| Panaikulam | |
| Nickname: | PNK |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | India Tamil Nadu |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Tamil Nadu, India |
| Coordinates: | 9.3698°N 78.8308°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tamil Nadu |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Ramanathapuram |
| Subdivision Type3: | Taluka |
| Subdivision Name3: | Ramanathapuram |
| Subdivision Type4: | Revenue Block |
| Subdivision Name4: | Mandapam |
| Subdivision Type5: | Village Panchayat |
| Subdivision Name5: | Panaikulam |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Tamil |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 623522 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Area Code: | 91 4567 |
| Registration Plate: | TN 65 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Distance from Chennai |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 507km (315miles) |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Distance from Madurai |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | 130km (80miles) |
| Blank3 Name Sec1: | Distance from Ramanathapuram |
| Blank3 Info Sec1: | 20.8km (12.9miles) |
Panaikulam or Panaikkulam is a village located in the eastern part of Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.[1] The inhabitants of this village are primarily Tamil Muslims.
The history of Panaikulam is more than 500 years old. The oral information has been collected from the old people and with the help of a will document written by one of the descendants in the family of the first migrants, it is known that Tamil-speaking Muslims migrated from adjacent parts of Ramanathapuram (e.g. Kothakottai, Udaichiyarvalasai, aalappuli) to a place with pond and lot of palm trees. They named it as Panai (meaning palm tree) kulam (meaning pond). This pond (now called as Pugaloorani) served as the water source for the people and their cattle. Slowly the migrated population moved towards the inner parts of the village and established a mosque (now Jumma Mosque) for praying.[2]
The migrations continued from the adjacent villages of Ramanathapuram and Panaikulam became a Muslim village. Some of the migrants used handlooms to weave the cloths and made business out of it. After some time, the mosque was built up using natural stones. It is indeed a very rare architectural beauty. During the nineteenth century, opportunities present in Malaya (now called Malaysia) attracted Panaikulam people and many of them went to Malaya to earn money. They mostly settled in Penang in businesses such as money exchange and restaurants.
The primary language spoken by the people of Panaikulam is Tamil. Even though the accent is similar to that of the Tamil spoken in rest of Tamil Nadu, it has unique words probably borrowed from Arabic, Malay and Urdu. Certain peculiar words like nadayam (for slipper) and aanam (for curry) are used.
The food habits practised by the Panaikulam people have similarities with Tamil Muslim cuisine, Sri Lankan Muslim[3] cuisine and Malay cuisine. For example, the foods such as Watalappam and Idiyappam are regularly prepared and eaten by Sri Lankan Tamil Muslims and Tamil Muslims settled in Malaysia and Singapore.