Karur

Karur
Karur Location of Karur in Tamil Nadu and India
Coordinates	10°57′N 78°05′E / 10.95°N 78.08°E / 10.95; 78.08
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District(s)	Karur
Municipal Chairman	P.Sivakama Sundari
Population • Density	76,328 (2001[update]) • 322 /km2 (834 /sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	5.96 km2 (2 sq mi) • 122 m (400 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 6390(xx) • Telephone • +91-(0)4324 • Vehicle • TN 47

Karur (Tamil: கரூர்) is a town and a municipality in Karur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu situated on the banks of Amaravati. It is the administrative headquarters of Karur District.

It is located 60 km to the South-East of Erode and 70 km to the West of Trichy, 100 km to the South of Salem, 140 km to the East of Coimbatore and 150 km to the North of Madurai.

It is the Major junction point of three Roadways connecting,

• Bangalore & Salem to Madurai & Tirunelveli.
• Coimbatore & Tirupur to Trichy & Tanjore.
• Mangalore, Mysore & Erode to Trichy, Madurai & Tuticorin.

Karur has a very long history and has been sung by various sangam poets. It has been the battleground of various Tamil Kings like Chera, Chola and Pandya because of its strategic location in Kongu Nadu (Coimbatore). The district has a very rich and varied cultural heritage. The district is made fertile by the perennial flows of the Kaveri River on the northern side(Thavittupalayam, Vangal, Mayanur, Kulithalai) and also the Amaravati, Nalkasi and Noyyal rivers. Its economy is mainly agrarian. Presently, the district is famous worldwide for its handloom products.

History

Karur is one of the oldest towns in Tamil Nadu and has played a very significant role in the history and culture of the Tamils. Its history dates back over 2000 years, and has been a flourishing trading centre in the early Sangam days. It was ruled by the Cheras, Gangas, Cholas, the Vijayanagara Nayaks, Mysore and the British successively.

Karur was built on the banks of river Amaravathi which was called Aanporunai during the Sangam days. According to the Hindu mythology, Brahma began the work of creation here, which is referred to as the "place of the sacred cow." The names of the early Chera kings who ruled from Karur, have been found in the rock inscriptions in Aaru Nattar Malai close to Karur. The Tamil epic Silapathikaram mentions that the famous Chera King Senguttuvan ruled from Karur.

Epigraphical, numismatic, archaeological and literary evidence have proved beyond doubt that Karur was the capital of early Chera kings of Sangam age. It was called Karuvoor or Vanji during Sangam days. There has been a plethora of rare findings during the archaeological excavations undertaken in Karur. These include mat-designed pottery, bricks, mud-toys, Roman coins, Chera Coins, Pallava Coins, Roman Amphorae, Rasset coated ware, rare rings, etc.^[1] Karur may have been the center for old jewellery-making and gem setting (with the gold imported mainly from Rome), as seen from various excavations. In 150 Greek scholar Ptolemy mentioned “Korevora” (Karur) as a very famous inland trading center in Tamil Nadu. ^[2]

Karuvoor Thevar born in Karur, is one among the nine devotees who sung the divine Music Thiruvichaippa, which is the ninth Thirumurai. He is the single largest composer among the nine authors of Thiruvichaippa. He lived during the reign of the great Raja Raja Chola I. In addition to the famous Siva temple, there is a Vishnu temple at Thiruvithuvakkodu suburb of Karur, sung by famous Kulasekaraazhvaar [7-8th century AD]. The same temple is presumably mentioned in epic Silappadikaram as Adaha maadam Ranganathar whose blessings Cheran Senguttuvan sought before his north Indian expedition.^[3][4]

After the Sangam Cheras, Kongus (Gangas), a Chera related native clan ruled Karur. The history of Kongu Nadu dates back to the 8th century. The name Kongu Nadu originated from the term "Kongu", meaning nectar or honey. Kulasekhara known as Kongar Kon (the king of the Kongu people) ruled Kongu Nadu from Karur during this period.

