Walajapet is a town or municipality and a part of

Ranipet district Ranipet district is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, India, formed by trifurcating Vellore district. The Government of Tamil Nadu has announced its proposal on 15 August 2019, together with Tirupattur district. However, it was officially ...

in the 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 ...

. The streets in the town form a square shape which is a unique feature of the town. It will be easy for you to reach any part of the town with this kind of infrastructure. The streets are wide and nicely structured. As of 2011, the town had a population of 32,397. This town, located in the

, and is considered to be the first

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, believed to have been formed in 1866.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Walajapet had a population of 32,397 with a sex-ratio of 1,031 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 3,249 were under the age of six, constituting 1,675 males and 1,574 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 12.19% and .16% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 77.25%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 7,598 households. There were a total of 12,223 workers, comprising 50 cultivators, 66 main agricultural labourers, 1,270 in house hold industries, 10,204 other workers, 633 marginal workers, 8 marginal cultivators, 18 marginal agricultural labourers, 182 marginal workers in household industries and 425 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Walajapet had 52.13%

Hindus 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 ...

, 46.34%

Muslims 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 Abraha ...

, 1.21%

Christians 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 ...

, 0.03%

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

, 0.02%

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, 0.11%

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

, 0.14% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Commerce

It was used for business purpose and one of the biggest trade centres during the time of

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 himsel ...

. Walajapet is one of the oldest town in the North Arcot Region. It is famous for silk weaving and has a nickname, "Walajapet-The Silk City". It is situated in the belt of the Ranipet SIPCOT Industrial Complex as a public limited company wholly owned by the Government. Walajapet is one of the noted centre for the production of silk weaving and bamboo furniture making centre. The commercial activities is concentrated at Thoppai street, Annaicut Road, Bazaar street, Thirumalai Street. There is a daily market available in this town.

History

At the beginning of the second half of 18th century, while English and the French invaders, who challenged themselves each other to conquer Southern India and while in such circumstances the former ( the English) in collaboration with the Nawab of Arcot succeeded in wiping out the suzerainty of the latter. The Nawab of Arcot was in return, granted the then great title of honour "Walajah" meaning the most dignified gentleman. The Nawab of Arcot styled this town as "Walajah" in his memory besides, having Arcot as his residential centre and Ranipet as the military headquarters. The Nawab of Arcot with a view to vindicate the great name of "Walajah" as quite suitable to the town in its true and literal sense, desired to develop this town economically. Walajapet's jurisdiction covers an area of 2.64 squares kilometers. The town had a population of 16,401 in 1971 and the same was increased to 21,200 in 1987–88.

Municipal administration

Walajapet Municipality was started in 1866, by the effect of act passed by government. It was the first municipality in Tamil Nadu. It was one of the oldest municipalities organized in the Madras Presidency along with Adoni and Madurai. The Municipal council started function from 12 November 1866. The municipal office is located in its own building at Nawab Devadi street. The town has electoral wards. In the year 1869, the municipality office was shifted to a house situated at the trunk road for a monthly rent of Rs.6/-.At the time, it was a third grade municipality. The municipal council stated functioning from 1866, after the formation of Walajapet Municipality the meeting was held on 12 November 1866 under the vice-president, 6 commissioners also attended the council meeting. In those days the councillors was called commissioners. The council passed a resolution to open a municipal office for the transaction of business and in accordance with it a building owned by Madhan Iyyar was taken for a monthly rent Rs.5/-. There were one manager on a pay of Rs.40 per month, two writers each Rs.20 per month, two bill collectors each for Rs.20 per month, two peons each for Rs.5 per month and one sweeper for Rs.3 and eight annas per month. Thiru V.Lakshmi Naidu was the first vice-president of this municipality. Thiru C.A. Varadharajan was the 25th vice-president of this municipality. Mrs. S.Raja Rajeswari was the first woman chairman and 26th chairman of this municipality. The year 1966 was a very significant in the development of Walajapet Municipality. It was its centenary celebrations. At that time C.A.Varadharajan was chairman in the municipality. He published Walajapet Municipality Centenary Souvenir (1866–1966) Aringar Anna, Thanthi Periyar who participated the Centenary celebration. And Jakir Hussain, C.P. Aditanar, M. Karunanithi, Dr. S.Radhakrishnan, K. Kamaraj, Tamil thatha M. Varatharajan and many other send greeting to the function.

Transport

Walajah Road Railway Station is one of the oldest and first railway station in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. It is situated in Ammoor and about 5 Kilometers from Walajapet. The first contract between the Madras Railway company and the government was held on 22 December 1852 an agent for the Madras railway came to Madras in 1853. The first section of the line from Royapuram(Madras) to Walajah road was opened on 1 July 1856. One of the oldest railway stations in Southern Railway. First railway track was proposed at 1857 from Walaja Road to Cuddalore via Katpadi.

Timeline of Southern Railway zone This is the timeline for Southern Railway zone that encompasses over present day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Timeline 19th century * 1845 Madras Railway Company was launched. * 1853 Madras Railway Company ...

It is strategically located on the

Palar River Palar is a river of southern India. It rises in the Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka state, and flows in Karnataka, in Andhra Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu before reaching its confluence into the Bay of Bengal at Vayalur abo ...

on the Chennai-Bangalore line. By bus, this locality can be reached in about 30 minutes from

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 separa ...

city and in about 2 hours from

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 ...

. It is well connected both by road and railways. Walajah Road railway station is located about 4.5 km from the town, lying between

Arakkonam Arakkonam () is a railway town and suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a population of 78,395 per the census 2011. It is in the newly created Ranipet district, about from Ranipet head ...

and

Katpadi Junction Katpadi Junction railway station, also known as Vellore Katpadi Junction railway station (station code: KPD) is an A-category junction railway station located in the city of Vellore, Tamil Nadu. Katpadi Junction is the primary terminus and junc ...

on the important railway route connecting Chennai to

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 ...

and Bangalore. It was the station connecting

Arakkonam Junction Arakkonam () is a railway town and suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a population of 78,395 per the census 2011. It is in the newly created Ranipet district, about from Ranipet head ...

and

, the first rail route in Tamil Nadu.

References

External links

Historical Monuments in Walajapet
{{Chennai - Suburban Railway, West South, Walajapet, Marudhalam, Mukundarayapuram, 37, 104.74 Cities and towns in Ranipet district