Salem, Tamil Nadu
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| ?Salem Tamil Nadu • India | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area • Elevation | 91 km² (35 sq mi) • 278 m (912 ft) |
| District(s) | Salem |
| Population • Density | 693,236 (2001) • 7,060/km² (18,285/sq mi) |
| Mayor | Rekha Priyadharshini the great |
| Codes • Pincode • Telephone • Vehicle | • 636xxx • +91-427 • TN 30 and TN 54 |
Salem pronunciation (Tamil: சேலம்) is a city and a municipal corporation in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located in the north central part of the southern most state of India, it is the fifth largest city of Tamil Nadu, after Chennai, Coimbatore,Madura and Trichy. Almost completely surrounded by hills, . It is also a part of the Kongu Nadu(Tirupur and Coimbatore) region.{ Salem is at the base of the renowned tourist destination of Yercaud hills, which offers breathtaking views both along the ride up the hill and from the peak. There are also remote sites of beauty such as Kiliyur Falls.[1] Yercaud is at an altitude of 1600 m above mean sea level.
The city is surrounded by a natural amphitheatre of hills formed by the Nagaramalai to the north, the Jeragamalai to the south, the Kanjanamalai to the west, and Godumalai to the east. It is divided by the Thirumanimuthar in the main division. The fort is the oldest building in town.
Contents |
[edit] History
The name Salem appears to have been derived from Sela or Shalya which are found in inscriptions referring to the country around the hills. Local folklore believes Salem to be the birth place of the Tamil poetess Avvaiyar[citation needed]. Inscriptions from the Ganga dynasty have been recovered from parts of the district.
Salem along with Coimbatore remained under the Madurai Nayaks. Later, in the early 18th Century, it came under Hyder Ali after a long feud know as Mysore-Madurai war. Salem was then taken from Hyder Ali by Colonel Wood in the beginning of 1768. It was recaptured by Hyder towards the end of the year 1772. Under Lord Clive in 1799, it was again occupied by a detachment of the regiment stationed at Sankari Drug (pronounced as droog) and remained a military station until 1861 when the troops were altogether withdrawn.
Many great personalities including Salem Ramasamy Mudaliar, C. Vijayaraghavachariar, Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari(Rajaji) , and Dr. P. Subbarayan started their political careers in Salem.
[edit] Geography
Salem is located at .[2] It has an average elevation of 278 metres (912 feet).
[edit] Demographics
As of 2001 India census,[3] Salem had a population of 693,236. In 2006, the population of the city is estimated to have over 8.4 lakhs. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Salem has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 65%. In Salem, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
It stands in fifth place in the state of Tamil Nadu next to Trichy in land area (Salem=91 km² Trichy=146 km²). The total city population of Salem is about 8,00,000(0.8 million)[citation needed]. The population figures shown in the census for Salem are given excluding many important suburbs like Kondalampatti, Kannankurichi, Malla Moopanpatti etc. which have been included into Salem City Municipal Corporation limits[citation needed].
[edit] Economy
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Salem is one of the largest producers of traditional silver anklets, which are popular among women.[citation needed]
Salem boasts large textile, automotive, poultry and sago industries.
Salem has one of the largest magnesite deposits in India. Companies like Dalmia and TANMAG have mines here. [4]
The Leigh Bazaar market is one of the largest regional markets for agro products.[citation needed]
Salem had an active film production with former Modern Theatres Studios being the hub of Tamil film production[citation needed]. Now defunct Modern Theatres had produced some of the most successful Tamil films, in which many veteran actors have acted, including former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran. However, there are no studios in Salem.
