When the Chola Empire began to decline, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was conquered by the Pandyas who ruled from 1216 until their defeat by Malik Kafur in 1311. The victorious armies of the Delhi Sultanate are believed to have plundered and ravaged the kingdom. The idol of the Hindu god Ranganatha in the temple of Srirangam disappeared at about this time and was not recovered and reinstated until more than fifty years later. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was ruled by the Delhi and Madurai sultanates from 1311 to 1378 when it was annexed by the Vijayanagar Empire. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) remained a part of the Vijayanagar Empire and its successor, the Madurai Nayak kingdom till 1736. It served as the capital of the Madurai Nayak kingdom from 1616 to 1634 and from 1665 to 1736. In 1736, the last Madurai Nayak ruler Meenakshi committed suicide and Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was conquered by Chanda Sahib. Chanda Sahib ruled the kingdom from 1736 to 1741 when he was captured and imprisoned by the Marathas. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was administered by the Maratha general Murari Rao from 1741 to 1743, when it was annexed to the Carnatic kingdom. When the Nawab of the Carnatic, Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was dethroned by Chanda Sahib in 1751, he fled to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and set up his base there. The subsequent siege of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) by Chanda Sahib took place during the Second Carnatic War between the British East India Company and Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah on one side and Chanda Sahib and the French East India Company on the other. The British were successful in the war and Wallajah was restored to the throne. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was invaded by Nanjaraja and Hyder Ali of Mysore kingdom in 1753 and 1780, respectively, but both of these attacks were repulsed by the troops of the British East India Company. A third attempt, by Tipu Sultan, son of Hyder Ali in 1793, ended in a stalemate.
Electricity supply to the city is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is the headquarters of the Trichy region of TNEB. The city along with its suburbs forms the Trichy Metro Electricity Distribution Circle which is further sub-divided into six divisions. A Chief Distribution engineer is stationed at the regional headquarters at Tennur. Water supply is provided by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) City Corporation. Of the six headworks from which the city gets its water supply, four are maintained by the municipal corporation and the rest by other agencies. Apart from the Gandhi market, Central Bus terminus and the Chathram bus terminus, solid waste management in the city is handled by the corporation. About 400 tonnes of solid waste are released from city every year. The principal landfill is at Ariyamangalam. Recently, the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city corporation has gone in for scientific closure of the garbage dump and its replacement with a sewerage treatment plant. Waste water management in the Trichy-Srirangam under ground drainage (UGD) areas are handled by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) and in other areas by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) Municipal Corporation. The high toxicity of the waste water released by the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) is a major cause of concern for the corporation. The corporation’s annual expenditure for the year 2010–11 is estimated to be Rs. 155.94 crores. Under the National Urban Sanitation Policy, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), with a sanitation coverage of 70 percent was ranked sixth in India and first in Tamil Nadu on the basis of sanitation for the year 2009–10. In January 2010, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) became the first city in India where open defecation was prevented in all its slums.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has a number of historical Hindu temples and fortresses. Most of the Hindu temples, including the Rockfort temples, the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, the Jambukeswarar Temple at Thiruvanaikkaval, the Samayapuram Mariamman Temple, the Erumbeeswarar Temple and the temples in Urayur, are built in the Dravidian style of architecture—the Ranganathaswamy Temple and Jambukeswarar Temple often being counted among the best examples of this style. The Rockfort, considered to be one of the symbols of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), is a fortress which stands atop a 273-foot-high rock. The Ranganathaswamy Temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, is an important Vaishnavite pilgrimage center and is believed to house the mortal remains of the Vaishnavite saint and philosopher Ramanujacharya. The Jambukeswarar Temple at Thiruvanaikkaval and the Erumbeeswarar Temple, both date from the time of the Medieval Cholas. The city’s principal mosque is the Nadir Shah Mosque or Nathar Shah mosque which encloses the tomb of the 10th century Muslim saint Nadir Shah. The Christ Church, constructed by the German Protestant missionary Christian Friedrich Schwarz in 1766, and the St Joseph College Church, are noted examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the city.
Hockey and cricket are the most popular sports in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Former Indian goalkeepers Charles Cornelius and Leslie Fernandez hail from the city. Construction of astro turf and an indoor stadium are currently in progress at the Anna Stadium complex, the city’s principal hockey ground. Apart from the hockey ground, the stadium complex also includes a football ground, an athletic track, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, badminton court and a sports hostel. The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) District Cricket Association (TDCA) is one of the constituents of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and regulates school, college and club cricket in the district. First class cricket matches are held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (formerly the Khajamalai Stadium). At the golden jubilee celebrations of the association in 2008–09, plans have been mooted for the setting up of another cricket stadium and an academy in the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city. The Mannarpuram Cricket Academy is one of the noted cricket coaching academies in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Domestic association football, tennis and volleyball tournaments are held in and around the city. International chess tournaments have also been held in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy).
