Namakkal

Namakkal
Town
Nickname(s): Poultry Town, Transport Town,""
Namakkal
Location of Namakkal in Tamil Nadu
Coordinates: 11°14′N 78°10′E / 11.233°N 78.167°E / 11.233; 78.167Coordinates: 11°14′N 78°10′E / 11.233°N 78.167°E / 11.233; 78.167
Country India
State Tamil Nadu
District Namakkal
Region Kongu Nadu
Government
 • Type Selection Grade Municipality
 • Body Namakkal Municipality
Elevation 218 m (715 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 55,145
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 637 001
Telephone code 91 - 04286
Vehicle registration TN-28, TN-88
Website www.namakkal.tn.nic.in

Namakkal is a town and a municipality in Namakkal district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Namakkal district. It is the first ISO 14001-2004 certified municipality in Asia for environmental management, specifically the provision and maintenance of water supply, solid waste and sewage management, town planning, lighting and other social services. As of 2011, the town had a population of 55,145.

It is a part of Kongu Nadu which was hotly contested and coveted by both the ancient Pallavas and the Pandyas. Namakkal was in the hands of Atiakula King called Gunasila who has marriage with Pallava King. Later the taluk was overrun by the Cholas in the Mandalam. After the struggle between the Cheras, Cholas and Pandiyas, the Hoysalas rose to power and had control till the 14th century followed by Vijayanagar Kings till 1565 AD. Then the Madurai Nayakas came to power in 1623 AD. Two of the Polygons of Thirumalai Nayak namely, Ramachandra Nayaka and Gatti Mudaliars ruled the Salem area. The Namakkal Fort is reported to have been built by Ramachandra Nayakas. After about 1625 AD, the area came successively under the rule of Muslim Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda Mysore kings and then the Marathas, when about the year 1750 AD. Hyder Ali came to power. During this period, it was a history of power struggle between Hyder Ali and later Tippu, with the British. The Rock Fort in Namakkal is a special feature of the Town. The Fort covers an area of one and half acres of flat surface and is accessible from South-West by a flight of narrow steps. Namakkal was held by Killdhar (Caption) on Hyder Ali until it was captured by British in 1768. For a brief period during late 18th and early 19th century Namakkal was under Tiruchirappalli district of British Rule. Later Namakkal was transferred back to Salem District.

Geography

Namakkal is located at 11°14′N 78°10′E / 11.23°N 78.17°E / 11.23; 78.17.[2] It has an average elevation of 218 metres (726 ft). It is close to Kolli Hills - which is part of the Eastern Ghats. The closest river is Kaveri and it is located 360 km southwest of Chennai and 250 km south of Bangalore.

History

Namakkal Fort

Namakkal is a historic town with reference at (SM)back to at least the 7th century. The name Namakkal derives from Namagiri, which is the name of the single rock formation at the center of the town. The rock is enormous - 65 meters high and more than a kilometre in circumference. Over this massive rock, is a fort, Namakkal Fort. The fort over the rock was built by Ramachandra Nayakar, a small king who ruled Namakkal during the 16th century. It is believed that Tippu Sultan hid himself in this fort for some time to escape the British. The fort was not built by Tippu Sultan but he occupied it for a brief period of time. Later the fort was captured by British. The front side of the hill is called Thiru. Vi. Ka. Paarai and today is used by taxis as their stand. S

Two cave temples at Namakkal were called as Adiyendra Visnugrha (Ranganatha swamy Temple) and Adiyanavaya Visnugrha (Narasimha swamy Temple). These Rock cut shrines were built by King Gunaseela of Adhiyaman clan descendant. Because of his marriage relations with Pallavas the temples were built of Pallava Architectural style during the 7th century. Generally, Namakkal is considered to be a Vaishnava Kshetram, and there is no Shiva temple in the town until a few years ago.

Mahatma Gandhi held a public meeting in 1933 in Namakkal under the slope of the Namakkal rock.

It is one of the few places in Tamil Nadu that has not been seriously affected by famine and war.

Economy

The economy of the district was primarily agricultural, but as on today it has changed its occupation to Lorries, Educational Institutions, Poultry Farms and real estate. So, Poultry, Lorry Transport and related businesses drive the economy of the town. Namakkal is famous for its Lorry body building industries and Poultry farms. It is India's 2nd biggest egg producing region (producing 3 crore eggs per day). A wide variety of crops are grown within the district. One of the main crop is Tapioca and due to that Namakkal is famous for Sago Factories (particularly Sellappampatty and Attur taluk around the place).

Namakkal is noted for truck body building activity. Truck body building is being carriedout in Namakkal since 1956. Nationwide Namakkal is known for body building for truck, trailer, tanker and rig unit. Customers from other states also get the truck body building work done in Namakkal. Body built trucks and rig units are being exported to foreign countries from Namakkal. About 25000 people are employed directly and indirectly in truck body building activity in Namakkal District. About 300 units in Namakkal are engaged in this activity.

Culture

Namakkal Anjaneyar temple

Namakkal Anjaneyar temple is located in Namakkal, and is dedicated to the Hindu god Hanuman. It is constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture. The legend of the temple is associated with Narasimha, an avatar of Hindu god Vishnu appearing for Hanuman and Lakshmi. The image of Anjaneyar is 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, making it one of the tallest images of Hanuman in India. The image of Anjaneyar is carved out of a single stone and believed to be existing from the 5th century. There is no roof over the sanctum and Anjaneyar has a unique iconography sporting a sword in his waist and holding a garland made of saligrama.[3] The temple is considered one of the prominent temples in the Tamil Nadu state and the country.[4] The Agamam is followed by "Sri Vaikhanasam".

