Gudiyatham
Encyclopedia
Gudiyatham (also called Gudiyattam or Gudiyettram) is a municipality
in Vellore district
in the India
n state
of Tamil Nadu
. It is a town located 31 km from the city of Vellore
.
and 165 km southeast of Bangalore
. The town is located near border of Andhra Pradesh
state. Gudiyatham has more than 500 small villages around it.The recently announced NH 234 passes through it from Mangalore to Villupuram via Sira,Chintamani,V.Kota,Pernambut,Gudiyattam,Katpadi,Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.
, Gudiyatham had a population of 91,376. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Gudiyatham has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 64%. In Gudiyatham, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The Shiva temple Balasarthuleeswarar ( Baby-Tiger-Eswarar) in Tamil translation Karupuleeswarar Aalayam in Nellorepet is more 1000 years old. It is famous for Car festival. The Shiva temple was abode for famous sage Goundanya Rishi and the river passing through the town is in his name "Goundanya Nadi". The temple has Simha tank.The temple is on Gudiyatham to Pernambut road.
The town is close to the recently famous religious tourism/place of worship spot called the GOLDEN TEMPLE at Sripuram
.
s, and beedi
s. The safety matches industry is next largest to Sivakasi. Beedi
s are exported to Pakistan and other parts of India.
The town has many movie halls and has in total, seven pettai
s or colonies.
Gudiyatham is famous for gold jewellery market. Being on the Katpadi
- Jolarpettai railway line, it is much connected to Chennai
and Bangalore
. The handloom and powerloom lungies which are manufactured here are exported to many parts of India and Arab countries.
Other than these, there are two cotton mills running in Gudiyatham. One is Thirumagal Mills Limited and other one is Rajeshwari Mills Limited; both employ a considerable amount of employees. Cow and Ox market is held near Nellorepet every Tuesday and it has been so, for more than 100 years.
and Urdu speaking population. It has reputed educational institutions like the KMG college(arts and science and techear training b.ed) and Rajagopal Polytechnic college, which is one of the oldest and most reputed institutions in Tamil Nadu
.
Majority of people are weavers, farmers, safety matches factory worker and beedi
s factory workers.
This town was one of the highest endemic areas for leprosy in India with more than 2000 new cases detected annually in the 1960s. Even now the region has not reached the World Health Organisation (WHO) elimination target of less than 1 leprosy patient per 10,000 population. This led to the establishment of "The Schieffelin Leprosy Research and Training Centre (SLRTC)- Karigiri" which had a leprosy control program in this area and actively recruited patients for treatment with multi-drug-therapy (MDT) and is still providing extra ordinary treatment to those suffering from leprosy, coming from the surrounding areas
From 1981 onwards, it is under the jurisdiction of the "Tamil Nadu Agricultural University", Coimbatore. (TNAU)
Technical Institutions
Schools
n first cleared forest and made people habitat here so called this place 'Kudiyetram'. The supportive evidence for the myth is that the town is populated with Sengunthar
community who were of Chola kingdom and other communities naidu
, karuneegar
, and chettiar
also living in gudiyatham . The passage of time and most probably British tongues have slowly lead to the now totally incomprehensible name 'Gudiyatham'.
Many archeology excavation done in this town shows that this place was much flourished during Chola rule. Many Roman wine vase and coins were found in the periphery of this town.
. Kamarajar was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly
from the Gudiyatham constituency when he was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in Vellore district
Vellore District
Vellore district is one of the 32 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Vellore City is the headquarters of this district. It had a population of 3,477,317 as of 2001. It is 37.62% urbanised...
in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. It is a town located 31 km from the city of Vellore
Vellore
Vellore It is considered one of the oldest cities in South India and lies on the banks of the Palar river on the site of Vellore Fort. The city lies between Chennai and Bangalore and the Temple towns of Thiruvannamalai and Tirupati...
.
Location
Gudiyatham is about 172 km west of ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and 165 km southeast of Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. The town is located near border of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
state. Gudiyatham has more than 500 small villages around it.The recently announced NH 234 passes through it from Mangalore to Villupuram via Sira,Chintamani,V.Kota,Pernambut,Gudiyattam,Katpadi,Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.
