Climate
Based on a 50 year study, it is found that during the North-East monsoon, between October and December, a precipitation of 549 mm is received in 24 rainy days and during the South-West Monsoon 537 mm is received from June to September in 27 rainy days. In summer, 332 mm of rainfall is received in 11 rainy days between March and May. The annual average rainfall in the district is 1465 mm with a maximum of around 247 mm in October and a minimum of 21 mm in February. Relative humidity ranges between 60 to 100%.[citation needed]
Religion
Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are the three main religions represented in the district. The distribution of population based on religion is as follows: Hindus - 28.27%, Christians - 67.47%, Muslims - 4.19% and Others - 0.006%.[4]
This district is the birthplace of Ayyavazhi. Apart from the role in the religious universe, Ayyavazhi also plays a major role in the social history of Kanyakumari in the mid-nineteenth century.[5]
Roman Catholic Christianity was introduced into the Kanyakumari area by the European missionary, St. Francis Xavier, who resided at Kottar while doing missionary work in the neighbouring areas. Protestant missionaries arrived later. The district has the third largest Christian population among all districts in India.[6] Also, about one-fifth of the Christian population of Tamil Nadu live in this district.
Islam had a firm foothold in this region since ancient times. The Main Mosque (Valiya Palli) in Thengapattanam is believed to have been built by the missionary team led by Malik ibn Deenar in the 7th century.
Festivals
The Mondaikad festival is celebrated by the locals as well as Keralites. Traditionally, participants would walk chanting "ammae saranam, bhagavathiye saranam", and all the way people would provide butter, milk, water, jaggery, and coffee. The festival is celebrated for ten days and later became a social function, especially on Sunday. In 1982 there were police shootings to quell a disturbance by local fishermen. Today, Mondaikad is more of a departmental festival. Kanyakumari District has important religious sites for all three major religions in the district, viz., Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The Ayyavazhi festival, Ayya vaikunda Avataram, is widely celebrated throughout the district.[7][8] The Kodiyettru ThirunalSwamithope pathi and attracts large crowds[9][10][11][12] The car festival at Suchindram also attracts large crowds in the month of January. is celebrated in the religious headquarters of from Tamil Nadu and across India.
The Kodai festival in the month of March at the Mandaicadu temple also attracts large crowds, both from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Thirukalya Utsavam in Kumaracoil temple, near Thuckalay, is celebrated in the month of March - April, and attracts large numbers from Kerala. In the St. Xavier's Church at Kottar, the annual festival on 3 December, is celebrated with grandeur, and attracts Catholic people (and some Hindus too) from all over South India.[citation needed]
New Year is celebrated with Vana Vediakkai (fireworks) and local games such as Valukku Panai (slippery palm), a game in which a person has to climb a bamboo stick which is flooded with oil.
Food
Rice is the staple food of the people, although for some people in the hilly areas, tapioca is the main food. Though there are some vegetarians among the populace, a majority of the people use agro, meat and fish products. Fish caught in the seas around the district during the night or early morning hours reach the markets in the interior towns and villages in the early morning. The food is spicy, and the people in the district tend to use more grated coconut in their curries and food-preparations, like neighbouring Kerala.
Infrastructure
Transport and highways
There are two major National Highways (NH) roads emanating from Kanyakumari town. One is the NH 7 that starts from the town and runs through Madurai and the other is the NH 47Salem through Kerala, touching some important cities in Kerala like Trivandrum and Kochi and also in Tamil Nadu. The road stretching from Kanyakumari to Trivandrum is one of the busiest Highway stretches in India. that runs to
The state-owned Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation is the major operator of bus services in the district, though licences are issued for specific routes to private operators.
Today, there are 3495.80 km of surfaced roads in the district.
The nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport which is 70 km away from Nagercoil, the capital of Kanyakumari District.
Railways
Nagercoil is a major railway junction, connecting the eastern and western rail lines and connecting all the majore cities in India. The western line runs through the west coast (though Kerala) and the eastern line runs through the east into Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, towards Chennai. The rail link to Kanyakumari was established only in 1978, mainly because establishing a rail line through the district posed some challenges for the rail department and took a lot of efforts, especially the western line. The western line that runs to Trivandrum today runs through some huge artificial ground elevations and number of hill tunnels.
Kanyakumari District is connected through direct train services with all metropolitan cities in India, like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. These Express trains originate either from Kanyakumari or Nagercoil.
Passenger (local) train services and other express trains run between Trivandrum Central and either Nagercoil or Kanyakumari. The journey by train from Trivandrum Central to Nagercoil usually takes an hour and a half.
India's longest-running train, both in time and distance, The Himsagar Express runs between Kanyakumari town and Jammu Tawi. The train covers 3,751 km between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, in 74 hours and 55 minutes.
Electricity generation
There are two hydroelectric power stations at Kodayar, generating a combined 100 MW of power. Aralvoimozhy in Kanyakumari District is a major centre for generation of windmill power and the largest in the world, led by major corporations like Suzlon Energy and Micon.
Colachel Port
Colachel Port is a small natural harbour in the western side of the district near the town of Colachel. The Indian government has plans to turn it into a major port and container trans-shipment terminal and is now in the process of making a feasibility study. Colachel Port would have certain advantages over other neighbouring ports in India when developed, in that, it would be closer to international shipping lanes - shipping traffic between Europe, West Asia and the Far East passes not far from the port. Also, the port is naturally deep. Being situated close to the tip of the Indian Peninsula and with major ports like Colombo and Singapore in the vicinity, the port is becoming a big port and the Singapore government has sent its team to study the port.
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