Tiruvallur

Tiruvallur திருஎவ்வுளூர், திருவள்ளூர் Tiru evvul thiruyevvulur
District
Veeraraghava Swami Temple
Nickname(s): evvul
Tiruvallur Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates: 13°09′N 79°55′E / 13.15°N 79.91°E / 13.15; 79.91Coordinates: 13°09′N 79°55′E / 13.15°N 79.91°E / 13.15; 79.91
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Tiruvallur
Named for	Veeraragava temple
Government
• Type	First grade municipality
• Body	Tiruvallur Municipality
• District Collector	Tmt E.Sundaravalli, I.A.S.
Area
• Total	33.27 km2 (12.85 sq mi)
Population (2016)[1]
• Total	176,435
• Rank	31th
• Density	5,300/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Tamil, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	602001-602003
Telephone code	91-44
Vehicle registration	TN-20
Website	municipality.tn.gov.in/Tiruvallur/

Tiruvallur is a district and Grade I municipality^[2] in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Cooum river about 46 km (29 mi) from downtown Chennai (Madras), in the western part of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). It is the administrative headquarters of Tiruvallur district.

The city is known for the Veera Raghavar temple, one of the 108 sacred shrines of Vaishnavites. The tank festival is held at a pond near this temple. A Siva temple near this shrine which is popular among the locals. There is also a 40-foot (12 m) tall Viswaroopa Panchamukha Hanuman temple, where the murti is made of a single green granite stone.

Poondi reservoir, from which drinking water is drawn to Chennai city, is about 9 km (5.6 mi) from Tiruvallur. The neighborhood is served by Tiruvallur railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. As of 2016, the city had a population of 176,435. It is one of the fast-developing suburbs of Chennai.

Etymology

The name Tiruvallur is supposedly derived from the Tamil sentence tiru evvull? – Tiru meaning god, a common prefix in South India for temple towns, and evvull meaning where do I sleep?. Tiruvallur is said to mean a place or town where the god Veera Raghavar asked a saint for a place to sleep for a night.

In one telling of the story, a rishi (sage) named Saalihothirar came down from Badrinath, now in Uttaranchal State, and settled in this place in order to reach Paramapadam (the abode of Lord Mahavisnu). He bathed in Hiruthaapanasana Theertham and started the vow of silence (mouna viratham) for one year. Daily he collected rice and after a year of fasting, he purified and cooked the rice, offering some to God (Naivedhyam) and duly kept the rest for himself. He waited for a guest, probably a muni or rishi, so that he could invite him to eat and end his fasting. At that time the God Narayana, intending to test the devotion of the rishi, came there as an old muni looking very hungry and thirsty. On seeing him, Saalihothirar greeted him and offered a portion of the rice he had kept for himself, but Narayana wanted the entire quantity of rice. Saalihothirar was very happy to give all of the food to his guest, starving himself. After eating the food, Narayana asked, "where do I sleep?" (Tamil: Ev-uL-uRangalAm). Saalihothirar asked him to sleep in his own hut.

History

In the far past, this region was under a chain of regimes commencing from the Pallavas during the 7th century. In 1687, the Golkonda rulers were defeated and the region came under the Moghul emperors of Delhi. The towns and villages of this region were the scene of Carnatic wars. Battles are said to have been fought in this region during the struggle for supremacy between the English and French. The town of Pulicat was the earliest Dutch possession in India, founded in 1609; it was ceded to the British in 1825. British rule continued until India's independence in 1947.

Politics

Tiruvallur assembly constituency is part of Tiruvallur (Lok Sabha constituency). It is represented by:^[3]

• Tiruvallur Lok Sabha Constituency elected member – Dr.P.Venugopal of AIADMK
• Tiruvallur Assembly Constituency elected member – Mr.V.G. Rajendran of DMK
• Tiruvallur Municipality Chairman – Mr Commando A Baskaran a.k.a. A Baskaran of AIADMK.^[4]
  

Currently Baskaran is the AIADMK candidate for Tiruvallur constituency in the Tamil Nadu May 2016 Assembly Elections.^[5]

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Thiruvallur had a population of 176,435 with a sex-ratio of 999 females for every 1,000 males, above the national average of 929.^[6] A total of 5,627 were under the age of six, constituting 2,904 males and 2,723 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 19% and 0.6% of the population, respectively. The literacy rate of the city was 79.77%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.^[6] The city had a total of 14,004 households. There were a total of 20,229 workers, comprising 149 cultivators, 250 main agricultural labourers, 276 in household industries, 16,927 other workers, 2,627 marginal workers, 30 marginal cultivators, 157 marginal agricultural labourers, 267 marginal workers in household industries and 2,173 other marginal workers.^[7] As per the religious census of 2011, Thiruvallur had 86.45% Hindus, 5.88% Muslims, 6.17% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.02% Buddhists, 0.35% Jains, 1.12% following other religions and 0.0% following no religion or with no religious preference.^[8]