After them, the arch rivals Cholas conquered Karur and ruled it for forty years. The Kongus (Gangas) again conquered Karur as vassals of Hoysalas. Malik Kafur ended the Hoysalas and Vijayanagara empire absorbed Karur.

The British broke Kongu Nadu after the defeat of Tippu Sultan in 1783 and the defeat of Dheeran Chinnamalai. There is a memorial at Rayanur (Rayanur Fort) near Karur for the warriors who lost their lives in the fight against the British in the Anglo-Mysore Wars. There after Karur became part of British India and was first part of Coimbatore District and later Tiruchirappalli District.

Karur District

1.K.Paramathy 2.Aravakurichi 3.Karur 4.Thanthoni 5.Kadavur 6.Krishnarayapuram 7.Kulithalai 8.Thogaimalai

Karur district, with headquarters at Karur, is the most centrally located district of Tamil Nadu. It is bounded by Namakkal district in the north, Dindigul district in the south, Tiruchirapalli district on the east and Erode district on the west.

Karur district has 4 Municipalities (Karur, Inam Karur, Thanthoni, Kulithalai) 10 Town Panchayats, 158 Village Panchayats and 203 Revenue Villages. Karur District has 4 Assembly constituencies of which Krishnarayapuram is a reserved constituency. Karur Parliamentary constitutes 6 Assembly constituencies, 2 from Tiruchirappalli revenue district, namely Marungapuri and Thottiam and 4 assembly constituencies from Karur.

Politics

Karur assembly constituency is part of Karur (Lok Sabha constituency).^[5]

Geography

Karur is located at 10°57′N 78°05′E / 10.95°N 78.08°E / 10.95; 78.08^[6]. It has an average elevation of 122 m (400 ft). It is about 371 km south west of Chennai (Madras), the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Climate

The highest temperature is obtained in early May to early June usually about 34 °C, though it usually exceeds 38 °C for a few days most years. Average daily temperature in Karur during January is around 23 °C, though the temperature rarely falls below 17 °C.

The average annual rainfall is about 855 mm. The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the north-east monsoon winds, from late September to mid November.

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[7] Karur had a population of 1,54,328. Males constitute 49.5 % of the population and females 50.5 % (1008 females for 1000 males). It is one of the female dominated district in the state.

Karur has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 72%. In Karur, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Agriculture

Utilization of land area in Karur district is up to 44.59%. 4.76% of the land area remains as other uncultivated land. 2.74% is forest area in Karur district.

Black soil is the predominant soil type in this district accounting for 35.51% followed by lateritic soil for 23.85%. The remaining 20.31% is alluvium soil.

The main crops are Paddy, Banana, Sugarcane, Beetle leaf, Grams & Pulses, Tapioca, Kora grass, Groundnuts, Oil seeds, Tropic-Vegetables, Garland Flowers, Medicinal Herbals etc.

Home textiles

Karur is famous for its home textiles. Karur has a niche in five major product groups — bed linens, kitchen linens, toilet linens, table linens and wall hangings. Overall Karur generates around Rs.6000 crores ($300 million dollars a year) in foreign exchange through direct and indirect exports. Allied industries like ginning and spinning mills, dyeing factories, weaving etc employs around 300,000 people in and around Karur.

On the international textile map Karur has become synonymous with hand-loom “made-ups” first as Tirupur in the hosiery product. The weaving industry came to Karur from Kerala and has earned a reputation for its high quality hand-loom products today. Hand-loom Exports from Karur began on a modest scale with just 15 exporters in 1975 and today Karur has 1000s of exporters and the products are supplied to world leading chain stores like WalMart, Target, IKEA etc.

The hand-loom products being exported have been broadly classified under three heads viz., kitchen, bathroom and bedroom furnishing items. Some of the hand-loom made-ups exported from Karur are Bedspreads,Sheet sets, Towels, Floor rugs, Tea towels, Napkins, Aprons, Kitchen towels, Pot holders, Plate mats, Bathmats, Tea mats, Curtains, Pillow, Quilt covers, Shower curtains (above 500 classified varieties).^[8]

Paper

TNPL is promoted by the Government of Tamil Nadu with loan assistance from the World Bank. Today TNPL is the largest producer of bagasse (sugarcane waste from Sugar mills) based paper in the world and the 2nd largest paper producer in Asia. TNPL produces 230,000 tons of Printing & writing paper and consumes 1 million tones of bagasse every year.

