Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam, or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district. It is the second largest city in the district after Thanjavur. The city is bounded by two rivers, the Kaveri River to the north and Arasalar River to the south. Kumbakonam is known as a "Temple City" due to the prevalence of a number of temples here and is noted for its Mahamaham festival, which happens once in 12 years, attracting people from all over the country.
Kumbakonam dates back to the Sangam period and was ruled by the Early Cholas, Pallavas, Mutharaiyar dynasty, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas. It rose to be a prominent town between the seventh and ninth centuries AD, when it served as a capital of the Medieval Cholas. The city reached the zenith of its prosperity during the British Raj when it was a prominent centre of European education and Hindu culture; and it acquired the cultural name, the "Cambridge of South India". In 1866, Kumbakonam was officially constituted as a municipality, which today comprises 48 wards, making it the second largest local civil body in Thanjavur district. It became a municipal corporation on 24 August 2021.
Etymology
The name "Kumbakonam", roughly translated in English as the "Pot's Corner", is believed to be an allusion to the mythical pot of the Hindu god Brahma that contained the seed of all living beings on earth. The kumbha is believed to have been displaced by a pralaya and ultimately came to rest at the spot where the town of Kumbakonam now stands. This event is now commemorated in the Mahamaham festival held every 12 years. Kumbakonam is also known as Baskarashetram and Kumbam from time immemorial and as Kudanthai in ancient times. Kumbakonam is also spelt as Coombaconum in the records of British India. Kumbakonam was also formerly known by the Tamil name of Kudamukku. Kumbakonam is also identified with the Sangam age settlement of Kudavayil.History
The region around Kumbakonam was inhabited as early as the Sangam Age. The present-day Kumbakonam is believed to be the site of the ancient town of Kudavayil where the Early Chola king Karikala held his court. Some scholars identify Kumbakonam as the site of the fabled prison of Kudavayir-kottam where the Chera king Kanaikkal Irumporai was imprisoned by the Early Chola king Kocengannan. Kumbakonam is identified with the town of Malaikūrram which had served as the Chola capital as early as the seventh century and with the town of Solamaligai which had also served as a Chola capital. According to the Sinnamanur plates, Kumbakonam was the site of a battle between the Pallava king Sri Vallabha and the then Pandya king in 859 and between the Pandya king Srimara Pandya and a confederacy of the Cholas and Gangas.Kumbakonam came into the limelight during the rule of the Medieval Cholas who ruled from the ninth century to the twelfth century. The town of Pazhaiyaarai, from Kumbakonam was the capital of the Chola Empire in the ninth century.
Following the decline of the Chola kingdom, Kumbakonam was conquered by the Pandyas in 1290. Following the demise of the Pandya kingdom in the 14th century, Kumbakonam was conquered by the Vijayanagar Empire. Krishnadevaraya, the emperor of Vijayanagara visited the town in 1524 and is believed to have bathed in the famous Mahamaham tank during the Mahamaham festival. Kumbakonam was ruled by the Madurai Nayaks and the Thanjavur Nayaks from 1535 to 1673 when it fell to the Marathas. Each of these dynasties had a considerable impact on the demographics and culture of the region. When the Vijayanagar Empire fell in 1565, there was a mass influx of poets, musicians and cultural artists from the kingdom.
According to the chronicles of the Hindu monastic institution, the Kanchi matha, the matha was temporarily transferred to Kumbakonam in the 1780s following an invasion of Kanchipuram by Hyder Ali of Mysore. When Tipu Sultan invaded the east coast of South India in 1784, Kumbakonam bore the brunt of his invasion. The produce fell sharply and the economy collapsed. Kumbakonam did not recover from the calamity until the beginning of the 19th century.
Kumbakonam was eventually ceded to the British East India Company in 1799 by the Thanjavur Maratha ruler Serfoji II and reached the zenith of its prosperity in the late 19th and early 20th century when it emerged as an important center of Brahminism, Hindu religion and European education in the Madras Presidency. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 fostered trade contacts with the United Kingdom. In 1877, railway lines were completed linking Kumbakonam with the ports of Madras, Tuticorin and Nagapattinam. The Tanjore district court was established in Kumbakonam in 1806 and functioned from 1806 to 1863.
