KUMARI KANDAM - THE LOST CONTINENT-

Kumari Kandam refers to the lost continent located south of present day India, in the Indian ocean. In the 19th century, a section of European and American scholars speculated the existence of a submerged called Lemuria. A section of Tamil revivalists adapted this theory connecting it to the Pandiyan land lost to the ocean as described in ancient Tamil and Sanskrit texts. In the 20th century, the Tamil writers started using the name Kumari Kandam to describe this submerged continent. Although the Lemuria theory was later rendered obsolete by the continental drift theory, the concept remained popular among the Tamil revivalists of the 20th century. According to them, Kumari Kandam was the place where the first two Sangams were organised during the Pandiyan sovereign. They claimed the Kumari Kandam as the civilization to prove the antiquity of Tamil language and culture. The words Kumari Kandam first appear in the Kandha puranam. Although the Tamil revivalists insist that this is a pure Tamil name, it is actually a derivative of Sanskrit words 'Kumarika Khanda'. The 'Andakosappadalam' section of Kandha puranam describe the following cosmological model of the universe: There are many worlds in the universe, each having several continents, which in turn have several kingdoms. Paratan, the ruler of one such kingdom had eight sons and one daughter. He further divided his kingdom into 9 parts, and the part ruled by his daughter Kumari came to be known as Kumari Kandam. Although Kumari Kandam theory became popular among anti-Brahmin, anti-Sanskrit Tamil nationalists, the Kandha Puranam actually describes the Kumari Kandam as the land where Brahmins lived, where Shiva is worshiped and where the Vedas are recited. The rest of the kingdoms are described as the territory of the mlecchas.

 The size is first mentioned in a 15th century commentary on Silapathikaram. The commentator Adiyarkunallar mentions that the lost land extended from Pahruli river in the north to the Kumari river in the south. It was located to the south of Kanyakumari, and covered an area of 700 kavatam ( an unit of unknown measurement). It was divided into 49 territories (nadu), classified in the following seven categories:
Elu Tenku nadu (7 coconut lands)
Elu Maturai nadu (7 Madurai nadu)
Elu Munpalai nadu (7 front sandy areas)
Elu Pinpalai nadu (7 back sandu tracts)
Elu kundra nadu (7 hilly villages)
Elu kunakarai nadu (7 eastern littoral hamlets)
Elu kurumpanai nadu (7 dwarf-palm districts)

There are also several other ancient accounts of non-Pandiyan lands submerged into the sea. Many Tamil Hindu shrines have legendary accounts of surviving the floods mentioned in the Hindu mythology. These include the prominent temples of Kanyakumari, Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Sirkazhi and Thiruvottiyur. There are also several legends of temples submerged into the sea such as the 'Seven pagodas of Mahabalipuram' . The Bhagavata purana (dated 500 BCE to 1000 CE) describes its protagonist (lead) Manu  (aka satyavrata) as the Lord of Dravida (South India). The Matsya purana (dated 200-500 CE) begins with the Manu practicing tapas on Mount Malaya of South India. Manimekalai (dated around 6th century CE) mentions that the ancient Chola port city of Kavirippumpattinam was destroyed by a flood. It states that this flood was sent by Hindu deity Indra, because the king forgot to celebrate a festival dedicated to him.