Thanjavur district
Thanjavur District is one of the 32 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur; the district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is agrarian. As of 2011, Thanjavur district had a population of 2,405,890 with a sex-ratio of 1,035 females for every 1,000 males; the district is located at 10.08°N 79.16°E / 10.08. According to 2011 census, Thanjavur district had a population of 2,405,890 with a sex-ratio of 1,035 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 238,598 were under the age of six, constituting 121,949 males and 116,649 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 18.91% and.15% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the district was 74.44%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The district had a total of 605,363 households. There were a total of 974,079 workers, comprising 117,321 cultivators, 327,673 main agricultural labourers, 26,430 in house hold industries, 363,060 other workers, 139,595 marginal workers, 12,592 marginal cultivators, 87,688 marginal agricultural labourers, 4,770 marginal workers in household industries and 34,545 other marginal workers.
Thanjavur district lies in the most fertile region in the state. The district is the main rice producing region in the state and hence known as the Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu. Kaveri River and its tributaries irrigate the district. Apart from paddy, farmers here grow coconut and sugarcane and it is the largest producer of coconut in Tamil Nadu. Being an agrarian economy, industrial growth in the district is confined to agro-based industries. A large number of Rice mills, Oil mills are spread over the district. Brihadeeshwarar Temple called as Peruvudaiyaar Temple, built by the Cholas and a UNESCO World Heritage Site is located at Thanjavur; the green paddy fields and the Kaveri river provide for picturesque spots in the district. Airavateswara temple near Kumbakonam is a UNESCO declared World Heritage site and another major tourist attraction in the district. Thanjavur flora was explored and studied by S. A Ganapathy in 1992. Thanjavur is famous for the "Saraswathi veena", Thanjavur art plates, Thanjavur oil paintings and Thalaiyatti Bommai.
V. S. Srinivasa Sastri U. V. Swaminathan Srinivasa Ramanujan G. Subramania S. Kasturi Rangan Shivaji Ganesan - Actor and EX Rajya Sabha Member Thulasi Ayya Vandayar - EX MP G K Moopanar TMC- Congress S. S. Palanimanickam Ex Central Minister S. D Somasundaram EX Minister and MP Parasuram EX MP - Loksabha L. Ganesan - EX MLA, MP, MLC R. VaithiyaLingam - Ex Minister and Rajya Sabha Member M Ramachandran MLA - DMk Durai Govindarajan EX MLA Durai Chandrasekaran MLA S. Shankar D. Bharat Chola Nadu Achanoor Adirampattinam Kumbakonam Temples of Kumbakonam Ayyampettai Peravurani Pattukkottai Thanjavur District Development Authority
Kirtan
Kirtan or Kirtana is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, telling, describing" of an idea or story. It refers to a genre of religious performance arts, connoting a musical form of narration or shared recitation of spiritual or religious ideas. With roots in the Vedic anukirtana tradition, a kirtan is a call-and-response style song or chant, set to music, wherein multiple singers recite or describe a legend, or express loving devotion to a deity, or discuss spiritual ideas, it may include dancing or direct expression of bhavas by the singer. Many kirtan performances are structured to engage the audience where they either repeat the chant, or reply to the call of the singer. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankara. A Kirtan performance includes an accompaniment of regionally popular musical instruments, such as the harmonium, the veena or ektara, the tabla, the mrdanga or pakhawaj and karatalas or talas, it is a major practice in Hinduism, Vaisnava devotionalism, the Sant traditions and some forms of Buddhism, as well as other religious groups.
Kirtan is sometimes accompanied by acting. Texts cover religious, mythological or social subjects. Kirtan has Vedic roots and it means "telling, describing, reporting"; the term is found as Anukirtan in the context of Yajna, wherein team recitations of dialogue-style and question-answer riddle hymns were part of the ritual or celebratory dramatic performance. The Sanskrit verses in chapter 13.2 of Shatapatha Brahmana, for example, are written in the form of a riddle play between two actors. The Vedic sacrifice is presented as a kind of drama, with its actors, its dialogues, its portion to be set to music, its interludes, its climaxes; the root of kirtan is kirt. The root is found in the Samhitas, the Brahmanas and other Vedic literature, as well as the Vedanga and Sutras literature. Kirt, according to Monier-Williams contextually means, "to mention, make mention of, name, recite, relate, communicate, celebrate, glorify".kirtan, sometimes referred to as sankirtana, is a call-and-response chanting or musical conversation, a genre of religious performance arts that developed during India's bhakti devotional traditions.
