TIRUNELVELI

Tirunelveli district [1] is the penultimate southern most district of Tamilnadu in India. It is described as a microcosm of the state. The district has diverse geographical and physical features like lofty mountains, low plains, rivers and cascades, sea coast and thick inland and mountain forest, sandy soil and fertile alluvium, a variety of flora, fauna and protected wild life.
'Tirunelveli' () is a Municipal Corporation, sixth largest city in Tamil Nadu and the district headquarter of Tirunelveli district. The city is considered as one of the oldest city in Indian subcontinent around 3,000 years old located on the west bank of the perennial Thamirabarani River in the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern India.

Contents

Brief history of Tirunelveli

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Civic administration

Transport

Roads

Railways

Airport

Media

Print

Local cable TV

Radio stations

Pincodes

Temples

Education

Science Centre

Language

Cuisine

Halwa

Local dishes

Filtered Coffee

Some places of interest

Local problems

Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli's twin city

Palayamkottai central prison

Tirunelveli District

SEZ

STPI

Cinema

Famous personalities

Photo gallery

References

External links

Brief history of Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli is culturally very old city. To add on evidence of its oldness, in the outskirts of the city in Adichanallur, the archaeologist unearthed urns^[1]containing human skull, skeleton and bones with some Tamil Brahmi script on it^[2]. Along with skeleton, they found husks, grains of rice, charred rice and Neolithic Celts. By this the archaeologists authentically confirmed it as 2800 years old of Neolithic period^[3][4]. The same has been published in The Hindu English daily on May 26, 2004. This assured that Tirunelveli has been the abode for human habituation from Neolithic period around 3,000 years old. Now, Adhichanallur has been announced as an archaeological site for further excavation and studies^[5].
This culturally old city is called in another name also "Nellai". In fact, the exact translation in Tamil for paddy is "Nell". So, both the name Tiru[nel]veli or [Ne]llai directly associates with paddy. Just in glance even on satellite pictures, it can be seen that the city is surrounded by fertile paddy fields enriched by a perennial river "Tamirabarani^[6]". It flows through out the year, which supplies water through various canals to agricultural field.
It has a deep rooted history on puranical perspective to get this name. It is said that a devotee was invited by God in his dream to settle with his family near the Tamirabarani River. He collected paddy from various other people as the way of begging due to famine. And he spread out the paddy to dry under the sunlight and went for ablution in Tamirabarani river. He prayed to Lord for rain. Suddenly a thunder strom broke out and rained heavily. Al though his prayer answered, he worried about the paddy he spread out to dry under the sun light. So he ran there and what he saw was a miracle. Despite the heavy rain, that the paddy he spread did not even get a drop of rain or even soaked. Since then the city is called as Tirunelveli, the meaning is like this - 'TIRU' means Respectable, 'NEL' means paddy and 'VELI' means Fence. As having the rain become the fence for the paddy he spread out, it is called as Tirunelveli. In other words the city is having paddy fields as fence
In the period of the Pandian Empire, the city served as the south capital for them. The city was the chief commercial town in the period of Arcot Nawabs and Nayaks. They were one of the various ruling dynasties of Tamilnadu. In fact, they called the city as "Nellai Chemmai", cheemai means foreign developed town ^[7]. Tirunelveli first came into prominence under the Pandya kings, serving as their capital for some time. It was an important city of the Chola kingdom (c.900 – 1200)^[8] and of the Vijayanagar empire. Thereafter, it fell under the rule of local Nayaks and of the Nawab of Arcot, who in 1781 granted its revenues and local administration to the British. In 1801 it was annexed by the British, who governed it until India achieved independence in 1947.
On the event, the British^[9] acquired it from Arcot Nawab in 1801 and named it as Tinnevely district and Tinnevely city. They were comfortable calling it as Tinnevely due to the difficulty in pronouncing the original name. After coming under the British East India Company's administration, it served as the military headquarters for British during their operation against Palayakars. From that time, both Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai generally called as twin cities grew together.
Apart from the above, it has one more name "Halwa City". A wheat based sweet Halwa is very famous in Tirunelveli, which brought this nick name . The city has Swamy Nellaiappar and Sri Kandimathi Ambal temples, which are saivites. The city has been trifurcated in to three administrative provinces such as Tirunelveli, Palayamkottai and Melapalayam.
The city has become a corporation from 1999 and possesses the title of sixth largest city in the state of Tamilnadu. Generally, the corporation status has been given to a city according to its income generation and the population. The city is well connected by roads. From Madurai it is 150 km south in NH7 and 80 km north of Kanyakumari or Cape Comerin in NH7. An NH7A connects Tirunelveli with Tutuicorin port in 50 km and a major highway connects to Quilon, Kerala in 150 km. Lakshmana Velu is one of the prominent leaders from this part of the South India.
Tiruneveli has two tier flyover named as Tiruvalluvar Flyover, which is the second longest double decked flyover in asia.

