Tiruvallur

Tiruvallur
Neighbourhood
Veeraraghava Swami Temple
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
Metro	Chennai
Government
• Type	First Grade Municipality
• Body	Tiruvallur Municipality
• District Collector	Tmt E.Sundaravalli, I.A.S.,
Area
• Total	10.75 km2 (4.15 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	56,074
• Density	5,200/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	602001
Telephone code	91-44
Vehicle registration	TN-20
Website	municipality.tn.gov.in/Tiruvallur/

Tiruvallur is a suburb city of Chennai and Grade I municipality^[2] in Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Cooum river about 42 km (26 mi) northwest of Chennai (Madras), the capital city of Tamil Nadu and located near Tiruvallur district... It is well known because of the Veera Raghavar temple which is one of the 108 sacred shrines of Vaishnavites. There is a pond nearby this temple, where the tank festival is held. There is a Siva temple near this shrine which is also quite popular among the locals. There is also a 40 feet tall Viswaroopa Panchamukha Hanuman temple, where the murti is made of a single green granite stone. Poondi reservoir from where drinking water is drawn to Chennai city is at about 9 km (5.6 mi) from this town. The neighborhood is served by Tiruvallur railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. As of 2011, the town had a population of 56,074.It is one of the fast developing suburban areas in Chennai.

Etymology

The word "Tiruvallur" is supposedly derived from the Tamil sentence "tiru evvull?" meaning, "Tiru" - god (a common prefix in South India for temple towns), "evvull" - where do I sleep. So, Tiruvallur means, a place/town where, the god, Veera Raghavar asked a saint for a place to sleep for a night. A Rishi 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 took bath in Hiruthaapanasana Theertham and started the vow of silence (mouna viratham ) for one year. Daily he collected some rice and after a year of fasting, he purified collected rice and cooked. He offered a part of cooked rice to God (Naivedhyam) duly keeping the rest for himself to eat. He waited for some Guest, probably a muni or rishi, so that he could offer him to eat and end his fasting. At that time the God Narayana with the intention to test devotion of the Rishi came there as an old muni. He looked as if he was so hungry and thirsty. On seeing him, Saalihothirar greeted him and made him to sit and offered him a part of rice he already kept for himself. But the Guest (Lord Narayana) wanted the entire quantity of food (Rice).Saalihothirar was very happy to give all of the food to the Guest starving himself. After eating the entire food,the Lord asked where can he sleep? ( Ev-uL-uRangalAm). Saalihothirar asked him to sleep in his hut itself . In Tamil ='Ev' (எவ்)=which/'uL' (உள்)=place/room/uRangalAm(உறங்கலாம்) could sleep. Tiru (திரு) is a prefix before name of any holy place. ur ( ஊர்) means a place/village. Therefore, திரு+எவ்+உள்+ஊர் transmute as திருவள்ளூர்.

History

In the far past, this region was under a chain of regimes commencing from the Pallavas during the 7th century ending with the Nawab of Arcot during the early part of 19th century when it came under the British rule. 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 which was ceded to the British in 1825. With this, the region came under the British rule which ended on 15 August 1947 with India becoming independent.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Thiruvallur had a population of 56,074 with a sex-ratio of 999 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.^[3] 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 .6% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 79.77%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.^[3] The town had a total of 14004 households. There were a total of 20,229 workers, comprising 149 cultivators, 250 main agricultural labourers, 276 in house hold 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.^[4] 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 did not indicate any religious preference.^[5]

Places of worship

Temple and Tank at Trivaloor, South India (1848)^[6]

