CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE, METHODOLOGY AND

PROFILE OF THE STUDY AREA

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents a review of literature on the past research

studies. Though voluminous literature is available in these areas, only a few

important related studies are reviewed here. Further, the methodology

adopted for the present study and profile of the study area have been

discussed.

2.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Review of literature helps to understand the various dimensions of the

problem under study. Since the topic taken for research is Consumer

Behaviour towards Four Wheelers, information obtained from the previous

studies about brand awareness in car market, brand preference and factors

influencing the brand choice, brand loyalty, impact of advertisement, buying

habits and brand switching is discussed in the following paragraphs.

28

Nagarajan in his study, entitled "Study of conflicting brands in

marketing unrelated products", regarding brand awareness found that the

brands help to identify a product by the consuming public and create an

awareness regarding the product. After acquiring the awareness the

consumer moves for the brand trial and gets satisfaction or he is

disappointed in varying degree1.

Niraj Dawar and Philip Parker in their study on marketing universal

stated that "consumer used brand name, price, physical appearance and

retailer reputation as signals of product quality and found that brand name

signals are always ranked highest and retailer reputations signals are always

ranked lowest and price signals are always ranked between brand name and

retailer reputation. There is a positive and statistically significant correlation

among price, brand, physical appearance and retailer reputation. It shows

that people are generally more signal-oriented than others. The brand name,

price, physical appearance, and retailer reputation are considered as signals

of product quality2.

Mrs. Jeyalakshmi Sethuraman, in her study entitled "Brand preference

for toothpaste in Madurai City" found out the following factors as the factors

29

influencing brand preference with the effect of family members 58 percent,

friends 8 percent, TV advertisement 20 percent, newspaper advertisement 5

percent, self 4 percent, and medical advice 7 percent3.

J.D. Singh and Raghbir Singh, in his study entitled "A Study of brand

loyalty" found that there is in existence a high degree of store loyalty rather

than brand loyalty. But store loyalty contributes more to the brand loyalty.

The main reason for loyalty is the quality of the product, ready and regular

availability and brand / company reputation4.

Arif Hussain in his study entitled "A study relating to emission norms-

Measuring campaigns and emission norms" observes that Maruti has not

been able to continue to keep up its leadership because of the damage caused

by both Hyundai and Daewoo which show an increase in sales in terms of

latest technology5.

Feroz Ahmed, in his study entitled "Lose some, win some" found that

the Maruti Zen is facing competition from a line up of rivals matching its

features. The latest from the TATA's Indica has changed the rules of the

game in the Indian auto industry. Matiz gives a tough competition with its

mini car to other players6.

30

Rina Chandran in his survey entitled "Show room impact on purchase

pattern regarding passenger car" observes that, the show room is a vital point

of contact with the customer and a way to build credibility and customer

relations. Players are pulling out all stops to ensure that the visit to the show

room is every bit as exciting as choosing a car7.

Shamni Pande in her study entitled "A study on the role of Daewoo in

small car segment", pointed out the positioning strategy of Matiz car in

market highlighting the 5 S (style, space, safety, super power and savings)8.

Aresh Shirli in his study entitled "A Study on Car advertising in

India", states that the advertisement strategy was changed to attract more

customers to a particular brand after 1994, as the liberalization policy

introduced by the Indian Government invited more of Multinationals into the

Indian Automobile Industry"9.

Lee J. Miller, Bloomber News, in his study entitled"A study on

financing policy of small cars-reinventing rules" describes the performance

of Ford by stating that, Ford which generated just 3 percent of the sales from

Asia last year is offering farmers finance with a single annual payment at the

harvest10

.

31

C. Thamaraikannan in his study entitled "Market potential and

consumer preference for small car" found that the preference for small cars

is influenced by the factors like income, occupation, and the number of

persons in the family11

.

Varun Mudgil in his article entitled "Zen and the art of acceleration"

describes that Zen aims at enticing the young executives who feel that their

personality and spirits were pepped by this dream machine despite being

small in size12

.

Bodhisatva Ganguli in his study entitled "A comparative study of Uno

and other small cars" states that Uno is a bigger car for highway driving and

it is not competing with the other cars13

.

N. Radhakrishnan and M. Karthikeyan in their study entitled

“Mahindra and Mahindra's passenger car division" endorsed that Mahindra

and Mahindra followed the strategy of producing what the customers want

and what they don't when they designed the product for Indian market. This

is endorsed by14

.