Geography

Tirunelveli is located at .^[10] It has an average elevation of 47 metres (154 feet). It is in the southern most tip of the Deccan pleateu in the Indian peninsular. Tirunelveli is located in the National Highway 7 stretch.The nearest land mark are: Gangai kondan in the north, Vallanad in the east, Alangukulam in the west, Ambasamudram in the south west and nanguneri in the south. The perennial river Thamiraparani splits the city in to Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai. The major lake present in the ciy are Nainar lake and Udayarpetti lake.

Climate

The Agasthiyamalai hills, cut of Tirunelveli from the southwest monsoon, creating a rainshadow region.

The climate of Tirunelveli is usually tropical and unpredictable, ''viz.'', ^[11]hot and humid. The average temperature during the hot season (March to September) ranges from 23 to 36 °Celsius and during the mild season (October to February) ranges from 19 to 30 °C. The average annual rainfall is 680 mm, most of which occurs during the North-East monsoon (October-December). No earth quake has been reported in Tirunelveli city so far.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[12] Tirunelveli had a population of 411,298. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Tirunelveli has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 73%. In Tirunelveli, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.Among the Municipal Corporations, Tirunelveli has returned the best sex ratio with 1024 females for every 1000 males.^[13]. The growth rate of Urban Agglomeration is 20.22%^[14].
The Tirunelveli City spreads over an area of 108.65 sq.km. The population density of the Corporation had increased to 3781 persons per sq.km in 2001 from 2218 Persons per sq.km in1971.
The disabilites in the City as per Census 2001 are 1308246 , out of which male 645142 and female 663104. Hindus are the most in urban population. Followed by Muslims and then Christians.
The language mainly spoken in the city is Tamil. The usage of English is common. Majority of office matters and teachings in Educational Institution are dealt in English. People here in the city are rooted to Dravidians.
Projected Population

Year	Population	Type	Source
1991	345,772	census	official
2001	431,603	census	official
2009	457,979	calculation	[15]

Sl. No	Domain	Rank in population	Rank in UA	Source
1	World	not-defined	not-defined
2	Asia	440	400	[16][17]
3	India	91	89	[18][19]
4	Tamil Nadu	6	7	[20][21]

Economy

The economy of Tirunelveli district is chiefly agrarian in nature and people are engaged in the cultivation of cumbu, ragi, pulses, groundnut, gingelly, coconut, chillies, indigo and cotton. It is rich in mineral resources of limestone, sulphides and ilmenite - garnet sands^[22].
The city of Tirunelveli has a quite a number of industries in its area[9] like cement factories, cotton textile mills, spinning and weaving mills, beedi companies, steel products and so on. A large number of small scale industries supported by NELSIA (Nellai Small Scale Industries Association) are active.Tannery industries in small scale are also found in this town. In addition to these industries, a few smallscale units of brick kilns and oil mills exist in the industrial area of this town.
Recently Tata groups have signed a significant project of Titanium dioxide plant for Rs 2,500 crore in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts. The project will create job opportunity for 1,000 person directly and 3,000 indirectly.
The living cost of the city is less when comparing with other cities.

Civic administration

'Tirunelveli City officials'
'Mayor'	Mr. A.L. Subramanian
'Deputy Mayor'	Mr. K. Muthuramalingam
'Collector'	G. Prakash I.A.S
'Police Commissioner'	Ashokkumardos I.P.S
'Member of Legislative Assembly-Tirunelveli'	N. Malai Raja (D.M.K)
'Member of Legislative Assembly-Palayamkottai'	T.P.M.Mohaideen Khan (D.M.K)
'Member of Parliament'	Dhanushkodi Athitan(I.N.C)

Total population in Tirunelveli Municipal Corporation as per 2001 census.

