Sivaganga district is one of the 38 districts (an administrative district) in Tamil Nadu, the south Indian state. This district was formed on 15 March 1985 by trifurcation of Ramanathapuram district into Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Sivaganga districts. The city of Sivaganga is the district headquarters, while Karaikudi is the most populous city in the district, administered by the Karaikudi Municipal Corporation. It is bounded by Pudukkottai district on the northeast, Tiruchirappalli district on the north, Ramanathapuram district on southeast, Virudhunagar district on southwest and Madurai district on the west. The area's other larger towns include Sivaganga, Kalayar Kovil, Devakottai, Manamadurai, Ilaiyangudi, Thiruppuvanam, Singampunari and Tiruppattur. As of 2011, the district had a population of 1,339,101 with a sex ratio of 1,003 females for every 1,000 males.
History
Sivaganga District has been carved out from composite Ramnad District (G.O. MS. No. 1122 Rev. Dept. Dated 6 July 1984) and the district was functioning from 15 March 1985 (G.O. Ms. No. 346 Rev. dept. Dated 8 March 1985). Since Sivaganga is the headquarters of Sivaganga Lok Shaba Constituency since 1967, so the plan was to create a new district with existing constituency areas as of 1984 which is the present day Sivaganga district and Sivaganga was made as the District Headquarters of the newly formed district.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, Sivaganga district had a population of 1,339,101 with a sex-ratio of 1,003 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. 30.83% of the population lived in urban areas. A total of 137,235 were under the age of six, constituting 70,022 males and 67,213 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 17.01% and .06% of the population, respectively. In addition, the average literacy of the district was 71.67%, compared to the national average of 72.99%, while the district had a total of 338,938 households. On the other hand, there is a total of 620,171 workers, comprising 117,030 cultivators, 122,166 main agricultural labourers, 9,864 in house hold industries, 212,042 other workers, 159,069 marginal workers, 23,973 marginal cultivators, 77,397 marginal agricultural labourers, 4,792 marginal workers in household industries and 52,907 other marginal workers. Tamil is the predominant language, spoken by 99.14% of the population.
Geography Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu spreads over . The geographical position of Sivaganga district is between 9° 43' and 10° 2' north latitude and between 77° 47' and 78° 49' east longitude. It is bounded on the north and northeast by Pudukkottai District, on the southeast and south by Ramanathapuram District, on the southwest by Virudhunagar District, and on the west by Madurai District, and on the northwest by Tiruchirappalli District. Piranmalai is the only hill area located in sivagangai district. Major river which passes through the Sivagangai district is Vaigai River.
Politics
Administration
Sivaganga district has 9 taluks in 2 revenue divisions. Revenue Division Taluks No. of revenue villages Sivaganga 5 (Manamadurai, kalayarkovil, Sivaganga, Thiruppuvanam, Ilayangudi) 455 Devakottai 4 (Devakottai, Karaikudi, Tiruppattur, Singampunari) 210 Total 9 665 The district has 12 revenue blocks namely Sivagangai, Kalayarkoil, Ilayangudi, Manamadurai, Tiruppuvanam, S. Pudur, Singampuneri, Tiruppattur, Sakkottai (Karaikudi), Kannankudi, Devakottai & Kallal.
Economy In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Sivaganga as one of the country's 250 most backward districts out of a total of 640. Consequently, it is one of the six districts in Tamil Nadu currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
Industries The first bank in the district was the Bank of India in Periyakottai opened in 1985.
Agriculture The vast majority of the workforce is dependent on agriculture (72.8%). In fact, the principal crop of Sivaganga district is paddy while majority of the district has red soil. The other crops that are grown are sugarcane, groundnut, pulses, cereal such as millet, chillies, cotton, and as well as gingelly.
In response, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University had set up the state's first Red Soil Dryland Research Centre in Sivaganga district.
As of December 2010, the Spices Board is also setting up a new spices park at Sivaganga on an invest of Rs. 180 million. This park is expected to be operational by March 2011. It would be immensely helpful to farmers of chili, turmeric, medicinal plants and tamarind, as the focus would be to export their products. The proposed spices park would establish machinery for cleaning, sorting, grading, packaging, storing, and sterilizing among others. The focus would be to encourage the farmers to plant chili, a leading crop in Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and nearby districts, as well as turmeric crops. Medicinal plants, being raised in and around the Madurai district, would also get a boost, as it was planned to patronize farmers of medicinal plants.
One of the famous indigenous cow breeds, the Pulikulam cow, has originated from Pulikulam village of Sivagangai district. The Government of Tamil Nadu has also set up a cattle research centre exclusively for these pulikulam cattle breeds for their breeding as well as for the development of that cattle breeds. Bulls of these breeds are mainly used for Jallikattu. Pulikulam cattle research station has been setup near Manamadurai for research purpose.
Agro and Mineral Based industries There are several notable industries present in the Sivaganga district. Some of them are listed below:
Sree Kaderi Ambal Mills Private Limited, Shanmuganathapuram Sakthi Sugars Ltd., Sivaganga EID Parry India Ltd., Sivaganga Britannia Indian Foods Biscuit Factory, Thiruppuvanam TAMIN, Sivaganga Kaleeswarar Mills, Kalayarkovil Tamil Nadu Chemical Products Limited, Karaikudi Some Coir Industries Around Sivaganga District Hi-Tech Industries, Manalur (Near Thiruppuvanam) Ammaiyappar Textile Industry, Sivaganga SIDCO Industrial Estate, Sivaganga SIDCO Industrial Estate, Karaikudi SIDCO Industrial Estate, Kirungakottai (near Manamadurai) SIPCOT Industrial Area, Manamadurai
Solar power farm Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited (MBCEL) has commissioned a 5 MW grid connected solar PV project at Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu. The project was awarded to Sapphire Industrial Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the farm, through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Tamil Nadu Renewable Development Agency. The project is, then, implemented under the 50 MWp generation based incentive scheme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
Sree Kaderi Ambal Mills Private Limited has commissioned 9.6MW grid connected solar PV project at Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu.