32

Shamni Pande in her study entitled “A study on consumers attitude to

debt- car finance” reported that the change in consumer attitude towards

acquiring financial assistance rendered by the dealer and other financial

institutions increased the sales of a particular car15

.

Mohamed Abdul Azeem in his study entitled "Impact of

multinationals in Indian television market” pointed out that the major factors

influencing the purchase were brand name, price, availability and service

respectively. The sources of awareness about multinational brands are

television advertisements, friends and relatives, dealer magazines, and news

papers16

.

H. Peeru Mohamed17

in his study entitled " The passenger car industry

of India: A study of market condition and brand selection" attempted to

focus on the market conditions and brand selection of the passenger car

owners of Coimbatore district. The study pointed out the problems

associated with the industry and appropriate recommendations have been

made to overcome the situation.

A study by Yogyata Datta18

entitled "A study on automobile industry

analysis" attempts to analyze various aspects of automobile industry such as

33

evolution and emergence of an Automobile Industry, used car segments, and

auto fiancé. The study analyzed the viability of car manufacturers entering

the Indian market and their investment in India.

The study by K. Maran entitled "Scenario of small cars segment: A

study with reference to Chennai city"19

deals with the market share and

marketing strategy, technical, and financial performance of the manufacturer

of small cars segment. He has pointed out that the ancillary industries which

supply components to the manufacturers often failed to adhere the delivery

schedule causing production problems. He has also found that higher

maintenance cost of small cars due to inflation, high cost of spares and

components and adverse conditions which prevailed in the town and semi-

urban areas led to postponement of purchase of small cars as the problems

faced by small car owners.

A study by Abirami Devi20

entitled "A study on consumer attitude and

level of satisfaction of small car owners with reference to city of Chennai"

inferred that very less complaints were made by Hyundai Santro owners

followed by Tata Indica. In the area of product features, Maruti and Santro

are given first place.

34

S. Kaliraj21

in his study entitled "Liberalisation and its impact on

Indian automobile industry: An analysis " observes that the automobile has

become an important aspect of economic and social life. The automobile

industry’s contribution to the national income has increased from Rs.21.08

crore in 1959 to Rs.40,000 crore in 2002. The passenger car industry gained

considerably by way of reduced custom duties and operational efficiency of

the automobile industries.

A study by Vikas Mehra22

entitled "Analysis of consumers purchase

behavior in Indian mid-sized car segment" opined that the consumers’

purchase behaviour with respect to three car models in the Indian mid sized

segment- Ford Ikon, Hynudai Accent and Honda City. He also highlighted

that going in for a superior technology, to replace old car and representation

of car owner’s status are the three main reasons for buying mid sized car for

the Indian buyer.

A study by Mandeep Kaur and H. S. Sandhu23

entitled "A study on

factors influencing buying behavior of passenger car market" attempts to

find out the important features which a customer considers while going for

the purchase of a new car. It is also perceived that safety and comfort are the

35

most important features of the passenger car followed by luxuriousness. So

the manufactures must design the product giving maximum weight age to

these factors.

A study by K. Chidambaram, A. Soundra Rajan, and Alfread Mino24

entitled "A study on brand preference of passenger car " postulates that

there are certain factors which influence the brand preferences of the

customers while they take decision to buy passenger cars. Customers give

more importance to fuel efficiency than other factors. They believe that the

brand name tells them something about product quality, utility, technology

and the like. They prefer to purchase the passenger cars which offer high

fuel efficiency, good quality, technology, durability and reasonable price.

A study by I. Satya Sundaram25

entitled "A market survey on new

models heating up the car war" analyses how the competition makes the

automobile manufacturer to launch atleast one new model or a variant of the

model every year. He also pointed out that Diesel cars are becoming popular

in India and the announcement of reductions in excise duties by the

Government has helped to some extent to boost the demand.

36

J. Clement Sudhakar and R. Venkatapathy26

in their study entitled "A

study on automobile purchase-peer influence in decision making" explains

that the influence of peer group in the purchase of car identified friends as

the most influencing peer in the purchase of passenger cars. They also found

that the influence of friends is higher for the purchase of small sized and mid

sized cars.

2.3 METHODOLOGY

This section attempts to discuss the methodology adopted for the

present study. Designing suitable methodology and selection of analytical

tools are important for a meaningful analysis of any research problem. This

section is devoted to a description of the methodology which includes

sample design, collection of data, period of study, and tools of analysis.

