Tirunelveli and the district have a high rate of child labour. The drop in female school attendance between ages 15 and 19 is almost four times greater than that in the rest of Tamil Nadu.
Urban Infrastructure report (2007) (PDF). ?Conversion of City Corporate Plan into Business Plan? (Report). Tamilnadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
In 1743 Nizam-ul-mulk, lieutenant of the Deccan Plateau, displaced most of the Marathas from the region and Tirunelveli came under the rule of the Nawabs of Arcot. The original power lay in the hands of the polygars, who were originally military chiefs of the Nayaks. The city was the chief commercial town during the Nawab and Nayak era. The city was known as Nellai Cheemai, with Cheemai meaning “a developed foreign town”. The polygars built forts in the hills, had 30,000 troops and waged war among themselves. In 1755, the British government sent a mission under Major Heron and Mahfuz Khan which restored some order and bestowed the city to Mahfuz Khan. The poligars waged war against Mahfuz Khan seven miles from Tirunelveli, but were defeated. The failure of Mahfuz Khan led the East India Company to send Muhammed Yusuf for help. Khan became ruler, rebelled in 1763 and was hanged in 1764. In 1758, British troops under Colonel Fullarton reduced the polygar stronghold under Veerapandiya Kattabomman. In 1797, the first Polygar war broke out between the British (under Major Bannerman) and the polygars (headed by Kattabomman). Some polygars (such as the head of Ettaiyapuram) aided the British; Kattabomman was defeated and hanged in his home province of Panchalaguruchi. Two years later, another rebellion became known as the Second Polygar War. Panchalankuruchi fell to the British, after stiff resistance. The Carnatic region came under British rule following a treaty with the Nawab of Carnatic.
Occupations in Tirunelveli include service-sector activities such as administration, agricultural trading, tourism, banking, agro-machinery and educational services. As of 1991, the Tirunelveli region ranked second in the number of women workers. Service sectors such as tourism have developed, due to a growth in religious tourism. Tirunelveli has beedi and cement factories, tobacco companies, workshops for steel-based products and mills for cotton textiles, spinning and weaving; there are also small-scale industries, such as tanneries and brick kilns. The agricultural areas, hand-woven clothes and household industries contribute to the economic growth of the city. Food-processing industries have developed since the late 1990s; at the district level, it is the foremost industrial segment. Industries involving rice-making, blue-jelly metal manufacturing and jem power generating are located on the outskirts of the city. The major agricultural produce in the region is paddy and cotton. Beedi production during the 1990s earned an annual revenue of 190 billion and a foreign exchange of 8 billion across the three districts of Tirunelveli, Tiruchirapalli and Vellore.
About 100 metric tonnes of solid waste are collected from the city daily in door-to-door collection; source segregation and disposal is performed by the sanitary department of the Tirunelveli Municipal Corporation. Solid-waste management had an efficiency rating of 72 percent in 2007. The underground drainage system was constituted in 1998, covering 22 percent of the corporation area. The remaining system for disposal of sewage is through septic tanks and public conveniences. The corporation maintains a total of 184.8 kilometres (114.8 mi) of stormwater drains, 27 percent of the total road length. The corporation operates 17 hospitals, dispensaries and clinics throughout the city. The eight clinics operated by the corporation provide primary health care to the urban poor through family-welfare and immunisation programs. In addition, there are private hospitals and clinics providing health care to citizens. There are a total of 16,548 street lamps: 5,142 sodium lamps, 88 mercury-vapour lamps, 11,312 tube lights and six high-mast lamps.
The climate of Tirunelveli is generally hot and humid. The average temperature during summer (March to June) ranges from 25 °C (77 °F) to 41 °C (106 °F), and 18 °C (64 °F) to 29 °C (84 °F) during the rest of the year. The average annual rainfall is 680 millimetres (27 in). Maximum precipitation occurs during the northeast monsoon (October–December). Since the economy of the district is primarily based on agriculture, flooding of the Tamarabarani River or a fluctuation in monsoon rain has an immediate impact on the local economy. The primary crops grown in the region are paddy and cotton. Pineapples were introduced during the 16th century, chilly and tobacco during the late 16th and potatoes during the early 17th centuries. The most common tree is the palmyra palm, a raw material in cottage industries. Other trees grown in the region are teak, wild jack, manjakadambu, venteak, vengai, pillaimaruthu, karimaruthu and bamboo. Livestock of the city and district comprises cattle, buffalo, goats, sheep and other animals in smaller numbers.