- Nearest Airport: Vellore and Chennai
- Nearest Seaport: Chennai
- Nearest Railway Stations : Gudiyatham and Ambur
- Nearest Railway Junction: Katpadi
Demographics
India censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Gudiyatham had a population of 91,376. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Gudiyatham has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 64%. In Gudiyatham, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Tourist attractions
Gangai amman Temple located in Gudiyattam, famous for its yearly carnival every year on May 14–15 (Tamil month - Vaigasi 1st) which attracts more than a million people from various places (http://dharsanam.blogspot.com/2010/04/gudiyatham-sri-gangai-amman.html). The Temple is famous for its fair. The temple is located on the bank of Goundanya Maha nadhi near the bus stand of Gudiyattam.The Shiva temple Balasarthuleeswarar ( Baby-Tiger-Eswarar) in Tamil translation Karupuleeswarar Aalayam in Nellorepet is more 1000 years old. It is famous for Car festival. The Shiva temple was abode for famous sage Goundanya Rishi and the river passing through the town is in his name "Goundanya Nadi". The temple has Simha tank.The temple is on Gudiyatham to Pernambut road.
The town is close to the recently famous religious tourism/place of worship spot called the GOLDEN TEMPLE at Sripuram
Sripuram
The golden temple of Sripuram is a spiritual park situated at the foot of a small range of green hills in a place known as "Malaikodi" in the city of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India...
.
Commerce
The Republic of India's first national flag was woven here. Gudiyatham has a thriving small scale sector manufacturing safety matches, lungiLungi
The Lungi , also known as a sarong , is a traditional garment worn around the waist in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula...
s, and beedi
Beedi
A beedi is a thin, South Asian cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu leaf tied with a string at one end.The word comes from beeda, Marwari for a leaf wrapped in betel nuts, herbs, and condiments....
s. The safety matches industry is next largest to Sivakasi. Beedi
Beedi
A beedi is a thin, South Asian cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu leaf tied with a string at one end.The word comes from beeda, Marwari for a leaf wrapped in betel nuts, herbs, and condiments....
s are exported to Pakistan and other parts of India.
The town has many movie halls and has in total, seven pettai
Pettai
Pettai is an industrial area in Tirunelveli, the headquarters of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India. It has a general hospital, two post offices and other notable places. The co-operative mills were also here. One industrial training institute, the M.D.T. Hindu College, is there....
s or colonies.
Gudiyatham is famous for gold jewellery market. Being on the Katpadi
Katpadi
Katpadi is an area in Vellore, at the northern most part of Vellore city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The place gained importance due to its strategic location on the broad gauge line between Chennai-Bangalore and Villupuram-Tirupati. It is known to house VIT, one of India's premier...
- Jolarpettai railway line, it is much connected to Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. The handloom and powerloom lungies which are manufactured here are exported to many parts of India and Arab countries.
Other than these, there are two cotton mills running in Gudiyatham. One is Thirumagal Mills Limited and other one is Rajeshwari Mills Limited; both employ a considerable amount of employees. Cow and Ox market is held near Nellorepet every Tuesday and it has been so, for more than 100 years.
People
The major spoken language is Tamil. It has a fairly large TeluguTelugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
and Urdu speaking population. It has reputed educational institutions like the KMG college(arts and science and techear training b.ed) and Rajagopal Polytechnic college, which is one of the oldest and most reputed institutions in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
.
Majority of people are weavers, farmers, safety matches factory worker and beedi
Beedi
A beedi is a thin, South Asian cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu leaf tied with a string at one end.The word comes from beeda, Marwari for a leaf wrapped in betel nuts, herbs, and condiments....
s factory workers.