However, it is a heterogeneous practice that varies regionally according to Christian Novetzke, includes varying mixture of different musical instruments, oration, audience participation and moral narration. In Maharashtra for example, states Novetzke, a kirtan is a call-and-response style performance, ranging from devotional dancing and singing by a lead singer and audience, to an "intricate scholarly treatise, a social commentary or a philosophical/linguistic exposition", that includes narration, humor and entertainment – all an aesthetic part of ranga of the kirtana. Kirtan is locally known as Abhang, Samaj Gayan, Haveli Sangeet, Harikatha; the Vaishnava temples and monasteries of Hinduism in Assam and northeastern, called Satra, have a large worship hall named Kirtan ghar – a name derived from their being used for congregational singing and performance arts. In regional languages, Kirtana is scripted as Bengali: কীর্তন. Musical recitation of hymns and the praise of deities has ancient roots in Hinduism, as evidenced by the Samaveda and other Vedic literature.
Kirtan were popularized by the Bhakti movement of medieval era Hinduism, starting with the South Indian Alvars and Nayanars around the 6th century, which spread in central, northern and eastern India after the 12th century, as a social and congregational response to Hindu-Muslim conflicts. The foundations of the Kirtan traditions are found in other Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gita where Krishna describes multiple paths to spiritual freedom, including karma marga, jnana marga and bhakti marga. Kirtan relates to the bhakti marga tradition of Hinduism. References to Kirtan as a musical recitation are found in the Bhagavata Purana, an important Vaishnava text. Kirtan is practiced as a kind of theatrical folk song with call-and-response chanting or antiphon; the ancient sage Narada revered as a musical genius, is called a kirtankar in the Padma Purana. The famous story of Prahlada in the Avatara Katha mentions kirtan as one of nine forms of worship, called the nava vidha bhakti along with shravanam, pada sevanam, vandanam, dasyam and atmanivedanam.
The so-called Naradiya Kirtan divides kirtan into five parts: naman, chanting, katha or akhyan and a final prayer for universal welfare. Kirtan as a genre of religious music has been a major part of the Vaishnavism tradition starting with the Alvars of Sri Vaishnavism sub-tradition between the 7th to 10th century CE. After the 13th-century, two subgenres of kirtan emerged in Vaishnavism, namely the Nama-kirtana wherein the different names or aspects of god are extolled, the Lila- kirtana wherein the deity's life and legends are narrated; the Marathi Varkari saint Namdev used the kirtan
Narada
Narada is a Vedic sage, famous in Hindu traditions as a traveling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He appears in a number of Hindu texts, notably the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as in the Puranas. In Indian texts, Narada travels to distant realms, he is depicted carrying a khartal and tambura with the name Mahathi and is regarded as one of the great masters of the ancient musical instrument. This instrument is known by the name "mahathi" which he uses to accompany his singing of hymns and mantras. In the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, he is presented as a sage with devotion to Lord Vishnu. Narada is described as both wise and mischievous, in humorous tales. Vaishnav enthusiasts depict him as a pure, elevated soul who glorifies Vishnu through his devotional songs, singing the names Hari and Narayana, therein demonstrating bhakti yoga; the Narada Bhakti Sutra is attributed to him. Other texts named after Narada include Narada Purana and the Nāradasmṛti, the latter called the "juridical text par excellence" and represents the only Dharmaśāstra text which deals with juridical matters and ignoring those of righteous conduct and penance.
