Muppandal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aralvaimozhy railway station with a view of  wind farm
Enlarge
Aralvaimozhy railway station with a view of wind farm

Muppandal is a small village on the southern tip of India in Kanyakumari District, in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is located in a hilly region where wind from the Arabian Sea gusts through mountain passes.[1]

Contents

[edit] Wind power

The once-impoverished village benefited from the building of the nearby Muppandal wind farm, a renewable energy source, supplying the villagers with electricity for work.[2] [3] The village had been selected as the showcase for India's $2 thousand million clean energy programme, providing foreign companies with tax breaks for establishing fields of wind turbines in the area. Now huge power-producing windmills tower over the palm trees. As the village attracts wind energy producing companies and thousands of new jobs, the incomes of villagers has risen drmatically.[1]

The suitability of Muppandal as a site for wind farms stems from its geographical location, as it has access to the seasonal monsoon winds. [2]

[edit] Shrine

In Muppandal there is an image of Avvaiyar in the temple dedicated to her there.[4] By tradition, this is the spot where the great poetess left the mortal world.[5] Avvaiyar was actually not one but several women. An unmarried woman who devoted herself to higher learning was respectfully called Avva in ancient Tamil society during the Sangam era.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Wind power boosts Southern Indian economy. Aljazeera.net (November 2 2003). Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
  2. ^ a b Tapping the Wind - India (February 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
  3. ^ Watts, Himangshu (November 11 2003). Clean Energy Brings Windfall to Indian Village. Reuters News Service. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
  4. ^
  5. ^ Padmanabhan, S.. Shrine for the Tamil poetess. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.


[edit] External links