| Mayiladuthurai (மயிலாடுதுறை) Mayavaram (மாயவரம்) , Mayuram (மயூரம்) |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District(s) | Nagapattinam |
| Mayor | Jayaraman |
| Population • Density |
84,290 (2001[update]) • 7,663 /km2 (19,847 /sq mi) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Area |
11 square kilometres (4.2 sq mi) • 54.25 metres (178.0 ft) |
Mayiladuthurai (Tamil: மயிலாடுதுறை, mayilāṭurai), formerly known by its Sanskrit names Māyavaram and Mayūram (English translation: Peacock town) is a town in the Nagapattinam District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Mayiladuthurai taluk of Nagapattinam district and is the second-largest town in the district. Mayiladuthurai is situated at distance of 281 kilometres south-west of Chennai, 70 kilometres north-east of Thanjavur and 50 kilometres north-west of Nagapattinam.
Mayiladuthurai gets its name from the peahen form in which the Hindu goddess Parvathi worshipped the god Shiva at this place. The town is one of the 274 Saiva holy places in the world.
Mayiladuthurai is of considerable antiquity and cultural and religious significance. The town must have originated in the Medieval Chola period though there are suburbs which predate the town itself. Mayiladuthurai was ruled by the Early Cholas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagar Empire, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas before it was annexed by the British East India Company along with the rest of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom in 1799. It rose to be an important town during British rule when it formed a part of Tanjore district. The town was constituted as a grade III municipality in the year 1866. Currently, Mayiladuthurai forms a grade I municipality.
The town is situated on a flat plain on the banks of the Kaveri River and is surrounded by paddy fields. The town is situated on the northern border of the Chola Nadu region of Tamil Nadu.
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Mayiladuthurai gets its name from the Mayura or Mayil (peacock) form in which the Hindu goddess Parvathi worshipped the Hindu god Shiva at this place.[1] While previously known by its Sanskrit name Mayuram meaning "peacock town", the town has been recently de-Sanskritized to its Tamil translation Mayiladuthurai as a result of a petition by the Mayuram municipality to the Government of Tamil Nadu in the wake of the Dravidian Movement.[2] The Mayuranathaswami Temple dedicated to the goddess Parvathi is one of the most important Hindu temples in the town. There is a statue depicting goddess Parvathi in a peahen form worshipping a linga, the symbol of the god Shiva to the west of the eastern wall of the temple.[1]
Mayiladuthurai is one of the 274 holy places mentioned by the Saivite saints called Nayanmars in their songs.[3]
Mayiladuthurai is of great antiquity, its oldest extant temples dating to the time of the Medieval Cholas. The region, itself, however, is known to have been inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC. Sherds of megalithic black and red ware have been found at Akkur, 14 kilometres to the east of Mayiladuthurai.[4] In 2006, artifacts with Indus Valley signs dated between 2000 and 1500 BC were found at the nearby village of Sembiyankandiyur.[5][6]
There have been references to Mayiladuthurai in the works of the 7th century Saivite saint Campantar.[7] The Thanjavur Nayak king Rajagopala Nayak constructed mandapams in Mayiladuthurai.[8] During the 17th and 18th centuries AD, Mayiladuthurai was ruled by the Thanjavur Marathas who invited Brahmins from the Telugu, Kannada and Maratha countries to settle in the region and gave large amounts of land to them.[9] In 1799, Mayiladuthurai, was ceded to the British East India Company, along with the rest of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom, by the Thanjavur Maratha ruler Serfoji II.[10]
Mayiladuthurai prospered under British rule emerging as an important town in Tanjore district. Carnatic musicians Madurai Mani Iyer and Gopalakrishna Bharathi and Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, who wrote the first Tamil novel Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram were born in Mayiladuthurai while Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy studied at the Municipal High School in Mayiladuthurai.[11] When the Tanjore district was trifurcated in 1991, Mayiladuthurai was transferred to the newly-formed Nagapattinam district.[12]
Accodring to local folklore, Mayiladuthurai was associated with Hindu holy men called "Sithars".[11] To this day, a neighbourhood of Mayiladuthurai is called Sitharkadu.[11]
Mayliladuthurai is situated at a distance of 281 kilometres (175 mi) from Chennai and 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Tiruchirappalli.[13] The town is located at .[14] Situated at a distance of 24 kilometres (15 mi) from the Bay of Bengal coast, the town is situated at an altitude of barely 10 metres (33 ft) above mean sea level.[13] The Cauvery River runs through the town bisecting it into Uttara Mayuram and Mayuram proper.[15] Most of the town lies to the north of the river while the Mayuranathaswami Temple lies a mile to its south.[15] There is a bathing ghat on the Cauvery river.[15] Agriculture is the most widely practised occupation.
