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

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

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 ...

. 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.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 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 and Ranipet 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 National Highway 47 (NH 47) is a primary National Highway in India. It starts from Bamanbore in Gujarat and terminates at Nagpur in Maharashtra. This national highway is about long. Before renumbering of national highways in 2010, NH-47 was ...

(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. 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 ...

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. 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 is the primary tourist attraction in the district headquarters Vellore. Vellore Fort is the most prominent landmark. During British rule,

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 in ...

'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: 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 Vellore-

Odugathur Odugathur is a panchayat town in the Vellore district 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 are ...

state highway and at the southern end of the city of Vellore, 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 ...

covering, has intricate work done by artisans specializing in temple art using gold. Yelagiri is a hill station located in Tirupattur district of the Vaniyambadi- Tirupattur 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