Kollam or Quilon is an old sea port town, capital of erstwhile Desinganadu, and now a major city in Kerala and headquarters of Kollam District. Kollam is the trading post where merchants from Arab Countiesand west including Portuguese, Dutch etc. met Chinese and other Indian traders from Thirunelveli, Shencottah in Tamil Nadu.Geograpicaly, it share borders with districts Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha in the north and Thiruvananthapuram in the south. East of it is Tamil Nadu and it is near to Shencottah in Tamil Nadu. http://wikitravel.org/en/Kollam