Kayalpatnam Historic Port Town and Mosques

The grand Friday mosque of Kayalpatnam is one of the oldest mosques in India, traditionally dated to 842 CE and rebuilt in the 14th century by Sultan Sayyid Jamaluddin. Known as the 'Mosque of a Thousand Pillars' for its vast pillared prayer hall, it is the principal Islamic monument of this historic Arab-trading port town on the Bay of Bengal. It remains an active centre of worship and Islamic scholarship.

A natural spring about 10 km from Tiruchendur where water gushes out to form a narrow stream locally called a 'sunai'. The Arunchunai Kaatha Ayyanar Temple stands on the banks of this spring, giving the place its name. It is a small pilgrimage and picnic spot combining a temple with a perennial natural water source.

A historic harbour village at the mouth of the Thamirabarani river, called 'Punicale' by the Portuguese, who made it their principal southern-coast possession for about 50 years from 1551. They built hospitals, a seminary and a mud fort here, and the first Tamil printing press was set up at Punnaikayal in 1579. It succeeded the older port of Kayal in regional maritime trade.

One of the six Arupadai Veedu abodes of Lord Murugan, a vast seashore temple on the Gulf of Mannar where Murugan is said to have worshipped Shiva before defeating the asura Surapadman.

The named beach beside Tiruchendur's Murugan temple. Open-sea conditions vary and ritual bathing does not imply that swimming is always safe.

St. John's Cathedral is a large 19th-century Gothic-style church at the centre of Nazareth, a planned Christian town founded by SPG missionaries and developed by Canon Arthur Margoschis. It serves as the seat of the CSI Thoothukudi-Nazareth Diocese. Its tall, flat-topped tower is visible across the surrounding plains.

A Christian heritage town founded in the 19th century and named after Mr. Sawyer, an East India Company layman who established a village exclusively for Christian converts. It became one of the key SPG mission fields of the district, developing schools and a Gothic-style church. It is associated with early printing and education in the Tirunelveli-Thoothukudi mission belt.

A village near Srivaikuntam whose Thamirabarani-valley urn-burial finds have been dated to roughly 3,200 years ago, cited as evidence of an ancient Tamil Iron Age civilisation.

One of the nine Nava Tirupati Divya Desams, dedicated to Vishnu as Vaithamanidhi; birthplace of the Alwar saint Madhurakavi.

A Nava Tirupati Divya Desam and the birthplace of Nammalvar, foremost of the twelve Alwar saints, said to have composed his Tamil hymns beneath a tamarind tree here.

A coastal Amman temple famed for its 10-day Dasara festival, when devotees dress as gods, goddesses and other figures in elaborate disguise processions after weeks of fasting.

Vast coastal salt-evaporation flats around Tuticorin, a major source of India's salt production and a distinctive photogenic landscape that defines the local economy.