Namagiri Lakshmi Narasimhaswami

Namagiri Lakshmi Narasimhaswami Temple is a beautiful "swayam udbhava" (naturally formed) murti of Lord Vishnu in the form of Sri Narasimha Swami. The ancient cave temple are carved out of an imposing hill. There is a separate shrine for Goddess Namagiri Lakshmi. Namagiri Lakshmi was the family Goddess of the renowned Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ramanujan credited his acumen to his family goddess, Mahalakshmi of Namakkal. He looked to her for inspiration in his work, and claimed to dream of blood drops that symbolised her male consort, Narasimha, after which he would receive visions of scrolls of complex mathematical content unfolding before his eyes. He often said, "An equation for me has no meaning, unless it represents a thought of God. It was in front of Namagiri Narashimhaswami, Saint Purandaradasa composed his famous song "Simha Rupanada Sri Hari, Namagirishane.."

Annual car festival for the Lord Narasimmaswamy temple is celebrated in March and April every year (Tamil Month "Panguni") as per "Sri Vaikhanasa Ahamam". There are number of sacred bathing places or thirthams in hollows in the sides of the rock and the largest of them is called “Kamalalayam” which is sacred to Lakshmi. Apart from the rock temples there is one Murugan temple at Koolipatti at about 3 km from the town.

Namakkal Ranganathaswamy Temple

There are two rock–cut cave temples alongside the fort, located along the slopes of the hillock, one dedicated to Narasimhaswamy and the other is of Ranganathaswamy. Ranganathaswamy is equally impressive. The Ranganathaswamy cave temple is believed to have been built by the Pallavas.[5][6]

Namakkal Fort

Namakkal Fort is a historic fort present in Namakkal in Namakkal district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The rock fort is on the summit of the rock, and the remnants in brick and stone still bear the brunt of the skirmishes to lay siege to the fort by the Cholas in the 9th century.[7] The fort was reinforced during the reign of Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai in the 17th century.[8]The fort is located on the top of a hillock made of a single rock, 75 m (246 ft) tall. There is a temple and a mosque that are located within the fort, both of which are popular tourist attractions of the town. In modern times, the fort is under the control of the Archaeological Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Transport

Road

Buses ply to cities in Tamil Nadu like Salem, Erode, Trichy, Karur, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Chennai, Madurai and Dindigul. Namakkal is connected to the rest of India through National Highway 44[9] Buses from Trichy or Madurai will pass through Namakkal to reach Salem or Bangalore.

Railway

A new broad-gauge railway line from Salem to Karur via Namakkal started its service on 25 May 2013.[10] There are trains daily from/to Salem, Karur, Chennai Central, Bangalore, Dindigul, Palani, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Pollachi and Palakkad.

Air

The nearest airports are Salem Airport (52 km), Coimbatore International Airport (153 km), and Trichy (85 km). Salem Airport started from 15 November 2009.

Demographics

Religious census
Religion Percent(%)
Hindu
 
 88.98%
Muslim
 
 9.29%
Christian
 
 1.48%
Sikh
 
 0.01%
Buddhist
 
 0.0%
Jain
 
 0.01%
Other
 
 0.23%
No religion
 
 0.01%

According to 2011 census, Namakkal had a population of 55,145 with a sex-ratio of 1,015 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[11] A total of 5,002 were under the age of six, constituting 2,609 males and 2,393 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 13.7% and .5% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 82.52%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[11] The town had a total of 15008 households. There were a total of 21,572 workers, comprising 133 cultivators, 264 main agricultural labourers, 562 in house hold industries, 19,646 other workers, 967 marginal workers, 22 marginal cultivators, 24 marginal agricultural labourers, 151 marginal workers in household industries and 770 other marginal workers.[1] As per the religious census of 2011, Namakkal had 88.98% Hindus, 9.29% Muslims, 1.48% Christians, 0.01% Sikhs, 0.0% Buddhists, 0.01% Jains, 0.23% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[12]

Politics

Namakkal assembly constituency is part of Namakkal (Lok Sabha constituency). P.R. Sundaram serves as M.P. for Namakkal Constituency.[13] K.P.P. Baskar serves as M.L.A. for Namakkal. K.S. Moorthiy serves as M.L.A. for Paramathi Velur, which comes under Namakkal District.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Namakkal". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Namakkal
  3. ↑ Monkeys, Motorcycles, and Misadventures. Leadstart Publishing PvtLtd. 2015. p. 65. ISBN 9789352013777.
  4. ↑ Bansal, Sunita Pant (2005). Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Smriti Books. ISBN 9788187967729.
  5. ↑ http://www.tamilnadutourism.org/places/CitiesTowns/Namakkal.aspx
  6. ↑ http://www.namakkalanjaneyartemple.tnhrce.in
  7. ↑ "Namakkal District, Govt of Tamil Nadu". TN.nic.in. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Government Portal". Namakkal District Administration. 2016-05-09.
  9. ↑ "Reliance Energy, NHAI join hands to pave way for highway development". New Delhi: The Financial Express. 2006-01-31. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  10. ↑ Renganathan, L. (26 May 2013). "New passenger train chugs into grand reception at Karur junction". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  11. 1 2 "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.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies". Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
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