2.3.1 Sample design

This study was conducted among the car owners residing in

Kanyakumari district. Stratified random sampling was used for selecting the

sample respondents for primary data collection. Kanyakumari district has 4

taluks. Each taluk was considered as a strata and from each strata 75 sample

37

respondents were selected on random basis, from the list of four wheelers

owners in the district obtained from Road Transport Offices (RTO) at

Nagercoil and Marthandom.

2.3.2 Pilot Study

Before beginning to carry out the present study, the researcher

initially conducted a pilot study in order to find out the feasibility and the

relevance of the present study. For this purpose, the researcher contacted 10

marketing experts from the academic fields and 20 car owners for assessing

the significance and validity of carrying out the present research work. Since

the researcher got favourable results from the pilot study, the present study

has been undertaken.

2.3.3 Field work and collection of data

The researcher himself carried out the field work for this study. The work

was conducted during the period from June 2007 to March 2008. The researcher

used the interview schedule (Vide Appendix) for the collection of primary data

from sample customers selected for the study. The filled up schedules were

38

checked and edited. The omissions and commissions in the schedule were

rectified on the spot. So there were no rejections in primary data collection.

2.3.4 Data processing

After the completion of data collection, filled up interview schedules were

edited properly to make them ready for coding. The master table was prepared to

incorporate all the information available in the interview schedule. The data were

transcribed on transcription cards with the help of master table. The

classification tables were prepared with the help of transcription cards for further

analysis and interpretations. The processing of data was done through computer

technology packages.

2.3.5 Period of Study

The survey was carried out from June 2007 to March 2008. The

reference period of the survey is 2007-2008.

2.3.6 Tools of Analysis

The following statistical Tools were used to analyse the data.

39

Descriptive statistical tools such as Percentage, Mean, Median and

Standard deviation have been used to describe the profile of consumers,

preferred attributes and level of satisfaction. ANOVA, t-Test and F-Test

have been used to test the significant differences between the groups of

respondents in their perception and satisfaction for selected independent

variables like age, sex and income. Chi-square test has been used to test the

association between the consumer demographic characteristics and preferred

product attributes and satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis has been

used to study the influence of income and life style on overall satisfaction

level of the respondents. Correlation analysis has been used to establish the

relationship between ‘the factors which influenced the purchase’ and ‘the

factors which favoured the level of satisfaction’. Factor Analysis is

employed to identify the key factors responsible for the consumers’ purchase

of cars and level of satisfaction after purchase. Cluster analysis has been

used to identify the consumers with similar tastes and preferences with

respect to purchase of car.

40

2.4 PROFILE OF THE STUDY AREA

This section attempts to describe the profile of Kanyakumari District,

the study area. Kanyakumari District derived its name from the name of

Goddess Kumari Bhagavathi for whom a temple of historic fame was built at

the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, now called Kanyakumari

Township27

.

2.4.1 Formation of Kanyakumari District

The present Kanyakumari District was, formerly, the southernmost

part of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Nature’s bountiful gifts of

majestic hills, dales, and peaks, as well as the extensive and colourful

coast-line, undulating valleys and plains between the mountains and the sea

coast, so closely interwoven with temples and churches and other edifices of

the area impressed Goddess Kumari Bhagavathi so much that he called this

region ‘a fairy land’28

.

The Southern Division of the State of Travancore consisted of four

taluks viz. Thovalai, Agasteeswarm, Kalkulam and Vilavancode. The people

of these taluks are mostly Tamil speaking. After India’s independence there

41

began a people’s movement demanding the merger of the Tamil taluks with

the Madras State (the present Tamil Nadu). Intensified agitation resulted in

the constitution of the State Reorganisation Commission in 1956. Based on

the recommendations of the Commission, the Indian Parliament passed the

State Reorganisation Act in March 1956, according to which the four taluks

of Thovalai, Agasteeswaram, Kalkulam and Vilavancode were constituted

into a new district of Tamil Nadu called Kanyakumari District on

1st November 1956 with Nagercoil as its headquarters

29.

42

MAP I

Source: www.tn.gov.in

43

2.4.2 Location

Kanyakumari District is situated near the Equator between 77005’ and

77036’ east longitude and 8

003’ and 8

035’ north latitude. It is bounded on the

north-east by the Tirunelveli District, Trivandrum District of the Kerala

State on the north-west, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Indian Ocean

and the Gulf of Mannar on the south and the south-east respectively30

.

