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Cumbum, natively enunciated as Kambam (), is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in the
Theni district Theni District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in India. Surrounded by hills, the district is located to the west of Madurai district. The town of Theni is the district headquarters. The district is divided into two natural div ...
of the state of Tamilnadu in India.


Geography and Climate

Cumbum is located at . It has an average elevation of 391meters (1282 feet). One can see the backdrop of Kodaikanal Hills from Cumbum. Apart from that Cumbum has most vigorous activity in agriculture. Cumbum Municipality (First Grade) is located in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu, near the
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
State border. Geographically, it is situated between 9°30′N and 10°11′N latitude and between 77°E and 77°30′E longitude. It ranks as the third-largest town in the Theni district, following Theni itself. The region's soil primarily consists of red soil, and
Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
plays a vital role for its developmental activities. Crops like Paddy, Coconut, Black Grapes, Groundnut and various kinds of fruits and vegetables are being cultivated in this area. Cumbum boasts numerous places of worship, including Sri Kambaraya Perumal Kovil, Kasi Viswanathar Kovil (Sri Kambaraya Perumal Kovil Devasthanam), Sri. Gowmariyamman Kovil, Sri NandhaGopalan Kovil, Sri Suruli Vellappar Kovil, Sri Vasavi Ambal Kovil, Sri Ayyappan Kovil, Sri Ranganathar Kovil, Mosques, churches are situated. Sri Samandi Amman Temple is situated near village Samandipuram (Swamindipuram) which is 5 km by road, we can reach by car, Auto's and Buses. The town is well connected by the district roads with nearby urban and rural towns and villages but not connected by
Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...
. Average maximum temperatures are 41.6 °C and 31.6 °C respectively. The average annual rainfall is around 836 mm with the town getting its share of rainfall during the Southwest
Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
. The major source of water for drinking and agriculture comes from the Mullai Periyar River which flows Diverted from the state of Kerala. Suruli Falls which is 10 km from Cumbum, is surrounded by mountains. The nearest airport is
Madurai Airport Madurai Airport is a customs airport serving Madurai and its adjoining districts in Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 40th-busiest airport in India, both in terms of passengers handled and aircraft movement. The airport is located near State Highw ...
which is 115 km by road and Cochin International Airport (Kerala) which is 175 km by road. The nearest railway station is Teni Railway station which is 40 km by road and Bodinayakkanur railway station which is also 40 km by road. Thekkady (Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary Kerala) which is a tourist destination in
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
state, is 30 km from Cumbum, near
Kumily Kumily, also spelt as Kumaly () is a revenue village and Gram Panchayat in the Idukki district of the state of Kerala. It is a town in Cardamom Hills near Thekkady and Periyar Tiger Reserve and a well frequented tourist destination. Kumily is a ...
which is a border town between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Cumbum is a valley, surrounded by hills. The eastern side of the hills constituting seven dams on the hills. In the South, the famous tourist attraction, "Thekkady" is situated Kerala. Cumbum is famous for its coconut, Black Grapes & cardamom trading market.


History

The name Cumbum is derived from Cumbaraya Perumal, the temple around which the town has been built. An article in the newspaper ''Dinamalar'' recounted the temple's origins:
"A
king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
ruling this region then desired to build a temple for Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu in a single premises, Perumal appeared in his dream and said that there was a stone post at the foot hills of western ghats and that His idol was there. The king found Perumal there and installed Him here. As the Lord was found under a stone post (Cumbam), He was named Kambaraya Perumal and the place Cumbum. He also brought a Sivalinga from Kasi-Varanasi and built the Shiva temple. He celebrated the consecration of the temples the same day. The Holy tree Vanni(வன்னி மரம்) is worshipped as Lord Brahma. People thus have the opportunity of worshipping Lords Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in a single temple premises."
During the British period, after the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, several settlements were created by the government. Members belonging to the notified communities were forced to remove to the Cumbum area. The people of Cumbum and nearby villages played a vital role in the construction of Mullai Periyar Dam. When John Pennycuick decided to divert the west-flowing Periyar River eastward so that it could irrigate acres of dry land, the construction works were disrupted by relentless rain. Large numbers of sand bags kept for the construction of the dam were destroyed due to flooding. Since he could not get adequate funds from the British government, Pennycuick went to England and sold his property to raise the money. Local landowners in Cumbum and Gudalur provided more money, along with manpower, to aid in the dam's construction. It was completed in 1895.


Indian Freedom Struggle

The Hindu quotes, "Peer Mohammad was popularly known as Cumbum Pavalar. Born in 1888, Peer Mohammad was posted as Sub-Inspector of Police in Andipatti The Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Gandhiji in 1920 inspired Peer Mohammad. As a result, he resigned the police job. Inspired by the Gandhian ideals, he published a work entitled Gandhi Maaligai. The foreword to the book was written by Periyar E.V.R. This work of Peer Mohammad highlighted the importance and greatness of Gandhian principles. The Gandhi Maaligai contained songs on Hindu-Muslim unity and the Congress movement. Further, there were songs on Hakim Ajmal Khan, Pandit Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari, Periyar E.V.R and Mattaparai Venkatramaier. Peer Mohammad’s songs on nationalists became very popular. His another work, Paa Manchari, contained songs on nationalists. He also established a reading room near the Cumbum Municipal Office."


Demographics

According to 2011 census, Kambam had a population of 68,090 with a sex-ratio of 1,012 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 6,661 were under the age of six, constituting 5,417 males and 5,344 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 7.76% and .02% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 86.55%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 118567 households. There were a total of 26,623 workers, comprising 666 cultivators, 11,596 main agricultural labourers, 634 in household industries, 11,921 other workers, 1,806 marginal workers, 12 marginal cultivators, 1,110 marginal agricultural labourers, 62 marginal workers in household industries and 622 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Kambam had 78.6%
Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 19.05%
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 2.26%
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, 0.01%
Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...
, 0.07% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.


Politics

Cumbum (state assembly constituency) is part of
Theni (Lok Sabha constituency) Theni Lok Sabha constituency () is one of the 39 Lok Sabha (Parliament of India, parliamentary) constituencies in Tamil Nadu, a Federated state, state in southern India. Assembly segments Theni Lok Sabha constituency comprises th ...
. N. Eramakrishnan from the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
party is the MLA elected in the
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election The Sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election was held on 6 April 2021, to elect Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), representatives from the List of constituencies of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, 234 constituencies in ...
. He has been elected five times from here.


Notes


References




External links


GeoHack - Cumbum, Tamil NaduCumbum WebsiteBlog regarding Cumbum
{{Municipalities of Tamil Nadu Cities and towns in Theni district Palayam