Ariyalur district is an administrative

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, one of the 38 districts in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The district headquarters is located at

Ariyalur Ariyalur () is a town and district headquarters of Ariyalur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is rich in limestone, surrounded with seven cement factories and two sugar factories. The town is located at a distance of from th ...

. The district encompasses an area of 1,949.31 km². Gangaikonda Cholapuram, built by King Rajendra Cholan of

Chola Empire The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BC ...

, is a UNESCO World Heritage site situated in this district. The district is also known for its rich prehistoric fossils. Many fossils of gigantic molluscs and jawed fishes, at least one fossilized dinosaur egg, and several fragmentary fossils of sauropod and

theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...

dinosaurs have been discovered here. An on-site museum is being set up at Keelapazhur to preserve and conserve fossils. Ariyalur is noted for its

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

industries and Jayankondam has huge reserves of lignite.

History

In 1995, Tiruchirappalli was trifurcated and the Perambalur and Karur districts were formed. Ariyalur district was carved out of Perambalur district on 1 January 2001. But, it was merged with

Perambalur district Perambalur is one of the 38 districts (an administrative district) in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The district headquarters is located at Perambalur. The district occupies an area of 1,752 km² and had a population of 565,223 with a se ...

on 31 March 2002. Ariyalur district was re-carved on 23 November 2007. The district is bordered by the districts of

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

to the north and north-east, Mayiladuthurai to the east, Thanjavur to the south and south-east, Tiruchirapalli to the south-west and Perambalur to the west.

Brihadeeswarar Temple, Gangaikondacholapuram

Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

in Gangaikonda Cholapuram,

Jayankondam Jayankondam is a Second Grade Municipality in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu in India. As of 2011, the town had a population of 33,945. Huge amounts of lignite deposits have been found here and power projects have been initiated by the Neyveli ...

, in the

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 territ ...

n state of

. Completed in 1035 AD by

Rajendra Chola I Rajendra Chola I (; Middle Tamil: Rājēntira Cōḻaṉ; Classical Sanskrit: Rājēndradēva Cōla; Old Malay: ''Raja Suran''; c. 971 CE – 1044 CE), often referred to as Rajendra the Great, and also known as Gangaikonda Chola (Middle Tamil ...

as a part of his new capital, this Chola dynasty era temple is similar in design, and has a similar name, as the older 11th century, Brihadeeswarar Temple about 70 km (43 mi) to the southwest in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

. The Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple is smaller yet more refined than the Thanjavur Temple. Both are among the largest Shiva temples in South India and examples of Dravidian style temples.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Ariyalur district has a population of 754,894, roughly equal to the nation of Guyana or the US state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. This gives it a ranking of 491 in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 8.19%. Ariyalur has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...

of 1016 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 71.99%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 23.3% and 1.4% of the population, respectively. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Tamil Nadu (out of 32), after Perambalur and

Nilgiris The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

is the most populated town in Ariyalur district.

Politics

Important places

* Gangaikonda Cholapuram * Kallathur *

Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary The Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary is a protected area located in the Ariyalur District of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The sanctuary is about from Thanjavur. This freshwater lake is fed by Pullambadi, Kattalal canal and attracts thousands of bi ...

* Thirumalapadi * Kamarasavalli * Govindaputtur * Fossil Museum * Vikkiramangalam * Ariyalur – Kodandarmaswamy Kovil * Elakurichi Church * Kallankurichi Kaliya Perumal Kovil

References

External links

Ariyalur District Official WebSiteAriyalur District Police
{{Ariyalur district Districts of Tamil Nadu 2001 establishments in Tamil Nadu