Karur

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Coordinates: 10.9500° N 78.0833° E

Karur
Karur
State  - District(s)	Tamil Nadu  - Karur
Coordinates	10.9500° N 78.0833° E
Area  - Elevation	2,895.57 km²  - 122 m
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Population (2001)  - Density	76,328  - 322/km²
Municipal Chairman
Codes  - Postal  - Telephone  - Vehicle	- 639 xxx  - +04324  - TN-47

Karur (Tamil : கரூர் ) is a town and a municipality in Karur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Karur district.

One of the ancient cities in Tamil Nadu, it was ruled by the Cheras, Cholas, the Nayaks, and the British successively. There is proof that Karur may have been the centre for old jewellery-making and gem setting (with the gold imported mainly from Rome), as seen from various excavations. According to the Hindu mythology, Brahma began the work of creation here, which is referred to as the "place of the sacred cow."

Karur district, with headquarters at Karur, is the most centrally located district of Tamil Nadu. Its about 371 km south west of Chennai (Madras), the capital of Tamil Nadu. Karur has a very long history and has been sung by various sangam poets. In history, it has been the battleground of various Tamil Kings like Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallavas because of strategic location. 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, Nanganjiyar and Noyyal rivers. Its economy is mainly agrarian. Presently, the district is famous world-wide for its handloom products.

Karur district is bounded by Namakkal district in the north, Dindigul district in the south, Tiruchirapalli district on the east and Erode district on the west.

Contents 1 History 2 Karur District 3 Geography 4 Climate 5 Demographics 6 Economy 6.1 Agriculture 6.2 Home Textiles 6.3 Paper 6.4 Bus body building 6.5 Cement 6.6 Sugar 6.7 Banking 7 Education 8 Health 9 Transportation 10 Communication 11 References 12 External links

[edit] 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 even in the early Sangam days. 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.

Karur was built on the banks of river Amaravathi which was called Aanporunai during the Sangam days. The names of the early Chera kings who ruled from Karur, have been found in the rock inscriptions in Aru Nattar Malai close to Karur. The Tamil epic Silapathikaram mentions that the famous Chera King Senguttuvan ruled from Karur. In 150 Greek scholar Ptolemy mentioned “Korevora” (Karur) as a very famous inland trading centre in Tamil Nadu. After the early Cheras, Karur was conquered and ruled by Pandyas followed by Pallavas and later Cholas. Karur was under the rule of Cholas for a long time.

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 Kulasekara Alwar[7-8th century AD]. who was the ruler of Kongu nadu. The same temple is presumably mentioned in epic Silappadikaram as Adaha maadam Ranganathar whose blessings Cheran Senguttuvan sought before his north Indian expedition [See Mahavidwan R.Raghava Iyengar's Vanjimanagar.]

Later the Naickers followed by Tipu Sultan also ruled Karur. The British added Karur to their possessions after destroying the Karur Fort during their war against Tipu Sultan in 1783. There is a memorial at Rayanur near Karur for the warriors who lost their lives in the fight against the British in the Anglo-Mysore Wars. Thereafter Karur became part of British India and was first part of Coimbatore District and later Tiruchirappalli District.

Karur is also a part of Kongu Nadu. The history of Kongu nadu dates back to the 8th century. The name Kongunadu originated from the term "Kongu", meaning nectar or honey. Kongu came to be called as Kongu nadu with the growth of civilization. The ancient Kongunadu country was made up of various districts and taluks which are currently known as Palani, Dharapuram, Karur, Nammakkal, Thiruchengodu, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Satyamangalam, Nilgiris, Avinashi, Coimbatore, Pollachi and Udumalpet. Kongunadu was blessed with enormous wealth, a pleasant climate and distinct features. Kongunadu was ruled over by the Gangas(Kongilam Kosargal), Chera, Chola, Pandya, Hoysala, Muslim rulers and finally the British.

[edit] Karur District

Karur district has 4 Municipalities (Karur,Inama Karur,Thanthoni,Kulithalai) 10 Town Panchayats and 158 Village Panchayats and 203 Revenue Villages. Karur District has 4 Assembly constituencies of which one is a reserved namely Krishnarayapuram Constituency. Karur Parliamentary constitutes 6 Assembly constituencies, 2 are from Tiruchirappalli revenue district, namely Marungapuri and Thottiam and 4 Assembly Constituencies from Karur. Importent places: 1.Karur 2.Pugalur 3.Vangal 4.Kulithalai and 5.Pallapatti.

[edit] Geography

Karur is located at 10.95° N 78.08° E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 122 metres (400 feet).

