Udagamandalam
| Udagamandalam உதகமண்டலம் |
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 India
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| State : | Tamil Nadu | ||
| District : | Nilgiris | ||
| Sub-district : | Udagamandalam | ||
| Location : | 11 ° 25 ' N , 76 ° 42' E | ||
| Height : | 2250 m | ||
| Residents : | 88,430 (2011) | ||
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Udagamandalam (also Udhagamandalam ; Tamil : உதகமண்டலம் Utakamaṇṭalam [ ˈuðəɡəmaɳɖəlʌm ]), formerly anglicized Ootacamund , usually Ooty for short , is a mountain town with a moderate climate in the Nilgiri Mountains , in central southern India , on a foothill of the Western Ghats , in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . It lies at an altitude of 2,250 meters and has around 88,000 inhabitants (2011 census).
Udagamandalam was "discovered" in the early 19th century by John Sullivan, a former secretary of the British East India Company . Sullivan saw the area's agricultural potential (cool climate, green fertile hills), bought land and started growing flax , hemp , potatoes, fruit and especially tea ; within 20 years he made a fortune.
Sullivan and his business friends built the city with an artificial lake, churches and stone houses that could also stand in the Scottish highlands, making it the most popular mountain resort on the Indian peninsula in no time. Udagamandalam then also served as the summer quarters of the British colonial administration of Madras .
Originally the area around Udagamandalam was the homeland of the Todas , a hill tribe of shepherds who lived in almost complete isolation from the cities of the surrounding plains. The Todas were proselytized or persecuted and ousted from their land by tea growers.
64 percent of Udagamandalam's residents are Hindus , 21 percent are Christians and 13 percent are Muslim . As in all of Tamil Nadu, the main language is Tamil, which is spoken by 60 percent of the population as their mother tongue. 17 percent speak Kannada (including Badaga ), 7 percent each speak Urdu and Malayalam , 5 percent Telugu , 2 percent Hindi and 1 percent Marathi .
Udagamandalam is connected to the Indian railway network through the terminus of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway . This cog railway is a technically interesting world heritage site .
Personalities
- Born in Udagamandalam
- Norah Lindsay (1873–1948), English garden designer and socialite
- Harold Mead (1910-1997), science fiction writer
- Savarinathen Iruthayaraj (1927-2001), Bishop of Palayamkottai
- Jerry Dammers (* 1955), keyboardist
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ 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 .