| Sivaganga | |
| — town — | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District(s) | Sivaganga |
| Population | 40,129 (2001[update]) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Area |
• 102 metres (335 ft) |
Sivaganga, also known as Sivagangai, is a town and a municipality in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Sivaganga district.
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Sivaganga has an average elevation of 102 metres (334 feet).
As per Ministry of Home Affairs, Directorate of Census Operations - Tamil Nadu, Census - 2001, Sivaganga had a population of 40,129. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Sivaganga has an average literacy rate of 72.18%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83.14%, and female literacy is 61.74%. In Sivaganga, 11.5% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Kilavan Sethupathy
The Kingdom of Ramnad originally comprised the territories of Ramnad, Sivaganga and Pudukottai of today. Regunatha Sethupathy alias Kilavan Sethupathy, the 7th King of Ramnad reigned between 1674 and 1710. Kilavan Sethupathy, came to know of the bravery and valour of Peria Oodayan of Nalukottai, 4 Kilometres from Sholapuram near Sivaganga.
Vijaya Regunatha Sethupathy
The King assigned to Peria Oodayan of Nalukottai a portion of land sufficient to maintain 1000 armed men. Vijaya Regunatha Sethupathy became the 8th King of Ramnad in 1710 after the death of Kilavan Sethupathy. The King gave in marriage his daughter Akilandeshwari Nachiar, to Sasivarnan, the son of Nalukottai Peria Oodayan. The King gave Sasivarna Thevar lands as dowry, free of taxation, sufficient to maintain 1,000 men. He placed him in charge of the fortresses of Piranmalai, Tiruppathur, Sholapuram and Tiruppuvanam as well as the harbour of Thondi. Meanwhile Bhavani Sankaran, the son of Kilavan Sethupathy conquered Ramnad territory and arrested Sundareswara Regunatha Sethupathy, the 9th King of Ramnad. Bhavani Sankaran proclaimed himself as the Rajah of Ramnad. He became the 10th king of Ramnad and he reigned from 1726 to 1729. He quarrelled with Sasivarna Peria Oodayan of Nalukottai and drove him out of his Nalukottai palayam. Kattayan, the brother of the late Sundareswara Regunatha Sethupathy fled from Ramnad and sought refuge with the Rajah of Tanjore Tuljaji. While Sasivarna Thevar was passing through the jungles of Kalayarkoi, he met a gnani (sage) named Sattappiah, who was performing Thapas (meditation) under a jambool tree near a spring called Sivaganga . The deposed king prostrated himself before him and narrated all the previous incidents of his life. The Gnani whispered a certain mantra in his ears (Mantra Opadesam) and advised him to go to Tanjore and kill a ferocious tiger which was kept by the Rajah especially to test the bravery of men. Sasivarnan went to Tanjore. There he became acquainted with Kattaya Thevan a refugee like himself. Satisfied with the good behaviour of Sasivarman and Kattayan, the Rajah of Tanjore wanted to help them to regain the States again, ordered his DALAVOY to go with a large army to invade Bhavani Sankaran. Sasivarnan and Kattayan at once proceeded to Ramnad with a large army furnished by the king of Tanjore. They defeated Bhavani Sankaran at the battle of Uraiyur and captured Ramnad in 1730. Thus Kattaya Thevan became the 11th King of Ramnad.
1st Raja Sasivarnan (1730–1750 )
Kattayan divided Ramnad into five parts and retained three for himself. He granted the two parts to Sasivarnan of Nalukottai conferring on him the title of "Rajah Muthu Vijaya Regunatha Peria Oodayan ".
2nd Raja Muthu Vaduganathan (1750–1772)
Sasivarna Peria Oodayan died in or about the year 1750. He was succeeded by his only son Muthu Vaduganathan. He was the second Rajah of Sivaganga. His wife Rani Velu Nachiar acted as "friend, Philosopher and guide" to him. Tandavaraya Pillai was the able minister of Sivaganga country. Muthu Vaduganathan granted commercial facilities to the Dutch only after the British rejected a similar offer, made to Colonel Heron. Further the aim of the British was to oblige the ruler of Sivaganga to serve the Nawab or to pay tribute to him or to dissuade them from establishing relations with foreign powers like the Dutch. A two pronged offensive was made by the British. Joseph Smith from the east and Benjour from the west invaded Sivaganga Palayam in June 1772. The country was full of bushes of cockspur thorn, though there were villages and open spaces here and there. Rajah Muthu Vaduganathan, in anticipation of the invasion, erected barriers on the roads, dug trenches and established posts in the woods of Kalayarkoil. On the 21st of June 1772 the detachment of Smith and Benjour effected a junction and occupied the town of Sivaganga. The next day, the British forces marched to Kalayarkoil and captured the posts of Keeranoor and Sholapuram. Now, Benjour continuing the operations came into conflict with the main body of the troops of Sivaganga on the 25th June 1772. Muthu Vaduganatha Rajah with many of his followers fell dead in that heroic battle. The heroic activities shown in the battle field by Velu Nachiar is praised by the Historians. The widow queen Velu Nachiar and daughter Vellachi Nachiar with Tandavaraya Pillai fled to Virupakshi in Dindigul. Later they were joined by the two able Servaigarars Vellai Marudu and Chinna Marudhu.
3rd Rani Velu Nachiar(1772–1780)
Rani Velu Nachiar and her daughter Vellachi Nachiar lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupakshi near Dindigul. Frustrated by the joining of forces against him, the Nawab ordered that Velu Nachiar and Marudhu Brothers were permitted to return to Sivaganga and rule the country subject to payment of Kist to the Nawab. Abiding by this Order, Rani Velu Nachiar accompanied by Marudu brothers and Vellachi Nachiar entered Sivaganga. An agreement was reached where by Rani Velu Nachiar was permitted to govern the Sivaganga Country and Chinna Marudu, the younger was appointed her minister and the elder Vellai Marudu as the Commander-in-chief. Thus the widow Queen Velu Nachiar succeeded her husband in 1780.