The city of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is represented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by four elected members, one each for the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) – I, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) – II, Srirangam and Tiruverumbur constituencies. Tiruchirappali is also a part of the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) Lok Sabha constituency and elects a member to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, once every five years. The Lok Sabha seat has been held by the Indian National Congress for four terms (1957–62, 1984–89, 1989–91 and 1991–96), the Communist Party of India for three terms (1962–67, 1971–77 and 1977–80) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (2001–04 and 2009–present) and Bharatiya Janata Party (1998–99 and 1999–2001) for two terms each. Candidates from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have won once each. Indian politician Rangarajan Kumaramangalam who served as the Minister of Power in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in the 1998 and 1999 elections.
As of 2011, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has a total of 27 arts, science and law colleges, notable ones being the National College, Bishop Heber College, Jamal Mohamed College and the Government Law College. There are nearly 35 engineering colleges in and around the city. The National Institutes of Technology have a campus at Thuvakudi on the outskirts of the city. The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) branch of Anna University was established following the bifurcation of Anna University in 2007. A total of 64 self-financing colleges offering courses on engineering, architecture, management and computer applications in the districts of Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur are affiliated to this University. The SRM Group of Colleges established the SRM Institute of Science and Technology at Irungalur near Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) followed by Chennai Medical College and Hospital in 2007. A proposal by the group to include the institutions in the SRM University is under review of the Ministry of Human Resources Development of the Government of India.
The population is predominantly Hindu, and there are sizeable numbers of Christians and Muslims. Sikhs and Jains are also present in smaller numbers. The most widely spoken language is Tamil, though there are also significantly large numbers of people speaking Telugu, Saurashtrian and Kannada The standard dialect of Tamil spoken is the Central Tamil dialect. Saurashtrian is the mother tongue of the Patnulkarars who migrated from Gujarat in the 16th century AD. There is also a substantial population of Sri Lankan Tamil migrants, most of whom are housed in refugee camps on the outskirts of the city. Roman Catholics in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) are affiliated to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) while Protestants are affiliated to the Trichy–Tanjore Diocese of the Church of South India. As a separate division of the Southern Railway is headquartered at Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city, there is a considerably strong Anglo-Indian population in the city.
Densely–populated industrial and residential areas have recently emerged in the northern part of the city. Residential areas also cover the southern edge of the city. The city is completely surrounded by agricultural fields. The older part of the city, situated within the fort, is unplanned and congested while the adjoining newer sections are better executed. Many of the old houses in Srirangam were constructed according to the shilpa sastras, the canonical texts of Hindu temple architecture. A Local Planning Authority for Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was created on 5 April 1974 as per the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act of 1971 with the District Collector of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) as Chairman and the Assistant Director of Town and Country Planning as its member secretary. The city gets its drinking water supply from the Kaveri River and 1,470 bore wells linked to 60 service reservoirs in and around the city.
Pongal, Tamil New Year, Aadi Perukku, Vaikunta Ekadasi, Navarathri, the Srirangam car festival and Bakrid are some of the important festivals celebrated in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The Gregorian New Year, Christmas, Deepavali and Holi are also celebrated with pomp and splendour. Jallikattu tournaments are occasionally held on the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city. Textile weaving, leather-work and gem cutting are some of the important crafts practised in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Wooden idols of Hindu gods and goddesses are sold at the crafts emporium, Poompuhar, run by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Trichy Travel Federation (TTF) was formed on 5 May 2009 to promote Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) as a favourable tourist destination. The federation organises an annual food festival called Suvai. Lack of infrastructure has been a major deterrent to the city’s tourism industry.
There are very few sources of entertainment in the city. The municipal corporation has been blamed for alleged decrepit conditions of its parks. The Trichinpoly Club or Trichy Club was established in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) Cantonment in 1869. The club was disbanded in 1972 and its assets were taken over by the Madras Club. The P. T. Rajan Park, Chinnaswamy Park, Lourdusamy Park, Raja Park, Parangiri Velusamy Park and Ibrahim Park are some of the important government-run parks in the city. Of these, the Raja Park and Ibrahim Park are frequented by children. There have been plans to set up a zoological park at M. R. Palaiyam on the outskirts of the city. Once completed, the zoo is expected to house about 500 animals belonging to 50 different species. The Anna Science Centre runs a planetarium in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy).
According to the Registrar of newspapers in India, a total of 111 newspapers have been registered in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The weekly newspaper Wednesday Review, founded in 1905, is the first prominent journal to be published from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Among the major English-language newspapers being published from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) are The Hindu which launched a Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) edition in 2004 and The New Indian Express which was publishing from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) even before The Hindu. Some of the important Tamil-language newspapers that publish a Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) edition are Dina Thanthi Dina Mani, Dina Malar, Malai Malar, Dinakaran, Tamil Murasu and Tamil Sudar. Popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan launched a local supplement for Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of its founding.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) comes under the Tiruchi Telecom District of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s state-owned telecom and internet services provider. There are a total of about 20,000 business telephone subscribers in the city. Both Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile services are available. Apart from telecom, BSNL also provides broadband internet service. BSNL began offering wireless internet services with the commencement of Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) transmission in 2008. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is one of the few cities in India where BSNL’s Caller Line Identification (CLI) based internet service Netone is available. Softnet (STPI), Tata VSNL, Bharti and Reliance are other major broadband internet service providers in the city.
