Pollachi

Pollachi பொள்ளாச்சி
town
Pollachi bus terminal
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Coimbatore rural
Metro	Coimbatore
Population  (2001)
• Total	88,293
Languages
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Telephone code	+91-4259
Vehicle registration	TN 41

Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore Rural district of the Tamil Nadu state of India. It lies in the southern part of the Coimbatore city around 40 kilometres from Downtown Coimbatore. This is the second largest town in the district after Corporation of Coimbatore. Owing to the proximity to the Western Ghats, Pollachi has a pleasant climate throughout the year. Pollachi is very popular for its markets, especially for jaggery, fresh vegetables and cattle. The Jaggery Market in Pollachi is Asia's largest of its kind. The central part of Kerala totally depends upon the vegetables from Pollachi. The cattle market of Pollachi is the biggest of its kind in southern India.

Etymology

During ancient times, Pollachi was known as "pozhil vaichi" (Template:Lang-ta) which means "the land of natural wealth and prosperity." (One can find this name in the Lord Subramanyar temple in Pollachi.) The name Pozhil Vaichi has changed into Pollachi over time. The historic town of Pollachi was once known as Mudi Konda Chola Nallur during the period of Kulottunga Chola-III. The Subramanyar temple here is an ancient one, with a history that goes back about eight centuries. It is believed that the Subramanyar temple here was once a Shiva temple, enshrining Agastheeswaram Udaiyaar, with the festival deity being Subramanyar. Much of the construction in the temple belongs to the 20th century.

There is another story about the origin of the name. Pollachi was known as "Porull Aatchi" (Template:Lang-ta) which means "the land of wealthy government". In the olden days, it was said that anything can be sold/bought in/from Pollachi market (including elephants) except one's parents. Pollachi Market, popularly known as "Pollachi Sandhai", is the most famous of its kind in Tamil Nadu.

Geography

Pollachi is located at 10.67°N 77.02°E / 10.67; 77.02. It has an average elevation of 293 metres (961 feet).

Demographics

As of the census of India 2001, Pollachi had a population of 88,302 comprising 44,400 males and 43,902 females, making the sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) of the town to 989. A total of 8,679 people were under six years of age and the child sex ratio (number of females per thousand males under six years of age) stood at 967. The town had an average literacy of 85.65%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. A total of 9,112 comprising 11.44% of the population belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 117 comprising 0.15% of the population belonged to Scheduled tribes (ST). There were are total of 21,797 households in the town. As of 2001, Pollachi had a total of 31,997 main workers: 1,199 cultivators, 901 agricultural labourers, 755 in house hold industries and 29,142 other workers. There was a total of 1,658 marginal workers: 11 marginal cultivators, 16 marginal agricultural labourers, 117 marginal workers in household industries and 1,514 other marginal workers.

Municipal statistics

• Population: 95,303
• Area (km²): 13
• Number of schools: 56 higher secondary schools
• Number of maternity hospitals: 10
• Number of other hospitals/dispensaries: 2 +others 15

Politics

Pollachi assembly constituency is part of Pollachi (Lok Sabha constituency). Pollachi, Udumalpet, Valparai, Kinathukadavu, Madathukulam and Thondamuthur form the Pollachi parliamentary constituency.

Agriculture and industry

Pollachi is an important commercial area in the region and has large industrial establishments and huge markets for agricultural products as well as cattle.

Agriculture

Pollachi is a major producer of vegetables especially tomatos and coconuts as well as related products in the region. Coconuts, copra and tender coconuts are transported all over India from Pollachi.

Pollachi accommodates one of the largest coffee producers viz. Thalanar Agro situated near Valparai.

Film Industry

Pollachi is a popular movie shooting location for the Indian film industry. It has been estimated that over 1500 movies are being shot around Pollachi Region.

Many directors from Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi movie prefer Pollachi for outdoor shooting because of its scenic beauty. Thousands of movies in Indian languages have been filmed here. Lot of Movies are filmed in the lush green outdoor of pollachi.

Pollachi is one of the most popular shooting spot where films like "Kaadhalika Neram Illai", "Raajathi Raja", "Thavasi", "Vaanathai Pola", "Suriya Vamsam", "Winner", "Vedi", "Thamizhan", "Thirumathi Palanisamy" "Nattamai" "Chinna Goundar" "Pollachi Mappillai" "sangamam" etc.,

Recently, one of the big budgeted Tollywood Movie starring Ace actor Power Star Pawan Kalyan directed by Ace director Trivikram Srinivas completed their film shooting here.

Infrastructure

Airport

Coimbatore International Airport about 48 km from Pollachi town. International flights are being operated to Singapore and Sharjah. Routine domestic flights are operated to all the major cities in India.

