Pugalur
Pugalur is an area in Tamil Nadu in southern India divided into two parts, Nanjai and Punjai. Nanjai refers to land with plenty of water usually with water bodies like rivers, canals, ponds etc. and Punjai refers to land with fewer water bodies and with facilities such as bore wells. Pugalur in the nanjai area is known as Nanjai Pugalur and Pugalur in the punjai area is known as Punjai Pugalur.
| Pugalur | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
| Country |
 |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Karur |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 639117 |
| Vehicle registration | TN 47 |
Demographics
Pugalur is located on the bank of the perennial River Kaveri. The population of Pugalur is around 40,000 in Punjai and 15,000 in Nanjai.[1] Apart from Coimbatore, Erode, Namakkal, Nilagiri, Karur with Pugalur also comes under Kongu Nadu.
Geography
Pugalur includes many villages and towns. Among these TNPL Pugalur is the most famous, then come Punjai Thottakurichi and Thirukkattuthurai panchayats.
Some of the villages in Nanjai Pugalur are:
- Thavittupalayam
- Thirukkattuthurai
- Agraharam
- Modhukadu
- Nanjai Kalakurichi
- Karai Pasupathipalayam
- Kombupalayam
- Nadayanur
- Kattipalayam
- Nathamettu Palayam
- Alamarathumedu
Some of the villages/towns in Punjai Pugalur are:
- Punjai Pugalur
- Kattur
- Bharathi Nagar
- MurugamPalayam
- Pugalur 4 Road
- Punjai Kalakurichi
- TNPL Pugalur
- Punjai Thottakurichi
- Ganapathipalayam
- Moolimangalam
- Kunjampatty
- Valaiyanur
- Katchinampatti
- Salapalayam
- Sembadapalayam
- Kadambakurichi
- Mettupalayam
- Sottaiyur
- Pandipalayam
- Sokkankadu
- Masagoundanpudur
- Thadampalayam
- Kurukkapalayam
- Ponniagoundanpudur
- Velayuthampalayam
Climate
The highest temperature is obtained in early May to early June, usually about 34°C, though it usually exceeds 38°C for a few days most years. Average daily temperature during January is around 23°C, though the temperature rarely falls below 17°C. The average annual rainfall is about 725 mm in Nanjai and 310 mm in Punjai. These areas get most of their seasonal rainfall from the north-east monsoon winds, from late September to mid November.
Hill
The temple in Pugalur situated north west of Karur dedicated to Lord Murugan on a small hill at Velayuthanpalayam is famous for excellent sculpture from the time of King Chera. Panchayats around this hill are Punjai Pugalur town panchayat, Thirukkattuthurai village panchayat (3 km) and TNPL Pugalur town panchayat (3 km).
Every year during the first week of February Thaipusam is celebrated in this temple. During this festival devotees take Kavadi to this temple and at night a Theru (Temple Cart) with Lord Muruga in it is moved around the hill by people with the help of chains.
Arulmigu Megabaleeswarar, which is another famous 800-year-old temple, is located on the Kauvery river bank. The image of Lord Eswar faces west.
Vangal Temple, Vangal and Malaiamman Temple, Punjai Thottakurichi, Shree Kandiamman Temple and Puliyamarathan temples are also famous in Pugalur.
The great Nanaparappu Mariyamman temple is the most popular temple in the surrounding area. The Poomithi, which means walking on fire, festival, usually held in April (chithirai), is the most important festival; more than 2000 people generally participate on the eve.