Tirunelveli has an extensive transport network and is well-connected to other major cities by road, rail and air. The corporation maintains a total of 763.3 km (474.3 mi) of roads. The city has 134.88 km (83.81 mi) of concrete roads, 375.51 km (233.33 mi) of BT roads, 94.291 km (58.590 mi) of water-bound macadam roads, 76.31 km (47.42 mi) of unpaved roads and 82.3 km (51.1 mi) of highways. Twenty-two kilometres (fourteen miles) of highway are maintained by the State Highways Department and thirty kilometres (nineteen miles) by the National Highways Department. In 1844 a bridge was built by Colonel Horsley across the Tamirabarani River, connecting Tirunelveli to Palayamkottai. The city is located on NH 7, 150 km (93 mi) south of Madurai and 91 km (57 mi) north of Kanyakumari. NH 7A, an extension of NH 7, connects Palayamkottai with Tuticorin Port. Tirunelveli is also connected by major highways to Kollam, Tiruchendur, Rajapalayam, Sankarankovil, Ambasamudram and Nazareth.
Inscriptions from the eighth to the 14th centuries (during the rule of the Pandyas, Cholas and later Tenkasi Pandyas) indicate the growth of Tirunelveli as a centre of economic growth which developed around the Nellaiappar temple. The drier parts of the province also flourished during the rule of the Vijayanagara kings. From 1550 until the early modern era, migration to the city from other parts of the state was common and the urban regions became hubs of manufacturing and commerce. Tirunelveli was a strategic point, connecting the eastern and western parts of the peninsula, as well as a trading centre. Records of sea and overland trade between 1700 and 1850 indicate close trading connections with Sri Lanka and Kerala. During the 1840s, cotton produced in the region was in demand for British mills. The chief exports during British rule were cotton, jaggery, chillies, tobacco, palmyra fibre, salt, dried saltwater fish and cattle.
The Tirunelveli Corporation was established in 1866 during British rule. It became a municipal corporation in 1994, bringing the Palayamkottai and Melapalayam municipalities, the Thatchanallur town panchayat and eleven other village panchayats within the city limits. The municipal corporation has four zones: Tirunelveli, Thatchanallur, Palayamkottai and Melapalayam. The corporation has 55 wards, with an elected councillor for each ward. The corporation has six departments: general administration and personnel, engineering, revenue, public health, city planning and information technology (IT). All departments are under the control of a municipal commissioner. Legislative power is vested in a body of 55 members, one from each ward. The legislative body is headed by an elected chairperson, assisted by a deputy. Tirunelveli city is district headquarters for the Tirunelveli district.
In the 2001 Indian census Tirunelveli had a population of 411,831, with 203,232 males and 208,599 females. The sex ratio of the city was 1026, which was higher than the 2001 state average of 982. There were a total of 94,407 households. A total of 50,564 people (14 percent of the population) belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC), and 1,696 people (0.46 percent) belong to Scheduled tribes (ST). Tirunelveli had an average literacy rate of 86 percent; male literacy was 82 percent, and female literacy 72 percent. A total of 12 percent of the city’s population was under six years of age. There were a total of 153,841 workers, comprising 1,281 cultivators, 6,143 agricultural labourers, 28,212 in household industries, 109,847 other workers, 8,358 marginal workers, 55 marginal cultivators, 1,209 marginal agricultural labourers, 2,209 marginal workers in household industries and 4,885 other marginal workers.
During the 1790s, Tamil Christians established a number of schools in Tirunelveli. Christian converts increased in the region during the 19th century, along with the number of schools. The missionary educational system included primary and boarding schools, seminaries, industrial schools, orphanages and colleges. The schools, in general, provided a Christian education to converts to use them as future missionaries. The first boarding school for girls was opened in 1821, but its efforts were hampered by the emphasis on Christian education. Thomas Munro (1761 – 1827 CE) of the British East India Company established a two-tier school system: district schools, teaching law, and sub-district schools teaching vernacular languages in the Madras Presidency. Tirunelveli had four sub-district schools: two teaching Tamil and one each for Telugu and Persian.