'Tirunelveli City voters'
'Number of Wards'	55
'Total population'	411,832
'Male population'	203,232
'Female population'	208,599

Transport

Roads

Tirunelveli is well-connected by road. The city is located on NH 7, 150 km to the south of Madurai and 80 km to the north of Kanyakumari. NH 7A, an extension of NH 7, connects Palayamkottai with Tuticorin Port. Now 4 lane track has been under progress and NH 7A stretch is almost in finishing stage. Tirunelveli is accessible by road from Madurai (3 hours) or Nagercoil (1 1/2 hours). Tirunelveli is also connected by major highways to Kollam, Tiruchendur, Rajapalayam, Sankarankovil, Ambasamudram and Nazareth.
Bus Stand
The main mofussil busstand is located in Veinthaankulam. This bus stand was opened for public usage from 2003 onwards. Here buses from and to outside the city and state operates services.
The other bus stand for local services ( within the city) Junction (Nellai Santhippu Perunthu Nilayam) Palai Bus stand (PalaiPerunthu Nilayam).
The Tirunelveli sub-division of the TNSTC (Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation), Madurai Division services the district's road transport needs with a string of local and mofussil (out-of-town) services. The State Express Bus Corporation (SETC) operates express services to Chennai^[23], Bangalore, Salem, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Erode, Villupuram, and Tirupati.

Railways

A majestic looking structure with a high elevated façade,Tirunelveli Junction Railway Station is one of the busiest and most important ones in Tamil Nadu. It is connected to major cities in all four directions, Madurai/Sankarankovil to the north, Nagercoil to the south, Tenkasi/Kerala (kollam) to the west and Tiruchendur to the east.The segment Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur broad gauge conversion is under progress and is expected to complete December 2007. Train Engine maintenance service station in under construction at Tirunelveli Junction railway station. At present, the engine and coaches are being sent to Nagarcoil for maintenance. The railway station is facilated with computerized ticket booking and touch screen to know the train schedule and train running status. It is proposed computerized ticket booking center at Palayamkottai to clear the extra rush at Junction station. Although Tirunelveli Junction station is one of the most important stations in the state, only two express trains having origination, one Nellai Express and Kollam Mail.
This railway station produces profit for the Madurai Railway division. The Nellai Express — a super-fast train connecting Tirunelveli and Chennai Egmore — runs packed almost throughout the year. The station has six platforms, three for metre gauge and three for broad gauge. Tirunelveli Junction is coded as 'TEN'. Any train passing through the station halts in Tirunelveli Junction station.
'The major trains at Tirunelveli Junction:'
:
★ Nellai Express
:
★ Kanniyakumari Express
:
★ Ananthapuri Express
:
★ Guruvayur Express
:
★ Nagarcoil-Mumbai Express
:
★ Kollam Mail
:
★ Thirukural Express
:
★ Kanyakumari - Howrah Express
:
★ Mysore Express
'There are five local railway stations in the city'
:
★ Palayamkottai
:
★ Town
:
★ Pettai
:
★ Melapalayam
:
★ Thalaiyoothu

Airport

The nearest airport is Vagaikulam airport, located at Vaagaikulam, about 24kms east of Tirunelveli city. Connections to Chennai are via Air Deccan, once a day. The Madurai Airport and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport are about 150 km away by road. An unused runway at Kayatar, which is 30 km from the heart of the city, will become operational once the IT park at Gangaikondan is set up.^[24].

Media

Print

Dina Thanthi, Dina Malar, Dinakaran, Dina Mani, Kathiravan, Tamil Murasu, Malai Malar,Malai Murasu (an evening paper) are the prominent Tamil news dailies currently printed in the city. The Hindu is the most widely read English daily.

Local cable TV

Air Media Network, Karan TV, Sathya, Krishna TV are the local cable television networks.

Radio stations

Tirunelveli is served on the FM dial by Suriyan FM, frequency 93.5 MHz, run by the Sun Network, and Tirunelveli Vanoli Nilayam (AIR), by the Government of India. Tirunelveli has been identified as one of 40 cities in India to have FM station. IGNOU has planned to air its distant education lecture (named ''Gyan Vani'') soon via FM, Tirunelveli.

Pincodes

Pincode is the postal numbering system used in India.

