Needamangalam

Needamangalam Needa, Nidamangalam Yamunambalpuram, Neeradum Mangalam
Town Panchayat
Needamangalam Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates: 10°46′16″N 79°24′50″E / 10.771°N 79.414°E / 10.771; 79.414Coordinates: 10°46′16″N 79°24′50″E / 10.771°N 79.414°E / 10.771; 79.414
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Thiruvarur, Composite Tanjore Dist,
Government
• Type	Town Panchayat
• Body	Needamangalam Town Panchayat
Population (2011)
• Total	9,336
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	614 404
Telephone code	(91)4367
Vehicle registration	TN-50
Cauvery Delta, Chola Nadu

Needamangalam (Nidamangalam) formerly Yamunambalpuram, is a town panchayat in Thiruvarur district(Composite Tanjore Dist) in the Cauvery Delta of Indian state of Tamil Nadu.^[1] Needamangalam was originally part of composite Tanjore District (Madras Presidency) during British Raj until 1997 AD. In the 18th and 19th century, it was also called Yamunambapuram (see section on Santhana Ramaswamy Temple below). Needamangalam is the headquarters of the Needamangalam Taluk. The town is located 20 km east of Thanjavur, 80 km east of Tiruchirappalli and 318 km south of Chennai. Needamangalam is a junction for two busy highways, (i) National Highway 67 is a National Highway in Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that runs from Nagapattinam, a sea-side town in Tamil Nadu to Gundlupet, Karnataka (ii) State Highway SH-66 connecting Kumbakonam with Adirampattinam via Mannargudi in Cauvery Delta.

History

Battle of Venni

According to Poruna-raatr-uppadai, Karikala Chola fought a great battle at Venni now Kovilvenni near Needamangalam in which both Pandya and Chera suffered crushing defeat. Besides the two crowned kings of the Pandya and Chera countries, eleven minor chieftains took their side in the campaign and shared defeat at the hands of Karikala. The Chera king, who was wounded on his back in the battle, committed suicide by starvation. Venni was the watershed in the career of Karikala which established him firmly on his throne and secured for him some sort of hegemony among the three crowned monarchs. Venni which is also known as Vennipparandalai and now it is known as Kovilvenni. Kovilvenni is situated at a distance of 3 km from Needamangalam.

Geography

The town is surrounded by three rivers and town limit could not extend any more within those boundaries. Hence it is also named as needatha mangalam means "limited area". Needamangalam Taluk is crossed by the Vennar River in the north and the Koraiyar River in the south. Near the Bay of Bengal, the Venner River branches into three major distributaries, the northern branch retains its original name, Vennar. Other two branches are the Paminiyaar and the Koraiyar. They flow down to Muthupet Lagoon and from there join the sea.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the taluk of Needamangalam had a population of 147,451 with 72,695 males and 74,756 females. There were 1028 women for every 1000 men. The taluk had a literacy rate of 74.99. Child population in the age group below 6 was 6,869 Males and 6,643 Females.^[2]

Climate and Places

Needamangalam is abutted by the Vennar River in the north and the Koraiyar River in the south. Needamangalam experiences abundant rainfall during rainy season and severe weather drop towards November and December of every year.

Cultural aspects

• Cauvery Delta is known for rich heritage, culture, music and spirituality. Music and culture flourished during Sangam and Chola periods in the entire Delta region. Many musicians like Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Shanmugavadivel, Neelakanda Shastri who contributed to carnatic musics & experts in Tavil and Nadaswaram instruments based musics (prime cultural music played at wedding and temple festivals in Tamil Nadu) were based out of Needamangalam.^[3]
• Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi or Guru Sthalam, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is one of the Navagraha(nine planets) temples situated in the Cauvery delta at a distance of 5 km from Needamangalam.
• There is an underground sub-way passage (currently abandoned) connecting Needamangalam Chathiram to Thanjavur Maratha Palace, originally built by Thanjavur Marathas for a secret and diplomatic escape route from Thanjavur Palace to tackle emergency situations.
• Kovilvenni (3 km from Needamangalam) also known as "Venniparanthalai" is a famous place during Chola period for the celebrated battles between Uthiyan Cheral Athan and Chozhan Karikaal Valavan.
• Needamangalam is notable for various Shiva and Vishnu temples built during Chola period, those include: Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Santhana Ramaswamy Temple, Kogamugaeswarer Temple, Mariyamman Temple, Drowpathi Amman Temple,Iyyappan Temple, Bathrakaliamman Temple & Aanjeneya Temple). The town also host a Christian church built during British period and Mosques.
• The town of Needamangalam is a main hub for the villagers of the taluk, the majority of whom are farmers. Back in the 1950s - 1970's the town served as a wholesale market for paddy crops, and other crops. Many people originally from Needamangalam taluk now work in Gulf countries and United States.

