Pictorial Cancellation of Karnataka : St. Mary's Islands

Date of Introduction: 17.01.2015

St. Mary's Islands, also known as Coconut Island and Thonsepar, are a set of four small islands in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Malpe in Udupi, Karnataka, India.

                             They are known for their distinctive geological formation of columnar basaltic lava (pictured). The islands form one of the four geological monuments in Karnataka state, one of the 26 Geological Monuments of India declared by the Geological Survey of India in 2001.

The monument is considered an important site for "Geo Tourism".

According to folk legend, in the year 1498, Vasco da Gama landed at St. Mary's Islands on his journey from Portugal, fixed a cross on the island and named one of these islands, O Padrão de Santa Maria, as a dedication to Mother Mary, before proceeding to Kozhikode in Kerala.It is from this name that the islands got their current name. Out of the four islands, the northernmost island has a basaltic rock formation in a hexagonal form, the only one of its type in India.