2.4.3 Physical Features

The Western Ghats on the eastern side of the district, run almost

parallel to the West Coast with an altitude ranging from 300’ to 6000’ above

mean sea level and an unequal breadth, diminishing from the north and

converging to a point at its southern extremity. Mahendragiri and

Muthukuzhivayal are the highest peaks with a height of 5700’ and 4400’

respectively31

. The Ashamboo Hills, the Maruthuva Malai, the Thadakai

Malai and the Velimalai are the other important peaks of the southern

section of the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are a natural barrier on the

east between the Tirunelveli District and the Kanyakumari District, the only

corridor across it being the Aramboly Pass32

.

44

2.4.4 Population Characteristics

The earliest inhabitants of this region were Dravidians33

. Aryans were

believed to have immigrated into the region around the 10th

Century A.D34

.

With the advent of the Aryans, the population of the area split up into

several castes, following different customs, which provide to the

ethnologists an interesting sphere for study35

. According to the census of

2001 the total population of the Kanyakumari District was 16,69763. Female

population exceeds male population. The density of the population is 999.

2.4.5 Revenue Divisions and Development Blocks

For the purpose of administrative convenience and revenue collection,

the Kanyakumari District has been divided into two Revenue Divisions viz.

Nagercoil and Padmanabhapuram36

. There are 81 Revenue Villages37

. The

four Taluks of the district namely Thovalai, Agasteeswaram, Kalkulam and

Vilavancode have their headquarters at Boothapandi, Nagercoil, Thuckalay

and Kuzhithurai respectively.

In order to promote agricultural development, the Kanyakumari

District has been divided into 9 Development Blocks with separate

headquarters as shown in Table 2.1.

45

TABLE 2.1

NINE DEVELOPMENT BLOCKS AND THEIR HEADQUARTERS

Sl.

No.

Name of Taluk Name of Block Name of HQrs

1. Thovalai (i) Thovalai Thovalai

2. Agasteeswaram (i) Rajakkamangalam

(ii) Agasteeswarm

Pazhavilai

Perumalapuram

3. Kalkulam (i) Thiruvattar

(ii) Thuckalay

(iii) Kurunthancode

Thiruvattar

Kozhiporevilai

Kurunthancode

4. Vilavancode (i) Melpuram

(ii) Munchirai

(iii) Killiyoor

Pacode

Munchirai

Tholaiyavattam

Source: Credit Plan for Kanyakumari District–Lead Cell, Indian Overseas Bank,2007-08.

There are 66 Town Panchayats, 88 Village Panchayats and 4

Municipalities such as Nagercoil, Thuckalay, Kuzhithurai and Colachel.

46

2.4.6 Infrastructural Facilities

Infrastructural facilities include trade, marketing, storage,

transportation and communication, credit institutions, research institutions

and extension agencies to promote agricultural production.

From time of immemorial, the Kanyakumari District has an important

trade centre, having Kottar as its central market. In the early days the main

commodities of commerce at Kottar were pepper, ivory, teak, sandalwood,

rosewood and fruits38

. At present it is an important paddy milling centre39

.

The Kanyakumari District has a well developed network of roads. It

consists of National Highways, State Highways, District Roads and Rural

Roads. The trunk road Chennai – Nagercoil – Trivandrum, which passes

through important places in the district covered 62.4 km. It is one of the

busiest National Highways in the country40

. The average length of road in

the district is 1.17 km. per sq.km.

The district had no rail route till 1979. The first rail route from

Kuzhithurai West to Nagercoil Junction and the branch line from Nagercoil

47

to Kanyakumari were opened on 16th

April 1979. On 3rd

August 1984 train

service between Kanyakumari and the Himalayan border was inaugurated41

.

In the early centuries of the Christian era, Kanyakumari served as a

harbour42

. Similarly Manakudi and Rajakkamangalam were also ports and

trade centres. From the foreign coins unearthed at Muttom it becomes

evident that Muttom was a leading centre of foreign trade43

. Colachel on the

West Coast has been a natural port, engaged in export trade. The chief

exports are palmirah fibre, mineral sands, fish and salt44

.

This district has no airport. The nearest airport is at Trivandrum, the

capital of the Kerala state which is 84 KM away from Nagercoil45

.

As a result of recent technological development in the field of

communication, every village in the district is provided with postal and

telecommunication facilities. At present there are more than 40,000

telephone connections in this district.

2.4.7 Banking Sector in Kanyakumari district

In terms of banking coverage, the district could be considered as one of

the well banked district in Tamil Nadu. As at the end of March 2008 there were

48

24 commercial banks having 149 branches spread over 63 centers with an

average population of 11700. 11 public sector banks and 13 private sector banks

operate in the district46

.

