Gudiyatham

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Gudiyatham
type = Town
latd =12.93972 | longd =78.8644
state_name = Tamil Nadu
district = Vellore
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude =
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 91,376
population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone = 91 4171
postal_code =632 601, 632 602
vehicle_code_range = TN 23
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Gudiyatham (also called Gudiyattam or Gudiyettram) is a city and a municipality in Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a town located 31 km from the city of Vellore. The city has a population of more than 600,000.

Location

Gudiyatham is about 172 km west of Chennai and 165 km southeast of Bangalore. It borders the state of Andhra Pradesh. Gudiyatham also has more than 500 small villages around the town.

* Nearest Airport: Chennai
* Nearest Seaport: Chennai
* Nearest Railway Station : Gudiyatham
* Nearest Railway Junction: Katpadi, Ambur

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, [GR|India] Gudiyatham had a population of 91,376. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Gudiyatham has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 64%. In Gudiyatham, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Tourist attractions

Thirupathy-Thirumala is 100km from gudiyatham.

By road: From Chennai come to Vellore and from Vellore there are frequent bus service to Gudiyatham. And from Tirupathy come to Chittor(AP) and from Chittor (AP) there are frequent bus service to Gudiyatham.

Nearest dam " Mordhana Dam", on the Gudiyatham palamner road, around 8 km from Gudiyatham. Enjoy the trip with family in summer season.

By road: from Gudiyatham to Palamaner

Nearer to the upcoming tourism spot called GOLDEN TEMPLE Sripuram. Nearly 19 km

Commerce

Gudiyatham has a thriving small scale sector manufacturing safety matches, lungis, and beedis. The Republic of India's first national flag was woven here, by the Lalayakot Lungi Company and Shape for Thiruvalluvar (by Statue) was given by this people.

The town's Gengayamman Temple is famous and its yearly fair on 14/15 of May (Tamil month - Vaigasi 1st) attracts more than a million people from around the state. The town has many movie halls, more 13 in the 1990s and has in total seven "pettais" or colonies.

Gudiyatham is famous for its gold jewelry market. Being on the Katpadi Jolarpettai railway line it is connected to Bangalore and Chennai. The handloom lungies which are manufactured in this town are exported to many Arab countries.

Other than these, there are two cotton mills running in Gudiyattam. One is Thirumagal Mills Limited and the other is Rajeshwari Mills Limited, where both employs considerable amount of employees. A farmers market has also formed on near Nellorepet every Tuesday for more than 100 years.

People

Major language is Tamil. It has a fairly large Urdu and Telugu speaking population. It has reputed educational institutions like the Rajagopal Polytechnic college, which is oldest and most reputed institutions in Tamilnadu.

Research Institute

The Sugarcane Research Station at Melalathur, Gudiyatham was started in 1935 under a scheme for sugarcane research of Imperial Council of Agricultural Research. From 1981 onwards it is under "Tamil Nadu Agricultural University", Coimbatore.

Major educational institutions

Colleges
# Government Thirumagal Mills College of Arts and Science (http://www.gtmcollege.com)
# K.M.G.College of Arts and Science

Technical Institutions
# Rajagopal Polytechnic College (http://www.rajapoly.org)
# Industrial Training Institutes

Schools
# Thiruvalluvar Higher Secondary School.
# Shiksha kendra,Pallikonda (10km from Gudiyatham).
# Al Ameen Matriculation & Primary School. Nadupet.
# Government Municipal Higher Secondary School. (Opp to Municipal Office).
# Government Higher Secondary School, Nellorepet.
# Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Nadupet.
# SeventhDay Adventist Matriculation School,Gudiyatham
# Saraswathi Vidhyalaya Matric Higher Sec School,Sethuvandai
# Crescent Matriculation school,Sedukkarai
# St Johns English School,gudiyattham
# Kalaivani Thuvakkap Palli, Dharnampet.
# National Higher Secondary School.
# Krishnaswamy Matriculation School, Sedukkarai.

Trivia

This small town, could evolve into a hub for biofuel production, particularly pungam oil, which is recognised as one of the oils ideal for blending with diesel.(source: http://www.blonnet.com/2005/09/23/stories/2005092301661900.htm)Karanja oil, pungam oil, pungam oil cake, karanja oil cake, neem oil, neem cake manufactured are being exported.

This town was one of the highest endemic areas for leprosy in India with more than 2000 new cases detected annually in the 1960s. Even now the region has not reached the World Health Organisation (WHO)elimination target of less than 1 leprosy patient per 10,000 population. And that leads for the establishment of "The Schieffelin Leprosy Research and Training Centre (SLRTC)- Karigiri" which had a leprosy control program in this area that actively recruited patients for treatment with multi-drug-therapy (MDT) and still providing an extra ordinary treatment to those suffering of leprosy coming from surroundings.

Politics

Gudiyatham assembly constituency is part of Vellore (Lok Sabha constituency). [cite web
url = http://archive.eci.gov.in/se2001/background/S22/TN_ACPC.pdf
title = List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies
accessdate = 2008-10-08
work = Tamil Nadu
publisher = Election Commission of India ] Kamarajar was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Gudiyatham constituency; he became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India.

References