Location	Pincode
Tirunelveli Junction	627 001
Palayamkottai	627 002
Vannarpettai	627 003
Pettai	627 004
Melapalayan	627 005
Nellai Nagarm	627 006
Perumalpuram	627 007
Gandhinagar	627 008
Kokkirakulam (Collectorate)	627 009
Industrial Estate, Pettai	627 010
Sankarnagar	627 357
Maharajanagar	627 011
Abisheikapatti	627 012

Temples

The Nellaiappar Temple with Kanthimathi is situated in the centre of town at a distance of two km from the railway station. This is a twin temple dedicated to Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva. Rare jewels, the Golden Lily Tank, Musical Pillars, the hall of a thousand pillars are worth seeing. From a distance one can have a view of the great gopurams (towers). Both the gopurams were built according to the rules laid down in the agamasastras by Rama Pandyan.
Nindrasir Nedumaran (நின்றசீர் நெடுமாறன்), who reigned in the seventh century CE, contributed by constructing and renovating important parts in this temple. A beautiful garden founded in 1756 CE, next to this chain mandapam, welcomes visitors with many colourful and fragrant flowers. This garden was designed by Thiruvengadakrishna Mudaliar. A square vasantha mandapam with 100 pillars is found in the midst of this garden.
The 'Nellaiappar Temple' is bigger than the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, though the latter is more famous owing to its historical importance.

Education

The Manonmaniam Sundaranar University is located in Nellai, on the Tenkasi road, about 11 km from junction. The university is named after a famed poet who was the author of ''Tamil Thai Vazhthu'' (Praise to Mother Tamil), which is the official state song.
In the view to improve the quality of Education in the southern parts of Tamil Nadu, the Finance ministry has stated in the budgetory note that one more Anna University is to be created in the city of Tirunelveli.^[25][26]
The city has many prestigeous old government and private colleges in the medical, legal, engineering, arts, pharmacy, and physiotherapy fields. Tirunelveli Medical College^[27] and the Government College of Engineering Tirunelveli^[28] are professional colleges run by the government of Tamil Nadu. St. Xaviers College run by Jesuits, St. Johns College and Sarah Tucker College run by CSI Diocease, M.D.T. Hindu College and Sadakathulla Appa College are well-known arts colleges.
Students from the city's schools have been consistently performing well in the state examinations.

Sl No	Educational Institutions	No of Institutions
1	University	1
2	Arts and Science College	21
3	Medical College	2
4	Sidha Medical College	1
5	Engineering College	13
6	Law College	1
7	Pre Kindergarten School	201
8	Primary School	1521
9	Middle School	394
10	High School	114
11	Higher Secondary	148
12	Teacher Training Institute	6

Science Centre

The city has a District Science Centre, a satellite unit of Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Bangalore. The centre is committed to the cause of science education through fun and entertainment. The Centre has an evergreen science park in sylvan surroundings and is located adjacent to the perennial river Thamirabharani, along the highway to Kanyakumari. Permanent exhibitions, science shows, interactive guide tours, a mini-planetarium, sky observation through a telescope are some of the activities of the Centre''`Fun science gallery' inaugurated in Tirunelveli'' — The Hindu.

Language

Main articles: Tamil language

There is a tradition that the Tamil language originated from the ''Pothigai Malai'', a hill situated in western Ghats near Papanasam, a small village in the Tirunelveli district.
As per Brahminical legend, Lord Shiva sent the two saints Vyasa and Agatyar (in Sanskrit Agastya) to create the divine languages Sanskrit and Tamil. Agatyar came to Papanasam and established the Tamil culture from the Pothigai Malai.
Today the Tamil language as spoken in the Tirunelveli district is considered to be especially lucid. The Tirunelveli accent appeals to all Tamil speaking people. The version spoken here is considerably different and more pleasant than Madras Bashai, which is a corrupted form of Tamil.

