Tirupattur

The town of Tirupathur[1] or Tirupattur[2] is the headquarters of Tirupathur district in southern India and is one of the oldest inhabited places in the state of Tamil Nadu, with a history of over 1,600 years. The town is known for abundant sandalwood in the surrounding hills. It is located about 89 km (55 mi) southwest of Vellore, 85 km (53 mi) from Hosur and Thiruvannamalai to the northwest and southeast, 210 km (130 mi) west of Chennai, and 125 km (78 mi) east of Bangalore.

Tirupathur
Town
Tirupathur
View from Yelagiri hill station
Nickname(s):  Sandal City
Tirupathur Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates: 12.50°N 78.60°E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Tirupattur
Government
• Type	Municipal
• Body	Tirupathur Municipality
Elevation	387 m (1,270 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	83,612
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	635601, 635602
Telephone code	04179
Vehicle registration	TN-83
Nearest city	Vellore (88 km), Bangalore (125 km) & Chennai (235 km)
Sex ratio	993 ♂/♀
Lok Sabha constituency	Thiruvannamalai
Legislative Assembly constituency	Tirupathur
Website	tirupathur.nic.in

History

The date of establishment of Tirupathur is unknown.[3]

From inscriptions surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of India in Tirupathur, it is estimated that the town is more than 1600 years old. Under the Chola, Vijayanagara, and Hoysala dynasties the town was variously called Sri Mathava Chaturvedi Mangalam, Veera Narayana Chaturvedi Mangalam, Tiruperur, and Brahmapuram (Brahmeeswaram).

Tirupathur means "a group of ten villages or small towns." It is surrounded by several villages such as Aathiyur and Kodiyur, making Tirupathur a Taluk. It has many ancient Vishnu and Shiva temples, and water tanks built during the Hoysala Dynasty. It is well connected by road and rail to the other important cities of Tamil Nadu such as Vellore, Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore and Thiruvannamalai and to Bangalore in Karnataka. The town is famous in Islamic culture as the resting place of many Islamic saints. As of 2011, the town had a population of 64,125.

Tirupathur was a revenue sub-division during the British colonial rule as a part of the Salem district, and later as part of Vellore district. The Tirupathur sub-division includes Tirupathur, Nattrampalli, Vaniyambadi and Ambur taluks. Anna Rajam Malhotra, India's first female Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, KPS Menon (jr), former foreign secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Dr. TV Somanathan were sub-collectors of Tirupathur during their initial career years.

In 1886, the Tirupathur municipality was constituted as a grade three municipality. As per the government order No. 194, dated 10.02.1970, it was reclassified as second grade municipality. At present, as per the government order No. 654, dated 1.4.1977, it has been reclassified as first grade municipality.

Tirupattur's population and land area are good enough to have political representations in the state legislature of Tamil Nadu (Member of the Legislative Assembly), and part of Thiruvannamalai constituency for the central/federal legislature of India (Member of Parliament as of 2009 elections).

As of 15 August 2019, the trifurcation of Vellore district resulted in formation of Tirupathur as a new district with Tirupathur town as its headquarter.[4]

Geography

Tirupathur is known as the "sandalwood town" due to the abundant availability of sandalwood trees in the surrounding hills. It is very close to the major hill station of Tamil Nadu, the Yelagiri hills. The town is at an average elevation of 388 m (1,273 ft). The Jawadhu Hills, a part of the eastern ghats, lie another to the east of Tirupathur . The major group of soils found in the town are black (10 percent) and red (90 varieties) varieties. Tirupathur town has 56.059 km (34.833 mi) of roads.

Climate

Tirupathur is known for recording coldest temperature in the Tamil Nadu plains during winter. The seasonal climate conditions are moderate and the weather is uniformly salubrious. The town experiences hot summers and cool winters. The town gets its majority of rainfall during the south west monsoon period. September and October are the wettest months with around 400 mm (16 in) of rain received in these two months. The town also experiences fairly frequent thunderstorms in late April and May, which gives necessary relief from the heat, along with the dip in night temperatures. The warmest nights are in May, when the town has an average minimum temperature of 23.4 °C (74.1 °F). The coldest nights are in January, when the average minimum temperatures drop to 16.1 °C (61.0 °F). May is the hottest month with an average maximum of 37.0 °C (98.6 °F). The highest ever temperature recorded in the town is 46.3 °C (115.3 °F) on 7 May 1976. The lowest ever recorded temperature is 10.2 °C (50.4 °F) on 15 December 1974. The highest 24‑hour precipitation is 167.3 mm (6.59 in) received on 4 November 1966. The average annual rainfall being received in the town is 982 mm (38.7 in). The climate is classified as tropical. In winter, there is much less rainfall than in summer. This climate is considered to be Aw according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification.