This town was one of the highest endemic areas for leprosy in India with more than 2000 new cases detected annually in the 1960s. Even now the region has not reached the World Health Organisation (WHO) elimination target of less than 1 leprosy patient per 10,000 population. This led to the establishment of "The Schieffelin Leprosy Research and Training Centre (SLRTC)- Karigiri" which had a leprosy control program in this area and actively recruited patients for treatment with multi-drug-therapy (MDT) and is still providing extra ordinary treatment to those suffering from leprosy, coming from the surrounding areas
Research Institute
The Sugarcane Research Station at Melalathur, Gudiyatham was started in 1935 under a scheme for sugarcane research of the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research.From 1981 onwards, it is under the jurisdiction of the "Tamil Nadu Agricultural University", Coimbatore. (TNAU)
Major Educational Institutions
Colleges- Government Thirumagal Mills College of Arts and Science (http://www.gtmcollege.com)
- K.M.G.College of Arts and Science
- K.M.G.College OF Education
- C.K.S College of Education(http://www.ckseducation.org)
Technical Institutions
- Gudiyattam Polytechnic College, Kakkathopu, Gudiyattam.
- Rajagopal Polytechnic College (http://www.rajapoly.org)
- Thiruvalluvar Teacher Training Institute
- Industrial Training Institutes
Schools
- Government Higher Secondary School, Nellorepet
- Saraswathi Vidhyalaya Matric Higher Secondary School, Sethuvandai
- Ambalal Jain sri Saraswathi vidyalaya matriculation, Nellorepet.
- Thiruvalluvar Higher Secondary School
- National Higher Secondary School
- Shiksha Kendra Ideal School, Pallikonda (10 km from Gudiyatham)
- Al Ameen Matriculation and Primary School, Nadupet
- Government Municipal Higher Secondary School (Opposite the Municipal Office)
- Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Matriculation school
- Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Nadupet
- SeventhDay Adventist Matric Higher Secondary School, Gudiyatham
- Crescent Matriculation School, Sedukkarai
- St John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Gudiyatham
- Kalaivani Thuvakkap Palli, Dharnampet
- Dr.Krishnaswami Matriculation School, Sedukkarai
- Immanuel English Nursery and Primary School, GPM st., Gudiyatham (Now defunct)
- Vallallar Higher Secondary school, Nellorepet
- LITTLE FLOWER Matriculation School Gudiyatham
- indira ghanthi nithi uthavi thuvaka palli pandiyan nagar gudiyatham
- Sri Venkateswara Nursery and Primary School, Gudiyatham
Name Origin
The name of the town stems from the yesteryear name supposedly 'Kudiyetram' which literally means 'a surge in population'. There is also a myth, Karikala CholaKarikala Chola
Karikala Chola or Karikala Chozhan was one of the great Tamil kings of Early Chola during the Sangam period. He was the son of Ilamcetcenni and ruled around 270 BC....
n first cleared forest and made people habitat here so called this place 'Kudiyetram'. The supportive evidence for the myth is that the town is populated with Sengunthar
Sengunthar
Sengunthar or Kaikolar is a Tamil community found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also in some parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Sengunthars use the title of Mudaliar after their names...
community who were of Chola kingdom and other communities naidu
Naidu
Naidu is a title used by various social groups of the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states of India. It is also used in Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and Chattisgarh...
, karuneegar
Karuneegar
Karuneegar is a caste in Tamil Nadu, India. Karuneegar Sangams have articles confirming Karuneegar caste's lineage is surya Brahmin.This caste belongs to both Brahmin and Kshatriya Varna . Their main occupation is Teaching, Administration, Science, Accountancy, Mathematicians etc...
, and chettiar
Chettiar
Chettiar , also spelled Chetty, is a title used by various castes in South India especially in Tamil Nadu. In Kannada, it appears as Setty, Shettar and Shettigar, who are Padmashalis in Andhra Pradesh....
also living in gudiyatham . The passage of time and most probably British tongues have slowly lead to the now totally incomprehensible name 'Gudiyatham'.
Many archeology excavation done in this town shows that this place was much flourished during Chola rule. Many Roman wine vase and coins were found in the periphery of this town.
Politics
Gudiyatham assembly constituency is part of Vellore Lok Sabha constituencyVellore (Lok Sabha constituency)
-Assembly segments:Vellore changed 1.1.09 Lok Sabha constituency was composed of the following assembly segments :#Katpadi#Gudiyatham#Pernambut #Anaicut#Vellore#ArniAfter delimitation, it is currently composed of#Vellore#Anaicut...
. Kamarajar was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly
Member of Legislative Assembly
A Member of Legislative Assembly, or MLA, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the Legislature of a State in the Indian system of government...
from the Gudiyatham constituency when he was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
.