The name Narada, referring to many different persons, appears in many mythical legends of Hinduism, as an earlier birth of Sariputta in the Jataka tales of Buddhism as well as names of medieval Buddhist scholars, in Jainism. In the Mahabharata, Narada was conversant with the Vedas and the Upanishads and was acquainted with history and Puranas, he had mastery of the six Angas: pronunciation, prosody, religious rites and astronomy. All celestial beings worshiped him for his knowledge - he is supposed to be well versed in all that occurred in ancient Kalpas and is termed to be conversant with Nyaya and the truth of moral science, he was a perfect master in re-conciliatory texts and differentiating in applying general principles to particular cases. He could swiftly interpret contraries by references to differences in situation, he was eloquent, resolute and possessor of powerful memory. He knew the science of morals, skilled in drawing inference from evidence, proficient in distinguishing inferior things from superior ones.
He was competent in judging the correctness and incorrectness of complex syllogistic statements consisting of 5 proponents. He was capable of arriving at definite conclusions about religion, wealth and salvation, he possessed knowledge of this whole everything surrounding it. He was capable while arguing, he was the master of the Sankhya and Yoga systems of philosophy, conversant with sciences of war and treaty and proficient in drawing conclusions of judging things not within a direct knowledge. He knew about the six sciences of treaty, military campaigns, maintenance of posts against the enemy and strategies of ambushes and reserves, he was a thorough master of every branch of learning. He was fond of war and music and was incapable of being repulsed by any science or any course of action; the Bhagavata Purana describes the story of Narada's spiritual enlightenment: He was the primary source of information among Gods, is believed to be the first journalist on Earth. In his previous birth Narada was a Gandharva, cursed to be born on an earthly planet for singing glories to the demigods instead of the Supreme Lord.
He was born as the son of a maid-servant of some saintly priests. The priests, being pleased with both his and his mother's service, blessed him by allowing him to eat some of their food offered to their lord, Vishnu, he received further blessings from these sages and heard them discussing many spiritual topics. After his mother died, he decided to roam the forest in search of enlightenment in understanding the'Supreme Absolute Truth'. Reaching a tranquil forest location, after quenching his thirst from a nearby stream, he sat under a tree in meditation, concentrating on the paramatma form of Vishnu within his heart as he had been taught by the priests he had served. After some time Narada experienced a vision wherein Narayana appeared before him and spoke "that despite having the blessing of seeing him at that moment, Narada would not be able to see his divine form again until he died". Narayan further explained that the reason he had been given a chance to see his form was because his beauty and love would be a source of inspiration and would fuel his dormant desire to be with the lord again.
After instructing Narada in this manner, Vishnu disappeared from his sight. The boy awoke from his meditation both disappointed. For the rest of his life Narada focused on meditation upon and worship to Vishnu. After his death Vishnu blessed him with the spiritual form of "Narada" as he became known. In many Hindu scriptures Narada is considered a saktyavesa-avatara or partial-manifestation of God, empowered to perform miraculous tasks on Vishnu's behalf. Narada temples are Sri Narada Muni Temple at Chigateri, Karnataka. In Jainism, there are a total of 9 Naradas in every cycle of Jain Cosmology, current cycle's Naradas were Bhima, Rudra, Kala, Durmukha and Adhomukha. Bhagavata Purana Narad Bhakti Sutra Nāradasmṛti Sangita Makarandha Four Kumaras Vishnu Doniger, Wendy, ed. Encyclopedia of World Religions, Merriam-Webster, ISBN 0-87779-044-2 Translation by Richard W. Lariviere; the Nāradasmr̥ti. University of Philadelphia. Narada's Instructions on Srimad-Bhagavatam for Vyasadeva R
Prakasam district
Prakasam district is an administrative district in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed in 1970; the headquarters of the district is Ongole. It is located on the western shore of Bay of Bengal and is bounded by Guntur district on the north, Kurnool district on the west and Nellore districts on the south. A part of north west region borders the Mahabubnagar district of Telangana, it is the 3rd largest district in the state with an area of 17,626 km2 and had a population of 3,392,764 as per 2011 census of India. The district was named after the patriot and first Chief Minister of Andhra State Tanguturi Prakasam known as Andhra Kesari, born in the village of Vinodarayunipalem, it was accordingly renamed as Prakasam District in the year 1972. Prakasam district was constituted on 2 February 1970, carved out of Guntur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh, it was carved out of three taluks of Guntur District, i.e. Addanki and Ongole, four taluks of Nellore district, i.e. Kandukur, Kanigiri and Podili and three taluks of Kurnool district i.e. Markapur and Giddaluru.
