Poonamallee

Poonamallee (Poovirundhavalli)
பூவிருந்தவல்லி
suburb

An aerial view of Poonamallee
Poonamallee (Poovirundhavalli)
Coordinates: 13°03′N 80°07′E / 13.05°N 80.11°ECoordinates: 13°03′N 80°07′E / 13.05°N 80.11°E
Country India
State Tamil Nadu
District Thiruvallur
Metro Chennai
Area
 • Total 6.61 km2 (2.55 sq mi)
Elevation 25 m (82 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 57,224
 • Density 8,700/km2 (22,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Tamil
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 600056
Telephone code 044
Vehicle registration TN-12,TN-20(until june 2013)

Poonamallee ('Punamalli' or originally Poovirundhavalli) is a town in the Poonamallee taluk of the Thiruvallur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Presently considered to be a suburb of Chennai, it is a town with rich cultural heritage and also coping up with the fast developments of the adjacent city. As of 2011, the town had a population of 57,224.

Location

The town of Poonamallee is situated at a distance of 23 kilometres from Fort St George and 17 kilometres from Sriperumbudur on the Chennai-Bangalore highway. It is located at the end of the Mount-Poonamallee Road and Poonamalle High Road , 11 kilometres from Guindy and 13 kilometres from Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus on the Chennai bypass. The nearest railway station is at Avadi which is nine kilometres away. It is also an important halting point for buses starting from Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus and going towards Tirupati, Kanchipuram, Vellore etc.

Etymology

The name "Poonamallee" might have been derived from "Poovirundavalli", meaning "the place where jasmine is cultivated". In Sanskrit, the place is called Pushpakavalli. Pushpam' means flower and Valli denotes Goddess. There is a legend that Goddess Laxmi rose from jasmine flower and gave darashan to Thirukatchi Nambi Alwar. It is also said the Alwar worshipped God Varadaraja, deity at Kanchi with the jasmine flowers plucked from here. This place is also called "Lakshmipuram' and Ulagu Vuyya Konda Cholapuram.

Places of interest

Poonamallee is believed to be the birth place of Thirukatchi Nambi Alwar, a staunch devotee of Varadaraja Perumal. There is an ancient temple for lord Varadaraja Perumal with His Consort, Pushpakavalli Thayar. It is also known as Arulaperumal. There is also another temple, a medium sized one, here for Lord Vaidyanathaswami with His Consort Thaiyal Nayagi. He is known as Theera Vinai Theertha Perumal. Poonamallee is famous for its Siva temple which has three inscriptions dating to the 18th century AD.[1] there are three Old Traditional C churches and a mosque was built and completed by Rustom, son of Dhulfiquer of Astrabad, a servant of Nawab Jumlat-ul-mulk. A Persian inscription dated 1653 A.D., found in the mosque reveals this information." There is also a Muhammedan fort nearby.[1] There is also Old cemetery in Poonamallee Which date back to have Many British missionaries cemeteries. The bus stop next to the cemetery says Kallarai which is the Tamil word for cemetery.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Poonamallee had a population of 57,224 with a sex-ratio of 999 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[3] A total of 6,496 were under the age of six, constituting 3,313 males and 3,183 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 15.24% and .1% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 78.88%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[3] The town had a total of 14668 households. There were a total of 22,411 workers, comprising 133 cultivators, 226 main agricultural labourers, 576 in house hold industries, 18,084 other workers, 3,392 marginal workers, 29 marginal cultivators, 35 marginal agricultural labourers, 128 marginal workers in household industries and 3,200 other marginal workers.[2]

Administration

Poonamallee is governed by Municipality of Poonamallee, coming under the Thiruvallur district. Poonamallee Municipality is situated in the West Chennai of Tamil Nadu in Thiruvallur District. This town is surrounded with infrastructural facilities and it is near to visit Chennai Metropolitan Bus Terminal (CMBT).The town's traffic is managed by the Chennai Traffic Police (CTP). The town's police comes directly under Chennai Metropolitan Police department. The town elects 1 MLA to the state legislature and comes under Sriperumpudur Parliamentary constituency. The town is famous for its 8 courts including the special courts for bomb blasts. It has gained importance since this court system dealt with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

RTO: Poonamalee comes under RTO-POONAMALEE(TN-12). It is one of the largest RTO in Tamil Nadu in terms of vehicle registered. Previously it was under Tiruvallur RTO(TN20Y).

Politics

Poonamallee assembly constituency is part of Thiruvallur (Lok Sabha constituency).[4] The Current MLA For Poonamallee Constituency is Ira.ManiMaran as on (2014 May) Thee MP for Thiruvallur District is Dr.P.Venugopal as on (2014 MAY)

Schools

Some of the popular schools in Poonamallee are

Colleges

Theatres

Gokulam Pavilion, Malliga Theatre, Bhagavathi Theatre, Vigneshwara Theatre.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Robert Sewell (1882). Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras, Volume 1. Government of Madras. p. 175.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Poonamallee". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Census Info 2011 Final population totals". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies". Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-10-08.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Poonamallee.