Hosur

The Chandrachoodeshwara Swamy Temple, an 11th-century temple, has inscriptions that tell about the contributions made by Rajendra Chola.Hoysalas ruled Hosur around 1200 A.D after the decline of Chola Empire and contributed to the temple. Then it came under Vijayanagara Samrajyam. Later, Hosur was part of Mysore Province until 1799. When Tipu Sultan lost the third Anglo-Mysore war, he handed over the southern part of the Mysore kingdom as a partial settlement to the English government.

Hosur was constituted as a Selection Grade Town Panchayat in 1962. It was upgraded to Second Grade Municipality in the year 1992. In the year 1998, it was upgraded to Selection Grade Municipality vide G.O.(MAWS) No.85 date 22.05.1998. In 2011, Vide GO. No. 127 date 08.09.2011 Town Panchayats Mathigiri, Village Panchayats Zuzuvadi, Mookandapalli, Avalapalli and Chennathur were included in Hosur Municipality. On 13 February 2019, Hosur was upgraded as the 13th corporation city of Tamil Nadu comprising the adjoining areas.[4]

Hosur experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification) with distinct wet and dry seasons. Due to its high elevation, Hosur usually enjoys salubrious and moderate climate throughout the year, with occasional heat waves. The coolest month is January with an average low temperature of 17.1 °C and the hottest month is May with an average high temperature of 33.6 °C . Winter temperatures rarely drop below 12 °C with the lowest ever recorded temperature of 7.1 °C recorded on 1 February 2018[5] and summer temperatures seldom exceed 35 °C. Hosur receives rainfall from both the northeast and the southwest monsoons and the wettest months are October, September, and August, in that order. The summer heat is moderated by fairly frequent thunderstorms but no flooding. Humidity is 31% and average rainfall is 84 cm.

According to 2011 census, Hosur had a population of 116,821 with a sex-ratio of 968 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[7] A total of 14,307 were under the age of six, constituting 7,274 males and 7,033 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 8.08% and .17% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 76.69%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[7] The city had a total of 29255 households. There were a total of 43,959 workers, comprising 212 cultivators, 308 main agricultural labourers, 747 in household industries, 38,463 other workers, 4,229 marginal workers, 57 marginal cultivators, 62 marginal agricultural laborers, 189 marginal workers in household industries and 3,921 other marginal workers.

As per the religious census of 2011, Hosur had 83.66% Hindus, 11.37% Muslims, 4.5% Christians, 0.05% Sikhs, 0.02% Buddhists, 0.11% Jains, 0.27% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[8]

Tamil is the official and spoken language. There are a significant number of Kannada and Telugu speakers in the town.[9]

Hosur is an industrial hub and houses several automobile and manufacturing industries. Major companies include PSA-AVTEC Powertrain, Kansai Nerolac Paints, New Tech Engineering, VJST Control Systems, TVS Motors, Ashok Leyland, Titan, Sundaram Clayton, Harita Seatings, Harita Fehrer, General Electric, ATC- Asian Tobacco Limited, Mylan, GRB Foods, Kamaz Vectra Motors, Alstom, Faiveley Transport, Caterpillar Inc., Carborundum Universal, Exide Industries Ltd, Hindustan Motors, Ion Exchange (India) Limited, Hindustan Unilever, Schaeffler, TTK Prestige, Tab India Granites Pvt Ltd, Bata Shoes, Del Monte Foods, Nippon Electricals, Wendt, Duroflex, Toyota Boshoku, Nilkamal Plastics and Reckitt Benckiser. There are plans for the development of an Information Technology Special Economic Zone near Hosur.[10] ELCOT has called for applications for the allotment of land in the IT Park of Hosur in the month of June 2010. Proximity to Bangalore is seen as an advantage. Many startup IT companies prefer Hosur for their initial operations. In December 2019, Electric vehicle manufacturer Ather Energy signed an MoU with Government of Tamil Nadu to set up a 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m²) manufacturing plant.[11]

A variety of fruits and vegetables are cultivated around Hosur. The land is very fertile and there is significant access to fresh water as well as labor. Crops consist of tomatoes, cabbages, onions, mangoes, capsicum, carrot, cucumber, beans, coriander leaves, turnips and radish. Roses are also grown in large numbers.[12] District Livestock Farm[13] was started in 1824. Central Sericultural Germplasm Resources Centre (CSGRC)[14] was established in 1991 to protect and conserve mulberry and silkworm germ plasm resources. In July 2019, the government announced the construction of an international flower auction centre with quality control laboratory, cold storage facility, administrative building and an electronic auction hall at a cost of ₹ 202 million. It will deal with flowers cultivated on 3,702 hectares in the district, which are also exported to Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.[15]

• Rajaji Memorial at Thorapalli where Rajaji was born
• Sri Chandrachoodeshwara Temple[18]
• Ecological Park & Walkers Lane at Ramanaicken Lake
• Kelavarapalli Reservoir Project is one of the prime attractions at Hosur. Kelavarapalli Reservoir Project or Kelavarapalli Dam is 10 km away from Hosur and 8 km from Karnataka, across the River Ponniar, which originates from the eastern slopes of Chennakesava Hills.
• Dakshina Thirupathi Temple at the entrance of Sanamavu forest alongside Bengaluru Highway
• Shree Parshwa Susheel Dham Swetamber Jain Temple - famous Jain temple, 19 km away from Hosur.

• 
  Landscape photo of Hosur, India at dusk
• 
  New bus station
• 
  Municipality office
• 
  Front view of Mr Brett's house
• 
  Rear view of Mr Brett's house
• 
  Fort of Hosur (1792) with breached wall
• 
  South-east area of Hosur with Union Flag
• 
  View of Chandra Choodeswarar Temple from Rayakottai Road
• 
  View of Hosur from Chandra Choodeswarar Temple
• 
  View of Ecological Park Entrance Arch at Ramanakayan Lake
• 
  View of Hosur Temple Car

James Hunter served as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. He was a military painter, and his sketches portrayed aspects of military and everyday life. Some of his paintings of Hosur are below[19]

• Hosur Municipality
• Historical details of Hosur at Digital South Asia Library