Viluppuram

Viluppuram
விழுப்புரம்
Town

Nickname(s): Vizhi Maanagaram
Viluppuram

Location in Tamil Nadu, India

Coordinates: 11°56′28″N 79°29′35″E / 11.941°N 79.493°E / 11.941; 79.493Coordinates: 11°56′28″N 79°29′35″E / 11.941°N 79.493°E / 11.941; 79.493
Country India India
State Tamil Nadu
Region Tondai Nadu
District Viluppuram
Established 1919
Government
 • Type Selection Grade Municipality
 • Body Viluppuram Municipal Council
 • Municipal chairman G. Baskaran
Area[1]
 • Total 33.13 km2 (12.79 sq mi)
Elevation 44 m (144 ft)
Population (2014)[1]
 • Total 121,198
 • Rank 32
 • Density 3,700/km2 (9,500/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Tamil
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 605602
Telephone code +91–4146(STD Code)
Vehicle registration TN–32
Distance from Chennai 161 kilometres (100 mi)
Distance from Madurai 305 kilometres (190 mi)
Distance from Bengaluru 269 kilometres (167 mi)
Sex ratio 1019 ♂/♀
Climate Aw(Köppen)
Literacy 90.16%
Website Viluppuram Municipality

Viluppuram( pronunciation )(also spelled as Villupuram and Vizhupuram)[2] is a municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district, the largest district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is well connected by both road and rail to all the important cities in Tamil Nadu. The town serves as a major railway junction, and National Highway 45 passes through it. With agriculture as its main source of income, As of Government Of India 2014 Data Viluppuram had a population of 121,198 and the town's literacy rate has been recorded as 90.16% by Census 2011.[3]

In 1919, Viluppuram was officially constituted as a municipality, which today comprises 36 wards, making it the largest city and municipality in Viluppuram district.

Etymology

Viluppuram is named after a class of people known as "Vizhupparaiyar" (விழுப்பரையர்). One of the famous Tamil poets Jayamkondar wrote a book titled "Karanai Vizhupparaiyan madal" (also known as Aadhinatha Valamadal) on the praise of Aadhinathan Vizhupparaiyan who served as a commander in the army of Kulottunga Chola I. The town came to known after the "Vizhupparaiyan" sect named after him. They are also known as "Vizhupaadharaiyar".[4][5]

Viluppuram is also affectionately called as "Vizhimaa Nagaram" (விழிமா நகரம்) in Tamil. It means town with wide-eyed people.

History

The Chola were the early rulers. Among these rulers, Karikala Chola was the most famous and powerful.

For a short period, the Cholas were overthrown by Simhavishnu Pallava and the Region came under the Pallava rule for sometime. Vijayalaya Chola again revived Chola rule. This was the beginning of great Chola Empire. The later Chola rulers were weak and the power passed on to the hands of Eastern Chalukyas.

Cholas regained their lost position but with the rise of Jatavarman Sundara Pandya-1 (1251 A.D), Chola supremacy came to an end. The sway of Pandyas lasted for over 50 years, followed by Muslim domination from 1334 to 1378 A.D. By 1378, the region came under the rule of Vijayanagara Empire and Nayaks were appointed as the rulers of the region.

In 1677 Shivaji took Gingee area with the assistance of Golkonda forces. Then came the Mughals. During the Mughals regime, both the English and French acquired settlements in South Arcot. During the Anglo-French rivalry, the entire district was turned into a war land. After sometime, the entire area came under the control of East India Company. It remained under British authority till 1947 when India became independent.[6]

Geography

Viluppuram is located in 11° 56' N 79° 29' E.[7] which is in the far southeast part of India, situated 160 kilometres (99 mi) south of Chennai, 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Trichy, 177 kilometres (110 mi) east of Salem, 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Pondicherry shares the seashore of the Bay of Bengal.[8]

The area contains metamorphic rocks formed by pressure and heat belonging to the granite-like gneiss family. There are also three major groups of sedimentary rocks, layers of particles that settled in different geological periods.[9] Kalrayan Hills [10] forest park is located 116 kilometres (72 mi) to the west and Gingee Hills forest park 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the north. The Thatagiri Murugan Temple is about 191 kilometres (119 mi) to the southeast in Senthamangalam [11] with the Lord Siva temple in Koppampatti 153 kilometres (95 mi) southwest of the town.[8]

Demographics

Religious census[12]
Religion Percent(%)
Hindu
  
 78.35%
Muslim
  
 14.88%
Christian
  
 6.15%
Jain
  
 0.38%
Sikh
  
 0.02%
Buddhist
  
 0.01%
Other
  
 0.01%
No religion
  
 0.20%

As of the 2011 census, Viluppuram municipality was divided into 36 wards for which elections are held every five years and had a population of 96,253 of which 47,670 were male and 48,583 female. Population of children aged 0–6 was 10,217, which was 10.61% of the total population. The female sex ratio was 1,019 against a state average of 996. The child sex ratio was around 990 compared to the Tamil Nadu state average of 943. The literacy rate of Viluppuram city was 90.16%, higher than state average of 80.09%. In Viluppuram, male literacy was around 94.93% while female literacy rate was 85.50%. Viluppuram Municipality had total administration over 22,832 houses to which it supplies basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorized to build roads within Municipality limits and impose taxes on properties coming under its jurisdiction. Scheduled Castes (SC) constituted 12.53% of the people while Scheduled Tribes (ST) were 0.29%.

