Vellore district () is one of the 38 districts in the

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 ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is one of the eleven districts that form the north region of Tamil Nadu. Vellore city is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, the district had a population of 1,614,242 with a sex ratio of 1,007 females for every 1,000 males. In 2017 Vellore district ranked eleventh in

list of districts in Tamil Nadu by Human Development Index The average Human Development Index (HDI) for the state of Tamil Nadu in 1996 calculated by the government's State Planning Commission was 0.636. By 2001, the average HDI for the state calculated by the State Planning Commission had risen to 0.6 ...

.TAMIL NADU HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2017 -''Status of Human Development'
TAMIL NADU HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2017
/ref> The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

recently included Vellore city in its prestigious

smart city A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in retur ...

project, along with 26 other cities.

History

Men from the Vellore District fought in the British India Army and sacrificed their lives in the World Wars. This is recorded in the clock tower in the long bazaar at Vellore, raised in 1920, where an inscription reads "Vellore – From this Village 277 men went to the Great war 1914–18, of them 14 gave up their lives". On 30 September 1989 the district was again split into Tiruvannamalai-Sambuvarayar (present-day

Tiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai ( Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruva ...

) and North Arcot Ambedkar districts. North Arcot Ambedkar District was renamed Vellore District in 1996. On 15 August 2019, the district was trifurcated into Vellore,

Tirupattur Tirupathur or Tirupattur is the headquarters of Tirupathur district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and is one of the oldest inhabited places in the state, with a history of over 1,600 years. The town is known for an abundance of sandalwood ...

and

Ranipet Ranipet is a southern suburb of Chennai, India. Ranipet (lit. Queen's colony) is an industrial hub of Southern Chennai city in southern India. It is located about from the Chennai city center. It is a major industrial town located on NH 4 Che ...

districts.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Vellore district had a population of 1,614,242 with a sex ratio of 1,007 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 432,550 were under the age of six, constituting 222,460 males and 210,090 females.

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 21.85% and 1.85% of the population, respectively. The average literacy of the district was 70.47%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The district had 929,281 households. There were 1,689,330 workers, comprising 153,211 cultivators, 254,999 main agricultural labourers, 106,906 in household industries, 845,069 other workers, 329,145 marginal workers, 21,897 marginal cultivators, 136,956 marginal agricultural labourers, 29,509 marginal workers in household industries and 140,783 other marginal workers.

Politics

Administrative divisions and politics

Vellore is one of the 38 districts of

and is administered by the Vellore District Collectorate. The present collector of Vellore district Kumaravel Pandian.

Transportation

Two National Highways — NH 4 (Mumbai – Chennai) and NH 46 (Krishnagiri – Ranipet) — used to connect parts of the district to other parts of the country before renumbering of national highways in 2010. The former NH 4 and NH 46 is now renumbered as

NH 48 National Highway 48 (NH 48) is a National Highway of India that starts at Delhi and terminates at Chennai traversing through seven states of India. It has a total length of 2807 km (1744 miles). NH 48 passes through the states of Del ...

. These highways are important connecting roads for vehicles especially travelling to

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 ...

from

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 ...

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 ...

. These highways run for in the district. Other important roadways present are State Highways of and district roads of . Railway network in Vellore district comes under the Southern Railways, with Vellore Katpadi Junction, Vellore Cantonment Junction and Gudiyatham forming the major railway junctions. There are many small railway stations for the passenger and local train stops. There is a domestic airport which is not in use; the nearest international/domestic airport is located at Chennai.

Tourism

The

Vellore Fort Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in heart of the Vellore city, in the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, India built by Vijayanagara Empire, Vijayanagara kings. The fort was at one time the headquarters of ...

is the primary tourist attraction in the district headquarters

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separ ...

is the most prominent landmark. During

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

's family and the last king of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Vikrama Rajasinha, were held as royal prisoners in the fort. It houses a church, a mosque and a Hindu temple, the latter known for its carvings. The first rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, and it witnessed the massacre of the Vijayanagara royal family of Emperor Sriranga Raya. The Golden Temple Vellore of ''Sripuram'' (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: ஸ்ரீபுரம்) is a spiritual park situated at the foot of a small range of green hills in a place known as "Malaikodi". The temple is between

- Odugathur state highway and at the southern end of the city of

, at Tirumalaikodi. The temple with

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

covering, has intricate work done by artisans specializing in temple art using gold.

Yelagiri Yelagiri () is a hill station located in the newly formed Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu, India, situated off the Vaniyambadi- Tirupattur road. Located at an altitude of 1,110.6 metres above Mean Sea Level and spread across 30 km2, the ...

is a hill station located in

Tirupattur district Tirupattur district, or Tirupathur district, is one of the 38 districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The district was formed in 2019 by the division of Vellore district into three smaller districts. Its creation alongside Ranipet ...

of the

Vaniyambadi Vaniyambadi () is a town in the Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu and the headquarter for the Vaniyambadi Revenue district comprising Vaniyambadi and Ambur. It is located about 200 km from Chennai and 178 kilometer from Bengaluru. The Van ...

road at an altitude of 1,410.6 metres above mean sea level and spread across 30 km².

Cuisine

Vellore Wheat Halwa

Halwa made from whole wheat flour or atta is a popular sweet made in North India. Vellore region's Halwa is the most popular one after North Indian Halwa. Makkan Peda is also considered to be another popular sweet in Vellore.

References

External links

Vellore district marked on OpenStreetMapVellore District official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vellore District Districts of Tamil Nadu States and territories established in 1989 1989 establishments in Tamil Nadu