The term Kumari Kandam first appeared in the 15th century Kanda Puranam, the Tamil version of the Skanda Puranam. Yet, stories about an ancient land submerged by the Indian Ocean have been recorded in many earlier Tamil literary works. According to these accounts, there was a portion of land that was once ruled by the Pandiyan kings and was swallowed by the sea. Many have connected these stories to the more contemporary legend of Lemuria.