Avinashi () (previously known as ''Thirupukkoliyur'') is a Special Grade

Town Panchayat A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

Tiruppur district Tiruppur District is one of the 38 districts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, formed in 22 February 2009. Dharapuram was the largest taluk by area in the district. The district is well-developed and industrialized. The Tiruppur banian indust ...

in the Indian

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Avinashi is one among the nine taluks of the district. It is one of the popular pilgrim destinations in Western Tamilnadu region. It is located on National Highway NH544, which bypasses the town. The history of the town is centered around the Avinasilingeswarar temple. The town was previously a part of the Coimbatore district until Tirupur was carved out as a separate district from the erstwhile districts of Coimbatore and

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...

. It is a stopping place for vehicles travelling from the western part of Tamil Nadu to Chennai and Cochin.

Etymology

The word Avinashi means "indestructible", referring to the God of the Avinashi Temple. It was previously known as Thirupukkoliyur ''.'' Thiru means "grace of God" and Pukkoliyur means "a place of refuge". It is said that once

Devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...

took shelter in this temple in fear of

Asura Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indian religions, Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, Buddhi ...

s''.'' "Vinasam" in Tamil means "Destruction". Prefixing with 'A' means 'No-destruction'. Avinashi is "a place which doesn't have any destruction by any means".

History

Avinashi is part of the ancient

Kongunadu Kongu Nadu, also known by various names as Kongu Mandalam and Kongu belt, is a geographical region comprising present day parts of western Tamil Nadu, southeastern Karnataka and eastern Kerala. In the ancient Tamilakam, it was the seat o ...

region, which now comprises the districts of Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Erode, Nilgiris, Salem, Dharmapuri, Karur, Namakkal, Dindigul and Krishnagiri. This place was known as ''Thirupukkoliyur'' in the Sangam era. It is one of the seven Shivastalams in Kongu Nadu; however this temple is better known as Karunaiyaaththaal temple. Avinashi is also referred to in inscriptions as Dakshina Varanasi, Tiruppukkozhiyur etc. Tirumular's Tirumantiram, Arunagirinathar's Tiruppugazh & Manikkavasakar's Tiruvasakam refer to this shrine.

Geography

Avinashi has an average elevation of 313 metres (1030 feet). Avinashi is a suburb of Tiruppur located on the arterial road connecting the textile cities of

Tirupur Tiruppur or Tirupur ( ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest city as well as an urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal Ri ...

and

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

. It is known for the Shiva temple constructed by Sundarapandiya and is closely associated with the

Saiva ''Saiva'' is a genus of Asian planthoppers, family Fulgoridae. They are colourful insects, marked boldly in red, blue, white and black, with a prominent slender stalk like structure arising on the head that points upwards or forward. The known ...

saint Sundaramoorthy Nayanar.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the taluk of Avinashi had a population of 337923 with 168055 males and 169868 females. There were 1011 women for every 1000 men. The taluk had a literacy rate of 68.05. Child population in the age group below 6 was 15424 Males and 14709 Females.

Transport

The nearest airport is the

Coimbatore International Airport Coimbatore International Airport is the primary airport serving the industrial cities of Coimbatore and Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located in the neighbourhood of Peelamedu, about from the center of Coimbatore. It is the 18th-busie ...

, which is about 32 km away from the town. There is no rail transport to the town. The nearest Railway Station is at Tirupur, which is about 12 km away from Avinashi. The key public mass transport for the people here is the Buses run by the State Government & Private Sector thus providing a competitive service to the people.

Landmark

Tiruppukkozhiyur (Avinashilingeshwarar) temple is a protected monument under the Archaeological survey of India.

Industries

There are many textile mills located in and around this town. These textile mills comprise spinning and weaving mills that work closing with various apparel manufacturing companies, the major one being S.P.Apparels ltd. There are also many engineering industries. Agriculture is the major occupation of many of the people in and around this city.

Notable people

Ayyasamy Dharun is an Indian track athlete. He specialises in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles events. He participated in the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won silver medal in 400m hurdles in Asian games held in 2018.

P. Dhanapal P. Dhanapal (born 16 May 1951) is an Indian politician and incumbent Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He is a former Speaker (politics), Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. P. ...

, Member of legistivate Assembly and former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Festivals

This temple's car is the second biggest in India, after the one in Tiruvarur and is noted for its fine wooden carvings. Since the old car was destroyed by fire in 90's, it has been rebuilt. The annual Bhrammotsavam is celebrated in the month of Chittirai. Apart from Temple car festival, 'Arubathi moovar (63 Naayanmaars) Ula' is one of the notable festival in this temple. The

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

chariot here is said to be on par with Tiruvarur. Previously it was a 10-day festival, but now it is celebrated for 2 days. There are two temple cars, the wheels of the cars are made of iron. In earlier days, the car was pulled by people alone, now bulldozers help to move the car. The traffic in the Avinashi road is increasing day by day, and because of this, the temple management is thinking of moving the car from the road side to some other place near the temple.

References

{{Municipalities of Tamil Nadu Neighbourhoods and suburbs of Tiruppur