Sengottai

Sengottai
Town
Nickname(s): Senkottai
Sengottai
Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates: 8°58′24″N 77°14′47″E / 8.973333°N 77.246389°E / 8.973333; 77.246389Coordinates: 8°58′24″N 77°14′47″E / 8.973333°N 77.246389°E / 8.973333; 77.246389
Country  India
State Tamil Nadu
District Tirunelveli
Government
 • Type Second Grade Municipality
 • Body Sengottai Municipality
 • Municipal Chairman "Vacant"
Elevation 181 m (594 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 26,823
Languages
 • Official Tamil , Malayalam
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 627809
Telephone code 04633
Vehicle registration TN-76
Sex ratio 1003 ♂/♀
Website www.municipality.tn.go.in/Sengottai

Sengottai or Shencottah or Chencottai is a municipality in the Tirunelveli district, of Tamil Nadu, India. Spread over an area of 2.68 square kilometers with a population of over 26,823, the economy of the town revolves around the cultivation of rice.[1] The word Sengottai means red fort in Tamil. There is fort like structure on the entrance of this town. Sengottai is also spelt as Chenkottai, and other similarly-pronounced variants, and is roughly 8 km from the Courtallam waterfalls. As of 2011, the town had a population of 26,823.

History

Sengottai was originally part of the Travancore Kingdom. In December 1851, the boundary between Tirunelveli and Travancore on the Sengottai side was clearly defined as proposed by General Cullen as early as 1846, and finally sanctioned by the Madras Government. Sengottai Municipality was constituted in 1921. In 1949, Sengottai was part of the newly formed state of Travancore-Cochin. The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 came into effect from the 1 November 1956, and consequently, the Tamil-speaking area of Sengottai taluk of Quilon district were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Madras State.[2] Sengottai was reclassified from a Grade III municipality to a Grade II municipality as per G.O. No.85 dated 22 May 1998.[3] Vanchinathan, popularly known as Vanchi, was an Indian Tamil independence activist from Sengottai. He is best remembered for having shot dead Ashe, the Collector of Tirunelveli and having later committed suicide in order to evade arrest.


Demographics

Religious census
Religion Percent(%)
Hindu
 
 76.98%
Muslim
 
 21.19%
Christian
 
 1.77%
Other
 
 0.06%

According to 2011 census, Sengottai had a population of 26,823 with a sex-ratio of 1,035 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[4] A total of 2,642 were under the age of six, constituting 1,327 males and 1,315 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.06% and 1.21% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 78.09%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[4] The town had a total of : 7146 households. There were a total of 10,736 workers, comprising 114 cultivators, 674 main agricultural labourers, 1,923 in house hold industries, 7,435 other workers, 590 marginal workers, 14 marginal cultivators, 60 marginal agricultural labourers, 105 marginal workers in household industries and 411 other marginal workers.[5]

As per the religious census of 2011, Shenkottai had 76.98% Hindus, 21.19% Muslims, 1.77% Christians and 0.06% following other religions.[6]


Geography and Climate

The town is spread over an area of 2.68 km2. The second largest gap in Western Ghats which is situated five kilometres from town is known by its name that is Shencottah Gap road rail lines pass through this gap which connect Shencottah with Punalur.

Climate data for Sengottai, Tamil Nadu
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 29.7
(85.5)		 31.1
(88)		 32.7
(90.9)		 33.0
(91.4)		 33.1
(91.6)		 31.5
(88.7)		 30.6
(87.1)		 30.9
(87.6)		 31.3
(88.3)		 30.5
(86.9)		 29.2
(84.6)		 29.1
(84.4)		 31.1
(87.9)
Average low °C (°F) 21.6
(70.9)		 22.2
(72)		 23.6
(74.5)		 24.8
(76.6)		 25.3
(77.5)		 24.5
(76.1)		 24.0
(75.2)		 24.0
(75.2)		 23.9
(75)		 23.5
(74.3)		 22.8
(73)		 21.8
(71.2)		 23.5
(74.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 43
(1.69)		 37
(1.46)		 68
(2.68)		 106
(4.17)		 92
(3.62)		 150
(5.91)		 134
(5.28)		 66
(2.6)		 73
(2.87)		 226
(8.9)		 219
(8.62)		 98
(3.86)		 1,312
(51.66)
Source: Climate-Data.org[7]

Culture

During the Tamil month of Maargazhi (in the months of December and January), people in Sengottai sing bhajan before dawn and draw special rangoli outside their houses every day. In January (Tamil month Thai), a chariot festival is celebrated on a grand scale. On that occasion, Kulasekaranathar (Lord Siva), Dharmasavathini (Goddess Parvathi), Lord Ganesha and Lord Murugan (Karthikeya) are carrying on separate wooden chariots. During the festival approximately 25,000 people come together to pull the chariots that run through four ratha veedhis (chariort roads) before stopping at their final destinations. The "Thai poosam" festival lasts for 10 days. Lord Ganesha is a popular deity in this region. "Soora Samharam" (killing of the demon Soora) is also celebrated with great pomp in Sengottai.

Transport

Air

Trivandrum International Airport has many air connectivity with major Gulf destinations.

The nearest airports are as follows:-

  1. Tuticorin Airport (100 kilometres or 62 miles)
  2. Trivandrum International Airport (117 kilometres or 73 miles)
  3. Madurai Airport (161 kilometres or 100 miles)

Road

Sengottai is connected by road to most places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

TNSTC Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation has many daily services connecting Tirunelveli and Madurai Branch Depots and Tamil Nadu SETC Serves with multiple daily services connecting major cities. In addition, various private operators connect Sengottai with, Kollam, Madurai and Chennai.

KSRTC Kerala State Road Transport Corporation connects Sengottai with Kollam, Punalur, Trivandrum and various other parts of Kerala.

Rail

Sengottai is served daily train Pothigai Express from Chennai to Sengottai. A Bi-weekly train Silambu Express operates in this section from Chennai to Sengottai via chord line.

There are also 8 passenger trains, 3 from Madurai to Sengottai and another between Tirunelveli and Sengottai .

In the Kollam–Sengottai branch line, train services on the Punalur-Sengottai section were withdrawn in September 2010, due to gauge conversion work. The 49.2-km Punalur-Sengottai section gauge conversion works is in progress currently and expected to get completed by 2017.Sections like Punalur-Edamon reach and Sengottai-Bhagavathipuram-Aryankavu reach have been completed and open for traffic. There are three passenger services operating from Punalur to Edamon.

References

  1. ↑ "Sengottai Municipality". Municipality. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  2. ↑ "History". oneindia. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  3. ↑ "Sengottai". Department Of Municipal Administration And Water Supply. Archived from the original on 2014-04-06. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  4. 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.
  5. ↑ "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Shenkottai". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ "CLIMATE: SHENCOTTAI, Tamil Nadu", Climate-Data.org. Web: .
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