Aarani, Tamil Nadu

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Aarani | type = city | latd = 12.67 | longd = 79.28
locator_position = right | state_name = Tamil Nadu
district = Tiruvanamalai
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude = 151
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 60,888| population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone = 04173
postal_code = 632301
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Aarani (Tamil : ஆரணி which is written as Arani or Arni) is a town and a municipality in Tiruvanamalai district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The name comes from the word "araneeyam" which means a place surrounded by a forest.

Geography

Aarani is located at coord|12.67|N|79.28|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/25/Arani.html Falling Rain Genomics - Arani] ] on the banks of the Kamandala Naaga river. It has an average elevation of convert|151|m|ft.

It is located about convert|40|km|0 from Vellore and convert|60|km|0 from Thiruvannamalai.

A bypass road is under construction outside Arni.

Demographics

Aarani had a population of 60,888 [GR|India] . The population is evenly split between males and females. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. Aarani has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%.

Etymology

Hypothesis #1

In olden days Arni was called Aranyam. "Aar" means Athi tree; such trees once covered the region. In the north of Arni, there was a river, the Kamandala Naga river. These trees and river looked like an ornament; hence the name Arni.

Hypothesis #2

The river Kamandala Naga Nathi flows in one side and the Tatchur river flows in other side as ornament (In Tamil literature ornament means "Ani") so Aaru(River) is making Ani(Ornament) hence the name Arani.

History

Arni was ruled by the Cholas after they defeated the Pallavas. Some of the important Chola kings who ruled out Arni are Kulothunga Cholan I, Vikrama Cholan, and Kulothunga Cholan II.

During the rule of the Vijayanagara Kingdom in Arni, the "Dasara" function was celebrated grandly.

Poosi Malai Kuppam is convert|12|km|0 away from Arni. Thirumalai Saheb built a sophisticated bungalow for his lover, an Anglo-Indian lady, there. During the Nawab period, there was a struggle between the British, French and Nawab Hyder Ali. The victorious British captured Arni. There is also a palace near the town, now used by the Agriculture Department.

The town was used by Arcot nawabs for their military training campus. There is also a palace near the town, which is now used by the Agriculture Department.

Arni and freedom struggle

The Congress movement in Arni was started by A. M. Parasurama Naicker, M. V. Subramania Sasthriar,S.A. Allala Sundaram Mudaliyār, Y. N. Govindaraju Chettiar, and others. In 1922, Mahatma Gandhi went to Arni twice, to attend a meeting for "Harijan" development. These people welcomed Gandhiji, and took part in the Simon Commission movement.

Industry, commerce and company

Aarani is well known for its rice paddies; there are around 200 modern rice mills in the town.

The town also has a large community of silk weavers, called "sengunthars", who specialize in making silk sarees. Hand looms are most frequently used for the weaving, although recently some have turned to mechanized methods. Arni is the number one in revenue earning among Tiruvannamalai District, Tamilnadu.Though the town is not well known outside Tamilnadu, a bulk of India's silk apparels is produced by the people of Arni.

There is a Spinning Mill at Ragunathapuram Village working more than 1000 employees, whichis 5 km away from Arni on the Arni-Vellore Road.

Educational improvement

At ACS college which is under MGR University a number of students got placements in big MNC's every year.

New schools are spreading up rapidly in and around arni.For example Orange International School, AIM School

Local attractions

Sri Renugammbal temple and Sri Venugopalaswamy temple are some famous temples in Aarani. The city is also located near the holy place of Padaiviidu.

Near the Kamandala Naga Nadhi River there is an old temple known as Shri Puthra Kamateeswara Thirukoil which is famous for Puthra Kameshti yoga. People who do not have children do this yoga on auspicious days. It is said that the Ayodhya king Dasaratha did Puthra Kameshti yoga in this temple and thus Rama was born. There is an idol of Dasaratha at the entrance of the temple to commemorate this.

A Temple called arulmigu visalakshi sameda arulmigu viswanatheswaran, situated in kalpoondi village on vazhapandal road is about 500 years old and is considered to be an equal to kasi temple.Opposite the Shri Puthra Kamateeswar temple one more sivan temple is there at pazhanggamoor Temple name is kasi vishvanadar kovil its power like kasi tample

Education

VPR group of colleges

*Sri Bharathi women arts & Science college"Proposed"
*Polytechnic College
*Engineering College

The ACS group of colleges

*ACS Matriculation School
*Dr. MGR Polytechnic College
*Dr.MGR Educational and research institute
*Balahi Chokalingam Arts & Science College
*Sri Balaji Chockalingam Engineering College
*BEd., College

chools

*St. Mary's Matriculation Hr. Sec. School,
*St. Joseph Boys Hr. Sec. School,
*AIM Matriculation School, [e-mail]
*Subramania Sasthriar Hr. Sec. School,
*Govt. Boys Hr. Sec. School,
*Govt. Girls Hr. Sec. School,
*St. Joseph Girls Hr. Sec. School,
*Rama krishna matric School,
*Orange School (Montessori Method)
*C.S.I High school

. S. Hr. Sec School

Subramania Sastiryar Higher Secondary School has a good history long back to 1911. The school is named after famous freedom fighter from arni Subramania Sastri. Many students from the school are placed in high post in various organisation. Till 1990, the school outperformed the other schools in the district in terms of examination results. Later in 90s, the results dipped and creating negative image about school. Slowly the school is picking momentum now-a-days.

Industrial training

*Arni ITI

Teacher training institutes

*Sharif Teachers Training Institute
*Sri Balaji Teachers Training College
*Arni Teachers Training Institute

Events

* Vembuli Amman (வேம்புலி அம்மன்) Festival is a grand Carnival for the town arni, It will occur once in a year in the month of August, Nearly one lakh people will gather at the temple at this festive time.
* Shri Puthra Kamateeswara Thirukoil will get populated with massive crowd at the time of Kaanum Pongal (காணும் பொங்கல்)

Politics

Arni 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 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.arni.net Arni website]
* [http://www.renugambal.com Padaividu Amman Holy site]
* [http://municipality.tn.gov.in/arni/ Tamilnadu Government site]