Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli, also known as Nellai and historically as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest municipal corporation in the state after Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai. Tirunelveli is located southwest of the state capital Chennai, away from Thoothukudi, and from Kanyakumari. The downtown is located on the west bank of the Thamirabarani River; its twin Palayamkottai is on the east bank. Tirunelveli and its neighbourhood, Palayamkottai, have been called the Oxford of South India for their colleges. It has several important government offices.
Tirunelveli is an ancient city, recorded to be more than two millennia old. It has been ruled at different times by the Early Pandyas, the Cheras, the Medieval Cholas and Later Cholas, the later Pandyas, the Vijayanagara Empire and the British. The Polygar War, involving Palaiyakkarars led by Veerapandiya Kattabomman and forces of the British East India Company, was waged on the city's outskirts from 1797 to 1801.
Tirunelveli is administered by the Municipal Corporation, established on 1 June 1994 by the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994. The city covers an area of, and holds a population of 473,637 in 2011. The total population after the inclusion of other municipalities is 968,984. Tirunelveli is well-connected by road and rail with the rest of Tamil Nadu and India. The nearest domestic airport is Thoothukudi Airport. The nearest international airports are Madurai International Airport and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The nearest seaport is Thoothukudi Port.
Industries in Tirunelveli include administrative services, agricultural trading, tourism, banking, agricultural machinery, information technology and educational services. The city is an educational hub of southern India, with institutions such as Tirunelveli Medical College, Govt. Siddha Medical College, Veterinary College and Research Institute Tirunelveli, Tirunelveli Law College, Government College of Engineering, Anna University Regional Campus – Tirunelveli, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University and much more.
Tirunelveli has a number of historical monuments, with the Nellaiappar Temple being the most prominent. The city is also renowned throughout the state for a sweet called 'Irutu kadai halwa'.
Etymology
Tirunelveli is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the groves, clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity. The region is believed to have been covered with Venu vanam and hence called Venuvanam. Tirunelveli was known in Sambandar's seventh-century Saiva canonical work Tevaram as Thirunelveli. Swami Nellaiappar temple inscriptions say that Shiva descended in the form of a hedge and roof to save the paddy crop of a devotee. In Hindu legend, the place was known as Venuvana due to the presence of bamboo in the temple under which the deity is believed to have appeared. The early Pandyas named the city Thenpandya Nadu or Thenpandya Seemai, the Cholas Mudikonda Cholamandalam and the Nayaks Tirunelveli Seemai; it was known as Tinnelvelly by the British, and Tirunelveli after independence. The word Tirunelveli is derived from three Tamil words: thiru, nel and veli, meaning "sacred paddy hedge".History
Tirunelveli was under the rule of Pandya kings as their secondary capital; Madurai was the empire's primary capital. The Pandya dynasty in the region dates to several centuries before the Christian era from inscriptions by Ashoka and mention in the Mahavamsa, the Brihat-Samhita and the writings of Megasthenes. The province came under the rule of Cholas under Rajendra Chola I in 1064 CE; however, it is unclear whether he conquered the region or obtained it voluntarily. Tirunelveli remained under the control of the Cholas until the early 13th century, when the second Pandyan empire was established with Madurai as its capital.The Nellaiappar temple was the royal shrine of the later Pandyas during the 13th and 14th centuries, and the city benefited from dams constructed with royal patronage during the period. After the death of Kulasekara Pandian, the region was occupied by Vijayangara rulers and Marava chieftains during the 16th century. The Maravars occupied the western foothills and the Telugus, and the Kannadigas settled in the black-soil-rich eastern portion. Tirunelveli was the subsidiary capital of the Madurai Nayaks; under Viswanatha Nayak, the city was rebuilt about 1560. Inscriptions from the Nellaiappar temple indicate the generous contributions to the temple. Nayak rule ended in 1736.
The region was captured by the subjects of the Mughal Empire such as Chanda Sahib who declared himself "Nawab of Tinnevelly" as well as the Nawab of the Carnatic.
In 1743 Nizam-ul-mulk, lieutenant of the Deccan Plateau, displaced most of the Marathas from the region and Tirunelveli came under the rule of the Nawabs of Arcot. The original power lay in the hands of the polygars, who were originally military chiefs of the Nayaks. The city was known as Nellai Cheemai, with Cheemai meaning "a developed foreign town". The polygars built forts in the hills, had 30,000 troops and waged war among themselves. In 1755, the British government sent a mission under Major Heron and Mahfuz Khan which restored some order and bestowed the city to Mahfuz Khan. The poligars waged war against Mahfuz Khan seven miles from Tirunelveli, but were defeated. The failure of Mahfuz Khan led the East India Company to send Muhammed Yusuf for help. Khan became ruler, rebelled in 1763 and was hanged in 1764. In 1758, British troops under Colonel Fullarton reduced the polygar stronghold under Veerapandiya Kattabomman. In 1797, the first Polygar war broke out between the British and the polygars. Some polygars aided the British; Kattabomman was defeated and hanged in his home province of Panchalaguruchi. Two years later, another rebellion became known as the Second Polygar War. Panchalaguruchi fell to the British, after stiff resistance. The Carnatic region came under British rule thereafter.
