The Lost Continent Of Kumari Kandam

There are many ancient accounts of lost continents and mythical kingdoms that have stirred the imagination of ancient bards and modern storytellers, as well as inspire archeologists and historians to seek the truth of supposedly lost civilizations. Atlantis, once described by the Greek scholar Plato remains a popular topic to research and study, as was the legendary Nordic tale of Thule. When the subject of lost civilizations comes up, there is mention of the fabled Shangri La, Xanadu and legendary cities such as Anau in Central Asia. Spanish Conquistadors sought the Fountain Of Youth and the City of Gold where a Native king daily covered himself in gold dust then jumped into a river to wash himself, leaving a golden hue to the river which was reflected by the light of the Sun. The Aztecs believed their ancestral home to be Aztlan, a name remarkably similar to Atlantis. Some have translated the name from Nahuatl to mean place of herons, place of whiteness or place of reeds; all these indicate a possible watery connection. These stories may reflect some long lost memory of a people or fantasy that has either found its way into the folklore of a nation, are the basis of a people's foundational beliefs, or these accounts may retain some ancient truth of an actual kingdom that once actually existed. It is through such stories that the historian, the archeologist and the author of fantasy novels find common ground- the stories exist, and the question is why. 

Just as it was theorized that before the ocean swallowed Atlantis, the continent acted as a land bridge which connected Europe, Africa and what become later known as the Americas, so was a theory put forth by the 19th century zoologist and scholar Philip Sclater, who proposed that a continent lay submerged under the Indian Ocean which he named Lemuria. He cited the lemurs, which are a variety of animal found on the island of Madagascar off of eastern Africa, as an example of migration to India via this lost land bridge. The theory that there was such a continent however was discredited in the 20th century due to the study of plate tectonics and the study of continental drift. Likewise did one John Churchward label another lost continent in the Pacific which he called Mu. The founder of theosophy Helena Blavatsky ventured further to claim that humanity began on Lemuria, influencing esotericism and other occultist schools of thought. 

This interest in lost kingdoms and land masses was nonetheless stimulated by the myths and stories told and recounted over the centuries by various peoples. The efforts of Heinich Schliemann led to the discovery and exploration of ancient Troy. Through the fabled voyage of the Kon Tiki did Thor Heyerdahl attempt to prove that ancient mariners sailed the Pacific from South America in boats made of balsa logs and reeds, a design based on the accounts of the ancient Incans themselves, using the technology of their time. The Norwegian adventurer believed a fair haired Caucasian people he called the Tiki ventured forth into the Pacific before the Polynesians did. Similarly did Kurt Von Danniken propose that aliens visited the Earth and passed on knowledge to humans, citing such examples as the famous Nazca Lines in Peru which when viewed from above seemingly can only make sense if viewed from space. These theories have been dismissed but some scholars are investigating still, believing that there is some truth behind the theories. It has been determined that 50,000 years ago  Australia and New Guinea were connected due to lower sea levels, allowing for easy migration from southern Asia for groups of migrating people. Did the Aborigines perhaps come to Australia using a similar land bridge between Africa and the South Pacific during what they call their Dream Time, when the Australian desert outback was lush with lakes and rivers as their myths imply? Surely, folk tales have stimulated the minds of many and continue to do so. 

In Tamil literature there is mention of Kumari Kadam, a mythical sunken land mass that was once home to a great advanced civilization. Indeed the idea that civilization rose from the sea is ancient, as the Sumerians believed that all life began when dry land emerged from the the Apsu, the fathomless eternal sea. Sumer, located in what is today Iraq, was connected to the Persian Gulf which further connected to the Indian Ocean. There are recorded trade interactions between Harappa and the Indus valley civilization with Sumer in the Bronze Age. The folk tales of Oman and Yemen suggest a great land in the ocean which sank long before their own rise in the ancient era. The trade route culture of the dhow boats of the Persian Gulf cultures with India, Africa and the east are very old. Indonesian folklore tells of a sunken land in the Indian Ocean. In the Ramayana, the Indian epic which also became popular in Indonesia in ancient times, Ravana was a demon king of Lanka Island, the name seemingly associated with what is today Sri Lanka. On this island is a site on a mountain which boasts Adam's giant footprint, also a popular tale in Arabia, Oman and Yemen. In Khmer literature is mention of Mahendra Parvata, a lost city located deep in the jungle for which the famous Angkor Wat was modeled after, itself built deep in the Cambodian forest. While Western academics believed this to be a myth, natives actually have been making pilgrimages to the site for over a millennium. African cultures recount myths of lost cities or lands that emerged from the ocean depths. The Nyankole of Uganda tell of a mysterious city known as Zinga, swallowed by the Earth after a war with neighboring nations. Such tales as these shared by distant cultures seem to reflect the belief in the possibility of a common ancestral civilization. The historic trade routes whereby goods and spices traveled between African entities, such as between the Kingdom of Punt and the isles of Indonesia, are a living testament to this ancient past, as is the historical fact of the Tamils and the Chola Dynasty and the committed endeavor to control this ancient route, the spices plying the Indian Ocean eventually gracing the tables of wealthy Romans. The importance and lore of the Indian Ocean is as pertinent to the nations surrounding that ocean as the Mediterranean and Atlantic are for the nations of the West. 

The mystery of a possible sunken continent is fascinating enough for both academics and writers to draw inspiration from. Even if the theory is proven wrong, the human imagination will never tire of dreaming and fantasizing about this possibility. If academics cannot solve the questions and the puzzles that remain unaccounted for, at least the ancient bards and poets as well as modern storytellers should all be given credit for their attempt to make sense of those mysteries which scholars have yet failed to determine as fact. If Lemuria like Atlantis didn't actually exist in its physical form, it surely reigns still in the imagination of humanity, and likely will continue to do so. 

 Ismail Butera, 2025