Bus stand

Pollachi has two bus stands, a central bus stand which is used by TNSTC and the private operators to long routes. It is inside the town. A new bus stand foundation stone was laid by the then local administration minister M.K. Stalin in November 2007, to construct an additional bus stand. It is just opposite to the existing bus stand. This new bus stand has buses to serve nearby areas. Central bus stand has a bus every 2 minutes to Ukkadam(Coimbatore) bus stand. It will take 50 minutes to 1 hour reach Ukkadam bus stand in Coimbatore.

Railway station

Pollachi has a railway junction. The largest one is Coimbatore Junction. Presently, due to gauge conversion, no trains are operated in this section, the major routes being Coimbatore – Pollachi – Dindigul and Palakkad – Pollachi – Dindigul. Broad gauge conversion of this section has started and are expected to be completed shortly. Once this completion is over then Pollachi, Udumalai, Palani will get direct link to Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and all other parts of India. Palghat Town - Pollachi Jn – Podanur section was added to the Palakkad Railway Division in 2007.

Broad gauge work from Palakkad side has been started by the Palakkad Division, soon Pollachi will be connected by BG trains. As part of this Gauge Converion Project PALANI-DINDIGUL section already been converted and right now Only Passenger Services started from PALANI to DINDIGUL. Works towards Pollachi from Palani is being expedited and expected to be completed in this year 2013.

Dams

Pollachi is surrounded by numerous dams which add beauty. Some of the major dams in and around Pollachi are:

• Azhiyar Dam: This dam ison the foothills of Anamalai (Template:Lang-ta), Western Ghats and near the 'Monkeyfalls' waterfalls. Azhiyar is a beautiful and fantastic picnic spot.
• Thriumurthi Dam
• Amaravathi Dam
• Parambikulam Dam
• Thunakaduvu Dam
• Peruvaripallam Dam
• Nirar Dam
• Kadamparai Dam
• Meenkarai Dam: This dam is built for multipurpose project such as irrigation and hydroelectricity production.
• Solaiyar Dam: This is on the top of mountains and very beautiful scenic spot. It is 15 km from Valparai town after Mudis. The Sholaiyar Dam is the second largest rock dam in Asia. The length of the reservoir it impounds is about 20 km.
• Upper Azhiyar Dam

Mahalingapuram-Round Road alias Roundana

This Round Road is located in Mahalingapuram colony and it is the most favourite place for joggers, walkers, volleyball, basketball and badminton players. It is a get-together place for the community in Pollachi town. The Round Road Park opens at 5 am and most of the people come to walk and exercise. This place has a playground for small children. It has a Jawaharlal Nehru statue where Nehru made a speech.

Places of attraction

Valparai

Valparai is about 65 km from Pollachi and is situated at an altitude of 3500 feet above the sea level. You can enjoy the ride from Pollachi to Valparai with lush green forest area. From Azhiyar it is about 40 Hair Pin Bends to Valparai.

Places to Visit around Valparai:

• • Balaji Temple
  • Solayar Dam
  • Panchamuga Vinayakar Temple
  • Azhiyar Dam
  • Monkey Falls
  • Contour Canal

Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary

Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary is about 90 km from Coimbatore city and is situated at an altitude of 1,400 meters in the Western Ghats near Pollachi. The area of the sanctuary is 958 km². An ecological paradise, this sanctuary encompasses a National Park. It has recently been renamed as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park. Recently, it was converted into an integrated Anamalai Tiger Reserve. Vettaikaranpudur is en route to Topslip from Pollachi

TopSlip

TopSlip is a point located at an altitude of about 800 feet in the Anamalai mountain range. It is a picturesque location in the Anamalai Hills. It is about 37 km from Pollachi. This small town is an ideal picnic spot. Arrangements are available at Topslip to take tourists around the Sanctuary on elephant back or by van. Top Slip is a national park and a medical plant conservation area in Annamalai hills. It is famous for its elephant camp and its wildlife at Kollikamuthi. It got its name during British era, as lots of its timber slipped down to the plains below. For thrill-seekers accommodation is also available in a tree house. There are bungalows available within the sanctuary to view natural scenery and wildlife.

Chinnakallar

Chinnakallar is renowned for receiving the highest rainfall in Tamil Nadu. There is a waterfall in Chinnakallar which sounds like a roaring lion.

Parambikulam National Park

The Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is a reservoir of tranquil greenery ensconced in a valley between the Anaimalai Hills range of Tamil Nadu and the Nelliampathi Hills range of Kerala. The areas hilly and rocky, drained by several rivers, including the Parambikulam, the Sholayar and the Thekkady.

