Dindigul district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Dindigul.

Dindigul District திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்டம்
—  district  —
Rockfort, Dindigul
Location of Dindigul District in Tamil Nadu
Coordinates	10°21′14.4″N 77°59′6″E / 10.354°N 77.985°E / 10.354; 77.985Coordinates: 10°21′14.4″N 77°59′6″E / 10.354°N 77.985°E / 10.354; 77.985
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
Subdistrict(s)	Attur, Dindigul, Kodaikanal, Natham, Nilakottai, Oddanchatram, Palani, Vedasandur.
Headquarters	Dindigul
Largest city	Dindigul
Largest metro	Dindigul
Collector	K Nagarajan, IAS
Municipal Corporations	Dingigul
Municipalities
Town Panchayats
Official languages	Tamil
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Central location:	10°21′N 77°59′E / 10.35°N 77.983°E / 10.35; 77.983
Codes • Pincode • 624xxx • Telephone • +0451 • Vehicle • TN-57[1]
Website	Official website of Dharmapuri District

Dindigul District (Tamil: திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்டம்) is an administrative region in the south of Tamil Nadu, India. The district was carved out of Madurai District in the year 1985. The district is famous for its lock and tannery industries.

Geography

It is bounded on the north by Erode and Karur districts, on the east by Tiruchirappalli District, on the southeast and south by Madurai District, on the southeast by Theni District, and on the west by the state of Kerala and Tiruppur District.

The Palani and Kodaikanal taluks are famous tourist regions in South India. These taluks are cooler compared to other regions of Tamil Nadu.

Dindigul District has many waterfalls including Anju Veedu, Bamen Falls, Bear Shola Falls, Fairy Falls, Gaur Vellaiyan, Glen Falls, Kumbakkarai Falls, Kuthiraiyar Falls, Kutladampatti falls, Neptune Falls, Palar Falls, Pambar Falls, Poombarai Falls, Silver Cascade, Skamba Falls, Snake Falls, Thakkam thootam falls, Thalaiyar Falls (Rat tail) & Thoovanam falls.

Dams

Dharmathupatti Dam, Kamarajar Dam, Manjalar Dam, Marudhanadhi, Pannapatti, Parapalar Dam, Palar- Porandalar Dam, Varadamanadhi Dam, Alagapuri Dam, Peranai and Kuthiraiyar Dam

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Dindigul one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).^[2] It is one of the six districts in Tamil Nadu currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).^[2]

Divisions

The district of Dindigul has 8 taluks

• Dindigul
• Palani
• Athoor
• Kodaikanal
• Oddanchatram
• Vedasandur
• Nattam
• Nilakkottai

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Dindigul district has a population of 2,161,367,^[3] roughly equal to the nation of Namibia^[4] or the US state of New Mexico.^[5] This gives it a ranking of 211th in India (out of a total of 640).^[3] The district has a population density of 357 inhabitants per square kilometre (920 /sq mi) .^[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.39 %.^[3] Dindigul has a sex ratio of 998 females for every 1000 males,^[3] and a literacy rate of 76.85 %.^[3]

It had a population of 1,923,014 as of 2001. It is 35.01% urbanised as per Census 2001.^[6]

The district has a literacy of 69.83% and is below the average in the state.

Politics

Assembly Constituency	Political Party	Elected Representative
Palani	AIADMK	K.S.N Venugopalu
Oddanchatram	DMK	R. Sakkarapani
Nilakottai	Puthiya Tamizhagam	A. Ramasamy
Natham	AIADMK	R. Viswanathan
Dindigul	CPI(M)	K. Balabharathy
Athoor	DMK	I. Periasamy
Vedasandur	AIADMK	S. Palanisamy
Lok Sabha Constituency	Political Party	Elected Representative
Dindigul	INC	N. S. V. Chitthan

Flora and fauna

Lake in Kodaikanal, the most famous tourist destination in the district

Flora

Sandana Vembu, Silavagai, Mahagani, Kadukai (Terminalia chebula), Seehakai (Acacia concinna), Nellikai (Emblica officinalis) and Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), Bluegum (Eucalyptus globulus), Wattle (Acacia mearnsii) and Pine (Pinus patula)

Fauna

Gaur, Malabar Squirrel, Nilgiri langur, Nilgiri Thar, Sambar, Panther, wild dog, Barking deer, Mouse deer and Indian Elephant.

