Viluppuram (District)

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Viluppuram
District விழுப்புரம் மாவட்டம்
District map
State Tamil Nadu
Administrative headquarters : Viluppuram
Area : 7,194 km²
Residents : 3,458,873 (2011)
Population density : 481 inhabitants / km²
Website : viluppuram.tn.nic.in

The district of Viluppuram ( Tamil : விழுப்புரம் மாவட்டம் ; also: Villupuram ) is a district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . The administrative center of the district is the eponymous city of Viluppuram . The Viluppuram district has an area of ​​7,194 square kilometers and around 3.5 million inhabitants (2011 census).

geography

View from Fort Gingee

The Viluppuram District is located in northeast Tamil Nadu. Neighboring districts are Cuddalore in the south, Perambalur in the southwest, Salem in the west, Dharmapuri in the northwest, Tiruvannamalai in the north and Kanchipuram in the northeast and the Puducherry district of the union territory of the same name in the east. In addition, the district in the east has a share of the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal .

With 7,194 square kilometers, the Viluppuram district is the largest in area in Tamil Nadu. Most of the district area belongs to the flat coastal plain. In the west on the border with the Salem district lie the Kalrayan Mountains , a branch of the Eastern Ghats . The plains are also interspersed here and there with isolated mountains and rocks. Several rivers flow through the Viluppuram district, the largest of which is the Ponnaiyar . Smaller rivers are the Gingee and the Gadilam .

In the district of Viluppuram there is an alternately humid tropical climate . The annual mean temperature in Viluppuram is 28.4 ° C, the annual mean precipitation is 1,046 mm. Most of the rainfall occurs during the northeast monsoon between October and December. Rainfalls also occur during the southwest monsoon between July and September.

history

The fort of Gingee (view from 1894) was the center of power in the region for centuries.

The area of ​​today's Viluppuram district was under the rule of changing ruling dynasties, including the Chola , Pandya , Hoysala and Vijayanagar empires. The kings of Vijayanagar installed military governors ( nayaks ) in gingee at the beginning of the 16th century . After the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1565, the Nayaks of Gingee went into business for themselves . In the middle of the 17th century, however, they were defeated by the Sultanate of Bijapur , which in turn was followed by the Marathas and the Nawabs of Arcot . In the 18th century the area came under the influence of the colonial powers Great Britain and France , who fought for supremacy in southern India in the Carnatic Wars .

When the Nawab of Arcot ceded his possessions to the British East India Company in 1801, the British incorporated the area of ​​Viluppuram as part of the district of South Arcot into the Madras presidency . After Indian independence in 1947, South Arcot came to the state of Madras, which was reorganized in 1956 according to the language borders of Tamil and renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969 . In 1993, the South Arcot district was divided into the Viluppuram and Cuddalore districts.

population

Salt production in Marakkanam

According to the 2011 Indian census, the Viluppuram district has 3,458,873 inhabitants. The population density of 481 inhabitants per square kilometer is slightly below the Tamil Nadu average (555 inhabitants per square kilometer). The Viluppuram district has a very rural character: only 15 percent of the district's population lives in cities. The degree of urbanization is therefore one of the lowest in Tamil Nadu and is well below the average of 48 percent. 29 percent of the district's residents are members of the lower castes ( Scheduled Castes ) and around 2 percent are members of the tribal population ( Scheduled Tribes ). At 72 percent, the literacy rate is well below the state average (80 percent).

According to the 2011 census , Hindus make up the vast majority of the residents of the district with 92 percent. There are also small minorities of Christians and Muslims (4 percent each). The main language in the district Viluppuram is like all over Tamil Nadu, the Tamil . According to the 2001 census, 97 percent of the district's residents speak it as their first language. Around 1.5 percent each speak Urdu and Telugu .

Attractions

The district capital Viluppuram is a traffic junction with no major sights. Of tourist interest, however, is the Gingee, 45 kilometers to the north, with the Gingee Fort. The fortress was built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Built in the 18th century under the nayaks in place of an older fortress from the Chola period. The fortress complex extends over three hills and covers an area of ​​eleven square kilometers. Within the complex there are the ruins of palace buildings, temples and mosques from the time of the changing ruling dynasties.

The temple of Arakandanallur is one of the numerous Hindu temples in the Viluppuram district.

There are numerous important Hindu temples in the Viluppuram district. In Tirukkoyilur two large sanctuaries, the find Vaishnavite Ulagalantha-Perumal Temple and shivaitische Veeratteswarar Temple. The Ulagalantha Perumal Temple is one of the 108 holy places of Tamil Vishnuism ( Divya Desams ). Of the 274 holy places of Tamil Shaivism ( Padal Petra Sthalams ), twelve are in the Viluppuram district. In addition to the Veeratteswarar temple in Tirukkoyilur, these are the Shiva temples in the places Arakandanallur , Thiruvennainallur , T. Edaiyur , Tirunavalur , Neivanai , Gramam , Panaiyapuram , Thiruvamattur , Tiruvaikkarai , Olundiyappattu and Irumbai . Belonging to the Padal Petra Sthalams is controversial at the temple of Kiliyanur . The temples in Mandagapattu and Panamalai from the Pallava era are significant in terms of art history .

The model town Auroville is also in the Viluppuram district north of Puducherry . The utopian housing project was founded in 1968 by members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram under the leadership of Mira Alfassa (“The Mother”) and is now home to around 2,000 residents from all over the world. At the center of Auroville is the Matrimandir (“Mother's Temple”), a futuristic-looking building in the form of a golden, spherically flattened ball that serves as a place for meditation and contemplation.

Administrative division

The Viluppuram district is divided into eight taluks (sub-districts):

Taluk main place Population
(2011)
Gingee Gingee 423,942
Kallakkurichi Kallakkurichi 466.136
Sankarapuram Sankarapuram 407.970
Tindivanam Tindivanam 446,682
Tirukkoyilur Tirukkoyilur 446,531
Ulundurpettai Ulundurpettai 373,621
Vanur Vanur 196.422
Viluppuram Viluppuram 697,569

Cities

In the district Viluppuram there are three cities with its own city government ( Municipalities ), 15 after the Panchayat managed system townships ( Town Panchayats ) and a census town ( census town ). The number of inhabitants is given according to the 2011 census.

Municipalities
Town panchayats
Census city

Web links

Commons : Viluppuram District  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Census of India 2011: Primary Census Abstract - Tamil Nadu. (PDF; 873 kB)
  2. ↑ Climate data from climate-data.org .
  3. ^ Census of India 2011: Primary Census Data Highlights - Tamil Nadu. Chapter - I Population, Size and Decadal Change.
  4. ^ Census of India 2011: Primary Census Data Highlights - Tamil Nadu. Chapter - II Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Population.
  5. ^ Census of India 2011: Primary Census Data Highlights - Tamil Nadu. Chapter - III Literates and Literacy Rate.
  6. ^ Census of India 2011: C-1 Population By Religious Community. Tamil Nadu.
  7. ↑ Census of India 2001: C-15: Population by Mother Tongue (Tamil Nadu), accessed under Tabulations Plan of Census Year - 2001 .
  8. ↑ "Alphabetical list of the taluks containing Tevaram sites" ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in VM Subramanya Aiyar, Jean-Luc Chevillard, SAS Sarma: Digital Tēvāram. Kaṇiṉit Tēvāram, Indologie Collection n ° 103, Institut Français de Pondichéry / École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2007. ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ifpindia.org @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ifpindia.org
  9. ↑ a b Census of India 2011: Primary Census Abstract Data Tables: Viluppuram.