Cuisine

Halwa

The city is noted for the sweet ''halwa'' (pronounced ''alva'') which is made from wheat and sugar. Tirunelveli halwa is said to owe its peculiar taste to the water from the Thamirabarani river. The Halwa was made famous by a Marwari family which settled here more than 300 years ago. The original shop started by them is the Lakshmi Vilas. Slowly others borrowed the formula from them and now the halwa has become a synonym for this city. The other famous halwa stores are ''Irutu Kadai halwa'' (Dark Store halva) and Shanthi Sweets. Some claim that Iruttu Kadai Halwa is much tastier than ''Lakshmi Vilas'' Halwa. Now in 2007, a group started a shop in the name of ''Irutu Kadai halwa'' near the railway station and it is not the original. The original ''Irutu Kadai halwa'' is near the Nellayappar temple and it doesnt have a board or an electric lamp.
There are many of the hot spots to buy halwa are around the Nellayappar temple and near the main railway station.^[29]
Halwa is brown and semi-solid in texture and contains lots of ghee/Vanaspati which gives it the oily look. It tastes the best when fresh and hot.

Local dishes

Some of the unique and popular dishes in Tirunelveli are ''Sodhi'', ''Kootan Choru'' and ''Ulunthamparupu choru with yellu thovayal''. Sothi is a delicious gravy made of coconut milk and vegetables. This is served at marriage feasts, especially during the ''Maruveedu'' (return marriage) ceremony which takes place the day after a marriage. Kootan Choru is a hot spicy vegetable rice made with dhal, rice, vegetables and a mixture of coconut and red chillies. Ulunthamparupu choru is rice and ulunthamparupu (Urad Dhal) cooked together. Ulunthamparupu choru is taken with yellu (Sesame seeds) thovayal (chutney).Porotta of tirunelveli with the kuruma(salna) gives an added taste

Filtered Coffee

Tirunelveli has numerous coffee houses which open in the wee hours of the morning, even before 4 am. A local favourite is that of the famous filter coffee from Pothi Hotel at Chandipillaiyar Kovil Mukku. Its exceptional quality and flavour addictively pulls elderly people to rise early and energize them, first thing in the morning.

Some places of interest

The two tier over Thiruvalluvar Bridge at Tirunelveli Junction was constructed to avoid the heavy traffic and railway line crossing. The total length of the bridge is 800 metres. This bridge is the first of its kind ever constructed in India. It was opened to traffic in 1972. It consists of 25 spans, of which 13 are bow string arch, each with a width of 30.3 metres, and 12 are single tier R.C.C. girder, each having a width of 11.72 metres.
Additional places of interest include:

★ District Science Centre at Vannarpet.

★ V. O. Chidhambaram Pillai Memorial Hall at the Exhibition Ground

★ Krishnapuram Temple

★ Papanasam, Manimuthar dam

★ Agasthiyar falls, Papanasam

★ Courtallam (the Spa of the South, 50 km from Nellai)

★ Mancholai, Kakaachi,Kuthiravetti Hill Stations and Tea estates

★ Sankarankovil Arulmigu Gomathi Amman Temple (50 km fom Nellai)

★ Tenkasi Kasiviswanathar temple (50 km from Nellai)

★ Tiruchendur subramaniyaswamy temple (50 km from Nellai

Local problems

Although Tirunelveli is one of the major cities in Tamil Nadu, the dearth of industries and the climate has resulted in many people migrating to other parts of Tamil Nadu such as Chennai, Coimbatore, and Tirupur, both for higher education and for job opportunities. It has been speculated that failure of the government to create job opportunities could also be a factor in this migration, which results slowest development among all the cities in Tamil Nadu. Many of the development proposals initiated and suddenly become standstill due to various reasons.

Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli's twin city

The twin city of Tirunelveli is Palayamkottai, on the eastern bank of the Thamirabarani river, while Tirunelveli is on the western bank.
Palayamkottai is known for its educational institutions and is referred to as "'Oxford of South India' ." The town, surrounded by paddy fields, has a rich heritage in education dating back to the pre-independence era. Almost all the colleges and institutions of higher education located in the area are in Palayamkottai, some of them having been in existence for more than a century and a half. They include the Tirunelveli Medical College, Government Siddha College, Government Engineering College, Francis Xavier Engineering College, St. Xavier's College, St. John's College and Sarah Tucker College.This area is one which is well suited for IT sectors since it is in the city centre with all the facilities around.
The city is a main centre in South India for Christian missions and there are quite a few churches, the major church being Holy Trinity Cathedral, the cathedral church of a diocese of the Church of South India.
The city also has several Hindu temples: the Gopalaswamy temple, Siva Temple, Ramar Temple, Uchini Makali temples and a number for the goddess Amman.
It has two sports grounds: Anna Stadium and the ''VOC Ground''. The latter holds field hockey and kabbadi matches at both the district and state levels. Republic Day and Independence Day ceremonies are also held here.
There is a large market in Palayamkottai, along with the ''Ulavar Santhai'' where farmers sell their products directly.
Palayamkottai is also known for its Central Prison, which housed a lot of freedom fighters during the struggle for Indian Independence. It is still notable for its capacity and security.
Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathy spent a part of his life here.