Kumbakonam continued to grow even after India's independence though it fell behind the nearby town of Thanjavur in terms of population and administrative importance. The population growth rate began to fall sharply after 1981. This decline has been attributed to limited land area and lack of industrial potential. However the peripheral areas of Kumbakonam population increased as evident from the successive census data. During the Mahamaham festival of 1992, there was a major stampede in which 48 people were killed and 74 were injured. On 16 July 2004, a devastating fire accident in the Sri Krishna school killed 94 children.
Geography
Kumbakonam is located at. It is situated south of Chennai, east of Tiruchirappalli, about north-east of Thanjavur., and about 35 km south-west of Mayiladuthurai. It lies in the region called the "Old delta" which comprises the north-western taluks of Thanjavur district that have been naturally irrigated by the waters of the Cauvery and its tributaries for centuries in contrast to the "New Delta" comprising the southern taluks that were brought under irrigation by the construction of the Grand Anicut canal and the Vadavar canal in 1934. It has an average elevation of 26 metres. The town is bounded by two rivers, the Cauvery River on the north and Arasalar River on the south.Although the Cauvery delta is usually hot, the climate of Kumbakonam and other surrounding towns is generally healthy and moderate. Kumbakonam is cooler than Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. The maximum temperature in summer is about while the minimum temperature is about. Kumbakonam receives an annual rainfall of every year. The region is covered with mainly alluvial or black soil which is conducive for rice cultivation. Other crops grown in Kumbakonam include mulberry, cereals and sugarcane.
The town of Kumbakonam is surrounded by extensive paddy fields. Methods of irrigation were considerably improved following the opening of the Mettur Dam in 1934. The fauna of the Cauvery Delta is limited to cattle and goats. The town is situated at the western flank of the Kumbakonam-Shiyali ridge which runs along the Kollidam river basin separating the Ariyalur-Puducherry depression from the Nagapattinam depression. This granular ridge projects further eastwards penetrating the Puducherry depression and forms a hard layer of cretaceous rock underneath the sedimentary topsoil.
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Kumbakonam had a population of 140,156 with a sex-ratio of 1,021 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 12,791 were under the age of six, constituting 6,495 males and 6,296 females. The average literacy of the town was 83.21%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. There were a total of 9,519 workers, comprising 32 cultivators, 83 main agricultural labourers, 1,206 in household industries, 7,169 other workers, 1,029 marginal workers, 24 marginal cultivators, 45 marginal agricultural labourers, 212 marginal workers in household industries and 0 other marginal workers.Kumbakonam has a strong Hindu majority, but it also has sizeable Muslim and Christian populations. Among Hindus, Vanniyars, Kallars, Brahmins and Dalits are the numerically dominant Tamil-speaking groups. Brahmins are more numerous and affluent in Kumbakonam than in other parts of Tamil Nadu. There are also large populations of Moopanars, Konars and Nadars. Amongst Muslims, the Tamil Muslims are dominant. Most of the Muslims are Rowthers. The majority of Muslims in Kumbakonam are involved in commerce or maritime trade. Kumbakonam also has a large population of Protestant Christians largely due to the efforts of the German missionary Christian Friedrich Schwarz. The Catholics in Kumbakonam are mainly affiliated to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumbakonam which was separated from the Archdiocese of Pondicherry in 1899.
The population of Kumbakonam is predominantly Tamil-speaking. The commonly used dialects is the Central Tamil dialect. There are significant minorities speaking Thanjavur Marathi, Saurashtra and other regional languages as their mother tongue.
Residential areas make up 32.09% of the town's total area while commercial enterprises and industrial units make up 2.75% and 1.21%, respectively. The non-urban portion of the town constitutes about 44.72% of the total area. Kumbakonam has a total of 45 slums with a population of 49,117.
As per the religious census of 2011, Kumbakonam had 86.07% Hindus, 9.57% Muslims, 3.99% Christians, 0.% Sikhs, 0.% Buddhists, 0.23% Jains, 0.13% following other religions and 0.% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.
Administration and Politics
Municipal Corporation
The Kumbakonam municipality was officially constituted in the year 1866. Initially, the municipality exercised its jurisdiction over an area of and its affairs were administered by a town-level committee or municipal committee. Later it was constituted special-grade municipality and currently, exercises its authority over an area of out of the town's total area of. It comprises 48 wards and is the biggest municipality in Thanjavur district. The town was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation on 24 August 2021, with an administration authority area of.The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: General, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, Town planning and the Computer Wing. All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the supreme executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 48 members, one each from each of the 48 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected chairperson who is assisted by a deputy chairperson.