Thickly forested with stands of bamboo, sandalwood, rosewood and teak, the sanctuary has some marshy land and scattered patches of grassland. Parambikulam was once home to some of south India's finest stands of teak. Little remains of the original teak forests, other than the famous Kannimari teak tree, the largest in Asia as most of these have now been replaced by teak plantations. The tree is about 5 km from Thunakadavu, and is one of Parambikulam's prime attractions. The one of the oldest and largest teak trees in the world, is another attraction in the sanctuary. It has a girth of 6.52 metres, height of 48.25 metres when the measurement was taken in 2003. (It's claimed that the biggest teak in the world is in Uttaradit province of Thailand, with a girth of 10 metres and height of 47 metres.)

Parambikulam – Aliyar Multipurpose Project

Interlinking of Rivers

This project consists of a series of dams interconnected by tunnels and canals at various elevations to harness the Parambikulam, Aliyar, Nirar, Sholiyar, Thunkadavu, Thenkkadi and Palar rivers, laid for irrigation and power generation. The scheme is an outstanding example of engineering skill. It is located in the Anaimalai Hills range.

The Parambikulam-Aliyar Project is a complex multi-basin multipurpose project. Seven streams-five flowing westward and two towards the east- have been dammed and their reservoirs interlinked by tunnels. The water is ultimately delivered to the drought-prone areas in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu and the Chittur area of Kerala. The project has a command area of 1620 square kilometres with 185 MW of power generation capacity.

Temples

Sri Ramalinga Sowdeshwari Amman temple

The temple is known as Sowndamman temple among the people. It belongs to the community of Devangar Chettiyar (Kannada). There are about 1000 of families of this community in and around Pollachi. The gods Sri Ramalingeshwarar and Sri Sowdeshwari Amman were the main gods and kasi Sivaganga Vinayagar, Sri Durgai amman are the other gods in this temple. Navarathri is the main festival. It starts at the amavasya day of the Tamil month named puratasi. The festival consists of 10 days.

On the first day holy rituals at the shore "KATHI PODUTHAL" ceremony brings the God to the temple. Golu is kept. After that all nine days Sowdeshwari amman is dressed as different Gods and special prayers, bhajans are conducted. On the final day that is "dhasara" evening Sri Sowdeshwari amman is dressed as Sri Chamundeeshwari amman and kept in saparam with a BOW and ARROW.Then the saparam starts from the temple and goes to the battle field to kill the ghost. After the drama of killing the ghost is done, a vannimaram is tied along with banana tree and then it will be cut. After that procession Sri Sowdeshwari amman will go to various madths"madams" built by this community people. The next day holy water from various places are bought to reduce the anger of the God. This is called alagu seva. After that full moon day Annabishekam will be held to Lord Shiva in a grand manner.

SubramaniaSwamy Thirukoil

This temple is located at Pollachi. Konga Cholas built this temple of 'Lord Shiva' and named it as 'Thiruvahatheswaramudayar' temple, 700 years ago. This temple has a high architectural value. In due course, it came to be called 'Subramanyar Kovil' and 'Lord Subramanyar' is worshipped here.

Maasani Amman Thirukoil – Anaimalai

Lord Gowrishankarar temple is situated at Bg Farm, Anamalai. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Gowriamman; the idol was found during ploughing the fields in 1995. It has been ascertained by veteran Ganpathi Stapathi that the statue is intact and belongs to the Chola age. A new temple has been erected by Ganapathi Stapathi in 2004.

Legend tells of the origin of this temple. Anaimalai, a place near Pollachi, was earlier ruled by a king called Naanan. He had a very special mango tree in his farm on the Aaliyar riverside, which he was very fond of. He was so particular that nobody was allowed to use neither its mangoes nor its leaves. Once, a group of girls were having their bath in the Aaliyar river and saw a mango floating on the river which belonged to this mango tree. In anxiety, one of the girls picked the mango and ate it; even after several pleadings made by her father, the king sentenced her to death. After some time, the villagers in that particular area made a female figure in lying state in remembrance of the innocent girl on the graveyard sand and started worshipping her. In due course, she was worshipped by the name "Maasani". Later Kozhinkhosargal defeated king Naanan and destroyed that particular mango tree.

It is believed that Lord Rama on his way in search of Seetha, was absorbed by the power of this temple, stopped here and performed meditation, adding glory to this temple.

Alagunachi Amman Temple – Pollachi

It is located in Pollachi town. It was built in early 18th century. During that time, a group of people moved from Valliarachal (nearly 80 kilometres from Pollachi), rested on a river side in Pollachi (now the river is no longer there). They had brought the statue of the family God (Arulmigu Alagunachi Amman) and placed it nearby and slept; in the morning they found the statue was missing and so they selected one brick and placed it in the same place and built a small temple, and then the family stayed in Pollachi. In 2002, the temple was rebuilt. It is the Kula Deivam (Sacred Deity) for certain clans belonging to the Kongu Vellala Gounder community.