It is one of the nine districts in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh. Prakasam District is a part of the Red Corridor. Prakasam district occupies an area of 17,626 square kilometres, comparatively equivalent to Indonesia's Seram Island; the only Municipal Corporation in Prakasam is Ongole. Some of the main towns in Prakasam district are Singarayakonda, Inkollu, Yerragondapalem, Darsi, Chirala, Pamuru, Giddaluru, Cumbum, Kanigiri and Martur. Markapur is India's main slate manufacturing town where the historic temple of Lord Chennakesava is situated. Chimakurthi is world-renowned for its granite reserves. Dornala is known as Diguva Srisailam, since it is near the historic pilgrimage centre of Srisailam. Cumbum lake known as Gundalakamma lake built on Gundalakamma rivulet upon Nallamalai hills is one of the oldest man made lakes of Asia; the anicut was built by the Vijayanagar princess Varadharaj Amma. The lake in its present form is about 7 km long and on average, about 3.5 km wide As per the Imperial gazette of India at the turn of the 20th century the height of the dam was 57 feet and the drainage area was 430 square miles.
The direct irrigation land was about 10,300 acres in all. Cumbum lake is accessible both by the rail Guntur-Nandyal railway line and by road 108 km from Ongole; as of 2011 census of India, the district had a population of 3,397,448 with a density of 193 persons per sq.km. The total population constitute, 17,14,764 males and 16,82,684 females –a ratio of 981 females per 1000 males; the total urban population is 664,582. There are 19,04,435 literates with a literacy rate of 63.08%. The Gross District Domestic Product of the district is ₹35,962 crore and it contributes 6.9% to the Gross State Domestic Product. For the FY 2013–14, the per capita income at current prices was ₹85,765; the primary and tertiary sectors of the district contribute ₹12,875 crore, ₹7,897 crore and ₹15,190 crore respectively. The major products contributing to the GVA of the district from agriculture and allied services are, paddy, batavia, milk and fisheries; the GVA to the industrial and service sector is contributed from construction, minor minerals, unorganised trade and ownership of dwellings.
Industries The district has many service industries like Industrial testing, Electrical Appliance repair, Clinical Laboratory, Servicing of Computers Hardware, Hospitality industry etc. Major exports from the district include Sea food, processed tobacco, granite blocks, granite monuments and yarn. There are many industries of food and agro, chemical, leather and rubber, engineering and textiles, electronic products. All these industries deals with Prawn/Fish Processing and Canning, Dairy Products, Granite industries and Pharmaceuticals, Fishing Nets, Surgical Cotton etc. Forest based industries produce Ayurvedic Medicines, Essential Oil, Wooden Furniture, Wooden Toys, Bamboo Products etc. Mining The district leads in granite mining in the state with discovery of Galaxy Granite in the Chimakurthy area of the district. Good deposits of coloured granites are located occur around Kodidena; the minerals found in the district are Baryte, iron ore and silica sand. In 2010-11, 4,300 tonnes of Baryte, 22,722 tonnes of quartz, 2,24,075 tonnes of silica sand and 400 tonnes of iron ore were produced.
Granite barons in Prakasam district made a killing ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as the natural stone material was used in the construction of the sports village then. The famous Black Galaxy granite, Black pearl, Steal Grey and English Grey processed in the SEZ make it to, among other countries, the U. S. Canada, Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Algeria. “India is seen as an alternative source for decorative stone material, but we have to build capacities and upgrade processing technology to meet the increasing demand. The country lags behind its eastern neighbour by about 10 years,” explains Galaxy Granite Owners Association treasurer Sidda Sudheer. Processing of granite was insignificant in the district before 2010, but now after the setting up of 13 export oriented units within the SEZ and five elsewhere in the district, at least 60% of the decorative stone material is processed here. Over 500 to 600 containers of the material are shipped from the SEZ every month to other
Mysore
Mysore Mysuru, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the foothills of the Chamundi Hills about 145.2 km towards the southwest of Bangalore and spread across an area of 152 km2. Mysore City Corporation is responsible for the civic administration of the city, the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division, it served as the capital city of the Kingdom of Mysore for nearly six centuries from 1399 until 1956. The Kingdom was ruled by the Wadiyar dynasty, with a brief period of interregnum in the 1760s and 70s when Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan were in power; the Wadiyars were patrons of art and culture and contributed to the cultural and economic growth of the city and the state. The cultural ambiance and achievements of Mysore earned it the sobriquet Cultural Capital of Karnataka. Mysore is noted for its heritage structures and palaces, including the Mysore Palace, for the festivities that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a large number of tourists from around the world.