[edit] Major industrial units in and around Salem
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- Salem Steel Plant - set to get expanded at 1500 crores[citation needed]
- SISCOL - set to get expanded at 1320 crores[citation needed]
- MALCO - set to expand at 200 crores[citation needed]
- Chemplast SANMAR - set to expand at 75 crores[citation needed]
- Burn Standard & Co
- Tata Refractories
- Dalmia Magnesite
- TANMAG
- SAGOSERVE
- Indian-Oil Bottling Plant
- POWERGRID
- Kumar Industrial Works
[edit] Export Commodities
- Textiles, yarn, granites, readymade garments, mangoes, coir products and stainless steel
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Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Being one of the fastest growing tier II cities, the Tamil Nadu government and ELCOT are planning an IT park in Salem covering about 160 acres.[citation needed] It comes under SEZ. [5]
SAIL is planning a Steel SEZ inside the Salem Steel plant covering about 250 acres.[citation needed]
There is an exclusive Electrical and Electronics Industrial Estate in the Suramangalam area of Salem city. [6]
[edit] Religious sites
There are several Mariamman temples in Salem. Mariamman is a Hindu goddess, an incarnation of Shakti. Every year around July the city celebrates Mariamman festival for a fortnight. During this festival, Goddess Mariamman is decorated with jewellery and flower chariots and taken around the city at midnight. On the first important day of the festival, people walk on fire (Note:devotees call fire as flower) with their prayers. The second day is colourful with parades of fancy dress. This is one of the best times to visit Salem. This festival is celebrated at temples at Fort, Shevapet, Ammapet, Gugai, Andheripati etc. Shevapet Mariamman temple car is the biggest one among the cars of Amman temples across the state. This festival is celebrated for a week. The Kottai Marriamman temple is very famous not only in Salem but throughout Tamil Nadu.
There is a Alagirnathar Thirukoil popularly known as "Kottai Perumal Koil", located at the heart of the city. The temple has been built centuries ago and has some beautiful sculptures. "Vaikunta Ekadasi" is the most famous festival in the temple and on that day, lakhs of devotees visit the temple.
In this temple, other festivals such as, Brahmotsavam, Pavithrotsavam, Navarathri, Puratasi Festival etc are celebrated at good spirit. Thousands of devotees throng the temple during these days. The Sugavaneshwarar temple is also very important shrine of Salem. Mythology records that sage sugha brahmarishi worshipped the lord here. Arunagirinadhar has sung a song on Lord Muruga in Sugavaneshwarar temple.
Kandashramam is small hill temple for Lord Muruga. It is situated 10 km from Salem City towards Puducherry highway. Kandashramam houses statues of unique and vital gods. It has the statues of Panchamukha Anjaneya, Panchamukha Vinayagar, Swarna Bhairavar, Dhanvanthri, etc,. In Salem City, at Seelanaickenpatty there is another hill for Lord Murugan. Hill is named as OOTHUMALAI.
Kumaragiri is a small temple for Lord Muruga. It is situated 5KM from Salem city.
Two more mountain temples are there in Salem for Lord Vishnu.
Salem also has Heritage Temple called Sitthar Koil, which is located about 10 km from Salem. This is a Shiva Temple, which is located on the foot hills of Kanja Malai. Some believers say that, this temple was built by Sitthar's which is believed that they still survive in the Mount of Kanja Malai. The famous Tamil Poetess Avvayar is believed to be living in this hills.
Aragalur is located approximately 21 km from Attur that boast of 2 old temples and a large Buddha statue. The one day Temple car festival in summer invites lots of people in the region. The Kailasanatha Temple situated at Tharamangalam is very famous for its architectural beauty. The Tharamangalam temple has many beautiful sculptures, note worthy amongst them are the sculptures of Arjuna's penace, Shiva-parvathi & Manmadha, Rama killing Vaali, etc. There are ancient shiva temples at Belur (Thanthondreeshwarar) and Uttamacholapuram(Karaburanathar). Ayothiappattanam, located 7 km away from city houses a beautiful Kothandaramar temple.
A Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama is located in Salem. It is was started in 1928 and made a branch of the mission in 1941.
Also, Eden Gardens School near Gandhi Road area has an attached prayer hall which functions as LEF
All parts of salem is covered by mosques. Jamia masjid in bazaar st, Meltheru and Keeltheru Mosques in Fort, mosques near railway junction and New integrated bus terminal, Mosques in Ammapet, 5 Roads and Gugai are the famous one. Moreover there is a famous Arabic college located near Tamilnadu Magnesite, Salem offering world class Arabic studies to the students.
[edit] Education
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Salem, which was once considered the most educationally backward district in Tamil Nadu, now has a few good educational institutions. New schools and colleges have come up recently. Government College of Engineering was started during the Third Five Year plan in the year 1966 and is located on a beautiful 162 hectares site surrounded by hills. This was then the third government engineering institution in Tamil Nadu. The first batch of students was selected for the academic year 1966-67 for courses in Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering. In the year 1973-74, the Metallurgical Engineering branch was started. Electronics and Communication branch was introduced in the year 1985-86. Computer Science engineering course was introduced in the year 2001. The Government Arts and Science College situated in Salem is one of the oldest colleges in the district. It is more than 3000 years old.
