Tirupathur[1] or Tirupattur[2] is the headquarters of Tirupathur district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and is one of the oldest inhabited places in the state, with a history of over 1,600 years. The town is known for an abundance of sandalwood[3] in the surrounding hills. It is located about 89 km (55 mi) from Vellore, 85 km (53 mi) from Hosur, 60 km (37 mi) from Dharmapuri, 50 km (31 mi) from Krishnagiri, 50 km (31 mi) from Thiruvannamalai, 279 km (173 mi) from coimbatore , 210 km (130 mi) from Chennai, and 125 km (78 mi) from Bangalore.
Tirupathur | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Tirupathur | |
 View from Yelagiri hill station | |
| Nickname: Sandal City | |
  Tirupathur Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Coordinates: 12°30′N 78°36′E / 12.50°N 78.60°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Tirupattur |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal |
| • Body | Tirupathur Municipality |
| Elevation | 387 m (1,270 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 83,612 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 635601, 635602 |
| Telephone code | 04179 |
| Vehicle registration | TN-83 |
| Nearest city | Vellore (88 km), Bangalore (125 km) & Chennai (235 km) |
| Sex ratio | 993 ♂/♀ |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Thiruvannamalai |
| Legislative Assembly constituency | Tirupathur |
| Website | tirupathur |
History
editFrom inscriptions surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of India in Tirupathur, it is estimated that the town is more than 1,600 years old. Under the Chola, Vijayanagara, and Hoysala dynasties, the town was variously called Sri Mathava Chaturvedi Mangalam, Veera Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam, Tiruperur, Brahmapuram and Brahmeeswaram.
Tirupathur means "Ten Towns". It is a Taluk, with villages such as Aathiyur (Beginning) and Kodiyur (Ending). It has many ancient Vishnu and Shiva temples, and water tanks built during the Hoysala Dynasty. It is well connected by road and rail to the other important cities of Tamil Nadu such as Vellore, Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore and Thiruvannamalai and to Bangalore in Karnataka. The town has the resting places of many Islamic saints. As of 2011, the town had a population of 64,125.
Tiruppattur is located 137 miles (220 km) from Madras along the south-west line of the Madras Railway. Historically, it has been a favoured administrative station and was the original British capital of then Salem district. Colonel Alexander Read, the first Collector of the district, established his headquarters in Tiruppattur in 1792.[4]
The town was a part of the Salem district, and later of Vellore district. The Tirupathur sub-division includes Tirupathur, Nattrampalli, Vaniyambadi and Ambur taluks. Anna Rajam Malhotra, India's first female Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, K P S Menon Jr., former foreign secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Dr. T V Somanathan were sub-collectors of Tirupathur during their initial career.
In 1886, the Tirupathur municipality was constituted as a grade three municipality. As per the government order No. 194 dated 10.02.1970, it was reclassified as a second grade municipality. At present, as per the government order No. 654 dated 1.4.1977, it has been reclassified as a first grade municipality.
Tirupattur's population and land area are good enough to have political representations in the state legislature of Tamil Nadu (Member of the Legislative Assembly), and part of Thiruvannamalai constituency for the Lok Sabha (Member of Parliament as of 2009 elections).
As of 15 August 2019, the trifurcation of Vellore district resulted in the formation of the Tirupathur district, with Tirupathur town as its headquarters.[5]
Geography
editTirupathur is called "Sandalwood Town" due to the abundance of sandalwood trees in the surrounding hills. It is very close to the Yelagiri hills, a major hill station of Tamil Nadu. The town is at an average elevation of 388 m (1,273 ft). The Jawadhu Hills, a part of the eastern ghats, are to the east of Tirupathur. The major group of soils found in the town are black (10 percent) and red (90 varieties). Tirupathur town has 56.059 km (34.833 mi) of roads.
Climate
editTirupathur is known for recording the coolest temperature in the Tamil Nadu plains during winter. The seasonal climate conditions are moderate and the weather is uniformly salubrious. The town experiences sweltering summers and warm winters. The town gets the majority of its rainfall during the south west monsoon period. September and October are the wettest months with around 400 mm (16 in) of rain. The town also experiences fairly frequent thunderstorms in late April and May, which gives necessary relief from the heat, along with a dip in night temperatures. The warmest nights are in May, when the town has an average minimum temperature of 23.4 °C (74.1 °F). The coldest nights are in January, when the average minimum temperatures drop to 16.1 °C (61.0 °F). May is the hottest month with an average maximum of 37.0 °C (98.6 °F). The highest ever temperature recorded in the town is 46.3 °C (115.3 °F) on 7 May 1976. The lowest ever recorded temperature is 10.2 °C (50.4 °F) on 15 December 1974. The highest 24‑hour precipitation is 167.3 mm (6.59 in) received on 4 November 1966. The average annual rainfall being received in the town is 877 mm (34.5 in). The climate is classified as tropical. In winter, there is much less rainfall than in summer. This climate is considered to be a tropical savanna climate (Aw according to the Köppen–Geiger climate classification).