The climate of Mayiladuthurai is similar to the climate prevailing in the rest of the Cauvery Delta. The average maximum temperature is 39.4 degrees Celsius while the average minimum temperature is 32.8 degrees Celsius.[13] The average annual rainfall is 1,125 mm.[13]
The Mayuranathaswami and Dakshinamoorthi temples are built in the Dravidian style of architecture. The Mayuranathaswami Temple was built during the time of the Medieval Cholas and is 719 feet long and 52 feet wide.[16] The gopuram at the eastern entrance is 164 feet high.[16] The idol of the Hindu goddess Durga in the temple is considered to be one of the best.[15] Within the Mayuranathaswami temple, there is a carving of a devotee of Shiva trying to cut off his own head as an offering to the God.[15] The oldest inscriptions in the shrine date to the reign of Kulothunga Chola I.[17] The temple is maintained by the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam.[16][18] The Dakshinamoorthi shrine houses an idol of the God Dakshinamoorthi mounted on a Nandhi.[15] There is another idol of Nandhi at the bathing ghat on the Cauvery River.[15] The Punukeeswarar Temple at Kornad and Sri Kasi Viswanathaswami Temple are the other important Hindu temples in Mayiladuthurai.[19] There is a Vishnu temple at Thiruvilandur on the northern banks of the Cauvery.[20]
All the Hindu holy rivers in India are believe to converge in Mayiladuthurai every year on New moon day in the Tamil month of Aippasi (November-December).[15] A bathe at the bathing ghats on the banks of the Cauvery on this day, according to Hindu belief, relieves a man of all his sins and misdeeds as the waters of the holy Ganges river mix with the Cavery on this day.[1][3] As a result, many people flock to the tank in Mayuranathaswami temple during Aippasi.[16] Other important festivals celebrated at the temple are Navarathri, Adi Pooram, Avani Moolam, Karthigai Deepam and Vaikashi Brahmavotsavam.[16]
An yearly dance festival called the Mayura Natyanjali is conducted within the precints of the Mayuranathaswami Temple by the Saptasvarangal Trust during Maha Shivaratri on the pattern of the Chidambaram Natyanjali festival.[21][22]
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Corporation officials
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The town of Mayiladuthurai is administered by a municipal council which was created in 1866 as per the Town Improvements Act 1865. The council initially had eleven members.[25] This was increased to 18 in 1883 and currently stands at 36.[25][26] The municipal council is headed by a Municipal Chairperson assisted by a Deputy Chairperson. The executive wing is headed by a Municipal Commissioner. There are a total of four revenue villages with Mayiladuthurai - Thiruvilandur, Dharmapuram, Nanchildu and Kornad.[27]
Mayiladuthurai is represented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by the Mayiladuthurai state assembly constituency seat.[28] N. Kittappa of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam served as member for the Mayiladuthurai legislative constituency for four consecutive terms from 1967 to 1984.[29][30][31][32] The Indian National Congress has won the seat four times (1957,[33] 1962,[34] 1991[35] and 2006[36]), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, five times (1967,[29] 1971,[30] 1977,[31] 1980,[32] 1989); the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam,[37]Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)[38] and the Bharatiya Janata Party,[39] once each. Mayuram assembly constituency is part of Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency.[40] Popular Communist leader K. Ananda Nambiar represented Mayiladuthurai in the Lok Sabha from 1951 to 1957.[41]Mani Shankar Aiyar who served as a minister in India's cabinet was elected to the Parliament from the Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency in the 1991,[42] 1999[43] and 2004 elections.[44] The Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency was enlarged in 1977 and the Assembly segments of the abolished Kumbakonam Lok Sabha constituency were included in it as per the deliberations of the delimitation committee.
