Marthandam is a major trade centre in Kuzhithurai municipality across National Highway (NH 47) in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala, is just 34 km north of Marthandam. Originally called Thoduvetty, it was a portion of Kanyakumari district which was added to the state of Tamil Nadu on November 1, 1956. Marthandam may have been named after King Marthanda Varma of the erstwhile Travancore state. Some claim that the name Marthandam originates from a breast tax levied by the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom (the breast-tax was called mulakkaram; mar=breast; thandam=tax?) and Marthandam thus refers to 'the place where breast tax was collected'. .
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