It lends its name such as Mysore Dasara, Mysore Painting. Tourism is the major industry alongside the traditional industries. Mysore's inter-city public transportation includes rail and flights; the name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha in the vernacular Kannada. The common noun Mahisha, in Sanskrit, means buffalo, he was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is situated atop the Chamundi Hills, after whom it is named.'Mahishapura' became Mahisūru, came to be anglicised as Mysore by the British and Maisūru/Mysuru in the vernacular Kannada language. In December 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced its intention to change the English name of the city to Mysuru; this was approved by the Government of India in October 2014 and Mysore was renamed to "Mysuru" on 1 November 2014. The site where Mysore Palace now stands was occupied by a village named Puragere at the beginning of the 16th century; the Mahishūru Fort was constructed in 1524 by Chamaraja Wodeyar III, who passed on the dominion of Puragere to his son Chamaraja Wodeyar IV.
Since the 16th century, the name of Mahishūru has been used to denote the city. The Mysore Kingdom, governed by the Wodeyar family served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire. With the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire after the Battle of Talikota in 1565, the Mysore Kingdom achieved independence, by the time of King Narasaraja Wodeyar it had become a sovereign state. Seringapatam, near Mysore, was the capital of the kingdom from 1610; the 17th century saw a steady expansion of its territory and, under Narasaraja Wodeyar I and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the kingdom annexed large expanses of what is now southern Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu, to become a powerful state in the southern Deccan. The kingdom reached the height of its military power and dominion in the latter half of the 18th century under the de facto rulers Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan; the latter demolished parts of Mysore to remove legacies of the Wodeyar dynasty. During this time, Mysore kingdom came into conflict with the Marathas, the British and the Nizam of Golconda, leading to the four Anglo-Mysore wars, success in the first two of, followed by defeat in the third and fourth.
After Tipu Sultan's death in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799, the capital of the kingdom was moved back to Mysore from Seringapatam, the kingdom was distributed by the British to their allies of the Fourth Mysore war. The landlocked interior of the previous Mysore Kingdom was turned into a princely state under the suzerainty of the British Crown; the former Wodeyar rulers were reinstated as puppet monarchs, now styled Maharajas. The British administration was assisted locally by Diwan Purnaiah. Purnaiah is credited with improving Mysore's public works. Mysore lost its status as the administrative centre of the kingdom in 1831, when the British commissioner moved the capital to Bangalore, it regained that status in 1881 and remained the capital of the Princely State of Mysore within the British Indian Empire until India became independent in 1947. The Mysore municipality was established in 1888 and the city was divided into eight wards. In 1897 an outbreak of bubonic plague killed nearly half of the population of the city.
With the establishment of the City Improvement Trust Board in 1903, Mysore became one of the first cities in Asia to undertake planned development of the city. Public demonstrations and meetings were held there during the Quit India movement and other phases of the Indian independence movement. After Indian Independence, Mysore city remained as part of the Mysore State, now known as Karnataka. Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar king of Mysore, was allowed to retain his titles and was nominated as the Rajapramukh of the state, he was cremated in Mysore city. Over the years, Mysore became well known as a centre for tourism. Among the events that took place in Mysore
Thiruvarur
Thiruvarur spelt as Tiruvarur is a town and municipality in Tiruvarur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Tiruvarur Tiruvarur taluk; the town was one of the five traditional capitals of the Chola empire, with one of the emperors of the dynasty, Kulothunga Chola I, having it as his capital. The town is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled, at different times, by the Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Vijayanagar Empire and the British; the town is known for the Thyagaraja temple, the annual chariot festival held in the month of April. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing 300 tonnes and measuring 90 feet tall is the largest temple chariot in Tamil Nadu. Thiruvarur is the birthplace of Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, popularly known as the Trinity of Carnatic music of the 18th century CE. Thiruvarur was a part of Thanjavur district till 1991 and Nagapattinam district until 1997; the Odambokki river passes through the centre of the town.