ThiruMoorthy Temple – ThiruMoorthy Hills

It is situated at the foot of Thirumoorthy Hills adjoining the Thirumoorthy Reservoir and Dam. This is about 20 km from Udumalaipettai on the highway from Palani to Coimbatore. A perennial stream flows by the side of the Sri Amaralingeswarar temple and nearby there is the Thirumoorthy Falls. It is believed that a few thousand years ago, Athari Maharishi along with his wife Anushiya Devi lived here. Moved by their prayer, Lord Shiva together with Brahma and Vishnu (Thiru Moorthygal) came in disguise to test their devotion. Overwhelmed by their appearance, the couple offered them tributes. The Thiru Moorthygal refused to accept their offerings as such and demanded that the offering should be made by Anushiya Devi in nudity. She accepted their demand and with her power of devotion she changed the Thiru Moorthy's into 3 year old babies and fed them. On seeing the power of the devout Anushiya Devi, the Thiru Moorthy's blessed the couple and hence the place is known as Thiru Moorthy Hills.

Sulakkal Mariamman Thirukoil – Sulakkal

Three hundred years ago, Sulakal was amidst of dense forest nesting dangerous wild animals and poisonous reptiles. The nearby villagers used to feed their domestic animals in the forest. The owner of a particular cow, which was not giving milk followed it and found his cow shedding milk on a sandhill. On seeing this the cow started galloping. At that moment its legs were hit by the sandhill. He was shocked to see blood oozing out of the sandhill. He dreamed about the Goddess that night and was dictated to raise a temple in the name of the goddess (Sulakkal Mariamman). Till today, this temple stands as a cultural icon in this locality. Through generations, three families have vowed to take care and honour this great temple from neighbouring villages velayutham palayam, zaminkaliyapuram and sulakkal.

Shree Velayudhaswamy Thirukoil – Senjerimalai

The 'Thenserigiri Sthalapuranam' relates: As Lord Muruga set out with his battalion to subdue the demon Surapadma, Lord Shiva summoned him to the Thenserigiri hills and, initiating him to certain mantras, endowed him with invincible powers to route and destroy the demon and his retinue.

This is the legendary origin of this temple. Since then Lord Muruga came to be worshipped as Manthragiri and Sri Velayudhaswami. This temple was originally built by Karikala Chola and renovated by Veeraballalai III dates back to 13th century. A holy spring called 'Gnanatheertha Sunai' and a sacred tree known as 'Karunochi' can be seen

Echanari Vinayagar Thirukoil – Coimbatore

The temple is among the oldest one in Coimbatore and dates back to 1500A.D. The moolavar at this temple was actually meant for Perur Patteshwarar temple and since it got stuck on its way from Madurai, Eachnari became the blessed place. The deity's height is 6 feet (2 m) and the width is 3 feet (1 m) and is one of the biggest in South India. The last kumbabhishekam was performed in 2006.

Ambarampalayam Darga

This Darga is situated on the banks of the river aliyar. A lot of devotees from Kerala and Tamil Nadu visit this Dargha with a belief that evil spirits will get away. The Name of Dargah is Chansa Valiullah Dargha, Ambarampalayam.

Arulmigu Prasanda Vinayagar Temple

Arulmigu Prasanda Vinayagar Temple (Template:Lang-ta) Located on the banks of River Aliyar, about 8 kilometres to the south of Pollachi, this temple was in a dilapidated condition about 2 years ago. The renovation work of this temple was initiated by the local public under the leadership of Tmt. Anandhi Elango. The renewed looking temple had its first kumbhabhishekham on 9 June 2007.

There are signs in this temple to show that the temple deity was Lord Siva initially. What made this temple to become a Ganapathy temple is still unknown. The Statue of Lord Vinayaka is believed to be more than 500 years old. It is sculptured in the style of the old Vijayanagara empire. The Nandi statue found in front of the temple is believed to be 1000 years old. The statue of The deity is addressed as 'Prasanda Vinayakan' by the locals; the qualifier appears to be the mispronunciation of the Sanskrit term "Prachanda" (प्रचण्ड) meaning 'of fierce countenance, violently swift, etc.'; the most appropriate being the former.

There should have been temple elephants belonging to this temple in those days. This is evidenced by the naming of that part of the river as 'Anai Gajam' (Template:Lang-ta) where the flight of steps leading from the temple meet the river. 'Anai Gajam' in Tamil means that part of river where water is so deep even to an elephant; the place where the mahouts used to take the temple elephants for bathing.

Due to its natural setting amidst lush green paddy fields, sugarcane fields, and Coconut trees, this temple is growing more and more popular among the devotees of Coimbatore.

External links

• Pollachi official guide
• Pollachi Iyyappa Swamy Temple
• Tours and Travels
• Pollachi Matrimony page
• Business Directory of Pollachi