Point Calimere, also called Cape Calimere, is a low headland on the Coromandel Coast, in the Nagapattinam district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
It is the apex of the Cauvery River
delta, and marks a nearly right-angle turn in the coastline. A historic
landmark here was the Chola lighthouse, destroyed in the tsunami of
2004.
The forests of Point Calimere, also
known the Vedaranyam forests, are one of the last remnants of the dry
evergreen forests that were once typical of the East Deccan dry
evergreen forests ecoregion.
The Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary,
with an area of 24.17 km², was created on June 13, 1967. The sanctuary
includes the cape and its three natural habitat types: dry evergreen
forests, mangrove forests, and wetlands.
In 1988, the sanctuary was enlarged to
include the Great Vedaranyam Swamp and the Talaignayar Reserve Forest,
and renamed the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary, with a total
area of 377 km².
Point Calimere homes the endangered
endemic Indian Blackbuck and is one of the few known wintering locations
of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper.
It also holds large wintering populations
of Greater Flamingos in India. The area is dotted with salt pans and
these hold large crustacean populations that support the wintering bird
life.
Pesticide residues running off from
agricultural fields and shrimp farms has entered the ecosystem and many
species have high concentrations of DDT and HCH in their tissue.
Not far from Point Calimere is the mangrove forest of Muthupet.
Point Calimere is also associated with
the mythological Hindu epic, The Ramayana. The highest point of the
cape, at an elevation of 4 m, is Ramarpatham,”Rama’s feet” in Tamil.
A stone slab bears the impressions of two
feet and is understood to be the place where Rama stood and
reconnoitered Ravana’s kingdom in Sri Lanka, which lies 48 km. to the
south.