In addition to the commercial banks, the eight branches of Kanyakumari

district Central Co-operative bank Ltd are spread over the district. To develop

agricultural and allied activities, there are 117 primary Agricultural co-operative

banks, 5 branches of the Tamilnadu state co-operative land development bank

and one people co-operative urban bank Ltd. in the district.

For developing industrial sector, one branch of Tamilnadu Industrial

Investment Corporation Ltd (TIIC), Tamilnadu Industrial Co-operative bank Ltd,

and Small Industrial Development Corporation (SIDC) Ltd are also functioning

in the district.

Kanyakumari is one of the industrially backward districts announced by

the Tamilnadu State Government. This stresses the importance of opening new

branches by various commercial banks and co-operative banks.

Nationalised commercial banks, private sector commercial banks,

Tamilnadu Industrial Investment Corporation, Land Development banks,

Kanyakumari District Central Cooperative bank Ltd, and other private financers

49

plays an important role in Motor Car Finance. This not only promotes the car

operators in the district but also encourage the buying habit of middle income

people in purchase of four wheelers (car).

2.4.8 Four Wheelers (Car) Dealers In Kanyakumari District.

Brand wise four wheelers (car) dealers in Kanyakumari District is

presented in the following Table: 2.2.

TABLE 2.2

BRAND WISE FOUR WHEELERS (CAR) DEALERS IN

KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT

Sl.

No. Brand Name Name of the Dealer

1. Ambassador Chandra Motors, Nagerocil

2. Maruthi products AR.AS.AP.PV & Co., Nagercoil

3. Hundai Derik Auto Ltd, Nagercoil

4. Tata - passengar car Kumaran Automobiles, Nagercoil

5. Ford Akshaya Ford, Tirunelveli

6. Toyato ABT Industries, Tirunelveli

7. Mahindra & Mahindra Kodai Automobiles, Nagercoil

8. Choverlet AR.AS.PV.PV & Co., Tirunelveli

9. Honda TVS Ltd, Madurai

Source: Records Automobile Association, Kanayakumari District, 2008.

50

2.5 SUMMARY

In this chapter the concept of review of literature in research methodology,

i.e. various studies relating to consumer behaviour are discussed. This chapter

also discussed the research methodology of the study under various heads like

sampling design, pilot study, field work and data collection, data processing,

period of study, tools of analysis and so on. It also discussed the profile of study

area, Kanyakumari District under different heads namely, formation, physical

features, population characteristics, natural division, revenue division and

development blocks, growth of banking sector and brand wise four wheelers

dealers in Kanyakumari District.

51

REFERENCE

1. Nagarajan, N.R (1996). "Study of Conflicting Brands in Marketing

Unrelated Products", Indian Journal of Marketing, 25 (2) – July,

p.5-7.

2. Niraj Dawar and Philip Parker (1994) in their study on Marketing

Universals Stated that "Consumers' Use of brand name, price, physical

appearance and retailers reputation as signals of product quality",

Journal of Marketing, No.58, (2), April, pp.81-95.

3. Jeyalakshmi Sethuraman (1994), "Brand Preference for Toothpaste in

Madurai City", (TSM – MKU – March), p.34.

4. J.D. Singh and Raghbir Singh (1983), "A Study of Brand Loyalty",

Indian Journal of Marketing, 14 (4), pp.15-21.

5. Arif Hussain (1999), A Study relating to Emission norms –

"Measuring Campaigns and emissions norms", Catalyst, The Hindu

Business Line, New Delhi, 22nd

July, p.IV.

6. Feroz Ahmed (1999), A Study on Competing Features of Small Cars

"Lose Some win Some", Business World, Vol.18, Issue 20, 22nd

January, pp.102-108.

7. Rina Chandran (1999), A Study on the Influence of Show Rooms –

"Show Rooms aimed at desired", Catalyst, The Hindu Business

Line, 5th

August, p.III.

8. Shamni Pande (1999), A Study on the Role of Daewoo in Small car

Segment, Catalyst, The Hindu Business Line, 18th

March, pp.I-II.

52

9. Aresh Shirali (1998), "A Study on Car Advertising in India", A & M,

Vol.X, Issue No.X, 16 – 31, August, pp.52-57.

10. Lee J. Miller (1999), A Study on Financing Policy of Small Cars –

"Reinventing Rules", Catalyst, The Hindu Business Line, 22nd

April,

p.4.

