Kumbakonam
| Kumbakonam கும்பகோணம் |
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| State : |
 India
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| State : | Tamil Nadu | ||
| District : | Thanjavur | ||
| Sub-district : | Kumbakonam | ||
| Location : | 10 ° 58 ′ N , 79 ° 22 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 32 m | ||
| Residents : | 140,156 (2011) | ||
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Kumbakonam ( Tamil : கும்பகோணம் Kumpakōṇam [ ˈkumbəkoːɳʌm ], also Kumbhakonam ) is a city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu . It is located in the Kaveri Delta in the Thanjavur district . The population is around 140,000 (2011 census). Kumbakonam is a temple city with numerous important Hindu temples . The Mahamaham festival takes place here every twelve years and attracts millions of pilgrims.
geography
Kumbakonam is located in the Kaveri Delta in the Thanjavur district in central Tamil-Nadu, around 300 kilometers south of Chennai (Madras) and 40 kilometers northeast of the district capital Thanjavur . The city is the capital of the taluk Kumbakonam . Kumbakonam lies between the Kaveri main arm in the north and another estuary, the Arasalar in the south. The municipality ( municipality ) Kumbakonam has an area of 12.6 square kilometers.
history
The region of the Kaveri Delta, to which Kumbakonam belongs, is the historical heartland of the Chola dynasty, which was one of the most important powers of South India between the 9th and 13th centuries. After the fall of the Chola Empire, Kumbakonam came under the rule of the Vijayanagar Empire. From the 1535 century the region was ruled by the Nayaks of Thanjavur, and from 1674 by the Marathen kings, who also reside in Thanjavur . In 1799 Kumbakonam became part of British India and incorporated into the province of Madras . After Indian independence in 1947, the city came to the state of Madras, which was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969 .
population
According to the 2011 census, Kumbakonam has 140,156 inhabitants. This makes Kumbakonam the second largest city in the Thanjavur district after the capital Thanjavur. 86 percent of the residents of Kumbakonam are Hindus , 10 percent are Muslims and 4 percent are Christians . Kumbakonam is the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Kumbakonam . As in all of Tamil Nadu, the main language is Tamil, which is spoken by 93 percent of the population as their mother tongue. There is also a minority of Saurashtri speakers who make up 5 percent of the population.
Religious meaning
Kumabkonam is an important temple city. According to the myth, the pot ( Sanskrit : kumbha ) with the potion of immortality ( Amrita ) is said to have swept away from the world mountain Meru and landed on the site of Kumbakonam. God Shiva then destroyed the vessel with an arrow and formed a linga from the fragments , which is said to be in the center of the Kumbareshwara temple today. At the place where the immortality potion flowed according to myth, there is what is now a temple pond .
The temple pond is the focus of the Mahamaham festival, which takes place every twelve years (most recently in 2016) at an astrologically precise date in the Tamil month of Masi (February / March). Countless pilgrims then flock to Kumbakonam to take a ritual bath in the temple pond, which is said to be filled with holy Ganges water at this time . In 2016, the ten-day Mahamaham festival was attended by 4.4 million people. 1.1 million gathered on the main day for a bath in the temple pond. A smaller version of the festival takes place annually. Outside of the Mahamaham festival, Kumbakonam also attracts numerous pilgrims. In 2011, 5.4 million visitors were counted.
Culture and sights
Because of its religious importance, Kumbakonam has numerous Hindu temples , most of which date back to the Chola period. Allegedly there are 188 temples within the city limits. The main temple of the city is the god Shiva consecrated Kumbeshwara Temple . It goes back in its current form to the 12th century, but was already in the 7th / 8th. Century sung in the Tevaram hymns of the poet saints Appar and Sambandar . It is one of the 274 holy places of Tamil Shaivism ( Padal Petra Sthalams ), as well as two other Shiva temples in Kumakonam: the Kashi Vishwanatha temple and the Nageshwara temple . The latter was built in the 9th century and is characterized by its exquisite sculptures. The most important Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam is the Sarangapani temple , built in the 13th century, with its imposing 53 meter high gate tower ( gopuram ). The Sarangapani Temple is one of the 108 holy places of Tamil Vishnuism ( Divya Desams ).
Numerous other important Hindu temples are located in smaller towns in the vicinity of Kumbakonam, such as the Murugan Temple of Swamimalai and several of the Navagraha temples , a group of nine Hindu temples in the Kaveri Delta that are associated with the heavenly bodies. From a tourist point of view, Kumbakonam is also a starting point for visiting the Chola temples of Darasuram (5 kilometers southwest) and Gangaikonda Cholapuram (33 kilometers north), which, together with the Brihadishvara temple of Thanjavur, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (see Large Temple of the Chola Dynasty ).
Kumbakonam is still considered a stronghold of Orthodox Hinduism and Brahmin culture in Tamil Nadu. The city is also known for its coffee culture . Particularly high-quality filter coffee without additives and with pure cow's milk is marketed throughout Tamil Nadu as Kumbakonam Degree Coffee .
Kumbheshwara Temple
Sarangapani temple
Kashi Vishwanatha Temple
Figure decorations in Nageshwara Temple
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Personalities
- S. Ramanujan (1887–1920), mathematician (spent most of his life in Kumbakonam)
- UV Swaminatha Iyer (1855–1942), philologist (worked in Kumbakonam from 1880 to 1903)
- MS Swaminathan (* 1925), agricultural scientist (born in Kumbakonam)
literature
- The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Volume 16: Kotchāndpur to Mahāvinyaka. New edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1908, pp. 20-21 , keyword: Kumbakonam City .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.census2011.co.in
- ↑ Website of the municipality of Kumbakonam ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Census of India 2011.
- ^ Census of India 2011: C-1 Population By Religious Community. Tamil Nadu.
- ↑ Census of India 2001: C-16 City: Population by Mother Tongue (Tamil Nadu), accessed under Tabulations Plan of Census Year - 2001 .
- ↑ Deccan Chronicle, February 24, 2016: "46 lakh took holy dip at Mahamaham festival".
- ^ The Hindu, March 1, 2012: "State attracted over 14 crore tourists during 2011".
- ↑ AR Venkatachalapathy: "In Those Days There Was No Coffee 'coffee Drinking and Middle-Class Culture in Colonial Tamilnadu", in: In Those Days There Was No Coffee. Writings in Cultural History, New Delhi: Yoda Press, 2006, pp. 11–31, here p. 19.