Tiruchirapalli
Tiruchirapalli திருச்சிராப்பள்ளி (also spelt Tiruchchirapalli, commonly known as
Tiruchi or
Trichy திருச்சி, was also pronounced as
Trichinopoly under
British rule) is a city situated on the banks of the
Kaveri River, centrally located in the
Indian state of
Tamil Nadu. The city is the administrative headquarters of
Tiruchirappalli District.
The name of the town, "Tiruchirapalli[
1]", originated as a tribute (
thiru in
Tamil means respected) to a
Jain monk called "Chira": "Tiruchirapalli" means "the town of respected Chira".
Tiruchirapalli has many historic temples, monuments, churches and mosques,. It was an important town in the days of the later
Cholas,
Nayaks as well as during the early days of the
British East India Company.
|
The Rock Fort Temple at Trichy. |
One famous landmark in Tiruchirapalli is the Rock Fort — a huge outcrop of rock. There is a
Ganesha temple on top, which was also used as a military fort by the
nayaks for some time. The Rock Fort is a 83 m high rock which is the only outcrop in the otherwise flat land of the city. The Rock is one of the oldest in the world — approximately 3,800 million years old, which makes it as old as the rocks of Greenland and older than the Himalayas. On top of the rock is the
Ucchi Pillayar Koil (temple of Ganesha at the top) , a temple dedicated to
Vinayaka, from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Tiruchirapalli. For this reason, the city is also called the Rock City. On the southern face of the rock are several beautifully carved cave temples of the
Pallava period. Around the rock temple is a busy commercial region, specialising in textiles. It is known as
Chatram nowadays. Chatram is a place for shoppers. The
Main Guard Gate is flooded on festive occasions such as
Diwali and
Pongal.
Bus services
Trichy is well connected to various parts of Tamilnadu, by private, and government-run bus services. The Theppakulam (chathiram) bus station, near RockFort temple, runs local and
mofussil (city-to-city) bus services which connect people to nearby towns and villages. Bus services are frequent, once every five to ten minutes.
The central bus station runs long-distance services to major cities of the State and South India such as Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, and Tirupathi. It is central part of the state. One can get buses from trichy to almost any part of the state.
On the Road infrastructre front, with the completion of highway projects in Tamil Nadu state, Trihcy will be having four track highways from the city branching to destination Chennai, Madurai, Dindigul, Tanjore, Erode & Coimbatore.
Railway
Trichy is the hub of
Southern Railway's operation to connect this central part of Tamil Nadu to various parts of India, notably regions in
Kerala,
Andhra Pradesh,
Bengal,
Maharastra,
Karnataka,
Delhi, and
Madhya Pradesh. Trichy Railway Junction has five branches leading to Madurai, Rameswaram, Erode, Tanjore and Chennai. Currently few of them are Metre gauge tracks and are less used. After the completion of all ongoing Gauge conversion projects in Tamil Nadu, Trichy is set to become one of busiest Railway Junctions.The Rly. station has 7 platforms
Airport
Trichy has an international airport about seven kilometres from the city, which runs flights to Indian cities, territories, and neighbouring countries (
Sri Lanka,
Singapore).
Nowadays, flights are operated to Gulf countries such as
Sharjah,
Fujirah, and
Ras al-Khaimah (
United Arab Emirates), and to
Kuwait. Plans are being made to upgrade it to a full international airport.
The Process of enriching the Airport has already been started aiming to make it into a Full fledged operational international airport in the next three Years.
Considered an educational town, Tiruchirapalli has schools and colleges that are hundreds of years old. College Road in Chatram has three colleges and five schools. Prominent among the educational institutions in Tiruchirapalli are
Bharathidasan University,
Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli and The
National Institute of Technology, Trichy. The
Government Law College, Tiruchirapalli was founded in
1979.
Bharathidasan Institute of Management, a top-20 Indian b-school is also located in Tiruchirapalli.
Indian President
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam graduated in science from
St Joseph's college in Trichy.R. Venkataraman (former Indian President) also studied in
National college in Trichy.
(See also
List of Colleges in Trichy.)
There are some major industrial houses in Trichy, few among them are BHEL (
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited), Ordinance Factory, Railway Workshop and Dalmia Cements. The plant of BHEL in Trichy, manufactures High Pressure Boilers.
Hundreds of small scale industries have also sprung up in Trichy, mostly around Thuvakudi and Mathur.
*
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman,
Nobel Prize-winning
physicist.
*
M. K. Tyagaraja Bhagavadar, the
Tamil film industry's first super star
* G.M.Vridhachalam an eminent trial lawyer and a living legend in the legal fraternity.
*
Nalluswami Annavi, former national high jump champion
*
Sujatha (Rengarajan), writer
*
Hema Malini, actress
*
Bragadeesh Selvarajan, Music Composer, Author, Mathematician, Coined the Term "
Parallel Editing"
*
Valentine Munbee McMaster,
Victoria Cross recipient born in Tiruchirapalli
*
Kavingnar Vali (Rengarajan), poet & Lyricist
* P.Ratnavelu Thevar, Mayor of Trichy who worked for Hindu Solidarity
* V.V.Subramaniya Aiyer, famous freedom fighter
* T.S.S.Rajam, Famous freedom fighter
* Lourdesamy, well known Orthodox Christian in Trichy who resides with his Brother's family.He has two daughters Jaya and Dominica, Dominica being married to a handsome boy from Chennai.