Bus body building

Karur is a hub for bus body building industries. Most of the South Indian private bus bodies are built in Karur. The total business from building bus bodies is estimated to be around Rs.324 crore per annum.

Cement

Karur is also home to Chettinad Cements. It has an installed production capacity of 600,000 tons per annum, with another 1.1 million tons expansion in the pipeline.it wil very most product in world

Sugar

EID Parry has a sugar factory in Pugalur, Karur. It has a capacity of 4000 TCD per year. It also has a 22 MW co-generation Power plant, with TNPL.

Banking

Karur is the home town of India's oldest private scheduled banks, The Karur Vysya Bank and The Lakshmi Vilas Bank.^[9]

HDPE Filaments

HDPE filament and associated product manufacturing. Its mainly for the fruit fields of Himalayas & north-east. Above 50% of nylon nets in India are made in Karur.

Gem Stones

The Karur belt also produces some very good Cats eyes, Feldspar, Moonstones, Aquamarines, Quarts, Sapphires, Jasper and Beryls.

Tourism

• Karur District Museum
• Sri Kalyanapasupatheeswarar Temple
• Sri Kalayanavenkatramana swamy temple Thanthonrimalai
• Sri Karuvur Mariyamman temple
• Vennaimalai Shree Balathandayuthapani temple
• Mayanur - Kaveri bed regulator, River side park
• Chettipalayam - Amaravathi bed regulator, park
• Nerur - Sree Sadha Siva Bramenthral - sacred Math, Meditation, River side park
• Vangalamman Temple, Vangal
• sri solliamman temple, Athur
• kalliamman kovil, Manmagalam

Health

Karur district has 29 Primary Health Care centres, 168 health sub-centres and Government General Hospital in the city. In recent years, it has gained notoriety as one of the districts with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country. In response to the epidemic, a massive district-level communication campaign (DLCC) was launched in 2006 by the USAID-funded APAC-VHS project in the district. In 2007, the district received its own ART (Antiretroviral drug therapy) Centre, located at the Government General Hospital. Also in 2007, Karur was selected as an IMAI pilot district by the World Health Organization and Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India, with support from the District Collectorate and Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society. The IMAI initiative aims to facilitate decentralization of HIV care to the district and sub-district levels.^[10][11]

Transportation

ROAD

Karur is well connected with rest of India through all modern means of transportation. There are 2 National highways NH-7 (North South Corridor(Kashmir to Kanyakumari)) Varanasi - Kanyakumari) and NH-67 (Nagapattinam - Trichy - Karur - Coimbatore - Ooty) that ply through Karur.

TRAIN

Karur (Station Code - KRR) is connected to the Indian Railways network. Trains from Mysore to Tuticorin, Mangalore to Chennai, Coimbatore to Mayiladuthurai Janshatabdi Express and Mysore to Mayiladuthurai, Nagercoil to CST Mumbai, Madurai to Manmad and Madurai to Jammu Tawi via New Delhi, Rohtak, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Pathankot (Chakki Bank) travel via Karur. Karur is also connected by rail to major towns like Coimbatore, Madurai, Chennai, Trichy, Salem, Erode, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Tirupathy, Mumbai.

AIR PORT

The nearest airport are in Tiruchy (78 km), Salem (100 km), Coimbatore (122 km) and Madurai (135).

SEA PORT

The nearest major sea port is at Cochin (280 km), Thoothukudi (344 km) and Chennai (332 km).

References

External links

• Karur District Official Website
• Karur Textile Manufacturer Exporters’ Association (KTMEA)
• Karur Online Directory
• Karur Today - News
• District Museum

See also

• Karur (Lok Sabha constituency)

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