Tindivanam

Tindivanam is a town and a municipality in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest town in Villupuram District after the headquarters town Villupuram. Important roads from north to south (NH 45) Tamil Nadu pass through Tindivanam and similarly from west to east (NH 66).

History
Tindivanam was earlier known as (திந்திரிவனம்) due to the shivan (Eswaran) temple located at Tindivanam. The name of Shiva(Suyambu linga) located there is திந்திரிஈஸ்வர். (Thinthrineeswarar) with Maragadhambigai Amman is a Thevara Vaipu Sthalam. Tindivanam is a Selection grade Municipal Town. Tindivanam was constituted as a Municipality in 01.04.1949 then it was upgraded as 2nd grade Municipality from 03.04.1970, 1st grade Municipality in 22.05.98 and Selection Grade in 02.12.2008.

Ennairam, located near Tindivanam, has inscriptions about the Hindu shastras that date back to the 11th century. The Chola temple of Narasimma swamy koil built by Rajaraja Chola 1 (985 –1010) and has reached 1,000 years. 8,000 samanaras lived in this village. As of 2011, the town had a population of 72,796.

Etymology
It was initially known as "Tinthrivanam"(Jungle of Tamarind-புளியங்காடு) where "Tinthiri" means 'tamarind' and "vanam" means 'Jungle' in Tamil.

Geography
Tindivanam is located at 12.25°N, 79.65°W. It has an average elevation of 58 metres (190 feet). Tindivanam is 120 km southwest from Chennai and 35 km northwest from Pondicherry. Tindivanam is one among the three sub-divisions of Viluppuram District, Tamil Nadu. This small town lies about 65 km northwest of Cuddalore. Tindivanam is divided into 234 Revenue Villages under Tindivanam Taluk.

It lies in the stretch of NH-45, about 123 km from Chennai, capital city of Tamil Nadu. Tindivanam is at the junction of roads going to Tiruchirapalli, Pondicherry, Thiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Viluppuram, Thellar, Marakkanam and Chennai. Tindivanam is about 69 km from Chengalpet; it takes about 1.30 hours to reach by roadways.



Demographics
According to 2011 census, Tindivanam had a population of 72,796 with a sex-ratio of 1,003 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 7,664 were under the age of six, constituting 3,922 males and 3,742 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 16.59% and 0.49% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 78.19%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 17,088 households. There were a total of 24,415 workers, comprising 595 cultivators, 672 main agricultural labourers, 465 in house hold industries, 19,541 other workers, 3,142 marginal workers, 51 marginal cultivators, 431 marginal agricultural labourers, 207 marginal workers in household industries and 2,453 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Tindivanam had 82.16% Hindus, 11.95% Muslims, 4.39% Christians, 0.04% Sikhs, 0.02% Buddhists, 1.36% Jains, 0.08% following other religions and 0.0% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Climate
Tindivanam's climate is classified as tropical. In winter, there is much less rainfall in Tindivanam than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Aw. The average annual temperature is 28.4 °C in Tindivanam. In a year, the average rainfall is 1,045 mm. Precipitation is the lowest in March, with an average of 5 mm. With an average of 220 mm, the most precipitation falls in October. At an average temperature of 32.3 °C, May is the hottest month of the year. January has the lowest average temperature of the year. It is 24.5 °C. Between the driest and wettest months, the difference in precipitation is 215 mm. During the year, the average temperatures vary by 7.8 °C.

Road
Tindivanam is connected by roads to major cities and to the rest of the state. The major National Highways in the town are


 * National Highway 32 (India) which connects Chennai and Tuticorn via Tindivanam, Puducherry, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam.
 * National Highway 77 (India) which connects Tindivanam and Krishnagiri via Tiruvannamalai, Gingee and joins National Highway 48 (India) at Krishnagiri.
 * National Highway 132 (India) which connects Tindivanam and Viluppuram.

Rail
Tindivanam railway station is a railway station serving Tindivanam, a city and taluk headquarters in Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu. It is a station on the South line of the Chennai Suburban Railway and comes under the Chennai railway division of the Southern Railway Zone. The station code is TMV.

Air
The nearest airport is Pondicherry Airport at Pondicherry, in Puducherry, approximately 40 km from Tindivanam. Pondicherry Airport is connected to Bangalore and Hyderabad by commercial airlines.

The nearest major airport is Chennai International Airport (MAA), approximately 107 km from the town; the next closest major airport is Tiruchirapalli Airport, approximately 200 km from the town.

Politics

 * Tindivanam assembly constituency is part of Villupuram (Lok Sabha constituency) (up to 2009 Tindivanam was a Lok Sabha constituency).
 * Tindivanam legislative assembly:
 * 1) Member of legislative assembly : Seethapathy P
 * Tindivanam Municipal Council:
 * 1) Chairman: nil
 * 2) Vice chairman
 * 3) Commissioner: S.Annadurai, B.A.

Notable people

 * O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar
 * S. Ramadoss
 * Anbumani Ramadoss
 * Tindivanam K. Ramamurthy
 * C. V. Shanmugam

Oil Seed Research Station
Oilseeds Research Station is located in a distance of 3 km from Tindivanam town. Started as Agricultural Research Station in 1935, later inducted with Tamilnadu Agricultural University in the year 1981. Oilseeds Research Station has been established by Govt of Tamilnadu to evolve groundnut, sesame and castor varieties with desirable attributes viz., short duration, high yield, high oil content, drought tolerance, fresh seed dormancy, resistance to major insect pests and diseases etc. Groundnut (Has separate Kolmudal Nilayalam (Tamil)) & Oil seeds research station – affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University


 * Pioneer research station in Tamil Nadu exclusively for oilseeds.
 * Started as Agricultural Research Station in 1935
 * Upgraded as Regional Research Station in 1962
 * Renamed as Oilseeds Research Station and brought under Tamil Nadu
 * Agricultural University in 1981

Temples

 * 1) Mailam or Mayilam is located 15 kilometres from Tindivanam.
 * 2) Chandramouleeswar temple, Thiruvakkarai
 * 3) Shri Lakshmi Narasimmar temple, Tindivanam
 * 4) Shri Nerkuthi Vinayagar temple, Theevanur
 * 5) Shri Bheemeshwarar temple, Omandur
 * 6) Shri Agastheeshwarar temple, Kiliyanur
 * 7) Shri Maragathambigai Sametha Thindrinishvarar temple, Tindivanam

Tindivanam flyover
The Enga Ooru Tindivanam flyover is the state's second railways flyover, which was built under the former union Minister Tindivanam G.Venkatraman, who was the minister for surface transport government of India and Member of parliament of Tindivanam constituency. The foundation was laid by former union Minister Murasoli Maran on 02/02 1997, which uplifted the town on various departments and solved so many issues in and around Tindivanam town. It has roundana and four lanes. The flyover is located in the heart of the Tindivanam, between NH 66 (Bangalore – Pondicherry) and NH 45 (Chennai - Dindukkal). This flyover was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanithi in 2000. This flyover was constructed at a cost of Rs.22 crores.

National Fossil Wood Park
National Fossil Wood Park, Tiruvakkarai is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument located in the Villupuram District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is maintained by the Geological Survey of India. The park was established in 1940 and is located 1 km east of Thiruvakkarai village on the road between Tindivanam and Pondicherry. The park contains petrified wood fossils approximately 20 million years old, scattered throughout the park, which covers about 247 acres (100 ha). The park consists of nine enclaves, but only a small portion of the 247 acres (approx 1 square km) is open to the public. Officials of the GSI believe the fossils were formed during massive flooding that occurred millions of years ago. The park hosts about 200 fossilized trees.