Thiruvarur covers an area of 10.47 km2 and had a population of 58,301 as of 2011. It is administered by a first grade municipality; the town is a part of the Cauvery delta region and agriculture is the major occupation. Roadways are the major means of transportation with a total of 94.06 km of district roads including three national highways passing through the town. The historic name of the town was Aaroor and it finds mention in the 7th century saiva canonical work, Tevaram; the term Thiru is added to all temple cities that are revered by the verses of Tevaram, the case of Arur becoming Thiruvarur. Another name of Thiruvarur is Kamalaalayasetra, meaning the "holy place, an abode of lotuses". During the British Raj, the town was termed Tiruvalur and Thiruvalur; as per the district and municipality websites, the district has the spelling "Tiruvarur", while the town has it as "Thiruvarur". As per folk legend, Thiruvarur is mentioned as the capital town of a legendary Chola king, Manu Needhi Cholan, who killed his own son to provide justice to a cow.
Thiruvarur was one of the five traditional capitals of the Chola empire and the history of town revolves around the Thyagarajaswamy temple. Thiruvarur is mentioned in the saiva canonical work, Tevaram by Thirugnana Sambanthar and Sundarar, the foremost Saivite saints of 7th–8th century CE and classified as Padal petra stalam. Tirunavukkarasar mentions several traditions of the temple like Marghazhi Aathirai Vizha, Panguni Uttirai Perunaal and Veedhivitakanin Veedhi Panni; the granite structure of the temple was first constructed by Aditya Chola I in the 9th century CE and revamped during the reign of Rajaraja Chola I. The temple was upgraded and rebuilt with stone by Rajendra Chola I; the temple has inscriptions from both the emperors Cholas and Pandyas. The temple is believed to be an inspiration for Rajaraja Chola to build the Brihadeeswarar Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inscriptions from the temple indicate Thiruvarur as the capital of Kulothunga Chola I, during which the town emerged a centre of saivism.
After the fall of Cholas during the reign of Rajendra Chola III in the 13th century CE, the town was caught under a power struggle between the Pandyas and Hoysalas. The royal patronage continued and the town flourished as a cultural centre during the rule of the Nayaks, Vijayanagar kings and Marathas. During the period of Marathas, the town became a temporary home to the Nataraja of Chidambaram temple; the town was captured by French troops led by Lally in 1759 CE. The Thyagarajar temple was ransacked in a failed attempt to discover hidden treasure. During the attempt, six brahmins of the temple, suspected to be spies of the British, were killed in an encounter; the province and Tanjore were annexed by British after the failed attempt of the French to attack the King of Tanjore. After independence, Thiruvaur continued to be a part of the Thanjavur district and Nagapattinam district till 1991 and 1997 respectively. Thiruvarur was made the headquarters of Tiruvarur district when it was carved out of Nagapattinam district in 1997.
Thiruvarur is located at 9.28°N 79.3°E / 9.28. The town is bounded by Sukumar river in the north, Valaiyar river in the south while the Odambokki river flows through the centre; the town has an average elevation of 3 metres from the sea level. The municipality covers an area of 10.47 km2 Thiruvarur is situated at a distance of 300 km from Chennai, 24 km from Nagapattinam, 40 km from Karaikal, 40 km from Mayiladuthurai and 56 km from Thanjavur. The town along with the district receives an annual rainfall of 1,260 millimetres; the town experiences tropical climate during summer. The proximity to sea results in high humidity throughout peaks 70 % from August to May; the town has a plain terrain of alluvial soil consisting of sand and clay. Vennar and Vettar, the tributaries of river Cauvery are the major water bodies around the town. Surface water canals contribute 89% to irrigation, while the rest 11% is accounted by dug wells and tube wells. Paddy is the major crop while the others being green gram, ground nut and gingely.