11. C.Thamaraikannan (1998), "A Study on Market Potential and

Consumer Preference for Small Car – Matiz of Daewoo Motors India

Limited in Madurai City", A Project Submitted to Madurai Kamaraj

University for M.B.A.

12. Varun Mudgil (1998), "Zen and the Art of Acceleration", A & M,

Vol.X, Issue No.IX, 1-15 August, pp.78-80.

13. Bodhisatva Ganguli (1998), "A Comparative Study of UNO and Other

Small Cars", Business India, Issue No.542, December 14-27,

pp.81-84.

14. N. Radhakrishnan and M. Karthikeyan (1997), "A Study on M & M

Car Division", Business India, Issue No.503, June 16-29, pp.59-65.

15. Shamni Pande (1999), "A Study on Consumer Attitude to Debt – Car

Finance", Catalyst, The Hindu Business Line, 5th

August, pp.1-2.

16. Mohamed Abdul Azeem (1997), Impact of multinationals on Indian

Television Market, Indian Journal of Marketing, 25 (8-9), August,

pp.25-26.

17. Peeru Mohamed, H., ‘The passenger car Industry of India: A study of

Market conditions and Brand Selection’, an unpublished Ph.D Thesis

submitted to Bharathiar University.

53

18. Yogyata Datta, ‘A study on Automobile Industry Analysis’, IIM,

Bangalore, 1997.

19. Maran, K., “Scenario of small cars segment: A study with reference to

Chennai city”, an unpublished Ph.D Thesis submitted to Annamalai

University.

20. Abirami Devi, K., ‘A Study on Consumer Attitude and Level of

Satisfaction of Small car owners with reference to City of Chennai’,

an unpublished Ph.D. Thesis submitted to University of Madras.

21. Kaliraj, S., ‘Liberalization and its impact on Indian Automobile

Industry: An Analysis’, an unpublished Ph.D Thesis submitted to

University of Madras.1

22. Vikas Mehra, ‘Analysis of Consumer’s Purchase Behaviour in Indian

Mid-sized Car Segment’, Apeejay Business Review, Vol.5, No.1,

Jan-June 2004, pp.30 – 36.

23. Mandeep Kaur and Sandhu, H.S., ‘A Study on Factors Influencing

Buying Behaviour of Passenger Car Market’, Paradigm, Vol.8, No.2,

July-Dec 2004, pp. 26-30.

24. Chidambaram, K., Soundra Rajan, A., and Alfread Mino, ‘A Study on

Brand Preference of Passenger Car with Reference to Coimbatore

City’, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol.34, No.9, Sep 2004,

pp. 18.21.

25. Satya Sundrarm, I., ‘A Market Survey on New Models Heating up the

Car War’, Facts for You, Jan 2005, pp. 7 – 11.

54

26. Clement Sudhakar, J., and Venkatapathy, R., ‘A Study on Automobile

Purchase – Peer Influence in Decision Making’, Indian Journal of

Marketing, Vol.35, No.6, June 2005, pp. 3 – 9.

27. Gazetteer of India, Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari District, Madras,

1995, p.1.

28. S. Ramanatha Aiyar, Travancore Today, Trivandrum, 1920, p.1.

29. A. Sreedhara Menon, Trivandrum District Gazetteer, 1962, p.5.;

See Map No.1.

30. P.N. Kunjan Pillai, Studies in Kerala History, Kottayam, 1970, p.9.

31. V. Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual, Government Press,

Trivandrum, Vol.1, 1906, p.11.

32. Samuel Mateer, Native Life in Travancore, W.H. Allen & Co.,

London, 1883, pp.21-22.

33. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol.1, p.447.

34. K. Kusuman, Slavery in Tavancore, p.25.

35. Samuel Mateer, op.cit., pp.1-2.

36. Statistical Hand Book of Tamil Nadu, 1985, p.91.

37. Village Register – Joint Director of Agriculture, Kanyakumari.

38. Gazetteers of India, Kanyakumari District, p.481.

39. Census of India, Kanyakumari District Census Hand Book, Parts

XIII, A and B, 1981, p.14.

40. Gazetteers of India, Kanyakumari District, 1995, p.505.

41. Ibid., pp.503-504.

42. K.K. Pillay, op.cit., p.15.

55

43. S. Padmanabhan, The Contributions of Kanyakumari to the Tamil

World, 1981, p.3.

44. Gazetteer of India, Kanyakumari District, 1995, p.482.

45. Ibid., p.504.

46. Ibid., p.505 – 507.