Potable water is provided by the municipality. Mayiladuthurai's main source of water in the Kollidam River.[45] A total of 7.50 MLD are pumped out every day from 5 water tanks in the town.[45] 38 megatons of solid waste are generated every day.[46] The town has only 12.70 kilometres of storm water drains while, as per estimates, 68 kilometres of drains are required.[47] Both solid and liquid waste management are handled by the municipality.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1871 | 21,165 | — |
| 1881 | 23,044 | +8.9% |
| 1891 | 23,766 | +3.1% |
| 1901 | 24,276 | +2.1% |
| 1911 | 27,121 | +11.7% |
| 1921 | 28,617 | +5.5% |
| 1931 | 31,887 | +11.4% |
| 1941 | 32,670 | +2.5% |
| 1951 | 43,436 | +33.0% |
| 1961 | 51,393 | +18.3% |
| 1971 | 60,195 | +17.1% |
| 1981 | 70,019 | +16.3% |
| 1991 | 76,837 | +9.7% |
| 2001 | 84,290 | +9.7% |
As of 2001[update] India census,[50] Mayiladuthurai had a population of 84,505 with 42,008 males and 42,497 females living in 16,095 households.[27] Mayiladuthurai has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 77%.[27] In Mayiladuthurai, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age. There are 26 slums in Mayiladuthurai with a total population of 32,381.[27]
Mayiladuthurai is largely Hindu, Vanniyars being the dominant Hindu community.[51] Karkatha Vellalars,Kallars and Thondaimandala Mudaliars are other significant communities in the town. Tamil Brahmins are numerous in Mayiladuthurai as they are in the northern parts of the Cauvery Delta.[51] There is also a considerable population of Telugu-speakers and smaller numbers of Kannadigas and Thanjavur Marathis. Muslims form nearly one-fourth of the total population of the town. There is also a considerable population of Christians in the town. The Roman Catholics are affiliated to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumbakonam.
A vast majority of the populace is engaged in agriculture.[27] 15 percent of the total working population is engaged in trade while 25 percent is engaged in other commercial activities.[27]
The economy of Mayiladuthurai is primarily agro-based.[52] The main products of Mayiladuthurai are rice, coconuts and plaintains.[53] Confectionaries, printing presses, vehicle manufacturing units and rice mills are the major industries in Mayiladuthurai.[52] Industrial workers form barely 27.14 percent of the town's population.[52] Mayiladuthurai is known for a unique variety of cloth known as the "Kornad cloths" which derive its name from the suburb of Kornad where they are manufactured.[53][54] These cloths are made up of a mixture of cotton and silk and dyed in bright colours.[54]
The municipality runs a vegetable market and fish market in the town.[55] There are many departmental stores in Mayiladuthurai. The only shopping complex is the Kittappa commercial complex which is maintained by the municipality.[55] The Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, City Union Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Kumbakonam Central Cooperative Bank and the Kumbakonam Mutual Benefit Fund have their branches in Mayiladuthurai.[56]
Mayiladuthurai has a considerable number of schools and colleges. The first schools in the town were founded by Christian missionaries in April 1819.[57] The Municipal High School constructed by the municipality between 1885 and 1893, was considered to be one of the premium educational institutions in the then Tanjore district.[26] The A. V. C. College, A. V. C. College of Engineering, A. R. C. Vishwanathan College, Dharmapuram Adhinam Arts College, D. G. Government Arts College for Women, Mayiladuthurai Meenakshi Ramasamy Arts and Science College and Mayiladuthurai Community Centre are some of the important colleges in Mayiladuthurai.[58][59] All these colleges are affiliated to the Bharathidasan University in Tiruchirappalli.[59]
Mayiladuthurai is well-connected by road and rail with the rest of India. The nearest international airport is at Tiruchirapalli, which is 130 kilometres from Mayiladuthurai while the nearest seaport is at Nagapattinam which is 52 kilometres away. The State Highways SH-23 and SH-64 pass through Mayiladuthurai. There are regular bus services to important cities in Tamil Nadu.[60] There are also regular services to other South Indian cities as Bangalore, Tirupathi and Thiruvananthapuram.[60] Mayiladuthurai forms a part of the Division 1 of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation which is headquartered at Kumbakonam.[61] The town's principal bus station is located on the SH-64 State Highway.[62] It has a total of 12 bus bays.[62] The bus station has been given a class B rating and has basic restaurant, toilet and lighting facilities.[62]
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