Pudumadam

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Pudumadam is a beautiful Muslim village in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamilnadu. It is located off NH47 en route Rameshwaram, a bustling Hindu pilgrim center.

Pudumadam is 4 km from Uchippuli which is on the National Highway 47 (NH 47).NH 47 runs from Kochi to Rameswaram. The nearest station is Uchippuli but Express trains don't stop here. The closest town is Ramanathapuram and is 25 km from Pudumadam.

Pudumadam being a coastal village had fishing as its primary occupation. Some were traders running businesses in Sri Lankan mainland which is only 10s of nautical miles from here.

Later on people started moving out of the village in search of better livelihood. Most of them ended up as labourers in Gulf countries as most people of Pudumadam never gave education a good try. Some earned their living by acting as travel agents. But people have become more aware these days that a number of students are taking up education seriously and there are already a considerable number of engineers and a few doctors.

The village population is predominantly Muslim and has three Jamaaths namely North Street Jamaath, Middle Street Jamaath and South Street Jamath. Each Jamaath has a mosque of its own mostly built from contributions from members of the respective Jamaaths in a race to build a better mosque. Jamaath is only a matter of pride and people are united otherwise as is evident from marriages which runs across Jamaaths.

Below is a typical street in Pudumadam, with palm thatch roofed, tile roofed and concrete roofed houses depicting the reluctant shift of life in Pudumadam from its fine golden sand paths to tar filled roads.