Kumari Kandam: The Lost Continent

Narrative of Atlantis, the legendary sunken metropolis detailed by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, is well-known. The debate over whether this story should be regarded literally or simply as a morality tale continues to this day.

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A similar story exists further east in India's subcontinent, albeit it is perhaps less well known than Atlantis'. This is the 'lost continent' of Lemuria, which Tamil speakers commonly associate with the legend of Kumari Kandam.

Lemuria was coined in the later half of the nineteenth century. The existence of lemur fossils in Madagascar and India but not in continental Africa or the Middle East perplexed English geologist Philip Sclater.

Sclater argued that Madagascar and India were formerly part of a bigger continent in his 1864 article 'The Mammals of Madagascar,' and termed this lost landmass 'Lemuria.'

The scientific world of the time accepted Sclater's theory as the explanation for how lemurs could have moved from Madagascar to India or vice versa in ancient times.