Kerala - Kollam
Kollam (Malayalam:കൊല്ലം
) (known to the Portuguese as Quilon, pronounced
koy-lon) is a city and a municipal corporation in
Kollam
district in the Indian state of
Kerala.
It lies 71 Kilometres north of the state capital
Thiruvanathapuram(Trivandrum).
It is also the headquarters of the
Kollam
district, one among the 14 districts in the state
of
Kerala.
It is bound on the south by
Thiruvananthapuram
district, on the north by
Pathanamthitta
and
Alappuzha,
on the east by
Tamil
Nadu and on the west by the
Arabian
Sea. The town is very famous for cashew processing
and coir manufacturing. It is the southern gateway
to the
backwaters
of Kerala, and thus, a prominent tourist destination.
Kollam
was formerly called "Desinganadu". During
the rule of the Travancore kingdom in southern
Kerala,
Kollam
was the focal point of trade. The start of the
Malayalam
era(ME) is associated with
Kollam.
It is believed that the era was started by Nestorian
merchants who settled in KorukeNi
kollam,
near to the present
Kollam.
The ME is also referred as Kollavarsham.