Transportation
The nearest airport to Sivagangai District is the Madurai International Airport. An unused British-era airfield also exist near karaikudi which is named as chettinad airport and maintained by Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry Department. The district is well connected by road network. Some of the notable national highways such as NH-49 Kochi-Madurai-Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi National Highway pass through the district and this highway is also a part of Asian Highway network AH-43 and NH-87. The state's first private national highway (Chennai to Karaikudi) originates from this district. The district is well connected with Railways. The district has two railway junctions, namely, Manamadurai Junction and Karaikudi Junction. The district headquarters railway station is located at Sivaganga. The district has three goods-handling railway stations, namely, Chettinad (Karaikudi), Melakonnakulam and Manamadurai Junction. Other railway station in the district are Thiruppuvanam, Tiruppachetti, Rajagambiram, Manamadurai Junction, Melakonnakulam, Sivaganga, panangudi, Kallal, Devakottai Road, Karaikudi Junction, Kottaiyur, Chettinad, Kandanur Puduvayal, and Periyakottai.
Places of interest
Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary, which is located near to Tiruppathur, attracts a number of migratory birds such as white ibis, asian openbill stork and night heron, as well as some endangered species including the painted stork, gray heron, darter, little cormorant, little egret, intermediate egret, cattle egret, common teal, Indian spot-billed duck, pintail and flamingos.
The best season to visit is from November to February.
Chettinad
Chettinad is the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars (Nagarathar), a prosperous banking and business community. It is well known for its Chettinad cuisine, which is very hot and spicy. In fact, Chettinad has one of the South Indian cuisines with large number of specialty restaurants. A typical meal will have meat, a large number of courses, and is served on a banana leaf.
Also, the old Chettiar mansions are rich in heritage, art and architecture. The affluence of the Chettiars are shown off in their palatial houses, including one example in Kanadukathan. Carved teak wood doors and frames, Hallways laid with the famous Attangudi Silica cast ed sand glass painted tiles, granite pillars, Belgian mirrors and Italian tiles are the norms.
Pandiyan temples There are also a few Pandiyan temples. For instance, the Kaleeswara Temple and Karpaka Vinayakar Temple and Sri Sowmiyanarayana Perumal Kovil in Thirukoshtiyur attract large number of pilgrims.
Anjanamaar Panch peer dargah This is a shrine of the five soldiers in the troop of Badusha Sulthan Syed Ibrahim shaheed of Ervadi. The dargah is situated at Kannar Street in the Manamadurai – Ilaiyangudi state highway within the panchayat limits of Manamadurai. The annual urus festival marking the martyrdom day of the Panch shuhadas is commemorated on the 17th of the Islamic month of Jamadil Awwal every Hijri year.
Keezhadi Museum The archeological excavation and findings from Keezhadi and surrounding areas of Manalur, Kondhagai, Agaram, etc. are showcased for public where morden technologies are deployed for visitors to get a 3 Dimensional view of entire excavation site along with a 20 minutes short flim theatre which explains the history of Tamil diaspora. The entire Museum is built in the Architectural style of Chettinad.
Other places of interest Sivaganga Palace Keezhadi Archeological excavation site, Keezhadi. Poolankurichi Archeological Inscription Site, Poolankurichi, Tirupathur. Thirumalai Cave Temple, Cave Paintings, Samanar Beds and Tamizhi Inscriptions, Thirumalai. Elanthakarai Archeological excavation site, Elanthakarai, Kalayarkoil. Tamizhl Thai Temple, Karaikudi (portrayed Tamil Language as a Goddess) Kamban Tomb, Nattarasankottai (Burial place of Kambar Poet) Siravayal Jallikattu. Araliparai Jallikattu with unique hillock view gallery and adjacent cave shivan temple. Marudhupandiyar Fort, Siruvayal Sangarapathi Fort, Amaravathi Pudur (Devakottai) Velunatchiyar memorial hall, Sivaganga Kaviarasu Kannadasan Memorial hall, Karaikudi Sivaganga District Museum, Sivaganga. Vallal Alagappa Chettiyar Museum, Karaikudi Natchiyappa Swamigal Chettinad Heritage Museum, Karaikudi Vintage Maha Museum, Karaikudi (vintage toys) Chettinad vintage car and bike Museum, Pillayarpatti Sri Malaikoluntheeswarar Temple, Thirumalai Shri Thiruvengadamudaiyan Temple, Ariyakudi is popularly known as the Southern Tirupathi by local people, is a 400-year-old temple just from Karaikudi Vairava Swmay & Poomalachiyamman Temple, N.Vairavanpatti, Karaikudi – Thiruppathur Road, from Karaikudi Pillayarpatti Vinayagar Temple, Pillayarpatti, around from Karaikudi Koviloor Temple, Karaikudi Maranadu karuppanaswamy Temple, Maranadu Manamadurai sri veera Azhagar Temple, Aananthavalli samedha Somanadhaswamy temple Ilayangudi Rajendra Chola Eswara Temple Nattarasankottai Shri Kannathal Temple