Palayamkottai central prison

The Palyamkottai Central Prison is another historically important land mark as some eminent personalities like kalaignar m.karunanithi and other political leaders had served their prison terms here.

Tirunelveli District

Tirunelveli District has an area of 6,838 km². It is bounded by Virudhunagar District to the north, Thoothukudi District to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, Kanyakumari District to the southwest, and Kerala state to the west. The chief towns, in addition to Tirunelveli, are Courtallam (also called Kuttalam), Sankarankoil and Tenkasi. Tirunelveli district has s substantial population of people who follow the Ayyavazhi belief system.
The famous Courtallam waterfalls are located in Tirunelveli District along such rivers as the Chittar River. It is said that a dip in any of the nine waterfalls rejuvenates the body and the mind. The water is supposed to have healing properties due to the herbs which grow in the area. The waterfalls are often dry and August is considered to be the best time to go. Thamira Sabhai is located in Courtallam. Special fruits like ''Mongostaan'' and ''Ramtaan'' are available only in Courtallam.

Advancing monsoon clouds and showers in Aralvaimozhy, near Nagercoil, India

Many of India's freedom fighters have originated from this land. Veera Pandiya Kattabomman, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and Bharathiar are from Thoothukudi District, which was a part of Tirunelveli District before 1990.
The great Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathy is from Ettayapuram in the erstwhile Tirunelveli District. He composed poems foreseeing India's freedom and wrote articles on a variety of subjects emphasizing the unity of India despite its variety in languages, religions, and cultures.
Mukkudal village, located in the Tirunelveli District, is famous for its beedi (tobacco) industry. Some of the famous textile showrooms of Tamil Nadu are also in Tirunelveli.

SEZ

The state and Central government has agreed a bid to set up an Information Technology park^[30] in the view to develop this district.^[31] Time has now ripened for the development part in the lower part of Tamil Nadu.^[32]T^[33][34]
[10].The government of India has approved Naguneri, a town which is 28 km away from the city as Special Economic Zone (SEZ, previously known as Hi-tech Industrial Park^[35]) for the promotion of Electronic/Telecom/Computer Hardware manufactures, Manufacture of white goods/entertainment electronics, Software development, Agro based Industries, Food Processing and Precision Engineering Industries. The promoter for this project are M/s. INFAC India Group, USA., and Axes Technologies Inc., USA. The estimated cost of this project is around Rs 7000 million. More than 25 km² of lands were earmarked for this project; 90% of the land had already be acquired. Utilities viz Water at 6.77 Million Gallons per Day from the river Tamiraparani and Uninterrupted Power supply assured by TNEB by stalling a dedicated sub-station in the vicinity, are tied up for this project. Further Tirunelveli is having better rail link, road link and air link compare to the past. Moreover best higher education institutions including professional education is situated in Tirunelveli. The skilled labour is cheaper and its availability is in abundance. Nearest Port at Thoothukudi will be a boon for export / import. Kudankulam Power Project is also a boon. Industrialist and entrepreneurs must invite foreign direct investment by inviting them to Tirunelveli. A company viz. ATMAC Ltd was incorporated to implement the project. It is reported that JTC, Singapore has prepared the Master Plan.
Jurong International, Singapore, has submitted its conceptual master plan, according to which the industrial sector would include ready built factories, custom built factories, units of multi-national corporations, science, business and hi-tech or information technology parks.
The final hurdle for establishing a hi-tech park in the proposed Nanguneri Special Economic Zone (SEZ), transfer of of land by the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments to the promoter, was cleared on Wednesday.
With the transfer, the minimum area of land required for establishing an SEZ – 10 km² – has been achieved.
This has revived hopes of people here that work on the Rs. 14,000-crore project may take off soon^[36][37].
Once the IT park is in full-fledged operation, it is expected to provide a colossal opportunity for about 100 thousand jobs directly and 200 thousand indirectly in Tirunelveli district and the adjoining districts such as Tuticorin, Nagarcoil, Virudhunagar.
This city is expected to be upgraded to cosmopolitan status due to the new establishment of IT sector in this area and fast development of industries in and around the city centre.^[38]