Out of the total population, 33,597 were engaged in work or business activity. Of this 26,828 were males while 6,769 were females. In census survey, worker is defined as person who does business, job or service, and cultivator and labour activity. Of total 33597 working population, 85.69% were engaged in Main Work while 14.31% of total workers were engaged in Marginal Work.[14]

Administration

Municipality officials
ChairmanG. Baskaran[15]
Elected members
Member of Legislative AssemblyC. Ve. Shanmugam[16]
Member of ParliamentS. Rajendran[17]

Politically, Viluppuram is part of the Villuppuram Lok Sabha constituency and the Viluppuram State Assembly constituency. The municipality was established in 1919 and was upgraded to a second grade municipality in 1953, a first grade municipality in 1973, and a selection grade municipality in 1988. It has a population of 96,256 (2011 census) and an area of 8.36 square kilometres (3.23 sq mi). The town is divided into 44 wards. The municipal council is composed of 44 ward councillors and is headed by a chairperson elected by voters of the town. Councillors elect a vice-chairperson among themselves while the executive wing is headed by a commissioner, who is assisted by a team of officials including the health officer, municipal engineer, town planning officer, manager, revenue officer and other staff.

Places of interest

Gingee Fort as seen from the entrance.
The Matrimandir, a golden metallic sphere in the center of Auroville.

Transport

Road

Viluppuram is well connected by roads to major cities and to the rest of the state. Villupuram has the longest National roads of any district in Tamil Nadu. The major national highways of the town are:

Besides the above-mentioned national highways, several state highways also run through the district and town.

The town has a lot of buses frequently to major cities such as Chennai, Tiruchirapalli, Bangalore, Madurai, Salem, Pondicherry, Vellore etc. The town also serves the frequent bus services to nearby towns like Cuddalore, Thiruvannamalai, Tindivanam, Kallakurichi etc. Viluppuram is also the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation(TNSTC) - Viluppuram Division(the erstwhile Thanthai Periyar Transport Corporation [TPTC]). It is one of the six Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation divisions serving the state.[27] Viluppuram Bus Station is one of the largest bus terminus by area in Tamil Nadu.

Rail

Viluppuram Railway Junction

Viluppuram has a well-known railway station.It was first built under the British .The Viluppuram Railway Junction at Viluppuram serves as the distribution point of rail traffic from Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu, towards the southern part of the state. It is one of the important junctions in Southern Railway.[28][29] Five railway lines branch out of Viluppuram:

Viluppuram railway station has been undergone a massive infrastructure upgrade to handle this traffic.

Air

The nearest airport is Pondicherry Airport [43] at Pondicherry,[44] in Puducherry, approximately 40 km from Viluppuram. Pondicherry Airport is connected to Bangalore by commercial airlines.

The nearest major airport is the Chennai International Airport (MAA), approximately 147 km from the town; the next closest major airport is Tiruchirapalli Airport, approximately 160 km from the town.

Schools

Viluppuram, in the past, was a well-known Railway junction making the town easily accessible from different parts of the state. The Railway station was built by the British, and this meant that the British were keen on building a school to provide English education in the town. The Railway School was amongst the first schools to be built in Viluppuram, and the school was largely staffed by Anglo-Indian teachers, who were able to teach students to speak and write in Engish. In the 1930's an English medium Anglo-Indian school called Sacred Heart Convent Higher Secondary School was opened by the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa. This school became one of the most sought after schools for English education in the state. The school is known to provide students with an all-round development and education, inspired by Christian values. Other notable schools are the Government Girls High School, Government Boys High School, MRIC School, Ramakrishna Matriculation School, John Dewey School and E S Matriculation School.

Climate

Since the town is landlocked, the weather in Viluppuram is generally humid and hot. It relies on the monsoon for rain during October, November and December. Summers are very hot, and temperatures can get up to 40 °C (104 °F). Winters are moderate with temperatures ranging between 30 and 35 °C (86 and 95 °F) Viluppuram has a tropical climate. In winter, there is much less rainfall in Viluppuram than in summer. This climate is considered to be Aw according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification.