The Nellaiappar temple was the royal shrine of the later Pandyas during the 13th and 14th centuries, and the city benefited from dams constructed with royal patronage during the period. After the death of Kulasekara Pandian (1268–1308), the region was occupied by Vijayangara rulers and Marava chieftans (palayakarars, or poligars) during the 16th century. The Maravars occupied the western foothills and the Telugas, and the Kannadigas settled in the black-soil-rich eastern portion. Tirunelveli was the subsidiary capital of the Madurai Nayaks; under Viswanatha Nayak (1529–64), the city was rebuilt about 1560. Inscriptions from the Nellaiappar temple indicate generous contributions to the temple. Nayak rule ended in 1736, and the region was captured by Chanda Sahib (1740–1754), Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan (1725–1764) during the mid-18th century.
The history of Tirunelveli was researched by Robert Caldwell (1814–91), a Christian missionary who visited the area. Tirunelveli was under the rule of Pandya kings as their secondary capital; Madurai was the empire’s primary capital. The Pandya dynasty in the region dates to several centuries before the Christian era from inscriptions by Ashoka (304–232 BCE) and mention in the Mahavamsa, the Brihat-Samhita and the writings of Megasthenes (350–290 CE). The province came under the rule of Cholas under Rajendra Chola I in 1064 CE; however, it is unclear whether he conquered the region or obtained it voluntarily. Tirunelveli remained under control of the Cholas until the early 13th century, when the second Pandyan empire was established with Madurai as its capital.
Tirunelveli is a part of the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha constituency, with ten assembly constituencies: Tirunelveli, Vasudevanallur (SC), Sankarankoil (SC), Kalayanallur, Nanguneri, Ambasamudram, Tenkasi, Alangulam, Radhapuram and Palayamkottai. The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is S. Ramasubbu of the INC. Since 1957, the Tirunelveli parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress for four terms: 1957–1961, 1962–67,, 2004–09 and since 2009. The Swantantra Party and the CPI won once each, from 1967–71 and 1971–77 respectively. The DMK won the seat twice: 1980–84 and 1996–98. The ADMK won the seat six times: 1977–80, 1984–89, 1989–91, 1991–96, 1998 and 1999–2004.
Tirunelveli was known in Sambandar’s seventh-century Saiva canonical work Tevaram as Thirunelveli. Nellaiappar temple inscriptions indicate that Shiva (as Vrihivritesvara) descended in the form of a hedge and roof to save the paddy crop of a devotee. In Hindu legend, the place was known as Venuvana (“forest of bamboo”) due to the presence of bamboo in the temple under which the deity is believed to have appeared. The early Pandyas named the city Thenpandiyanadu, the Cholas Mudikonda Cholamandalam and the Nayaks Tirunelveli Seemai; it was known as Tinnelvelly by the British, and Thirunelveli after independence. The word Tirunelveli is derived from three Tamil words: thiru, nel and veli, meaning “sacred paddy hedge”.
Tirunelveli Junction railway station is one of the oldest railway stations in India. The line from Tirunelveli to Sengottai was opened in 1903; the connection to Quilon, which was completed later, was the most important trade route to Travancore province in British India. The city is connected to major cities in all four directions: Madurai and Sankarankovil to the north, Nagercoil to the south, Sengottai and Kollam to the west and Tiruchendur to the east. Tirunelveli is also connected to major Indian cities with daily service to Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Mumbai, Guruvayur, Howrah, Delhi, Kollam and Trivandrum. There is passenger service to Madurai, Tiruchendur, Tiruchirpalli and Kollam.
Nellaiappar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva in the form of Nellaiappar. The deity is revered in the verses of Tevaram, a seventh-century Saiva work by Sambandar. The temple was greatly expanded during the 16th-century Nayak period and has a number of architectural attractions, including musical pillars. The temple has several festivals, the foremost an annual festival when the temple chariot is brought around the streets near the temple. It is one of the Pancha Sabhai temples, the five royal courts of Nataraja (the dancing form of Shiva), where he performed a cosmic dance. The Nataraja shrine in the temple represents copper, and features many copper sculptures.