Now Salem region has about 200+ Engineering colleges(Even then most of then prefer Coimbatore or Chennai for engineering), 2 medical colleges, 79 other colleges and two universities. Many good schools in the salem district are worth mentioning. They are on par and sometimes exceed in all round development of students compared to the schools in citys like Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Madurai. Some of the notable and popular schools are Holy Cross Matriculation Hr. Sec. School Golden Gates Matriculation Hr. Sec. School en route to Yercaud, Cluny Matriculation Hr. Sec. School, St. Josephs Matriculation Hr. Sec. School in the Gugai area and Holy Angels Matriculation Hr. Sec. School,St.john's Matriculation School fairlands,Shri saradha matriculation school,Bala mandir matriculation school. [Montfort http://www.montfortyercaud.com/] and Sacred Matriculation Hr. Sec School in Yercaud are one of the most popular scools which produced the Celebrities like Cricketer Roger Binny, Actor Vikrom, Hindi legend Actress Rekha, Union Cabinet minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss and many IITans etc.
[edit] Alumni Associations
Government College of Engineering, Salem
[edit] Transport and Traffic
It is a transit point for travel between Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore, Madurai, Ernakulam/Cochin, Pondicherry, and other places.
[edit] Road
Three important National Highways NH7, NH47 and NH68 intersect each other at Salem.
[edit] Rail
Salem has become a Division(including highest revenue yielding Coimbatore and Tirupur), which has become operational from November 1st, 2007, which was formally inaugurated by the Tamil Nadu CM M. Karunanidhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Salem is an important rail junction in South India. Because of its location almost midway between Chennai, Bangalore and Coimbatore. In Salem junction, most Express trains are passing through only at night.Intiatives were taken for a bullet train from chennai to coimbatore via salem.
[edit] Air
Salem also has one airport at Kamalapuram near Omalur on NH7 towards Dharmapuri. Currently, an aviation school is utilizing the facility.
[edit] References
- ^ Jungle Look. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
- ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Salem
- ^ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
- ^ Dept.Geology and mining, TN.
- ^ Site for IT Park ideally situated. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
- ^ Electrical and electronics industries. Government of Tamil Nadu.
[edit] External links
- Official Website of Salem City Municipal Corpration
- Salem, Tamil Nadu at the Open Directory Project
- NIC website for Salem, Tamil Nadu
- Police and prisons
- Department of Geology & Mining, Govt. of Tamilnadu
| Salem District | |
| Taluk |
Attur | Edapady | Gangavalli | Mettur | Omalur | Salem | Sangagiri | Valapady | Yercaud |
| Blocks |
Attur | Ayothiapattinam | Gangavalli | Edappadi | Kadayampatti | Kolathur | Konganapuram | Macdonalds Choultry | Mecheri | Nangavalli | Omalur | Panaimarathupatti | Pethanaickenpalayam | Salem | Sankari | Talavasal | Tharamangalam | Vazhapadi | Veerapandi | Yercaud |
| Corporation |
Salem |
| Municipality |
Attur | Edappadi | Mettur | Narasingapuram |
| Town Panchayat |
Attayampatti | Ayothiapattinam | Jalakandapuram | Kannankurichi | Kolathur | Konganapuram | Mecheri | Omalur | P.N.Patti | Pethanaickenpalayam | Sankari | Thammampatti | Tharamangalam | Vazhapadi | Veerakkalpudur | Belur | Edaganasalai | Elampillai | Ethapur | Gangavalli | Kadayampatti | Karuppur | Keeripatti | Mallur | Panaimarathupatti | Sentharapatti | Thedavur | Thevur | Veeraganur | Arasiramani | Nangavalli | Poolampatti | Vanavasi |
fr:Salem (Tamil Nadu) bpy:সালেম ml:സേലം hi:सेलम nl:Salem (India) ja:セーラム (インド) pt:Salem (Tamil Nadu) ro:Salem, Tamil Nadu simple:Salem, Tamil Nadu sv:Salem, Indien ta:சேலம் vi:Salem, Tamil Nadu
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