Tourist places

Palani Hills en route Kodaikanal

• Kodaikkanal
• Palani
• Sirumalai
• Dindigul Fort
• Athoor Kamaraj Sagar Dam

Forest Rest House

Kodaikanal, Poombarai, Kukkal, Kavunji, Berijam and Devadanapatty.

Places of worship

There are many ancient places of Worship in this district like the Palani Murugan Temple, Thadikombu - Perumal Temple, Dindigul - Kottai Mariammam Temple, Begambur Big Mosque, Dindigul - Abirami amman Temple, Athoor-Sadayandi temple Nadupatti - Anjaneyar Temple, Kunnuvarankottai or Kunnapatti (also locally pronounced as Kannapatti (Tamil: கண்ணாப்பட்டி)) Kasi Visalakshi-Viswanathar temple Kunnuvarankottai Kasi Visalakshi-Viswanathar temple, Anaipatti Anjaneyar temple, Devadanapatty Kamakshi Amman temple and Sendaraya Perumal temple in Old Batlagundu.There is an ancient temple for goddess Arulmigu Thurgkaiamman, located in middle of a tree garden on the channel bank near the agricultural fields of the Keeranur. Keeranur is a historical village in Palani taluk of Dindigul district and "Sri Veerunagammal" Temple in Koonur Vellampatty,"Sri Marimuthu Swamy" temple Vellam Patty. One of the oldest place of worship is Muniappan kovil near Usilampatty in Vedasandur taluk, also an Agni amman kovil is there.

Arulmigu mudakkaatru karuppana swamy temple,Mandapam pudur,Sriramapuram village, Vedasandur taluk.

References

1. ^ www.tn.gov.in
2. ^ ^{a b} Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme". National Institute of Rural Development. http://www.nird.org.in/brgf/doc/brgf_BackgroundNote.pdf. Retrieved September 27, 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
4. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. "Namibia 2,147,585" 
5. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. "New Mexico - 2,059,179" 
6. ^ Census 2001

External links

• Dindigul District
• AllLocale.com Website for every neighbourhood in Tamil Nadu and Dindugul
• http://wikitravel.org/en/Dindigul - Wikitravel website useful for travelers to Dindigul City and nearby areas of interest
• http://wikitravel.org/en/Dindigul_district - Wikitravel website for Dindigul district useful for travelers and devotees to the Pilgrimage sites in the area
• Dindigul district - A profile - The Hindu, Monday, Feb 15, 2010

External sources

• K Venkateswaran, Madurai (March 1–15, 2010. P. 38, 39, 40, 41). "Kunnuvarankottai Ulaga Naayagan"" Tamil: குன்றுவாரங்கோட்டை உலக நாயகன், 'Kumudham Bhakthi Special' Tamil: குமுதம் பக்தி ஸ்பெஷல், Tamil Periodical.

• Re. Ramamurthy. (February 2010. P. 11). "Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsar Aruliya Inkadhai Kavidai', Saravana Padippagam,Tamil: பண்டித திரு. ரெ. ராமமூர்த்தி, வித்துவான் ரா. அரங்க கிருஷ்ணன், ஸ்ரீ ராமக்ருஷ்ண பரமஹம்சர் அருளிய இன்கதை கவிதை, சரவணா பதிப்பகம் Chinmaya Nagar, Chennai-600 092, Collection of Tamil poems and short stories.

• R. Venkataramani. (August 2003. P. 8,9,10,11,12,13). "Sringeri Sarada Peedathin 25th Peetadhipadhi - Mudalam Sachchidananda Bharathi", 'Amman Darisanam', Tamil Periodical

• K. Narayanaswamy, Vidyaranyapuram (Sringeri). (October 2009. P. 074,075,076,077,078,079). "Sringeriyil Olirntha Madurai Maharatnam", Amman Darisanam, Deepavali Special Edition, Tamil Periodical.