Cumbum, Tamil Nadu

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Cumbum
town
Cumbum
Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates: 9°44′N 77°18′E / 9.73°N 77.3°E / 9.73; 77.3Coordinates: 9°44′N 77°18′E / 9.73°N 77.3°E / 9.73; 77.3
Country  India
State Tamil Nadu
District Theni
Elevation 391 m (1,283 ft)
Population (2001)
  Total 58,713
Languages
  Official Tamil
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 625516
Telephone code +91 4554
Vehicle registration TN 60
Website www.cumbum.in

Cumbum[1] or Kambam, is a town and municipality in Theni district in the western part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Overview

Cumbum town is located in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu, geographically located between 9°30′N and 10°11′N, and between 77°E and 77°30′E. It is the third largest town in Theni district after Theni and Bodinayakanur. The soil in this region is mostly red soil in nature. Agriculture plays on vital role for its developmental activities. Crops like Paddy, Coconut, Groundnut and various kinds of fruits and vegetables are being cultivated in this area.

It has many worship places, out of them Sri. Kambaraya Perumal Kovil, Sri. Gowmariyamman Kovil, Sri. Nandha Gopal Samy Kovil, Mosques, three churches are situated for a prolong period. The town is well connected by the district roads with nearby urban and Rural Town and villages but not connected by Railways.

The Climate of Cumbum town is generally good, since it is situated at the foot of Western Ghats. Average maximum temperatures are 41.6 °C and 31.6 °C respectively. The average annual rainfall is around 836 mm with the town getting its share if rainfall during the Southwest Monsoon.

The major source of water for drinking and agriculture comes from the Periyar River which flows from the state of Kerala. Suruli Falls which is 10 km from Cumbum is surrounded by mountains. The nearest airport is Madurai which is 125 km by road. Thekkady (Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary) which is a tourist destination in Kerala state, is 30 km from Cumbum, near Kumily which is a border town between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Cumbum is a valley, surrounded by hills. The eastern side of the hills constituting seven dams on the hills. In the South, the famous tourist attraction, "Thekkady" is situated. Cumbum is famous for its coconut & cardamom trading market.

The name Cumbum has derived from the famous temple of Lord Narayana (Cumbaraya Perumal) around which the town has been built. It is believed that the temple was built during Pallava rule. This temple is considered a popular holy place in Theni District.

History

Till 13th century, Cumbum was ruled by Cholas. However afterwards they were weak and subsequently Vijayanagar dynasty conquered this area. In 1374, "Sambanar" a king of Vijayanagara dynasty conquered the then Chola kings. In remembrance of that he built a fort which is now the Kambarayar temple.

Viswanatha Nayakkar a representative of Vijaya Nagara dynasty when ruled Madurai, constructed temple for Kambaraya Perumal and Kasi Viswanathar inside the fort. This area was ruled by Kamba Nayakkar and Uthama Nayakkar(both belongs to kambalathar caste) - because of them the name of this Place - Kambam and Uthamapuram was arrived. It was one of the 72 Palayams formed by Viswanatha Nayakkar. There were high rise walls around the fort to monitor enemies which can be seen even now. Now it is called as Mottaiandi temple. The gates of the forts are historic symbols today.

In Silappathigaram, when Kovalan was executed, Kannagi walked along the river of Vaigai and came to Cumbum, Gudalur and from a rock from there, she went to the sky. So, this area was initially called "Vinnaethi Parai" - A rock from where sky was reached. Later the word got changed to "Vannathi Parai". In remembrance of Kannagi, a river is named after her which is now called "Koothanatch river".

Another historical temple is Nantha Gopalan temple. Mattu Pongal is very famous in this temple. All the nearby villagers come here with Bullock carts. We can get clay made bullocks during this fesival.

Southern and Eastern sides Kerala is present. Keralites use to come here for buying groceries & vegetables.

There is another town with same name as "Cumbum" in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. This town also built by Vijayanagar dynasty having constructed with a large irrigation tank. You can know more in Cumbum, Andhra Pradesh.

Geography

Cumbum is located at 9°44′N 77°18′E / 9.73°N 77.3°E / 9.73; 77.3.[2] It has an average elevation of 391 metres (1282 feet). The water in Cumbum is very sweet to drink. One can see the backdrop of Kodaikanal Hills from Cumbum. Apart from that Cumbum has most vigorous activity in agriculture.

Demographics

As of the census of India 2001, Cumbum had a population of 58,891 comprising 29,515 males and 29,376 females, making the sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) of the town to 995. A total of 7,011 people were under six years of age and the child sex ratio (number of females per thousand males under six years of age) stood at 892. The town had an average literacy of 76.69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. A total of 3,971 comprising 7.65% of the population belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 17 comprising 0.03% of the population belonged to Scheduled tribes (ST). There were are total of 14,489 households in the town. As of 2001, Cumbum had a total of 22,104 main workers: 895 cultivators, 9,296 agricultural labourers, 238 in house hold industries and 11,675 other workers. There was a total of 655 marginal workers: 14 marginal cultivators, 268 marginal agricultural labourers, 15 marginal workers in household industries and 358 other marginal workers.[3]

Politics

Cumbum assembly constituency is part of Theni (Lok Sabha constituency).[4]

References

  1. http://www.theni.tn.nic.in/statistics.pdf
  2. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kambam
  3. "Primary census abstract 2001". Directorate of Census Operations  – Tamil Nadu. 2001. Retrieved 2012-12-29. 
  4. "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies". Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-10-11. 

5. http://temple.dinamalar.com/New.aspx?id=467 N Ramakrishnan is the M.L.A From the DMK party. Cumbum constituency People Selected Third time.

External links

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