Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the gateway to southern

and

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 ...

. Spread over an area of 2.68 km² with a population of over 26,823, the economy of the town and Sengottai Taluk revolves around the cultivation of rice, coconut, mango, clove and pepper. Sengottai is well known in Tamil Nadu as a major market of Dosa kal (commonly known as Dosa tawa). This town has lot of blacksmith shops.

History

Sengottai was originally part of the Travancore Kingdom. In December 1851, the boundary between

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

and Travancore on the Sengottai side was clearly defined as proposed by General Cullen as early as 1846, and finally sanctioned by the Madras Government. Sengottai Municipality was constituted in 1921. In 1949, Sengottai was part of the newly formed state of Travancore-Cochin. The

States Reorganisation Act The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's States and union territories of India, states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries ...

, 1956 came into effect from 1 November 1956, and consequently, the Tamil-speaking area of Sengottai taluk of Quilon district were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Tirunelveli district of

Madras State Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...

. Sengottai was reclassified from a Grade III municipality to a Grade II municipality as per G.O. No.85 dated 22 May 1998.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Sengottai had a population of 26,823 with a sex-ratio of 1,035 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 2,642 were under the age of six, constituting 1,327 males and 1,315 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.06% and 1.21% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 78.09%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 7146 households. There were a total of 10,736 workers, comprising 114 cultivators, 674 main agricultural labourers, 1,923 in household industries, 7,435 other workers, 590 marginal workers, 14 marginal cultivators, 60 marginal agricultural labourers, 105 marginal workers in household industries and 411 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Shenkottai had 76.98%

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 ...

, 21.19%

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 ...

, 1.77%

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 ...

and 0.06% following other religions.

Geography and climate

Sengottai is located at . It has an average elevation of 181 metres (594 ft). The town is surrounded by the Western Ghats in three sides and lies on the

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

and

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

highways. The Harihara and Gundar rivers flows through the city. Sengottai Gap is a major mountain pass connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu in addition to

Palakkad Gap Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in the state of Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the ...

Transport

Road

The National Highway NH-744 from

passes through the town. State highway SH-39 (Sengottai-Courtallam-Ambasamudram-Tirunelveli) links the major parts of the extreme south of Tamil Nadu, including

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly called Tuticorin) is a port industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is capital and headquarters of the district. ...

and Kanyakumari. The road also offers good freight connectivity to Tamil Nadu's second largest seaport,

and Cochin Port.

Bus

Sengottai's long-distance bus station, located on Madurai - Kollam Road, is served by buses from the government of Tamil Nadu's TNSTC Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, KSRTC Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and private transport companies. Several private and government operated services connect to

Thoothukudi Thoothukudi (formerly called Tuticorin) is a port city, port industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is capital and headquarters of the di ...

, Tenkasi,

Virudhunagar Virudhunagar is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located southwest of the state capital Chennai and south of Madurai. Virudhunagar emerged as an important trade c ...

, Rajapalayam,

, Cumbum Theni, Kanyakumari,

Nagercoil Nagercoil, natively spelt as Nāgarkovil (, "Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a Municipal Corporation city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the ...

, Dindigul, Palani

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

, Tiruppur, Trichy, Thanjavur, Puducherry, Trivandrum,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, Punalur, Kottarakkara, Kumily, Ernakulam, Ooty, Gudalur, Velankanni, Tirupur and other major cities. It has a bus stand in town and the region also has a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus depot.

Rail

The Sengottai railway station is in the Southern Railways zone/Madurai division of

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

and falls on the

line. The station code is SCT. The line from Tirunelveli to Sengottai railway station was opened in 1903; the connection to Quilon, which was completed later, was the most important trade route to Travancore province in British India. Shencottah is also connected to major Tamilnadu and Kerala cities with daily services to

, Erode, Tiruchirappalli,

, Thanjavur,

, Dindigul, Mayiladuthurai, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Guruvayur,

, Palghat,

, Velankanni and

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Air connectivity

The nearest airports are as follows:- # Thoothukudi Airport () # Trivandrum International Airport () # Madurai International Airport () # Cochin International Airport () # Tiruchirappalli International Airport ()

Educational institutions

Govt And Govt Aided Schools

* SMSS Govt Boys HSS * SRM Govt Girls HSS * Govt High School * Veera vanchinathan memorial middle school * Govt Middle school Kacheri Compound * M.M Middle School, SCT RS * AG Primary School, Keelur SCT * AG Primary School, Melur SCT * Ariyanallur Govt Primary School * Sri Jayadra Higher Secondary School * Thiruveni Vidhyalaya School. * jothi kurinchi vidhyalaya School. * The gurugull primary school. * Nivetha primary School. * Sri primary School, * Ssv primary School. * Muslim High School Vadakarai

Banks

* State Bank of India * Canara Bank * Indian Overseas Bank * HDFC Bank * Federal Bank * TMB Bank * Tirunelveli Co-operative Bank * Pandiyan Grama bank Sengottai RS FINANCE COMPANY * Muthoot finance * Mini muthoot finance * Muthoot Fincorp finance Ltd * IIFL finance * Muthalagu Finance * Kadanthottu finance * Sri Ram Finance * IDFC first Bharath Finance Ltd * kosamattam finance * Sapthagri Finance Ltd LIC *Life insurance corporation of India. SHOW ROOM. *Sathiya Home appliance *Darling home appliance. *selva Ganapathi home appliance. *ST pandiyan home appliance *Indian Mobiles *Medina home appliance.

Entertainments & Tourism

Parks Sengottai town has three parks. Muthusamy park near municipal office, Municipality park near pump house and another one is Musthafa memorial park located near Taluk Office shencottah. Water falls * Courtallam water falls 5 km from shencottah * Old Courtallam water falls 11 kms from shencottah * Five Falls water falls 7 km from shencottah Dams * Gundaru Dam (6 km From Shencottah) * Adavinainar Dam also known as mekkarai dam (12 km from shencottah) * Sri mulapperi dam - Puliyarai (12 km From Shencottah) * Thenmala Dam - Thenmala (28 km From Shencottah) Temples * Thirumalai kovil 9 km from Shencottah * Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Tenkasi 8 km from Shencottah * Aryankavu Sastha Temple 15.7 km from Shencottah * Achankovil Sastha Temple 27.3 km from Shencottah * Kulathupuzha - 40 km from Shencottah * Kottavasal Karuppasamy - 9 km tamilnadu border. * Puliyarai thatchina moorthy temple. * Ilanji Kumarar Kovil * Saiva pillyar kovil * sekadi Vinyagar temple * kulasekara nathar, Kulalvaimozhi amman temple. * nithyakalayani amman temple. * vandimalachi amman temple. * perumal kovil Temple. * Navanitha krisannan temple. * Sarguru Malayalasamy temple. * Sarguru Arumugasamy temple. * Suppan Setti Palam Sudalai Madasamy temple. Eco Tourism * Five Falls eco tourism - Courtallam (6 km From Shencottah) * Thenmala

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

(28 km From Shencottah)

Villages

* Panpoli * Vallam * Piranoor * Periyapillaivalasai * Moondru vaaikkaal * Irattai kulam * kathirvan colony * Shengottai Melur, * kannupuli mettu * kaduvetti, * Visawanatha puram * Subramaniyapuram

Notable People

* Nigar Shaji -

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister o ...

Scientist and Project director of Aditya-L1 * Vanchinathan- Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary.

References

External links

* {{Municipalities of Tamil Nadu Cities and towns in Tenkasi district