Education
The schools in village/town panchayats of Pugalur are
Rural-Primary :
Indu Nursery & Primary School, Noaiyal[Kombupalayam Panchayat]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Muthanur [Kombupalayam]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Noyal[Kombupalayam]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Arumaikkaranpud[P.kadambankurichi Panchayat]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Kadampamkuichi [P.kadambankurichi]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Periyavallipala [P.kadambankurichi]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Varapalayam [P.kadambankurichi]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Karaipalayam [Thirukkattuthurai Panchayat]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Kattipalayam [Thirukkattuthurai]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Thirukkaduthura [Thirukkattuthurai]
Rangasamy Aided Primary School, Nadaiyanur [Thirukkattuthurai]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Vangal [Punjai Thottakurichi Panchayat]
Rural - Upper Primary :
Panchayat Union Middle School, Nanjai Pugalur
Rural - Higher secondary :
Government Higher Secondary School, Noyal [Kombupalayam]
Rangasamy Goundar Higher Secondary School, Nadayanur [Thirukkattuthurai]
Urban - Primary :
Primary CSI Aided Primary School Thalavapalayam,Punjai Thottakurichi
Primary National Nursery Primary School,Thalavapalayam[Punjai Thottakurichi]
Primary Panchayat Union Elementary School, Mettupalayam [Punjai Thottakurichi]
Primary Panchayat Union Elementary School, Malayampalayam[Punjai Thottakurichi]
Primary Panchayat Union Elementary School, Punjai Thottakurichi
Primary Panchayat Union Elementary School, Ayyampalayam[Punjai Thottakurichi]
Primary Panchayat Union Elementary School, East Thavittupalayam[Punjai Thottakurichi]
Mathy Nursery Primary School, Velayuthampalayam [Punjai Pugalur Panchayat]
P S F Aided Elementary School, Pugalur[Punjaipugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Coolagoundanur [Punjai Pugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Velayuthampalayam [Punjai Pugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Nadunanaparapu [Punjai Pugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Thiruvalluvar Nagar [Punjai Pugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Orathai West[Punjai Pugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Moorthipalayam [Punjai Pugalur]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Punjai Pugalur
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Kurukkapalayam [TNPL Pugalur Panchayat]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Moolimangalam [TNPL Pugalur ]
Panchayat Union Elementary School, Masagoundan Pudur [TNPL Pugalur ]
Urban - Upper Primary :
Panchayat Union Middle School, Thalavapalayam [Punjai Thottakurichi ]
Urban - Secondary :
Government High School, P Thottakurichi [Punjai Thottakurichi]
Krishna Matric School, Velayuthampalayam [Punjai Pugalur]
Urban - Higher Secondary :
Government (B) Higher Secondary School, Pugalur [Punjaipugalur ]
Government (G) Higher Secondary School, Pugalur [Punjaipugalur ]
T N P L Matric Higher Secondary School, Kagithapuram [TNPL pugalur ]
In recent days because of increased awareness children go to the nearby TNPL Matric School, Pugalur (accredited with Five Star status by Bharathidasan University, Trichy) and Pugalur Boys and Girls High School for better education of course including Rangasamy Gounder Higher Secondary School.
M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering (MKCE), Thalavapalayam, 639 113, is a landmark on the National Highway No.7, located on the Karur–Salem route. The college is affiliated to the Anna University, Chennai, and also approved by the All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi. It is the major engineering college close to this village.
Pugalur's schools have produced many engineering graduates being employed by big multinational companies.
Kandaswami Kandar's College, Paramathi Velur is the Arts & Science college nearest to Pugalur. But this college comes under Nammakkal district.
Occupation
The main occupation of people is agriculture. The main crops grown are sugarcane, paddy, plantain, yuca or manioc (Maravalli kizhangu), groundnuts, maize, millet and corn. In recent years coconut trees have become more popular. Many people are also working in TNPL Company & EID Parry. Some go to Karur to work in the textile industry. There is a Farmers Market (ulavar santhai) in Velayuthampalayam where farmers sell their agricultural commodities during the morning and every Thursday evening vendors in and around Velayuthampalayam sell domestic commodities in the Velayuthampalaym Market near to the municipality building.
Governance
Pugalur is governed by Directorate of Village panchayat which has President, Vice-President, Councilor and members. They are the elected representatives of the village/Town. Elections are held once every 5 years.[2]
At present Panchayat is managed by an individual secretary appointed by the government as president and councillor elections have been postponed by the Government.
Banks & Other Facilities
There are grocery shops in all major villages/towns where pulses, fuel, and domestic commodities are on sale. Sports grounds have been established through the Rural Development Department for the village panchayat/town panchayat. In every village/town panchayat there is a Tamil Nadu co-operative Society.
