Arakkonam () is a railway town and suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, in the Indian state of

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 language ...

, with a population of 78,395 per the census 2011. It is in the newly created Ranipet district, about from Ranipet headquarters and about from the state capital of

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 ...

. On October 2022 Arakkonam is a part of

Chennai Metropolitan Area The Greater Chennai Metropolitan Area, or simply the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), is the third-most populous metropolitan area in India, the 22nd-most in Asia, and the 40th-most in the world. The CMA consists of the core city of Chennai, wh ...

. Arakkonam is one of the hottest towns in India, where the temperature can exceed 43 °C (110 °F) for several peak days in summer. The name 'Arakkonam' was derived from the word "Arunthamizhkundram" also later called "Aarukonam", meaning '

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

' which connects six important places around.

History

The ancient name of the town was "''Arumthamizh kundram''" ("''Arumtamil kunram''") which is believed to have been derived from the

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, na ...

words ''aaru konam'' meaning "six angles" or

, based on the fact that six important places exist on the town's six sides, namely

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

, Thakkolam, Manavur, Thiruvalangadu, Thiruttani and Sholinghur. Arakkonam Junction is one of the oldest junctions in the country connecting with major cities such as

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 ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, Goa,

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

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. Coimbat ...

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

and

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Municipality

The Arakkonam Municipality was constituted as a 3rd Grade Municipality on 01.10.1958 and upgraded to a 2nd Grade Municipality on 1.5.1974 and has been a 1st Grade Municipality from 17.4.1984. The area of the municipality is . Arakkonam is a part of the assembly and parliamentary constituencies of the same name. This municipality contains 36 wards.

Urban infrastructure

Arakkonam Junction railway station is one of the largest railway junction in Tamilnadu. It strategically located at the intersection of the Chennai–Bangalore line, Arakkonam–Chengalpattu branch line and the Guntakal–Chennai line, which is part of Mumbai–Chennai line. The town has one of the biggest workshops for Southern Railway, known as the 'Engineering Workshop' (EWS) which has many employees serving the Indian Railways in various process related with fabrication and processing of various metal components for the railways. Most of the machines in these workshops are a century old and some of them are working. It also has an electric locomotive shed, 'Electric Loco Shed' (ELS). WAG-5 HA,

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) ...

and WAG-9 locomotives are maintained here. Suburban electric train facility is also available towards Chennai. Arakkonam junction is also feature in a song "Vellarikka" of movie '' Kadhal Kottai starring

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tami ...

and

Devayani Devayani ( sa, देवयानी, translit=Devayānī) is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries Kin ...

.'' The second-biggest

Food Corporation of India Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...

(FCI) godown is located at Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu. It is used to store all types of food grains for a long periods. Transport is also available by road to all major cities and towns. The runway at INS Rajali, a naval air force of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

in Arakkonam is 4,500 metres in length, making it the second-longest air force runway in the Indian Subcontinent. It is also Asia's second-biggest Naval Training Centre. Other industries include MRF Tyres, Ramco Industries and

UltraTech Cement UltraTech Cement Limited is an Indian cement company based in Mumbai, and a part of Aditya Birla Group. UltraTech is the largest manufacturer of grey cement, ready-mix concrete (RMC) and white cement in India with an installed capacity of 116. ...

. Many official buildings in Arakkonam were built during the British era. An underpass beneath the railway connects Arakkonam and Kanchipuram and is one of the city's oldest structures. It was built with lime mortar and stones.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Arakonam had a population of 78,395 with a sex-ratio of 1,020 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 7,727 were under the age of six, constituting 3,995 males and 3,732 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 27.1% and 1.11% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 81.81%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 19507 households. There were a total of 26,029 workers, comprising 80 cultivators, 206 main agricultural labourers, 674 in house hold industries, 21,857 other workers, 3,212 marginal workers, 42 marginal cultivators, 33 marginal agricultural labourers, 156 marginal workers in household industries and 2,981 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Arakonam had 81.22%

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 ...

, 9.83%

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 Abrah ...

, 7.95%

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'' (Χρ� ...

, 0.04%

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 ter ...

, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.35%

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 ...

, 0.58% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Politics

Arakkonam (State Assembly Constituency) is part of the Arakkonam (Lok Sabha constituency). The AIDMK candidate Mr.S.Ravi, Advocate won the Arakkonam assembly constituency in the 2016 elections. In the parliamentary elections held in 2009, the DMK candidate Shri S. Jagathrakshakan was elected MP from this constituency. In the

2014 Lok Sabha election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

, L. Hari Krishnan of AIADMK wrested the seat from the DMK with a margin of over 2,40,000 votes. He polled 493534 votes while the DMK candidate N.R. Elango polled just 252768 votes. Mr. S. Kannadasan of AIADMK won the post of municipality chairman in the 2014 by-election.AIADMK bags Arakkonam municipal chairman post - TAMIL NADU - The Hindu
/ref> In the 2019 General elections, Dr. S. Jakathrakshagan from Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won against AIADMK Front (from PMK) candidate A.K. Moorthy.

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Ranipet district Suburbs of Chennai