Climate data for Tirupathur, Tirupathur district (1981–2010, extremes 1958–2012)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	35.6 (96.1)	39.4 (102.9)	41.2 (106.2)	45.8 (114.4)	46.3 (115.3)	41.8 (107.2)	39.6 (103.3)	39.3 (102.7)	40.0 (104.0)	37.1 (98.8)	36.3 (97.3)	35.0 (95.0)	46.3 (115.3)
Average high °C (°F)	30.6 (87.1)	33.6 (92.5)	36.5 (97.7)	37.7 (99.9)	37.7 (99.9)	35.2 (95.4)	34.1 (93.4)	33.2 (91.8)	32.9 (91.2)	31.5 (88.7)	29.7 (85.5)	29.1 (84.4)	33.5 (92.3)
Average low °C (°F)	17.5 (63.5)	18.7 (65.7)	21.2 (70.2)	24.1 (75.4)	25.1 (77.2)	24.5 (76.1)	24.0 (75.2)	23.5 (74.3)	23.0 (73.4)	22.1 (71.8)	20.4 (68.7)	18.4 (65.1)	21.9 (71.4)
Record low °C (°F)	10.3 (50.5)	10.5 (50.9)	12.8 (55.0)	16.6 (61.9)	18.3 (64.9)	19.1 (66.4)	18.4 (65.1)	17.0 (62.6)	14.6 (58.3)	15.5 (59.9)	12.0 (53.6)	10.2 (50.4)	10.2 (50.4)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	2.4 (0.09)	1.8 (0.07)	13.8 (0.54)	41.7 (1.64)	77.5 (3.05)	64.6 (2.54)	93.2 (3.67)	132.3 (5.21)	185.3 (7.30)	152.2 (5.99)	78.7 (3.10)	33.8 (1.33)	877.3 (34.54)
Average rainy days	0.3	0.2	1.0	3.0	5.8	3.8	4.8	6.4	8.8	8.9	5.3	2.5	50.8
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST)	60	53	48	53	57	59	61	65	67	74	73	66	62
Source: India Meteorological Department[5][6]

Demographics

Religious census
Religion			Percent(%)
Hindu			81.93%
Muslim			16.39%
Christian			1.52%
Sikh			0.01%
Buddhist			0.01%
Jain			0.47%
Other			0.26%
No religion			0.0%

According to 2011 census, Tirupathur had a population of 19,487 with a sex-ratio of 1,010 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[7] A total of 7,255 were under the age of six, constituting 3,717 males and 3,538 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 18.33% and 0.43% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 76.22%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[7] The town had a total of 14,084 households. There were a total of 22,895 workers, comprising 240 cultivators, 161 main agricultural labourers, 1,145 in house hold industries, 18,782 other workers, 2,567 marginal workers, 38 marginal cultivators, 27 marginal agricultural labourers, 246 marginal workers in household industries and 2,256 other marginal workers.[8] As per the religious census of 2011, Tirupathur (M) had 81.93% Hindus, 16.39% Muslims, 1.52% Christians, 0.03% Sikhs, 0.02% Buddhists, 0.11% Jains, 0.00% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[2]

Places to see

Yelagiri is a hill station on the Vaniyambadi-Tirupathur Road, midway between Chennai and Bangalore. Located at an altitude of 1,050 m (3,440 ft) and spread across 30 km² (12 sq mi), the Yelagiri village (also spelt Elagiri at times) is surrounded by orchards, rose-gardens, and green valleys. Vainu Bappu Observatory and Sri Sunadara Veera Anjaneyar temple is situated less than a kilometer from bus stand and Tirupathur railway station. Sri Vetkaaliamman temple (142 feet (43 m) high, (13 km [8.1 mi]), Kandhili, Bheeman Falls (38 km (24 mi) from Tirupathur) and Jalagamparai Falls (14 km from Tirupathur) are other prominent tourist destinations around the town. Jalagamparai waterfalls is found on the eastern slope of the Yelagiri hills. The Jawadu Hills are located about 35 km (22 mi) from Tirupathur. In the middle of this hill, lies the Kavalur Observatory, which has several optical and reflective telescopes run and governed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

Transport

The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) provides 85% of transport facilities to this town. Tirupathur is well connected by road and rail to major cities of India. Regarding transportation linkage, the highway (NH 46) from Chennai to Krishnagiri (via) Nattrampalli passes through the outskirts of the town. The town is separated by a distance with Chennai (225 km [140 mi]), Bangalore (130 km [81 mi]), Vellore (87 km [54 mi]) and Salem (108 km [67 mi]). Several state highways connects the town from Dharmapuri (60 km [37 mi]), Krishnagiri (40 km [25 mi]) Vaniyambadi (22 km [14 mi]), Harur (47 km [29 mi]) and Salem (108 km [67 mi]) section. Frequent buses are there to Chennai, Vellore, Harur, Salem, Bangalore, and Villupuram.

The Tirupathur railway station is under the administrative control of the Southern Railways. It is two km (1.2 mi) from the bus stand. Traveling north, the Jolarpettai junction is a second bigest railyway station in Tamil Nadu. It (8 km [5.0 mi]) is the nearest junction, and going south-west, Morappur is the next station. Due to proximity to the Jolarpettai railway junction, only few express trains halt here.

The nearest airports are at Salem (105 km [65 mi]) and Vellore Air Strip (85 km [53 mi]), while the nearest international airports are at Bengaluru (135 km [84 mi]) and Chennai (225 km [140 mi]).

Governance

Tirupathur is represented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by Nallathambi A as of 2016.[9] Tirupattur is part of Tiruvannamalai (Lok Sabha constituency). The present MP (elected in 2019) of the Tiruvannamalai Lok Sabha Constituency is Annadurai.[10][11]

References

1. "Tirupathur District". National Informatics Centre, Ministry Of Electronics and Information Technology, Government Of India. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
2. "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.
3. "Tirupathur". tirupathurguide.com.
4. ChennaiAugust 15, Press Trust of India; August 15, 2019UPDATED; Ist, 2019 12:48. "Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami announces trifurcation of Vellore district". India Today. Retrieved 5 September 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
5. "Station: Tiruppattur Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 749–750. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
6. "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M204. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
7. "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.
8. "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Tirupathur". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
9. "LIST OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES, Election Commission of India- State Election, 2016 to the Legislative Assembly Of Tamil Nadu" (PDF). Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
10. "Tiruvannamalai(Tamil Nadu) Lok Sabha Election Results 2014 with Sitting MP and Party Name". www.elections.in. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
11. "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2008.

External links

• Tirupathur official website