• Lord Vishnu as Veera Raghavar is the presiding deity of the Veera Raghavar temple. Vaidya Veera Raghavar, vaidya meaning a doctor of medicine, is a god known for his curing abilities. In this temple people donate symbols (thin small metal sheets with a specific human organ engraved on them) of humans organs as a request to god to cure the illness or problems with those organs.
• There is a temple for Sri Viswaroopa Panchamukha Hanuman at Periakuppam,Thiruvallur.This 32 feet tall statue is made of a single piece of green granite that was brought from Hassan in Karnataka.^[7]
• Another Famous Hanuman Temple is situated at Kakkalur, a village which is 3 km (1.9 mi) from Tiruvallur.
• Sri Shiva –Vishnu Temple in Poonganagar, located at a distance of 2.5 km from Thirvallur town . This is one of the temples where both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu (namely Sri Pushavaneshwarar and Sri Jalanarayanar idols) in the same temple premises. A unique feature in this temple is that the Jala Narayanar is a smaller replica of the Buddha Nilakantha of the Buddha Nilakantha Temple in Nepal.
• Sri Mangaleeswarar with Magaleeswari temple - This is a siva temple which is located at Manavala Nagar and it is famous for the sun worship at the next day of Maha sivaratri
• Gangai Naatha swami with neeri nilai naayagai kovil is located in Manavala Nagar (Ondikuppam village) shiva temple. Moondram pirai sathalam 1.5 km from the thiruvallur railway station towards poonamali.
• CSI Goudie Memorial Church - This Church is a very prominent Church in Tiruvallur. It was built by Rev. William Goudie during the British Regime. Rev. William was a missionary from GB. He had worked for the upliftment of the Poors and downtrodden when he was here, his base camp was in Ikkadu which is 4 km away from Tiruvallur. There he has built Schools, Churches and Hospital.
• St.Francis De Sale Church - This is the Catholic Church in Tiruvallur Area. Also called as St.Annes' Convent, which is the school in the same premises/parish.
• Miracle AG Church - This is the Assemblies of God Church in Tiruvallur Area.
• Shalom Cathedral - Kakklur sali, Tiruvallur Town. is a fast growing church in Thiruvellore. The aim of Shalom Cathedral is “Reaching, everyone, everywhere in everyway.” To accomplish this task we are involved in 18 kinds of ministries in 10 states of India. Be a part in the harvest with us
• Sri maha ruthra kali amman Temple - behind the town bus stand, Thiruvallur Town
• Sri Prathiyangira Devi Temple - VS Nager Next to ABS School- Thiruvallur

Economy

The town attained district headquarters status in 1997. Tiruvallur houses many Industries including few Fortune 100 companies. Tiruvallur is rich in industry, with some of the following industries in that region. Hindustan Motors has Lancer Car plant, Caterpillar Earth moving Equipment Plant from (9 February 2001), Hanil Lear, Delphi TVS, India Japan Lighting, Kingfisher's brewery division, Style SPA furniture, TI India, TCL etc. Mitsubishi entered India in 1998 as a part of its global expansion programme. It has a manufacturing facility in Tiruvallur near Chennai with technical collaboration with Hindustan Motors.^[8]

Tiruvallur is well surrounded by Industrial hubs in and around Chennai like Ambattur Industrial Estate and Sriperumbudur Industrial Estate. There is good rail connectivity to Ambattur through Suburban train, it takes 40min to travel. Also good road connectivity to Sriperumbudur through buses, it takes 45min to travel. There are many Automobile, Electrical & Electronic, Software MNC's are located around Tiruvallur.

Developments

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has drafted a Second Master Plan that aims to develop Tiruvallur as the satellite township around the chennai city. As envisaged in the First Master Plan, development of tiruvallur as satellite town should be encouraged by provision of adequate infrastructure for housing and other developments in order to relieve congestion in the metropolis and provide better housing facilities at affordable cost.^[9]

The Tamil Nadu government plans to develop a satellite township at Thirumazhisai almost 18 km from Tiruvallur, a town in Thiruvallur district, at a cost of Rs 2,160 crore would come up on 311.05 acres of land owned by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, chief minister J Jayalalithaa said in the state Assembly.^[10]

The State government will decide on the expansion of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) before the end of this fiscal, R Vaithilingam, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, told the Assembly on 25 Aug 2011. In view of the fast-paced development taking place in areas beyond the present metropolitan area jurisdiction, like Sriperumbudur, Kelambakkam, Tiruvallur and Maraimalai Nagar, it had become necessary to review the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area that was notified in 1973-74, he said.^[11]

Transport

Tiruvallur is well connected by road and rail. The Chennai International Airport lies just 42 km (26 mi) Southeast of the town which could be reached in about 45 mins by road. This lies on chennai-Bangalore broad gauge railway line and Chennai-Tirupati Trunk road. There are two major roads connecting Chennai and Tiruvallur. One route is through Patabiram, Avadi, Ambattur and Villivakkam. Another one is through Poonamallee and Koyembedu.