Places of worship

Temple and Tank at Trivaloor, South India (1848)^[9]

• Veera Raghavar temple – a place of worship for Lord Vishnu as Veera Raghavar, an aspect of the deity known for curing abilities. In this temple people offer symbols, small metal sheets with a specific anatomical organ engraved, as a request to cure the illness or problems associated with that organ.
• Sri maha ruthra kali amman Temple – behind the town bus stand, VS Nager, Tiruvallur Town
• Sri Prathiyangira Devi Temple – next to A B S Vidhya Mandhir School, Tiruvallur
• Thiruvallur Jamia Masjid – Mohamad Ali Street, MGM Nagar, Tiruvallur
• Masjide Fathah – Pathiyal Pettai, Pungathur, SP Nagar, Tiruvallur
• Sri Shiva – a Vishnu Temple in Poonganagar, about 2.5 km (2 mi) from Thirvallur town. Both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu (as Sri Pushavaneshwarar and Sri Jalanarayanar idols) are represented here. The Jala Narayanar is a smaller replica of the Budhanilkantha Temple in Nepal.
• Dhakshinamurthy Temple and Sri Nageshwari Devalaym temples – located nearby in Kakkalur Village.
• Sri Mangaleeswarar with Magaleeswari temple – a Siva temple located at Manavala Nagar, known for the sun worship at the next day of Maha sivaratri.
• Hanuman Temple at Kakkalur – 3 km (2 mi) from Tiruvallur, this village temple has a 12-metre (40 ft) green monolithic granite murti of Lord Viswaroopa Panchamukha Hanuman (a.k.a. Panchamukhi Hanuman).^[10]
• Temple for Sri Viswaroopa Panchamukha Hanuman – at Periakuppam, Thiruvallur, this 10-metre-tall (32 ft) statue is made of a single piece of green granite which was brought from Hassan in Karnataka.^[11]
• Shiva temple in Manavala Nagar (Ondikuppam village) – known for Gangai Naatha swami with neeri nilai naayagai kovil. Moondram pirai sathalam 1.5 km (1 mi) towards Poonamali from the Thiruvallur railway station.
• CSI Goudie Memorial Church – a very prominent church built on memorial of Rev. William Goudie in November 1927. Governor of Madras opened the Church with a Silver Key, in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

• St.Francis De Sale Church – a Catholic church, also called St. Annes' Convent, which is the school in the same parish.
• Miracle AG Church – an Assemblies of God church
• Shalom Cathedral – at Kakklur sali, Tiruvallur Town

Economy

The city attained district-headquarters status in 1997. Tiruvallur houses many industries including manufacturing facilities of Hindustan Motors, Caterpillar earth-moving equipment, Hanil Lear, Delphi TVS, India Japan Lighting, Kingfisher's brewery division, Style SPA furniture, TI India, TCL, and Mitsubishi.^[12]

Tiruvallur is surrounded by industrial hubs in and around Chennai, such as Ambattur Industrial Estate and Sriperumbudur Industrial Estate, which connect to Tiruvallur by suburban train and buses.

Transport

Tiruvallur is situated on the Chennai–Tirupati trunk road. Other major roads connecting Chennai and Tiruvallur include a route through Kakalur, Vepampattu, Thiruninravur, Avadi, Ambattur and Villivakkam, and another route through Poonamallee and Koyembedu. Nearly one lakh (100,000) vehicles cross this city each day, among the highest traffic levels in Tamil Nadu.

Chennai International Airport is 42 km (26 mi) southeast of the city.

Tiruvallur lies on the Chennai–Bangalore broad gauge railway line and is a stop for some of the WestNorth trains. There are two suburban railway lines: the West line from Chennai Central to Arakkonam and the WestNorth line from Chennai Central to Tiruttani. These two lines have many frequent suburban trains.

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) runs an extensive city bus system, with service from Tiruvallur to most of the important places in Chennai and its metropolitan area. MTC Services from Tiruvallur include:

Education

There are a large number of educational institutions in Tiruvallur. Many professional institutions, particularly the veterinary university, add to education in this district. Tiruvallur has many higher secondary schools including private and government schools. There are a few engineering, medical, and arts and science colleges around Tiruvallur.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiruvallur.