Rajapalayam () is a town in the Indian state 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 ...

. It is the largest municipality in the

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 ...

district. Rajapalayam is located on the

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 ...

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 ...

National Highway at a distance of 562 km south of the state capital

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 ...

. The economy is primarily industrial with several mills for spinning and weaving. The town is known for its

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

and the Rajapalayam breed of dogs.

Climate

The climate of the region is of the

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

tropical monsoon type. The average temperature range is 20 °C to 37 °C.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Rajapalayam had a population of 130,442 with 1,014 females for every 1,000 males, far above the national average of 929. A total of 11,604 individuals (5,927 males and 5,677 females) were under the age of six. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 13.51% and 0.09% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 77.87%; the national average was 72.99%. The town has a total of 37,797 households. There are 53,913 workers, comprising 380 cultivators, 3,676 main agricultural labourers, 1,375 in household industries, 45,223 other workers, 3,259 marginal workers, 34 marginal cultivators, 326 marginal agricultural labourers, 286 marginal workers in household industries and 2,613 other marginal workers. According to the religious census of 2011, the population is 94.53%

Hindu 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 ...

, 3.48%

Muslim 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 ...

, 1.75%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.02%

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

and 0.21% other.

Geography

The mountains of the Western ghats are to the west of the town (12 km from the town), and the Sanjeevi hills are to the east. These moderate the climate, and several water catchment areas in the hills provide water for the town. Water is stored in the 6th mile water reservoir. There are several major lakes around the town, including Kondaneri, Karungulam, Pirandaikulam, and Sengulam. The soil in the area is classified by the government as red loam. The area of the municipality is about 11.36 sq.kms which makes the town the biggest municipality in Virudunagar district.

Industries

The principal industry was initially agriculture. In 1936, Thiru P. A. C. Ramasamy Raja started the first cotton spinning mill, called Rajapalayam Mills Ltd. Later, more

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

s were started. Today, Rajapalayam is a major hub of the textile industry, famous for bandages, woven fabric,

nightwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some styles ...

, and other products. The neighboring town of Chatrapatti (Virudhunagar Dist.) is a large player in producing surgical cotton

gauze Gauze is a thin, translucent Textile, fabric with a wikt:loose, loose open Weaving, weave. In technical terms, "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each Warp (weaving), w ...

, and nearby Dhalavaipuram and Muhavoor manufacture women's nightwear.

Transportation

By Land

Road

The National Highway NH-744 from

passes through the town. State highway SH-41 (Rajapalayam-Sankarankovil-Tirunelveli) links the major parts of the extreme south of Tamil Nadu, including

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 ...

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 Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...

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

. State highway SH-186 (Rajapalayam-Vembakottai) connects the town to the east part of

district and passes through the fast-growing industrial towns of Chatrapatti and Alangulam.

Bus

Rajapalayam's long-distance bus station, located on Sankarankovil Road, is served by buses from the government of Tamil Nadu's TNSTC (Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation) and private transport companies. Several private and government operated services connect to

Bengaluru 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 ...

Hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Hosur is one of the 21 municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

, Salem,

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

, Tiruppur,

Trichy Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

Vellore Vellore ( ), also spelled Velur, is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River and surrounded by the Javadi Hills in the northeastern ...

and other major cities. Rajapalayam old bus station is the boarding point for buses connecting nearby villages. It is also called Old bus stand or Town bus stand.

Sankarankovil Sankarankovil is a Municipality Town in the Tenkasi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, On the eastern slopes of Western Ghats. It was a demonym represents literally Sankara Narayana kovil because The Sankarankovil Town houses the fa ...

Mukku road connects the new bus stand.

Rail

The Rajapalayam 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 RJPM. Passenger Trains running daily via Rajapalayam: Below Mail/SF Express services are currently running through Rajapalayam Railway station.

By Air

The nearest international 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 ...

(~80 km).

Notable people

* P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1949–1952) and Governor of Orissa (1954–1956) * S. Peter Alphonse, Indian National Congress politician elected to Tamil Nadu legislative assembly twice from Tenkasi constituency (1989 and 1991) and once from Kadayanallur constituency (2006) * Shiva Ayyadurai *

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...

Samuthirakani P. Samuthirakani (born 26 April 1973) is an Indian actor and film director who works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He worked as an assistant to director K. Balachander, in '' Paarthale Paravasam''. He won the National F ...

* Vasantha Balan *

Muthukaalai Muthukaalai is an Indian actor, comedian who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Early life and career Muthukaalai was born in Tirukovilpuram near Rajapalayam and dreamt of becoming a stunt choreographer. While studying in school, he recei ...

* A. A. Subba Raja, Municipal chairman for 6 terms and 1 time MLA * N. A. P. Alagiri Raja, Philanthropist, industrialist, 1st elected chairman of Rajapalayam municipality

References

External links

Rajapalayam
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Virudhunagar district Palayam