Tiruvallur lies in the Main Broad Gauge line and some of the WestNorth bound trains stop here. There are two Suburban railway line alone Tiruvallur which are West line and WestNorth line. West line is from Chennai Central to Arakkonam and WestNorth line is from Chennai Central to Tiruttani. These two line have many Suburban trains running from Tiruvallur to Chennai Central, Chennai Beach, Arakkonam and Tiruttani. Fast train is also available which will start at Tiruvallur and stops at Thirunindravur, Pattabiram, Avadi, Ambattur, Villivakkam, Perambur, Basin Bridge and finally reach Chennai Central Station. Besides, there are facilities for advanced computerised reservation of train tickets. Frequent trains between Tiruvallur and Chennai Central are available.

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) runs an extensive city bus system which plays the important role in tiruvallur transportation. This MTC bus service available from tiruvallur to most of the important places in chennai city and Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA).

MTC Services from tiruvallur:

Education

Since Tiruvallur is adjacent to the city of Chennai, there are remarkable number of Educational Institutions in Tiruvallur. Many professional institutions particularly the veterinary university add honour to this district in the field of education. The literacy rate is about 68% of the total population as per 2001 census (provisional). Tiruvallur has many higher secondary schools including private and government schools, government aided school called D.R.B.C.C.C is very famous around the town, and copious private schools as well serve the purpose. There are a few engineering colleges, and a few medical colleges, arts and science colleges around Tiruvallur.

Colleges

Schools

• C.S.I. Goudie Higher Sec. School
• Christ King Hr. Sec. School.
• Chellammal Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Sec. School
• CSC Vivekananda Vidyalaya Matriculation School
• Dr.V Gengu Swami Naidu matriculation school, Vishnuvakkam
• Dharmamurthi Rao Bahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Hindu Higher Secondary School
• Swamy Vivekananda Vidhyalaya Nursery and Primary School.Tiruvallur.
• Vivekananda vidhyalaya matriculation school,Tiruvallur.
• Gnana Vidyalaya
• Joy Play School, 47, Veerannan street, Tiruvallur
• Active KIDS Play School.
• Sri Venkateshwara Matric. Hr. Sec. School
• Rollins Primary and Nursery School
• St.Anne's Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
• Shree Nikethan Matric. Hr. Sec. School.
• Sri Lakshmi Hr. Sec. School.
• Sri R M Jain vidhyasharam
• Jacob Matric. School.
• K.E.NATAESA CHETIYAR Higher.Sec. School.
• Kamaraj Marticulation School.
• A B S Vidhya Mandhir School.
• Active KIDS Pre School.
• Bharathidasan Matriculation school. The head master of this school Ms.Nageshwari received the "Dr. Radhakrishnan Award"
• National Lotus Matriculation Higher Sec. School
• Mangalam nursery and primary school
• Hindu nursery and primary school
• Bharathi Matriculation School, Poonga Nagar
• Calavala Cunnan Chetty Matriculation School, Kakkaluur

Industries

Tiruvallur is a fast developing district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Giving it a special industrial and commercial importance. Existence of many academic institutions, production units, business establishments, relegious monuments and temples further enhances the strategic importance of Tiruvallur district for the state of Tamil Nadu.

Industrial Profile Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of Thiruvallur District. As substantial portion of population are dependent on income from agriculture for livelihood, agricultural development holds the key to overall economic development of the District though the peripheral areas of the district has well developed industrial units.

The major crops cultivated are paddy, sugarcane and groundnut. The other crops includes millets like cumbu, ragi, tinai, etc., pulses like red gram, black gram, green gram, etc. gingelly and chillies. Vegetables, flowers and fruits like mango, banana, etc. are grown in the district. Three cropping seasons are being followed in the district for paddy, viz, Sornavari (April–August) Samba (July-Jan) and Navarai( Dec-March).

Apart from Agriculture the Industries, Trade and Commerce occupy a prominent position in the economy of the district. In Early 2013, It has seen a subsequent steep flourishing of Information Technology industry in which it was turned out to be the out break of IT industry in the rural area of the town. The first ever software firm which is established in 2014 is KFIN Solutions ^[12] which was a new dawn for the town. Followed by Orange solutions an Information Technology Enabled Service(ITES) company in 2014

Politics

Tiruvallur assembly constituency is part of Tiruvallur (Lok Sabha constituency).^[13]

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 alias A Baskaran of AIADMK.^[14]
Currently Mr Commando A Baskaran alias A Baskaran is the AIADMK candidate for Tiruvallur constituency in the Tamil Nadu May 2016 Assembly Elections.^[15]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiruvallur.

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