Point Calimere

Point Calimere, also called Cape Calimere and Kodikkarai, is a low headland on the Coromandel Coast, in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu state, India. The point is the apex of the Cauvery River delta, and marks a nearly right-angle turn in the coastline. The Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary includes the cape and its three natural habitat types: dry evergreen forests, Mangrove forests, and wetlands.

Point Calimere is associated with the Hindu epic Ramayana. The highest point of the cape, at four meters elevation, is Ramarpatham, meaning "Rama’s feet" in Tamil. A stone slab bears the impressions of two feet, and is supposed to be the place where Rama stood and reconnoitred Ravana’s kingdom in Sri Lanka, which lies 48 km. to the south.

The forests of Point Calimere, also known the Vedaranyam forests, are one of the last refuges of the dry evergreen forests that were once typical of the East Deccan dry evergreen forests ecoregion. The Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary was created on June 13 1967 to protect the forests, with an area of 24.17 sq. km. 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 sq. km.