Rajapalayam () is a City in the Indian state of

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 ...

. It is the largest municipality in the

Virudhunagar Virudhunagar is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located southwest of the state capital Chennai and south of Madurai. Virudhunagar emerged as an important trade ...

district. Rajapalayam is located in the

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

to Quilon National Highway at a distance of 562 km south to the state capital

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Economy is based on textile manufacture: the town has several mills for spinning and weaving cotton, as well as a large cotton market. The town is also famed for Rajapalayam mango and the Rajapalayam breed of dogs.

Climate

The climate of the region is of the semi-arid tropical monsoon type. The average temperature range is 20 °C to 37 °C.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Rajapalayam had a population of 130,442 with 1,014 females for every 1,000 males, far above the national average of 929. A total of 11,604 individuals (5,927 males and 5,677 females) were under the age of six.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

accounted for 13.51% and 0.09% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 77.87%; the national average was 72.99%. The city had a total of 37,797 households. There were 53,913 workers, comprising 380 cultivators, 3,676 main agricultural labourers, 1,375 in household industries, 45,223 other workers, 3,259 marginal workers, 34 marginal cultivators, 326 marginal agricultural labourers, 286 marginal workers in household industries and 2,613 other marginal workers. According to the religious census of 2011, the population was 94.53%

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 3.48%

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 1.75%

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 0.02%

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

and 0.21% other.

Geography

The mountains of the Western ghats are to the west of the city (12 km from the city), and the

Sanjeevi Sanjeevi is the name of the mountain with auspicious and medicinal plants on it. In Hinduism, this mountain is said to be very sacred. Lord Hanuman brought this mountain from Dronagiri to cure Lakshman and Rama and the Vaanara army who had fainted ...

hills are to the east. These moderate the climate, and several water catchment areas in the hills provide water for the city. Water is stored in the 6th mile water reservoir. There are several major lakes around the city, including Kondanerigf, Karungulam, Pirandaikulam, and Sengulam. The soil in the area is classified by the government as red loam.

Industries

The principal industry was initially agriculture. In 1936, Thiru P. A. C. Ramasamy Raja started the first cotton spinning mill, called Rajapalayam Mills Ltd. Later, more

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s were started including Sree Karpagambal Mills Ltd. Today, Rajapalayam is a major hub of the textile industry, famous for bandages, woven fabric,

nightwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some styles ...

, and other products. The neighboring town of Chatrapatti (Virudhunagar Dist) is a large player in producing surgical cotton

gauze Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave. In technical terms "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each warp yarn keeping the weft firmly in place. ...

, and nearby

Dhalavaipuram Dhalavaipuram or Dhalavaipuram is a town in Rajapalayam Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 105 km southwest of Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. The economy is based on the manufacture of Garments, cotto ...

and Muhavoor produce women's nightwear.

Transportation

By Land

Road

The National Highway NH-744 from

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

passes through the city. State highway SH-41 (Rajapalayam-Sankarankovil-Tirunelveli) links the major parts of the extreme south of Tamil Nadu, including

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...

and Kanyakumari. The road also offers good freight connectivity to Tamil Nadu's second largest seaport,

. State highway SH-186 (Rajapalayam-Vembakottai) connects the town to the east part of

district and passes through the fast-growing industrial towns of Chatrapatti and Alangulam.

Bus

Rajapalayam's long-distance bus station, located on Sankarankovil Road, is served by buses from the government of Tamil Nadu's TNSTC (Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation) and private transport companies. Buses run to

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

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 ...

Trichy Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

and other major cities. Several Private bus services run to Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore from Rajapalayam. Rajapalayam old bus station is the boarding point for buses connecting nearby villages. It is also called Old bus stand or Town bus stand. SankaranKovil Mukku road connects the new bus stand.

Rail

The Rajapalayam railway station is in the Southern Railways zone/Madurai division of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

and falls on the

line. The station code is RJPM. Passenger Trains running daily via Rajapalayam: Below Mail/SF Express services are currently running through Rajapalayam Railway station.

By Air

The nearest International airport is Madurai Airport (~80 km).

Notable people

P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja Poosapati Sanjeevi Kumaraswamy Raja (8 July 1898 – 16 March 1957) was an Indian politician who served as the last Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 6 April 1949 to 26 January 1950 and first Chief Minister of Madras State from 26 January ...

(Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1949–52) and Governor of Orissa (1954–56) * S. Peter Alphonse (Indian politician, Indian National Congress elected to Tamil Nadu legislative assembly twice from Tenkasi constituency in 1989 & 1991 and once Kadayanallur constituency in 2006 * Shiva Ayyadurai * Vijay Sethupathi * Samuthirakani * Rajakumaran

References

External links

Rajapalayam
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Virudhunagar district Palayam