The average annual temperature is 28.4 °C (83.1 °F) in Viluppuram with average annual rainfall of 1,046 millimetres (41.2 in). The driest month is March, with 6 millimetres (0.24 in) of rainfall. With an average of 222 millimetres (8.7 in) per annum, the most precipitation falls in October. The warmest month of the year is May, with an average temperature of 32.0 °C (89.6 °F). January has the lowest average temperature of the year at 24.6 °C (76.3 °F)

Climate data for Viluppuram
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 28.8
(83.8)		 30.6
(87.1)		 32.9
(91.2)		 34.7
(94.5)		 37.1
(98.8)		 37.1
(98.8)		 34.5
(94.1)		 34.8
(94.6)		 34.2
(93.6)		 32.0
(89.6)		 29.5
(85.1)		 28.2
(82.8)		 32.87
(91.17)
Average low °C (°F) 20.4
(68.7)		 20.8
(69.4)		 22.7
(72.9)		 25.6
(78.1)		 27.0
(80.6)		 26.9
(80.4)		 25.9
(78.6)		 25.3
(77.5)		 24.9
(76.8)		 22.1
(71.8)		 22.5
(72.5)		 21.2
(70.2)		 23.78
(74.79)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 20
(0.79)		 7
(0.28)		 6
(0.24)		 16
(0.63)		 40
(1.57)		 45
(1.77)		 80
(3.15)		 149
(5.87)		 135
(5.31)		 222
(8.74)		 216
(8.5)		 110
(4.33)		 1,046
(41.18)
Source: en.climate-data.org,[45]

The difference in precipitation between the driest month and the wettest month is 216 millimetres (8.5 in). During the year, the average temperatures vary by 7.4 °C (45.3 °F).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Area-wise Population within corporations and municipalities in Tamil Nadu" (XLS). Government Of India. p. 2. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  2. ↑ "Viluppuram, not Villupuram". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Viluppuram Census 2011".
  4. ↑ http://www.tamilmantram.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-16399.html
  5. ↑ http://tamil-ilakiyam.blogspot.in/2007/08/08.html
  6. ↑ "History of Viluppuram". Viluppuram Municipality.
  7. ↑ "Imperial Gazetteer of India ...". google.com.
  8. 1 2 "Google Maps". Google Maps.
  9. ↑ "TAMILNADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD". twadboard.gov.in.
  10. ↑ "Pachaimalai Hills". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  11. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  12. ↑ "Viluppuram Religion Data 2011". Census 2011. 2011.
  13. ↑ "historic population" (PDF).
  14. 1 2 "Census Info 2011 Final population totals – Viluppuram". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Chairman of Viluppuram". Viluppuram Municipality, Government of Tamil Nadu.
  16. ↑ "MLA of Viluppuram". Government of Tamil Nadu. 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
  17. ↑ "Members of Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu". Government of Tamil Nadu. 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "Gingee Forr". Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Auroville founded by Mira Richards". Architectureweek.com. 2005-11-16. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  20. ↑ "Mirra Alfassa as other name". Auroville.info. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  21. ↑ http://www.columbuslost.com/2014/09/tiruvamathur-temple-and-vannasarabam.html
  22. ↑ "Chennai-Trichy Six Lane Upgrade". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  23. ↑ "NH 45 Highly Prone to Accidents". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  24. ↑ "Viluppuram- Nagapattinam Narrow Highway". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  25. ↑ "Viluppuram- Mangaluru National Highway". The Times Of India. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  26. ↑ "Vikravandi - Thanjavur un-shape highway". Indian Express. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  27. ↑ "TNSTC Viluppuram".
  28. ↑ Indiarailinfo "Indianrailinfo - Viluppuram Junction Departures" Check |url= value (help). Indianrailinfo. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  29. ↑ "Origins and history of Southern Railway" (PDF). Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  30. ↑ R. Rajaram. "More BG sections to be electrified". The Hindu, 20 April 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  31. ↑ "Villupuram District at a Glance". Villupuram district administration. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  32. ↑ "Electrification work from Villupuram to Tiruchi completed: E. Ahamed". The Hindu. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  33. ↑ R.Rajaram (10 July 2010). "Tiruchi-Chennai line to get decongested". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  34. ↑ "Doubling work on 25-km stretch completed in Trichy division". The Times of India. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  35. ↑ "Kallakudi Palanganatham-Ariyalur railway line nearing completion". The Hindu. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  36. ↑ "IR History: Early Days – I". Chronology of railways in India, Part 2 (1832 - 1865). Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  37. ↑ "IR History: Early Days – II". Chronology of railways in India, Part 2 (1870 - 1899). Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  38. ↑ "Passengers seek shuttle train in Villupuram-Katpadi section". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  39. ↑ "Special trains between Katpadi and Villupuram". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  40. ↑ "Residents demand railway station". Puducherry. The Hindu. 6 Jan 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  41. ↑ C., Jaisankar (27 February 2013). "A dream-come-true Railway budget: Union Minister". Puducherry. The Hindu. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  42. ↑ "Bomb scare at railway station". Puducherry. The Hindu. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  43. ↑ "Puducherry airport to go on stream in October". The Economic Times. 3 Sep 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  44. ↑ "Flight operations await new terminal". IBN Live. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  45. ↑ "Climate:Viluppuram". Retrieved 4 January 2014.
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