According to the 2001 census, the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a population of 752,066 within the corporation limits at a density of 5,127 persons per km2, with 376,125 men (50.01 per cent) and 375,941 women (49.99 per cent). c The urban agglomeration had a population of 866,354. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) metropolitan area constitutes the fourth largest metropolitan area in Tamil Nadu and the 47th in India. 11.41 per cent of the population was under six years of age. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a literacy rate of 88.71 per cent. The provisional results of the 2011 India census released by the Government of India give the population of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) metropolitan area as 846,915 and the urban agglomeration as 1,021,717. There are a total of 286 slums in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) with a population of about 162,000.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is served by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) International Airport, which provides both domestic as well as international services. It is the second largest international airport in the state and the tenth largest international airport in the country in terms of Aircraft movements and area. It had a lot of expansions and is on phase II expansion with a new International terminal construction with 600 acres increase in land. It was first used to handle air traffic in 1938, when Tata Airlines commercial flights stopped at Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) on the Karachi-Colombo route. In 1948, Air Ceylon commenced daily passenger flights between Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and Colombo via Jaffna. There are regular flights to Chennai,Delhi,Mumbai Sri Lanka, Dubai,Abu Dhabi,Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
The municipality of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was inaugurated under the Town Improvements Act 1865 on 1 November 1866 covering an area of 18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi) and originally consisted of two ex-officio and nine nominated members. Elections to the council were introduced in 1877 and the first chairman was elected in 1889. The municipality was upgraded to a municipal corporation as per the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) City Municipal Corporation Act 1994 by inclusion of the Srirangam and Golden Rock municipalities. The municipal corporation currently covers an area of 146.7 square kilometres (56.6 sq mi) and comprises 65 wards and four administrative zones: Srirangam, Ariyamangalam, Golden Rock and Abhishekapuram.
Other derivations of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) have been provided by the Telugu scholar C. P. Brown who suggested that Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) might be a derivative of the word ‘Chiruta-palli’ meaning “little town”. In a rock inscription of the sixteenth century, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is mentioned as Tiru-ssila-palli meaning “holy-rock-town” in Tamil and Orientalists Henry Yule and Arthur Coke Burnell believed that the name Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) might have been derived from it. A few other scholars feel that the name Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) might have been derived from Tiru-chinna-palli meaning “holy little town”. The Madras Glossary gives the root as Tiruccinappalli or the “holy (tiru) village (palli) of the shina (Cissampelos pareira) plant”.
The city is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled, at different times, by the Early Cholas, Early Pandyas, Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Delhi Sultanate, Madurai Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Nayak Dynasty, the Carnatic state and the British. The archaeologically important town of Uraiyur which served as the capital of the Early Cholas is a suburb of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) played a critical role in the Carnatic Wars between the British and the French East India companies. The city has a number of historical monuments, the Rockfort, Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam and the Jambukeswarar temple at Thiruvanaikaval being the most prominent among them.
10.8050°N 78.6856°E. The average elevation is 88 metres (289 ft). It is located almost at the geographic centre of the state of Tamil Nadu. The topology of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is almost flat with a few isolated hillocks rising above the surface, the highest of which is the Rockfort. The city spread over an area of 146.7 square kilometres (56.6 sq mi) is situated on the plains between the Shevaroy Hills to the north and the Palni Hills to the south and south-west. The city is situated at the head of the Kaveri Delta, which commences 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) where the Kaveri River branches into two streams forming the island of Srirangam.
The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) City Municipal Corporation Council, the legislative body, comprises 65 councillors elected from each of the 65 wards and is headed by a mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor. The executive wing is made up of seven departments: General administration, revenue, town planning, engineering, public health, information technology and personnel and is headed by a City Commissioner. The Commissioner is assisted by two executive engineers for the east and west sections, and Assistant Commissioners for personnel, accounts and revenue departments, a public relations officer, a city engineer, a city health officer and an Assistant Commissioner for each of the four zones.
During British rule, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was known for its tanneries, cigar-manufacturing units and oil presses. At its peak, over 12 million cigars were manufactured and exported annually. Tanned hides and skins from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) were exported to the United Kingdom. The city has a number of retail and wholesale markets, the most famous among them being the Gandhi market which is an important source of vegetables for the whole region. Other notable markets in the city are the flower bazaar in Srirangam and the mango market at Mambazha Salai. The suburb of Manachanallur is known for rice mills where polished Ponni rice is produced.
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