005; as of July 2015 Kovalam, Kollam is one among the three beaches in south Kerala with lifeguard outposts. Kollam Port is one of the oldest and most important ports for the international cashew trade on the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea; as of 2010, Kollam Port was the second largest port in Kerala after Cochin Port. Kollam was once a favourite settlement of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English in succession before Independence; the port is protected by the Tangasseri Breakwater, extending about 1.1 miles south-south east of Tangasseri Point. The exotic location and backwaters makes Kollam Beach one of Kerala's most popular tourist attractions.
On 22 June 2014, construction work started on a marine aquarium at Kollam Beach, first of its kind in the state of Kerala. The Harbour Engineering Department is constructing the aquarium at the eastern side of the beach on behalf of Kollam Municipal Corporation; the foundation stone for the project was laid in March and is expected to complete by December 2014. It will be a single storey aquarium with 40 large tanks to hold a diverse collection of marine life and will be an added attraction for visitors to Kollam beach; the 144-foot Tangasseri lighthouse built in 1902 is a major landmark at the beach. Ruins of Portuguese / Dutch forts and 18th-century churches near the port remain as a memento of the Portuguese and Dutch rule of the area. President's Trophy Boat Race Kollam pooram Kovalam Paravur Thekkumbhagam Varkala
