Tenkasi

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Tenkasi (Tamil: தென்காசி Teṉkāci [ Tenka si ː ] ) is a city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu with around 71,000 inhabitants ( 2001 census).

Tenkasi is situated in Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu, 620 km south west of Chennai (Madras ), the capital of the state, and 50 kilometers north- west of the district capital, Tirunelveli. The city is located in the lowlands a few miles from the foot of the Western Ghats, which form the natural border with the neighboring federal state of Kerala, away. Five kilometers southwest of Tenkasi is the famous for its waterfalls place Courtallam. Tenkasi is the main town of the same name taluks (sub - district ) in the district of Tirunelveli.

The name Tenkasi means in local language Tamil " Kashi (Varanasi ) of the South". The faith after a visit Tenkasis to replace the pilgrimage to Varanasi. The main temple of the city is dedicated to Lord Shiva as Kasi Viswanathar, that manifestation of Shiva, which is worshiped in the sacred city of Varanasi. The temple was founded in the 15th century by Arikesari Parakrama, a late representative of the Pandya dynasty that reigned after the fall of the Pandya kingdom on the area around Tirunelveli. The most striking structural feature of the 1.6 -acre temple complex is the 54 meter tall gopuram ( gate-tower ), which rises above the main entrance to the east.

Tenkasi is located on the road connecting Tirunelveli on the Western Ghats to Kerala. Tenkasi is also a railway junction between Tamil Nadu and Kerala: This is where the leads from Madurai via Virudhunagar coming broad gauge track on a meter gauge line from Tirunelveli on the Western Ghats to Kollam in Kerala. The connection to Kollam but was blocked in 2007 in order to convert to broad gauge.