A small town panchayat in the southern district of Thoothukudi, known for its religious fervour during the Dussehra festival, will soon be on the global scientific map.
Every year, lakhs of devotees descend on Kulasekarapattinam, the town of less than 10,000 residents, during the festival, with many dressing up as deities and various animals, who pay obeisance to the deity Muthaaramman. The festival is celebrated with so much fervour that it is regarded second only to the Dussehra celebrations in Mysore.
That primary identity will, however, change in the coming years as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sets up its second spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam from where ISRO will launch satellites weighing less than 500 kg on board its Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLVs). Currently, the ISRO has two launchpads at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, closer to Chennai, from where it launches satellites on the PSLV and the GSLV.