Tirunelveli is part of the Tirunelveli Telecom District of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s state-owned telecom and internet-services provider. Both Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile services are available. In addition to telecommunications, BSNL also provides broadband internet service. Tirunelveli is one of a few cities in India where BSNL’s Caller Line Identification (CLI)-based internet service, Netone, is available. The city has a Passport Seva Kendra, a public-private-sector collaboration, which accepts passport applications from the Tirunelveli region for the passport office in Madurai.
The city is located on the west bank of the Thamirabarani River; its twin town, Palayamkottai, is on the east bank. Tirunelveli is believed to be an ancient settlement; it has been ruled at different times by the Early Pandyas, the Medieval and Later Cholas, the later Pandyas, the Ma’bar and Tirunelveli sultanates, the Vijayanagar Empire, the Madurai Nayaks, Chanda Sahib, the Carnatic kingdom and the British. The Polygar War, involving palaiyakkarars led by Veerapandiya Kattabomman and forces of the British East India Company, was waged on the city’s outskirts from 1797 to 1801. Tirunelveli has a number of historical monuments, the Nellaiappar Temple being the most prominent.
Industries in Tirunelveli include administrative services, agricultural trading, tourism, banking, agricultural machinery and educational services. The city is an educational hub of southern Tamil Nadu, with institutions such as Tirunelveli Medical College, the Veterinary College and Research Institution, Tirunelveli Law College and the Government College of Engineering. Tirunelveli is administered by a municipal corporation, established in 1994 by the Municipal Corporation Act. The city covers an area of 108.65 km2 (41.95 sq mi), and had a population of 411,831 in 2001. Tirunelveli is well-connected by road and rail with the rest of Tamil Nadu.
Tirunelveli is a major area for wind-power generation. Most wind-power-generation units in Tamil Nadu are located in Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari Districts, contributing to the state power-generation capacity of 2036.9 MW (as of 2005). Many private, multinational wind companies are located on the outskirts of the city. In June 2007 the Tata Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government to open a titanium dioxide plant, with an estimated value of 25 billion, in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi Districts. However, the state government put the project on hold after increasing protests against it.
Electric service to Tirunelveli is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). The city is headquarters for the Tirunelveli region of the four-division TNEB and, with its suburbs, forms the Tirunelveli Electricity Distribution Circle. A chief distribution engineer is stationed at regional headquarters. Water supply is provided by the Tirunelveli City Corporation from the Tamirabarani River, with 48 overhead tanks and 8 headworks throughout the city. During 2010–2011, a total of 42.6 million litres of water was supplied daily to households in the city.
The main bus stand (popularly known as the New Bus Stand), opened in 2003, is located in Veinthaankulam and there is regular bus service to and from the city. Other bus stands (for intracity service) are the Junction and Palay bus stands. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation has daily service to a number of cities, and the corporation operates a computerised reservation centre in the main bus stand. It also operates local buses serving the city and neighbouring villages. The State Express Transport Corporation has intercity service to Bangalore, Chennai, Kanyakumari and other cities.
The city covers an area of 108.65 square kilometres (41.95 sq mi). The population density of the city in the 2001 census was 3,781 persons per square kilometre, compared with 2,218 persons per square kilometre in 1971. Hindus form the majority of the urban population, followed by Muslims and Christians. Tamil is the main language spoken in the city, but the use of English is relatively common; English is the medium of instruction in most educational institutions and offices in the service sector. The Tamil dialect spoken in this region is distinct, and is widely spoken throughout Tamil Nadu.
Anna University of Technology Tirunelveli was established in 2007, offering a variety of engineering and technology courses for undergraduate and graduate students. Tirunelveli Medical College, Veterinary College and Research Institution and the Government College of Engineering, Tirunelveli are professional colleges operated by the government of Tamil Nadu. The Jesuit St. Xavier’s College, and St. John’s College (operated by the Church of South India diocese), MDT Hindu College, Sadakathulla Appa College and Sarah Tucker College are notable arts colleges.
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