Transport

Rail Transport

Nidamangalam Junction railway station acts a connecting station to Mannargudi railway station. Trains connecting Mannargudi to various places like Chennai Egmore (Mannai express), Tirupati (Pamani Express), Coimbatore Chemmozhi Express. Thanjavur, Trichy, Nagapattinam, Karaikkal, Velankanni, Mayiladuthurai pass via Needamangalam. There is a long pending demand for a ROB at Needamangalam Junction which is announced during 2013-14 budget by Tamil Nadu Government and work in progress. The "Great Southern of India Railway", aka Southern Railway zone opened its first line for traffic between Nagapattinam and Tanjore in 1861 that runs via Needamangalam Junction. Subsequently, the line was extended up to Tiruchirappalli in March 1862.

Road Transport

• SETC operates long distance daily day as well overnight buses from Mannargudi/Pattukottai to Chennai that runs via Needamangalam.
• SETC operates buses from Velankanni to various cities in Kerala and Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru, Karnataka that runs via Needamangalam.
• Yogalakshmi Travels and Rathi Meena Travels operates daily bus services to Chennai.
• TNSTC, Kumbakonam operate buses to Trichy and Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mannargudi, Velankanni and Nagapattinam with the frequency of a bus in every five minutes.

Air/Sea Transport

Nearest Airport is Tiruchirappalli International Airport at a distance of 80 km from Needamangalam, and nearest seaport is Nagapattinam Port at a distance of 50 km from the town.

Educational Institutions

NidamangalamITI

• Anjalai Ammal Mahalingam Engineering College, Kovilvenni, Needamangalam.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Thiruvarur District is located at Needamangalam in Nagappattinam-Gudulur NH 67. It is functioning since 2004 under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) with the guidelines prescribed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to cater to the needs of the farming community of Thiruvarur district with the major objective of Transfer of Technology in agriculture and allied fields.^[4]
• Government Industrial Training Institute, Needamangalam (List of Tamil Nadu Government Industrial Training Institutes).
• Bharath Nursing College, Needamangalam.
• Needmangalam Govt. Higher Secondary School, Needamangalam.
• Neelan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Needamangalam.
• St. Jude's Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Needamangalam.
• Lakshmi Vilas Middle School, Needamangalam.
• Ramavilas Middle School, Needamangalam.
• St. Mary's Matriculation School, Needamangalam.

Banks

• Indian Bank
• State Bank Of India
• Canara Bank
• ICICI Bank
• The Kumbakonam Paraspara Sagaya Nithi Ltd.
• Muthoot Bank
• Pandian Grama Bank
• Tamil Nadu co-operative bank
• Government Branch Library, Near Govt Hospital.

Scenic places in Needamangalam

NidamangalamThalappu

Three kilometres from the town of Needamangalam, there is a spot called Munar Thalaippu, the Koraiyar headworks where three rivers discharge by means of fine masonry sluice. It is a picnic spot where the main Koraiyar branches into three distributaries namely Vennar, Vettar, Pamaniyar. The Water Storage and Dams were built by Cholas as a measure to control the flow during flood season and boost agriculture to the entire region. Huge crowd is witnessed during Diwali, Pongal festivals at this spot and the name "Neeradu Mangalam" to the town also comes from this aspect that it has got three rivers branching out. Government of Tamil Nadu recently named Munar Thalaippu as a State Tourism spot and announced financial packages, to improve facilities.

Notables from Needamangalam

• This is the native place of musician Neelakanda Shastri.
• Other musicians Krishnamoorthi Bhagavathar, 'tavil' Shanmuga Vadivel and tavil maestro Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai were from Needamangalam.
• Former Chief Election Commissioner of India Mr. N. Gopalaswami is from Needamangalam.
• Tamil film cinematographer Gopinath and Tamil film Director Sami are from Needamangalam.
• Tamil film actor Sivakarthikeyan, great grand son of tavil maestro Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai has his parental origins from Needamangalam.

Temples

• Santhana Ramaswamy Temple

Santhana Ramaswamy Temple is famous for people who have does not have children: This temple was built in 18th century by Thanjavur Marathas. King Simhan ruled Chola Nadu. His wife, Queen Yamunambal had dipped in the holy tank and prayed Santhana Ramaswamy and was blessed with baby in the 18th century. This town hence got another name "Yamunambalpuram"

• Sri Ramamirthamman Temple is located on the northern bank of Vennar River at Erumaipadukai, 5km far, north-westerly to Needamagalam. This small Amman kovil thiruvilla was known for devine healing powers.
• Yamunambal Temple
• Kasi Viswanathar Temple
• Kogamugaeswarer Temple
• Mariyamman Temple
• Drowpathi Amman Temple
• Iyyappan Temple
• Bathrakaliamman Temple
• Aanjeneya Temple
• Roman Catholic Church & Mosques

References