Panaikulam

Panaikulam பனைக்குளம்
Village
Nickname(s):  PNK
Panaikulam Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates: 9°22′11″N 78°49′51″E / 9.369762°N 78.830839°E / 9.369762; 78.830839Coordinates: 9°22′11″N 78°49′51″E / 9.369762°N 78.830839°E / 9.369762; 78.830839
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Ramanathapuram
	Ramanathapuram
	Mandapam
Village Panchayat
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	623522
Telephone code	91 4567
Vehicle registration	TN 65
Distance from Chennai	507 kilometres (315 mi)
Distance from Madurai	130 kilometres (81 mi)
Distance from Ramanathapuram	20.8 kilometres (12.9 mi)

Panaikulam or Panaikkulam is a village located in the eastern part of Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.^[1] The inhabitants of this village are primarily Tamil Muslims.

History[]

The history of Panaikulam is known for the past 200 years only. Before that, there seems to be no recorded history. From the oral information collected from the old people and with the help of a will document written by one of the descendants in the family of first migrants, it is known that Tamil-speaking Muslims migrated from adjacent parts of Ramanathapuram (e.g. Kothakottai, Udaichiyarvalasai, aalappuli ) to a place with pond and lot of palm trees. They named it as Panai (meaning palm tree) kulam (meaning pond). This pond (now called as Pugaloorani) served as the water source for the people and their cattle. Slowly the migrated population moved towards the inner parts of the village and established a mosque (now Jumma Mosque) for praying.^[2]

The migrations continued from the adjacent villages of Ramanathapuram and Panaikulam became a Muslim village. Some of the migrants used handlooms to weave the cloths and made business out of it. After some time, the mosque was built up using natural stones. It is indeed a very rare architectural beauty. During the nineteenth century, opportunities present in Malaya (now called Malaysia) attracted Panaikulam people and many of them went to Malaya to earn money. They mostly settled in Penang in businesses such as money exchange and restaurants.

Language[]

The primary language spoken by the people of Panaikulam is Tamil. Even though the accent is similar to that of the Tamil spoken in rest of Tamil Nadu, it has unique words probably borrowed from Arabic, Malay and Urdu. Certain peculiar words like nadayam (for slipper) and aanam (for curry) are used.

Food and cuisine[]

The food habits practised by the Panaikulam people have similarities with Tamil Muslim cuisine, Sri Lankan Muslim^[3] cuisine and Malay cuisine. For example, the foods such as Watalappam and Idiyappam are regularly prepared and eaten by Sri Lankan Tamil Muslims and Tamil Muslims settled in Malaysia and Singapore.

Notable person[]

• Haji Mastan - The birthplace of Haji Mastan is Panaikulam. He revealed this in an interview with "India Today" some years ago.
• K.A.N Bahurdeen, patriarch for the K.A.N (Kati-Adham-Naina) clan, philanthropist and founder of Bahurdeen School, first school to be established in Panaikulam for the village and its surrounding areas. Now it is run by government under the name Bahurdeen Government Higher Secondary School.

References[]