| Climate data for Tirupathur, Tirupathur district (1981–2010, extremes 1958–2012) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 35.6 (96.1) |
39.4 (102.9) |
41.2 (106.2) |
45.8 (114.4) |
46.3 (115.3) |
41.8 (107.2) |
39.6 (103.3) |
39.3 (102.7) |
40.0 (104.0) |
37.1 (98.8) |
36.3 (97.3) |
35.0 (95.0) |
46.3 (115.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.6 (87.1) |
33.6 (92.5) |
36.5 (97.7) |
37.7 (99.9) |
37.7 (99.9) |
35.2 (95.4) |
34.1 (93.4) |
33.2 (91.8) |
32.9 (91.2) |
31.5 (88.7) |
29.7 (85.5) |
29.1 (84.4) |
33.5 (92.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 17.5 (63.5) |
18.7 (65.7) |
21.2 (70.2) |
24.1 (75.4) |
25.1 (77.2) |
24.5 (76.1) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.5 (74.3) |
23.0 (73.4) |
22.1 (71.8) |
20.4 (68.7) |
18.4 (65.1) |
21.9 (71.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.3 (50.5) |
10.5 (50.9) |
12.8 (55.0) |
16.6 (61.9) |
18.3 (64.9) |
19.1 (66.4) |
18.4 (65.1) |
17.0 (62.6) |
14.6 (58.3) |
15.5 (59.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
10.2 (50.4) |
10.2 (50.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 2.4 (0.09) |
1.8 (0.07) |
13.8 (0.54) |
41.7 (1.64) |
77.5 (3.05) |
64.6 (2.54) |
93.2 (3.67) |
132.3 (5.21) |
185.3 (7.30) |
152.2 (5.99) |
78.7 (3.10) |
33.8 (1.33) |
877.3 (34.53) |
| Average rainy days | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.8 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 50.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 60 | 53 | 48 | 53 | 57 | 59 | 61 | 65 | 67 | 74 | 73 | 66 | 62 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department[6][7] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
editAccording to 2011 census, Tirupathur had a population of 83,612 with a sex-ratio of 1,010 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[8] A total of 7,255 were under the age of six, constituting 3,717 males and 3,538 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 18.33% and 0.43% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 76.22%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[8] The town had a total of 14,084 households. There were a total of 22,895 workers, comprising 240 cultivators, 161 main agricultural laborers, 1,145 in household industries, 18,782 other workers, 2,567 marginal workers, 38 marginal cultivators, 27 marginal agricultural laborers, 246 marginal workers in household industries and 2,256 other marginal workers.[9] As per the religious census of 2011, Tirupathur (M) had 81.93% Hindus, 16.39% Muslims, 1.52% Christians, 0.03% Sikhs, 0.02% Buddhists, 0.11% Jains, 0.00% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[2]
Politics
editSince 2016, Tirupattur assembly constituency is represented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by A Nallathambi of DMK party.[10] He was re-elected in 2021.[11][12]
Tirupattur is part of Tiruvannamalai Lok Sabha constituency. The present MP (elected in 2019) of the Tiruvannamalai Lok Sabha Constituency is Annadurai.[13][14]
Places to see
editYelagiri is a hill station on the Vaniyambadi–Tirupathur Road, midway between Chennai and Bangalore. Located at an altitude of 1,050 m (3,440 ft) and spread across 30 km2 (12 sq mi), Yelagiri village (also spelt Elagiri) is surrounded by orchards, rose gardens, and valleys. Jalagambarai waterfalls the most popular waterfall in Tiruattur and Vellore district is located behind the Yellagiri Hills. The Jalagambarai falls is located 10 kms from Tirupattur town which attracts several tourists from Bengaluru and Chennai along the weekends.
The Jawadu Hills are located about 35 km (22 mi) from Tirupathur. In the middle of this hill lies the Vainu Bappu Observatory (also known as Kavalur Observatory), which has several optical and reflective telescopes run and governed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
Transport
editThe Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) provides 85% of transport facilities to this town. Tirupathur is well connected by road and rail to major cities of India. Regarding transportation linkage, the highway (NH 46) from Chennai to Krishnagiri (via) Nattrampalli passes through the town. The town is separated from Chennai (225 km [140 mi]), Bangalore (130 km [81 mi]), Vellore (87 km [54 mi]) and Salem (108 km [67 mi]). Several state highways connect the town from Dharmapuri (60 km [37 mi]), Krishnagiri (40 km [25 mi]), Vaniyambadi (22 km [14 mi]), Harur (47 km [29 mi]), and Salem (108 km [67 mi]). Frequent buses are available to Chennai, Vellore, Harur, Salem, Bangalore, and Villupuram.
The Tirupathur railway junction is under the administrative control of the Southern Railways which is the beginning boundary of Salem Railway Division. It is two km (1.2 mi) from the bus stand. To the north, Jolarpettai Junction which is one of the important railway junction in Tamil Nadu. It (8 km [5.0 mi]) is the nearest junction, and to the south-west, Morappur is the next station. Due to proximity to the Jolarpettai railway junction, only a few express trains halt here.
The nearest airports are at Salem (105 km [65 mi]) and Vellore (85 km [53 mi]), while the nearest international airports are at Bengaluru (135 km [84 mi]) and Chennai (225 km [140 mi]).
References
edit- ^ "Tirupathur District". National Informatics Centre, Ministry Of Electronics and Information Technology, Government Of India. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Population By Religious Community – Tamil Nadu" (XLS). Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
- ^ "Tirupattur". Tamil Nadu Foundation. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ Hunter, William Wilson (1908). The Imperial Gazetteer Of India Vol 23 (2 ed.). London: Trübner & Co. p. 395.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami announces trifurcation of Vellore district". India Today. Press Trust of India. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ "Station: Tiruppattur Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 749–750. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M204. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Census Info 2011 Final population totals". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Tirupathur". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ "LIST OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES, Election Commission of India- State Election, 2016 to the Legislative Assembly Of Tamil Nadu" (PDF). Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu General Legislative Election 2021". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu Election Results 2021 live | Tamil Nadu Assembly Election Results & Updates". NDTV.com. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Tiruvannamalai(Tamil Nadu) Lok Sabha Election Results 2014 with Sitting MP and Party Name". www.elections.in. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
External links
edit