Maruthu brothers(1748–1801)
The Queen Velu Nachiar granted powers to Marudhu Brothers to administer the country in 1780. Velu Nachiar died a few years later, but the exact date of her death is not known (it was about 1790). Marudu brothers are the sons of Udayar Servai alias Mookiah Palaniappan Servai and Anandayer alias Ponnathal. They are native of Kongulu street of Ramnad. They belonged neither to the family of the ancient poligars nor to their division of the caste.
Servaikaran was the caste title and Marudu the family name. The Marudu brothers served under Muthu Vaduganathan. Later they were elevated to the position of Commanders. Boomerangs are peculiar to India. Two forms of this weapons are used in India. These weapons are commonly made of wood. It is crescent-shaped on end being heavier than the other and the outer edge is sharpened. Their name in Tamil is VALARI stick. It is said that Marudu Brothers were experts in the art of throwing the valari stick. It is said that Marudus used Valari in the Poligar wars against the British. The Marudu brothers with 12,000 armed men surrounded Sivaganga and plundered the Nawab's territories. The Nawab on the 10th of March 1789 appealed to the Madras Council for aid. On 29 April 1789, the British forces attacked Kollangudi. It was defeated by a large body of Marudu's troops. He was in close association with Veera Pandiya Kattabomman of Panchalankurichi. Kattabomman held frequent consultations with Marudhus. After the execution of Kattabomman in 17 October 1799 at Kayattar, Chinna Marudhu gave asylum to Kattabomman's brother Oomadurai (dumb brother). He issued an epoch-making Jumboo Deweepa proclamation to the people in the island of Jamboo the peninsular South India to fight against the British whether they were Hindus, Mussalamans or Christians. At last the Marudhu Pandiyars fell a victim to the cause of liberating the motherland from the British supremacy. Marudu Pandiyan the popular leader of the rebels, together with his gallant brother Vellai Marudu were executed on the ruins of fort at Tiruppathur in Sivaganga District on 24 October 1801. They showed their determination and spirit at the outset of the final struggle of 1801 by setting their handsome village Siruvayal on fire to prevent its being made use of by the British forces.
Marudu brothers were not only warriers and noted for bravery, but they were very great Administrators. During the period from 1783 to 1801, they worked for the welfare of the people and the Sivaganga Seemai was reported as fertile. They constructed many notable temples and churches in the amid of Sivagangai also few notable places like Kalayar Kovil Marudu Temple, Pallithammam Moovarasar Church with many Ooranis and Tanks.
After, so many successions of legal heirs ruled the estate, lastly, Sri D.S. Karthikeya Venkatachalapathy Rajah succeeded to the estate of late Sri. D. Shanmuga Rajah and he was the Hereditary Trustee of Sivaganga. Devasthanam and Chatrams consisting of 108 temples, 22 Kattalais and 20 Chatrams. Sri. D.S. Karthikeya Venkatachalapathy Rajah died in 30.8.1986 leaving a daughter named Tmt.. Maduranthagi Nachiyar as his heir. At present, Tmt. Maduranthagi Nachiyar is administering the Sivaganga Estate, Sivaganga Devasthanam and Chatram of Sivaganga Royal Family now. Based on the "District Gazette" 1990 of Ramanathapuram, and the history of Sivaganga maintained by Samasthanam, Sivaganga District has been formed mostly with an area of entire Sivaganga Zamin and part of Ramnad Zamin.The nearest towns include Ilaiyangudi, ramanathapuram, sivagangai.
Graphite is one of familiar resources in Sivagangai.[2] Graphite is used as industrial lubricant and as a moderator in nuclear reactors. Very valuable graphite is available in sivagangai and its surrounding areas.
A vast majority of the workforce is dependent on agriculture (72.8%). The principal crop of Sivaganga district is paddy. A majority of the district has red soil. The other crops that are grown are sugarcane, groundnut, pulses, millets and cereals. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University plans to set up the State's first Red Soil Dryland Research Centre in Sivaganga district soon.
The Spices Board will setting up a new spices park at Sivaganga on an invest of Rs.18 crores. As of December 2010[update] this park is expected to be operational by March 2011.[3] It would be immensely helpful to farmers of chilli, turmeric, medicinal plants and tamarind, as the focus would be to export their products. The proposed spices park would establish machinery for cleaning, sorting, grading, packaging, storing, sterilising and other work. The focus would be to encourage chilli, a leading crop in Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and nearby districts, and turmeric crops. Medicinal plants, being raised in and around Madurai district, would also get a boost, as it was planned to patronise farmers of medicinal plants.
Sakthi sugar factory is also located in Padamathur, Sivaganga. It has capability of produce more than 5000 tons of sugar per day. It provides employment to more than 1000 labour direct and indirect.
Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited has commissioned a 5 MW grid connected solar PV project at Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu. The project was awarded to Sapphire Industrial Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of MBCEL, through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Tamil Nadu Renewable Development Agency. The project is implemented under the 50 MWp generation based incentive scheme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.[4]
Sivaganga assembly constituency is part of Sivaganga (Lok Sabha constituency).
7.Malaimarundheeswarar kovil, Eriyur, 25 km Northwest of Sivaganga and 5 km from 226 National Highways. 8.Arulmigu Manikori Amman kovil, Ammachipatti, Alavakottai, 20 km form Sivagangai.
Malaimarundheeswarar kovil, Eriyur, 25 km north west of Sivaganga