During 1901, the population of the town stood at 15,436. According to 2011 census, Thiruvarur had a population of 58,301 with a sex-ratio of 1,053 females for ever
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India. Situated in the south-east of the country, it is the seventh-largest state in India, covering an area of 162,970 km2; as per the 2011 census, it is the tenth most populous state, with 49,386,799 inhabitants. The largest city in Andhra Pradesh is Visakhapatnam. Telugu, one of the classical languages of India, is the major and official language of Andhra Pradesh. On 2 June 2014, the north-western portion of Andhra Pradesh was separated to form the new state Telangana and the longtime capital of Andhra Pradesh, was transferred to Telangana as part of the division. However, in accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was to remain as the acting capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of time not exceeding ten years; the new riverfront de facto capital, Amaravati, is under the jurisdiction of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority. Andhra Pradesh has a coastline of 974 km – the second longest coastline among the states of India, after Gujarat – with jurisdiction over 15,000 km2 of territorial waters.
The state is bordered by Telangana in the north-west and Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south, to the east lies the Bay of Bengal. The small enclave of Yanam, a district of Puducherry, lies to the south of Kakinada in the Godavari delta on the eastern side of the state; the state is made up of the two major regions of Rayalaseema, in the inland southwestern part of the state, Coastal Andhra to the east and northeast, bordering the Bay of Bengal. The state comprises thirteen districts in total, nine of which are located in Coastal Andhra and four in Rayalaseema; the largest city and commercial hub of the state are Visakhapatnam, located on the Bay of Bengal, with a GDP of US$43.5 billion. The economy of Andhra Pradesh is the seventh-largest state economy in India with ₹8.70 lakh crore in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹142,000. Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year, making it the third most-visited state in India.
The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the world's most visited religious sites, with 18.25 million visitors per year. Other pilgrimage centres in the state include the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga at Srisailam, the Srikalahasteeswara Temple at Srikalahasti, the Ameen Peer Dargah in Kadapa, the Mahachaitya at Amaravathi, the Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada, Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi; the state's natural attractions include the beaches of Visakhapatnam, hill stations such as the Araku Valley and Horsley Hills, the island of Konaseema in the Godavari River delta. A tribe named. According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhra left north India and settled in south India; the Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jateeya and Andhrabhrtya in the Puranic literature. They did not refer themselves as Andhra in any of their inscriptions. Archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire.
Amaravati might have been a regional centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of Emperor Ashoka, Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE and was replaced by several smaller kingdoms in the Andhra region; the Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century. The Satavahanas made Dharanikota and Amaravathi their capital, which according to the Buddhists is the place where Nagarjuna, the philosopher of Mahayana lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries; the Andhra Ikshvakus, with their capital at Vijayapuri, succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna River valley in the latter half of the 2nd century. Pallavas, who were executive officers under the Satavahana kings, were not a recognised political power before the 2nd century AD and were swept away by the Western Chalukyan invasion, led by Pulakesin II in the first quarter of the 7th century CE. After the downfall of the Ikshvakus, the Vishnukundinas were the first great dynasty in the 5th and 6th centuries, held sway over the entire Andhra country, including Kalinga and parts of Telangana.
They played an important role in the history of Deccan during the 5th and 6th century CE, with Eluru and Puranisangam. The Salankayanas were an ancient dynasty that ruled the Andhra region between Godavari and Krishna with their capital at Vengi from 300 to 440 CE; the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, whose dynasty lasted for around five hundred years from the 7th century until 1130 C. E. merged with the Chola empire. They continued to rule under the protection of the Chola empire until 1189 C. E. when the kingdom succumbed to the Hoysalas and the Yadavas. The roots of the Telugu language have been seen on inscriptions found near the Guntur district and from others dating to the rule of Renati Cholas in the fifth century CE. Kakatiyas constructed several forts, they were succeeded by the Musunuri Nayaks. The Reddy dynasty was established by Prolaya Vema Reddi in the early 14th century, who ruled from present day Kondaveedu. Prolaya Vema Reddi was part of the confederation of states that started a movement against the invading Turkic Muslim armies of the Delhi
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