[edit] Climate

The highest temperature is obtained in early May to early June usually about 37 °C, though it usually exceeds 39 °C for a few days most years. Average daily temperature in Karur during January is around 24 °C, though the temperature rarely falls below 19 °C.

The average annual rainfall is about 615 mm. The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the north-east monsoon winds, from late September to mid November .

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^GRIndia Karur had a population of 70,328. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. 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.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Agriculture

Utilisation 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%. Rest 20.31% is comprised of sandy, coastal and alluvium soil.

[edit] 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.2000 crores ($400 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 200,000 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 100s of exporters.

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, Towels, Floor rugs, Tea towels, Napkins, Aprons, Kitchen towels, Pot holders, Plate mats, Bathmats, Tea mats, Curtains, Pillow, Quilt covers, Shower curtains etc.,

[edit] 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 India. TNPL produces 230,000 tons of Printing & writing paper and consumes 1 million tones of bagasse every year.

[edit] Bus body building

Karur is a renowned centre for bus building industries. This is a unique feature of Karur and almost 90% of south Indian bus bodies are being built here. The total business is estimated to be around Rs.250 crore per annum.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Sugar

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

[edit] Banking

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

“The Banker”, a leading international magazine on the banking industry published by the Financial Times London, has in its August ’05 issue, released a list of 50 top contenders who are most likely to find a place in the top 1000 world wide banks in 2006. Karur Vysya Bank is listed at 43rd rank in this list.

Other industries include HDPE filament and associated product manufacturing.

The Karur and Kangayam belt also produces some very good cats eyes feldspar, moonstones, Aquamarines, and beryls.

[edit] Education

The district has many renowned schools and few colleges. The notable institutes are 1.Government Arts College (Thanthondri malai) 2.Shri Sarada Niketan college of science for Women(Sarathapuri) 3.The Karur Polytechnic (Kongu Nagar) 4.Kongu Arts & Science College (Karur) 5.M.Kumaraswamy College of Engineering (Thalavapalayam)[1] 6.Cheran Matriculation Hr. Sec. School (Thanthondri malai) 7.Municipal Hr. Sec. School (Karur) 8.V.S.B. college of engg 9.pallapatti higher secondary school,pallapatti. 10.Govt boys higher secondary school, Vangal 11.Govt Girls High School, Vangal 12.Govt boys higher secondary school, Pugalur

[edit] Health

Karur district has 29 Primary Health Care centres, 168 health subcentres and Government General Hospital in the city. V.S.B. college of engineering,karur

[edit] Transportation

Karur is well connected with rest of India through all modern means of transportation. There are 2 National highways NH-7 India's longest NH Varanasi - Kanyakumari) and NH-67 (Nagapattinam - Trichy - Karur - Coimbatore) that ply through Karur. Karur (Station Code - KRR) is connected to the Indian Railways network. Trains from Bangalore to Tuticorin, Mangalore to Tiruchchirappalli, and Mysore to Kumbakonam travel via Karur. Karur is connected to major towns like Coimbatore, Madurai, Chennai, Salem via road and rail network. The nearest airport is in Trichy (78 km).Major AND Coimbatore (122 km). The nearest major sea port is at Thoothukudi (344 km) and Chennai (332 km).

[edit] Communication

Reliance, Airtel, Aircel, Tataindicom and Hutch and also the major part covered by BSNL.

[edit] References

1. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Karur

[edit] External links

• Karur District Official Website
• Karur Textile Manufacturer Exporters’ Association (KTMEA)

	State of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Topics | History | Politics | Tamil people
Capital	Chennai
Districts	Chennai • Coimbatore • Cuddalore • Dharmapuri • Dindigul • Erode • Kanchipuram • Kanyakumari • Karur • Krishnagiri • Madurai • Nagapattinam • Namakkal • Perambalur • Pudukkottai • Ramanathapuram • Salem • Sivaganga • Thanjavur • The Nilgiris • Theni • Thoothukudi • Tiruchirapalli • Tirunelveli • Tiruvallur • Tiruvannamalai • Tiruvarur • Vellore • Viluppuram • Virudhunagar
Major cities	Alandur • Avadi • Ambattur • Chennai • Coimbatore • Cuddalore • Dindigul • Erode • Kancheepuram • Karur • Kumbakonam • Madurai • Nagercoil • Neyveli • Pallavaram • Pudukkottai • Rajapalayam • Salem • Tiruchirapalli • Tirunelveli • Tambaram • Thoothukudi • Tiruppur • Tiruvannamalai • Thanjavur • Tiruvottiyur • Vellore