STPI

Tirunelveli is one of the Software Techological Parks of India^[39][40]. It is said being near to major cities such as Madurai, Trivandrum, Kollam, Tuticorin and Nagarcoil and good Roadways and Rail connectivity to various parts of India, State Government has laid foundation stone for software park. STPI has registered Rs.0.43 Crs of Software Exports during 2003-04 and the Software Development activity is excepted to grow in the coming years. STPI- Tirunelveli is one of the international Gateways of STPI-Chennai, which is located in premises of M/s.Global Software Solutions. Moreover, BSNL is ready to provide high speed data communication facilities for STPI and thus Tirunelveli is going to be becoming an emerging IT destination^[41].
The STPI centre, Tirunelveli is situated in
Software Technology Parks of India
41-D, Vasanthapuram South Street
Bypass Road
Tirunelveli - 627 005
Tel No. :0462-2353292, 2350991

Cinema

Tirunelveli has many theatres including

★ Bombay DTS A/C Family theatre

★ Ram Complex DTS A/C

★ Muthuram Complex DTS A/C

★ Arunagiri DTS

★ Perinba Vilas DTS

★ Sri Rathna DTS

★ Parvathi DTS

★ Ganesh DTS

★ Royal

★ Poornakala

★ Laxmi

★ Central

★ Sivasakthi

★ Alangatril

★ Shakthivel

Famous personalities

★ Agasthiyar [Father of Tamil]

★ Thevaneya Pavanar

★ Subramania Bharathiyaar

★ V O Chidambaram Pillai

★ Veera Pandiya Kattabomman

★ Rasigamani T.K.Si

★ Vaiko [Vai. Gopalaswami]

★ H.Albert Krishna Pillai ['Eratchanya yatrigam' author]

★ Vanchinathan

★ Poolithevan[South Indian King who fought against the British and made them flee beyond Madurai]

★ C.Pa. Adithanar [founder of Thanthi group of newspapers]
It is also noteworthy that the first major European scholar of Dravidian languages, Robert Caldwell, was connected with the Christian missionary station in Tiruneveli, and actually in 1877 was named "Bishop of Tinnevelly".

Photo gallery

References

1. [2]
2. [3]
3. [4]
4. [5]
5. [6]
6. [http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/biodiversity/documents/rivers.htm ''Thamirabarani''
7. ''400 years sugar cane press''
8. Chola's Imperial town
9. [7]
10. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Tirunelveli
11. Climatic condition of Tirunelveli
12.
13. Census of Govt of India
14. Urban Agglomeration growth rate
15. [8]
16. World-gazetter population estimation of Asian cities- Proper Place
17. World-gazetter population estimation of Asian cities-Agglomeration
18. World-gazetter population estimation of Indian cities - Proper Place
19. World-gazetter population estimation of Indian cities- Agglomeration
20. World-gazetter population estimation of Tamil Nadu cities - Proper Place
21. World-gazetter population estimation of Tamil Nadu cities - Agglomeration
22. Economy of Tirunelveli
23. Tirunelveli Chennai connectivity
24. Kayatar Air Strip
25. '' State's move to establish Anna varsity at Tirunelveli hailed'' — The Hindu
26. ''Rs. 1,054 crore earmarked for higher education'' — The Hindu
27. Tirunelveli Medical College -TvMC
28. Government College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
29. ''Tourists amused'' — The Hindu
30. ELCOT-Tirunelveli IT Park Proposal
31. Government may choose Gangaikondan for IT Park
32. Conceptual plan of Naguneri SEZ
33. International Convention on Special Economic Zone March 21 2002, New Delhi
34. BSNL ready with high-end technologies for IT park
35. Operational & Approved SEZs
by Government of India
36. Final hurdle for Nanguneri SEZ cleared
37. Nanguneri SEZ to take off soon
38. Hi-tech park work may begin -- Naguneri MLA, H Vasanthakumar
39. Software Techo Park of India, Tirunelveli
40. STPI, Tirunelveli
41. IT destination, Tirunelveli

External links

★ Tirunelveli Halwa

★ Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation

★ Tirunelveli district government website

★ Tirunelveli Medical College