Laterite stone makes Tulunadu a unique place

       Mangalore is self sufficient in producing a lot of materials that are indispensable for its people. Being a non- Mangalorian I find that a number of things one can speak about why Mangalore is a unique place. One of the many things could be 'Laterite or Red Stone.' It is a stone which is naturally carved out or cut out from huge rocks could be one of the significant contributions of the ancestors of Tulunadu. 

     The geographical shape of the land (valleys and mountains), multi-culture and lingual, tiles, cash nuts, coconut, areca nut, red stone or laterite stone etc. are some of them are the exclusive material of Tulunadu or Dakshina Kannada. Red stone (as called by the local people) is triple the size of a brick which is used in most of the states of India.

       On the other hand, there is one thing that is very common and visible but ignored by people is ‘Laterite stone.’ The stone which is special to Mangalore is used by people all. What unifies is that whether they are tallest building or small traditional houses such as Gothumane are all built using ‘Laterite stone.’ The stone may look breakable but proved solid by everyone. The stone have high demand because they made difference in Tulunadu. The size of the stone was originally 18x9x6 at the time of British rule but today the contractors have reduced the size into 16x9x6 or 13x8.5x7 for their business interest. Though the size is reducing yet the price has shot up from Rs.15 to Rs. 22 as noted by M Purushotham Kottary, President, and Civil Contractor Association.