Banks:- Indian overseas bank in Nadayanur [Thirukkattuthurai Panchayat]
Indian Overseas Bank, Kandhampalayam [Punjai Pugalur Panchayat]
Bank Of India, Velayuthampalayam branch[Punjai Pugalur Panchayat]
State Bank of India, Pugalur branch in Kagithapuram[TNPL Panchayat]
Lakshmi vilas bank, Pugalur branch in Pugalur bye pass[Pugalur panchayat]
Dhanlakshmi Bank, Pugalur branch in Pugalur[Punjai Pugalur Panchayat]
ATM's of Bank of India, Karur Vysya Bank ,Axis Bank , Indian Overseas Bank(2) and Lakshmi Vilas Bank(3), Dhanlakshmi Bank, RBL Bank with ATM are located in the town.
Police & Emergency
Police station : Nearby police station is located at velayuthampalayam.
Fire & Rescue Service : It is located in velayuthampalayam-Pugalur branch.
Ambulance Service : Contact 108 / Rotary Club Of Karur
Healthcare
There is Government General Hospital [3] at the footsteps of Pugali Malai in Velayuthampalayam. There are two main private hospitals on the Karur-Velur highway which has inpatient services. There are many small clinics run by several doctors. The medical services are well supported by clustered medical stores in the junction of velayuthampalayam. For major medical and surgical services, the public go to one of the places (Paramathy Velur, Karur, Erode, Coimbatore, and Trichy).
Nearby Primary HealthCare Centre are in Vangal,
Entertainment & Festivals
Most of the town residents have access to almost all Television channels. One has to travel to 'Karur' (21 km) or 'Paramathi Velur' (4 km) to watch a movie in theatre.
The temple in Pugalur is situated north west of Karur and dedicated to Lord Subramania on a small hill at Velayuthanpalayam near Cauvery is famous for superb sculpture. Sri Mariamman Temple is one of the famous temples of Karur District, which is situated in the heart of the city. The temple festivals are celebrated periodically during the month of May by all age groups, irrespective of caste and creed, taking the `Kumbum` from the temple to the Amaravathi River is the glorious act for the pilgrim.
Transport
The town has very good transport facilities in the form of Private and Government run buses.All the buses from karur to salem highway(NH-7) have a stop here. Almost 250 buses ply through this town daily.
The nearest airports are in Trichy (90 km), Coimbatore (112 km) and Madurai (156 km). Major Airport are located at Coimbatore and Trichy. The nearest major sea port is at Cochin (259 km), Thoothukudi (365 km) and Chennai (353 km).
Pugalur Railway Station
The town Pugalur (Code: PGR) has a railway station which is well connected to Erode, Coimbatore, Trichy, Chennai, Madurai, Tuticorin, Palakad, Thrisur, Ernakulum, Bangalore, Nagercoil, Salem and Mysore. Both passenger trains and express trains pass through this station.
Totally 20 trains stops & passes through Pugalur railway station.Pugalur Railway station takes pride in the fact that all the express trains passing this station have a stop in this station except the Shathabdi Express.
Communication
BSNL, Aircel, Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone, Tata DoCoMo are the communication providers to this town. The well penetrated landline connections are provided by BSNL again. The availability of internet is also very good (Mostly dial-up connection). Now BSNL has provided very good broadband internet connection. Post office nearby is Velayuthampalayam Branch post office. Others are Nadayanur Sub post office and other Sub post office at TNPL Kagithapuram. Nearby Head post office is in Paramathy Velur (Nammakkal District).
Industries
Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd is promoted by the Government of Tamil Nadu with loan assistance from the World Bank. Today TNPL is the largest producer of bagasse (sugarcane waste from Sugar mills) based paper in the world and the 2nd largest paper producer in Asia. TNPL produces 4,00,000 tons of Printing & writing paper and consumes 1 million tones of bagasse every year. It is located 2.5 kilometers away from this village.
EID Parry India(pvt) Ltd has a sugar factory in Pugalur, about 0.4 kilometers away from this village. It has a capacity of 4000 TCD per year. It also has a 22 MW co-generation Power plant, with TNPL.