Nagapattinam Tourism Places - Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu
Located on the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu, Nagapattinam offers mixed religious sites for the tourists. The name of the town could have been derived from the word ‘Nagoor’, the land of serpent Gods. The details of this district are found in the Burmese historical text of the 3rd century and it also gives evidence of a Buddha Vihar constructed by Ashoka the great. In the ancient Buddhist literary works, Nagapattinam is mentioned as ‘Padarithitha’. Excavations were conducted by the Archaeological department at Velipalayam village and more than three hundred Buddha statues were discovered. In the year 1658, the Dutch tried to evict the Portuguese from Nagapattinam to establish the commercial centre there under the agreement done between them and Thanjavur King Vijaya Nayakkar.
The following ten villages namely Puthur Muttam, Azhagi Mangalam, Poruvalancheri, Thiruvathira Mangalam, Anthonippettai, Nagapattinam Port, Karur Veppankadu, Sangamangalam, Manjakollai and Nariyankudi were transferred from the Portuguese to the Dutch. Ten Christian churches and a hospital were constructed by the Dutch then here. According to one treaty between the first Maratha King of Thanjavur and the Dutch in 1675, Nagapattinam and its surrounding villages were handed over to the Dutch. Later, the town fell into the hands of the British in the year 1781. The town remained one of the chief ports for the British rule. The port suffered decline in commercial activities after the rise of Tharangambadi and Thoothukudi ports. After India's independence, it remained a part of Thanjavur until 1991, and later became a separate district. Now, the main occupation of this area is agriculture and fishing in Bay of Bengal.