Tirunelveli District was formed on 1 September 1790 by the East India Company and named it as Tinnevelly district. The history of Tirunelveli was researched by Robert Caldwell, a Christian missionary who visited the area. After acquiring Tirunelveli from the Nawab of Arcot in 1801, the British anglicised its name to "Tinnevelly" and made it the headquarters of Tinnelvelli District. The administrative and military headquarters was located in Palayamkottai, from which attacks against the polygars were launched. After independence both cities reverted to their original names, and Tirunelveli remained the capital of Tirunelveli district. In early 1900s, parts of Tirunelveli district was made as Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts. In 1986, Tirunelveli district was further split into two districts for administrative purpose such as Chidambaranar and Nellai-Kattabomman. In 2019, Tenkasi was split from Tirunelveli District forming Tenkasi District.
Geography
Tirunelveli is located at, and its average elevation is. It is located at the southernmost tip of the Deccan plateau. The Tamirabarani River divides the city into the Tirunelveli quarter and the Palayamkottai area. The river is the major source of irrigation, and is fed by the northeast and southwest monsoons. There are several small lakes of ponds in the city. These include Nainar Kulam, Veinthan Kulam, Elantha Kulam and Udayarpetti Kulam. The area around the Tamirabarani River and the Chittar has five streams: Kodagan, Palayan, Tirunelveli, Marudur East and Marudur West, and the Chittar feeds fifteen other channels. The soil is friable, red and sandy.Climate
Tirunelveli has a hot semi-arid climate bordering on the relatively rare dry-summer tropical savanna climate, scattered irregularly across the world but relatively common in areas near the Laccadive Sea.The climate of Tirunelveli is generally hot and humid. The average temperature during summer ranges from to, and to during the rest of the year. The average annual rainfall is. Maximum precipitation occurs during the northeast monsoon. Since the economy of the district is primarily based on agriculture, flooding of the Tamarabarani River or a fluctuation in monsoon rain has an immediate impact on the local economy. The primary crops grown in the region are paddy and cotton. Pineapples were introduced during the 16th century, chilly and tobacco during the late 16th and potatoes during the early 17th centuries. The most common tree is the palmyra palm, a raw material in cottage industries. Other trees grown in the region are teak, wild jack, manjakadambu, venteak, vengai, pillaimaruthu, karimaruthu and bamboo. Livestock of the city and district comprises cattle, buffalo, goats, sheep and other animals in smaller numbers.
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Tirunelveli had a population of 473,637 with a sex-ratio of 1,027 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 46,624 were under the age of six, constituting 23,894 males and 22,730 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 13.17% and 0.32% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 81.49%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The city had a total of 120,466 households. There were a total of 182,471 workers, comprising 2,088 cultivators, 5,515 main agricultural labourers, 18,914 in house hold industries, 142,435 other workers, 13,519 marginal workers, 166 marginal cultivators, 913 marginal agricultural labourers, 1,828 marginal workers in household industries and 10,612 other marginal workers.Among Hindus Tirunelveli Saiva Pillai, Maravars, and Konars, are more predominant in population and also Large number of population from Nadars, Devendra Kula Vellalar, in Tirunelveli District.
According to provisional data from the 2011 census the Tirunelveli urban agglomeration had a population of 498,984, with 246,710 males and 252,274 females. The overall sex ratio in the city was 1023, and the child sex ratio was 957. Tirunelveli had a literacy rate of 91 percent, with male literacy 95 percent and female literacy 87 percent. A total of 42,756 of the city's population was under age six.
As per the religious census of 2011, Tirunelveli had 69.0% Hindus, 20.02% Muslims, 10.59% Christians, 0.01% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.02% Jains and 0.35% following other religions.
The city covers an area of. The population density of the city in the 2001 census was 3,781 persons per square kilometre, compared with 2,218 persons per square kilometre in 1971. Hindus form the majority of the urban population, followed by Muslims and Christians. Tamil is the main language spoken in the city, but the use of English is relatively common; English is the medium of instruction in most educational institutions and offices in the service sector. The Tamil dialect spoken in this region is distinct, and is widely spoken throughout Tamil Nadu.