The spectacular
Rock Fort Temple, the landmark of the city, is on the shores of the Kaveri. It is perched on a massive rocky outcrop at an altitude of 83 m above sea level. The Thayumanaswamy Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva (the destroyer in the Hindu trinity), is situated halfway to the top. It has a 100-pillar hall and a Vimana covered with gold. On the southern face of the rock are several beautifully carved rock-cut cave temples of the Pallava period.
The
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (Srirangam), situated 6 km north of the city, is among the most revered shrines dedicated to Lord Vishnu in South India, and is the largest temple complex in the world. Shrouded in a haze of coconut palms away to the north, the temple is built on an island in the middle of the Kaveri and covers an area of 2.5 km². Enclosed by seven rectangular walled courtyards, this temple has 21 gopurams, the largest of which was completed in 1987 and measures 73 m in height. Srirangam is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The temple is replete with excellent carvings and numerous shrines dedicated to various gods.
The
Jambukeshwara Temple (
Thiruvanaikavil), dedicated to Lord Shiva, is situated just 2 km east of Srirangam and houses five concentric walls and seven gopurams. Legend has it that an elephant once worshipped the Lord under the holy Jambu tree, and hence the name Jambukeshwara. The principal deity is the Shiva lingam, almost submerged in water, which flows from the subterranean spring in the sanctum sanctorum.
Other temples in and around the city include, Samayapuram Temple, Vayalur Subramniya Temple, Anbil, Appakudathan and Thiruvallarai Vishnu Temples, Uraiyur Nachiyaar Temple, Thiruppaigeeli Siva Temple, and Gunaseelam Vishnu Temple.
The capital of the imperial Chola dynasty a thousand year ago,
Thanjavur is situated 54 km from Trichi. The magnificent
Brahadeeswarar temple, dedicated to
Lord Shiva, bears witness to the glory of Chola architecture, sculpture, and painting. A museum in the temple courtyard has interesting Chola artifacts. The Thanjavur Art Gallery has priceless collection of bronze icons and granite sculptures dating from the 9th century AD. Thanjavur is a good place to shop for Thanjavur Art Plates, handicrafts, hand-woven silk, bronze icons, intricately inlaid brass work and bejeweled paintings.
Pudukkottai town (58 km) was once a princely state. The area, which comprises the district of the same name, is of absorbing interest to historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and lovers of art. The numerous dolmens, stone circles, and other forms of megalithic burials in the district indicate the antiquity of this region dating back to pre-historical times. The rulers of Pudukkottai have built several beautiful palaces and constructed tanks and canals.
Gangaikonda Cholapuram is located at a distance of 100 km from Trichi. The Siva temple called
Gangaikondacholesvaram here was conceived and constructed by the Chola king Rajendra I after his victory over the kingdoms in the region of the river Ganges. Apart from the huge Nandi, there are some beautiful sculptures including a dancing Ganesha, a lion-headed well, and a stunning piece depicting Rajendra being crowned by Shiva and Parvati.
The
Grand Anicut at Kallanai (24 km) is an ancient dam built (according to legends) by
Karikala Chola across the river Cauvery in the
1st century CE. is still in use as part of the district's irrigation system.
Mukkombu (18 km) is a wonderful picnic spot where the river Kollidam branches off from the Cauvery.
At
Viralimalai (30 km) is a temple dedicated to Lord Subramanya, perched atop a hill. It is also the site of a peacock sanctuary.
Sittanavasal (58 km) is the site of an ancient Jain monastery with exquisite fresco paintings in a cave. It is also noted for its pre-historic burial grounds.
Puliancholai (72 km) is water falls on the foot hills of Kolli hills. It is a nice picnic spot.
Pachamalai (Green) hills is a low lying hill station with gentle plateau falls inside Trichy district. Though the altitude of these hills is only average, it always has a pleasant climate and many parts of the hills are heavily wooded. The presence of other remarkable hill stations in Tamil Nadu has led to less improvement of this place.
Kodumbalur (42 km) and Avudayar Kovil are some other nearby sites worth visiting.
Tiruchirappalli District has an area of 11,075 square kilometres. It is bounded to the north by Namakkal District, to the northeast by
Perambalur District, to the east by
Thanjavur District, to the southeast by
Pudukkottai District, to the south by
Sivaganga and
Madurai districts, to the southwest by
Dindigul District, to the west by
Karur District, and tp the northwest by
Namakkal District.
Mr.LourdeSwamy, a well known orthodox christian who was a former deputy tax collector resisdes in Puthur. He is known for his straight forwardness. He lives along with his brother's family and his sister. His brother has two daughters and twin sons. The two daughters named Jaya and Dominica are well known in Trichy for roaming around. Dominica is now married to a handsome boy.
*
Tiruchirappalli District*
Trichy Airport*
Trichy Yellow Page*
Srirangam Temple*
Trichy WeatherEducational institutions
*
Bharathidasan University*
National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli*
Bharathidasan Institute of Management*
St. Joseph's College*
National College*
Jamal Mohammed college*
Bishop Heber College
