Tiruchirappalli

Template:India city infobox Tiruchirapalli (also spelt Tiruchchirapalli, commonly known as Tiruchi or Trichy, formerly known 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”.

History

Tiruchirapalli has many historic churches, mosques, temples, and monuments. It was an important town in the days of the later Cholas as well as during the early days of the British East India Company.

File:Trichy.rockfort new.jpg

Rock fort of Tiruchirapalli, the landmark of the city.

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 for some time.

Rock Fort is a 183-metre 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 (the Columns Hall of a Thousand Pillars), 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.

Transport

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, and are heavily subsidised by the government.

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.

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, Bihar, Maharastra, Karnataka, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh.

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-Kaima United Arab Emirates, and to Kuwait. Plans are being made to up-grade it to a full international airport.

Education

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 them being Bharathidasan University and the National Institute of Technology Trichy. The Government Law College, Tiruchirapalli was founded in 1979.

Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam graduated in science from St Joseph's college in Trichy.

(See also List of Colleges in Trichy.)

Notable people from Tiruchirapalli

• Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist.
• M. K. Tyagaraja Bhagavadar, the Tamil film industry's first super star
• Nalluswami Annavi, former national high jump champion
• Sujatha (Rengarajan), writer
• Hema Malini, actress
• Shri. A.P. J. A. Kalam studied in Trichy at St. Joseph college of Arts & Science.
• Shri. P. Jayaraman studied in Trichy at St. Joseph college of Arts & Science.

Trichy tourism

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 one of the largest temple complexes in India. 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 sq km. Enclosed by seven rectangular walled courtyards, this 13th-century temple has 21 gopurams, the largest of which was built in 1987 and measures 73 m in height. The temple 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.

Places around Trichy

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.

Gangaikondancholapuram is located at a distance of 100 km from Trichi. The Brahadeeswarar temple 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 by Karikala Chola across the river Cauvery in the 2nd century AD. 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 a water falls on the foot hills of Kolli hills. It would be a nice picnic spot.

Pachamalai (Green) hills is a low lying hill station which falls inside Trichy district. Though the altitude of these hills are not so high, still it always have a pleasant climate and most parts of hills are heavily wooded. Presence of various remarkable hill station in Tamil Nadu lead to less improvement of this place.

Kodumbalur (42 km) and Avudayar Kovil are some other nearby sites worth visiting.

Tiruchirappalli District

Tiruchirappalli District has an area of 11,075 square kilometres. It is bounded to the north by Salem 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.