Namakkal

Namakkal (Tamil: [nɑːməkkəl]) is a city and the headquarters of Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu. It is the first ISO 14001-2004 certified municipality in Asia for environmental management, specifically the provision and maintenance of water supply, solid waste and sewage management, town planning, lighting and other social services. Namakkal is known as the Egg City due to its large egg production and Transport city.

Namakkal is a historic city with references back to at least the 6th century. The name Namakkal derives from Namagiri, which is the name of the single rock formation at the centre of the town dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The rock is 65 meters high and over a kilometre in circumference.

There are two cave temples namely Sri Namagiri Thayar sametha Sri Narasimhaswamy Perumal Temple and Sri Ranganatha Perumal Temple which are excavated in this Namagiri hill and is believed to be built during the 6th century CE by the Satyaputra Kings and Pandya kings with the help of rock-cut architecture style and various inscriptions. Historian Soundara Rajan places the date to a pre-Varagunan I (800–830 CE) era on the 8th century. Based on the palaeography and rock-cut architecture, P. R. Srinivasan has placed it at 6th century. Most of the historians have compared the temples with similar architectural elements found in Badami Caves (6th century) and a possible influence. There are few inscriptions in the temple, especially an undated inscription in Grantha Characters at the Ranganatha temple which are similar to the inscriptions in the Ganesha Ratha in Mahabalipuram, which is in another cave in the upper part of the hill. Another inscription mentions it as Adiyendra Vishnu Grham which evidently shows that the cave was excavated by the Satyaputra Kings, the recently discovered inscription not only confirms this but also mentions the king's name as Gunasila (Dated 500 CE). Historians believe it is possible that both the temples were built during the same period.

Over this massive rock, is a fort, Namakkal Fort. Kongu nadu a small kingdom who ruled Namakkal during the 16th century. During Sangam age, Namakkal region formed a part of the historical Kongu Nadu region ruled by Cheras It is believed that Tippu Sultan hid himself in this fort for some time to escape the British. The fort was not built by Tippu Sultan but he occupied it for a brief period of time. Later the fort was captured by British. The front side of the hill is called Thiru. Vi. Ka. Paarai and today is used by taxis as their stand. ^{[citation needed]} Namakkal is a part of Kongu Nadu which was hotly contested and coveted by both the ancient Pallavas and the Pandyas. Namakkal was in the hands of Atiakula King called Gunasila who had an alliance with Pallava King through marriage. Later the taluk was overrun by the Cholas in the Mandalam. After the struggle between the Cheras, Cholas and Pandiyan, the Hoysalas rose to power and had control till the 14th century followed by the Vijayanagara Kings until 1565 AD. Then the Telugu Madurai Nayaks came to power in 1623 AD. Two of the polygons of Thirumalai Nayak, namely, Ramachandra Nayaka and Gatti Mudaliars, ruled the Salem area. The Namakkal Fort is reported to have been built by Ramachandra Nayakas. After about 1625 AD, the area successively came successively under the rule of Muslim Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda, Mysore kings and then the Marathas.

Hyder Ali came to power in about the year 1750 AD. During this period, it was a history of power struggle between Hyder Ali and later Tippu, with the British. Namakkal was held by Killdhar (Caption) of Hyder Ali until it was captured by British in 1768. For a brief period during late 18th and early 19th century Namakkal was under Tiruchirappalli district of British Rule. Later, Namakkal was transferred back to Salem District. Then at 01-01-1997 finally announced as a separate district from Salem District.

Mahatma Gandhi held a public meeting in 1933 in Namakkal under the slope of the Namakkal rock.^{[citation needed]}

According to 2011 census, Namakkal had a population of 55,145 with a sex-ratio of 1,015 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 5,002 were under the age of six, constituting 2,609 males and 2,393 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 13.7% and .5% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 82.52%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 15008 households. There were a total of 21,572 workers, comprising 133 cultivators, 264 main agricultural labourers, 562 in house hold industries, 19,646 other workers, 967 marginal workers, 22 marginal cultivators, 24 marginal agricultural labourers, 151 marginal workers in household industries and 770 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Namakkal had 88.98% Hindus, 9.29% Muslims, 1.48% Christians, 0.01% Sikhs, 0.0% Buddhists, 0.01% Jains, 0.23% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Namakkal Anjaneyar temple is located in Namakkal, and is dedicated to the Hindu god Hanuman. It is constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture. The image of Anjaneyar is 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, making it one of the tallest images of Hanuman in ancient temples of India. The image of Anjaneyar is carved out of a single stone and is existing from the 5th century. There is no roof over the sanctum and Anjaneyar has a unique iconography sporting a sword in his waist and holding a garland made of saligrama. The temple is considered one of the prominent temples in the Tamil Nadu state and the country. The Agamam is followed by "Sri Vaikhanasam".