Tiruchendur
| Tiruchendur திருச்செந்தூர் |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| State : |
 India
|
||
| State : | Tamil Nadu | ||
| District : | Thoothukudi | ||
| Sub-district : | Tiruchendur | ||
| Location : | 8 ° 29 ' N , 78 ° 7' E | ||
| Residents : | 32,171 (2011) | ||
Tiruchendur ( Tamil திருச்செந்தூர் Tiruccentūr [ ˈt̪iɾɯtːʃen̪d̪uːr ], also Thiruchendur ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu with around 32,000 inhabitants (2011 census). Tiruchendur is an important place of pilgrimage for the Hindu god Murugan, who is popular in Tamil Nadu .
geography
Tiruchendur is located in the Thoothukudi district in southern Tamil Nadu on the coast of the Indian Ocean . The city is the capital of the Taluk (sub-district) Tiruchendur of the Thoothukudi district. The next largest cities are the district capital Thoothukudi 36 kilometers north and Tirunelveli almost 60 kilometers northwest. The southern tip of India, Cape Komorin in Kanyakumari , is 90 kilometers southwest.
State Highway 176, which runs parallel to the coast, connects Tiruchendur with Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari, and State Highway 40 leads to Tirunelveli. There are numerous bus connections to Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. The Tiruchendur train station is the end of a railway line from Tirunelveli. The nearest airport is Thoothukudi Airport .
population
80 percent of Tiruchendur's residents are Hindus and 20 percent Christians . As in all of Tamil Nadu, the main language is Tamil, which is spoken by 98 percent of the population as their mother tongue.
Religious meaning
In Tiruchendur is the Subramaniyaswami Temple, an important sanctuary of the Hindu god Murugan (Skanda). While this god plays practically no role in the practice of faith in northern India, he is one of the most popular deities among the Tamils under the name Murugan. Tiruchendur is one of six pilgrimage sites ( Arupadaividu ) in Tamil Nadu that are dedicated to Murugan. The six pilgrimage sites are each associated with different aspects of Murugan's mythology. Tiruchendur is, according to the myth, the place where Murugan went to defeat the demon Surapadman .
The Murugan Temple of Tiruchendur is a sprawling temple complex in the South Indian Dravida style . As the only Arupadaividu temple, it is not built on a hill, but directly on the beach. The most striking structural feature is the 42 meter high gopuram (gate tower). Unlike most temples, the main gopuram is not located on the east, but on the west side of the temple, because the temple wall in the east borders directly on the sea. The main entrance to the temple is in the south and can be reached directly from the sandy beach. In front of the actual temple is the Shanmuga Vilasam , a 37 × 26 meter large entrance hall supported by 124 columns. The actual temple measures approx. 130 × 80 meters and consists of two concentric passages ( prakaras ), which house a number of secondary shrines, and the central main shrine.
As one of the six pilgrimage sites in Murugan, Tiruchendur attracts numerous pilgrims. In 2011 the place had 7.8 million visitors. Of several major temple festivals that are celebrated in Tiruchendur during the year, the Skanda Sasti festival in the Tamil month of Aippasi (October / November) is the most important. The seven-day festival culminates on the sixth day with the celebration of Murugan's victory over Surapadman ( Surasamharam ). In 2011, more than a million believers were expected in Tiruchendur on the occasion of this festival.
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 .
- ^ The Hindu, March 1, 2012: "State attracted over 14 crore tourists during 2011".
- ↑ The Hindu, October 31, 2011: "Arrangements in place for 'Soorasamharam'".