Gobichettipalayam Gobi | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Nickname: Chinna Kodambakkam (MiniKollywood) | |
  Gobichettipalayam Gobichettipalayam, Tamil Nadu | |
| Coordinates:11°27′17.6″N77°26′11.4″E / 11.454889°N 77.436500°E /11.454889; 77.436500 | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Region | Kongu Nadu |
| District | Erode District |
| Municipality | 1949[2] |
| Government | |
| • Body | GMC |
| • Chairman | N. R. Nagaraj[3] |
| • Member of the Legislative Assembly | K. A. Sengottaiyan[4] |
| • Member of Parliament | K. Subbarayan[5] |
| Elevation | 241 m (791 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 59,523[1] |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 638452, 638476 |
| Telephone code | 91(04285) |
| Vehicle registration | TN36 |
| Literacy | 74% |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Tiruppur |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Gobichettipalayam |
| Planning agency | GMC |
| Climate | Tropical climate(Köppen) |
| Avg. annual temperature | 28 °C (82 °F) |
| Avg. summer temperature | 34.3 °C (93.7 °F) |
| Avg. winter temperature | 24 °C (75 °F) |
| Website | Gobi Municipality |
Gobichettipalayam (Tamil:[koːbitɕtɕeʈʈippaːɭaɪjam]) is atown and municipality inErode district of the Indianstate ofTamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters ofGobichettipalayam taluk. It is situated close to the centre of theSouth IndianPeninsula at 213 m (699 ft) above sea level, straddled by theEastern Ghats. It is located 35 km (22 mi) from the district headquartersErode, 44 km (27 mi) fromTiruppur and 80 km (50 mi) fromCoimbatore.Agriculture andtextile industries are major contributors to the economy of the town.
The town is a part ofGobichettipalayam constituency that elects its member to theTamil Nadu legislative assembly and theTirupur constituency that elects itsmember of parliament to theLok Sabha. The town is administered byGobichettipalayam Municipality, which was established in 1949. Gobichettipalayam has a population of 59,523 as per the2011 census. It is known as "MiniKollywood" because of thefilm production that takes place here and many films inTamil and other languages have been shot here.
A major part of present day Gobichettipalayam was previously known as "Veerapandi Gramam", and documents and records still use that name.[6] The town was part of the country ruled by kingVēl Pāri, who is regarded as one of the Kadai ēzhu vallal (the last seven great patrons).[7]Pariyur, a temple town near Gobichettipalayam was named after him.[8] The region was later ruled by theCheras andVijayanagara empire with the town deriving its name after Gobi Chetti, a VijayanagaraPolygar.[9] It was captured byTipu Sultan and after Tipu's defeat,British annexed it to their territory.[10] AfterIndian Independence, the town became part ofMadras State, which was later renamed asTamil Nadu.
Gobichettipalayam is located inKongu Nadu, the northwestern part of Tamil Nadu about 400 km (250 mi) south west ofChennai.[11] The southern slopes of theEastern Ghats lie north of the town. TheBhavani River traverses across the region.[12] The temperature is moderately warm except during the summer months when it is very hot.[11] Rainfall is moderate to high, unpredictable and unevenly distributed, and the town gets an average annual rainfall of 92 cm (36 in).[11] The soil mainly consists ofblack loam,red loam and red sand.[13] In general, the soil in and around the city is fertile and good foragriculture and the surrounding water loggedrice fields contribute to the high humidity levels.[11]
| Climate data for Gobichettipalayam | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30 (86) | 32 (90) | 35 (95) | 35 (95) | 34 (93) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 32 (90) | 31 (88) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 32 (90) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18 (64) | 19 (66) | 21 (70) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 21 (70) | 19 (66) | 22 (72) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 14 (0.6) | 12 (0.5) | 19 (0.7) | 53 (2.1) | 76 (3.0) | 38 (1.5) | 57 (2.2) | 42 (1.7) | 56 (2.2) | 153 (6.0) | 123 (4.8) | 50 (2.0) | 693 (27.3) |
| Source: Erode district collectorate | |||||||||||||
| Religion | Percent(%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindu | 90.3% | |||
| Muslim | 7.1% | |||
| Christian | 2.5% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.1% | |||
According to2011 census, Gobichettipalayam had a population of 59,523 of which 28,866 are males while 30,657 are females.[1] The town had asex ratio of 1,062 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. It had aliteracy rate of 85.2%, higher than the national average of 72.99 %.[15] About 4,669 people were under the age of six including 2,364 males and 2,305 females.Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.74% and 0.08% of the population respectively. The town had a total of 17,064 households and 25,225 engaged workers.[16]
Kongu Vellalar form a major proportion of the population.[7][17] There are also a significant number ofSengunthar,Vanniyar,Dalit,Nadar andVettuva Gounder.[18][19] As per the religious census of 2011, the town had 90.3%Hindus, 7.1%Muslims, 2.5%Christians and 0.1% others.[14]
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman | N. R. Nagaraj |
| MLA | K. A. Sengottaiyan |
| MP | K. Subbarayan |
The town is administered by theGobichettipalayam Municipality. The municipal body was constituted on 1 October 1949 and was elevated to Grade II on 10 February 1970. It was later upgraded to first Grade on 1 October 1977 and Selection Grade on 2 December 2008.[2] In 1952, the municipality under then chairmanG. S. Lakshman Iyer, was amongst the foremost in the country to have abolishedmanual scavenging.[20]
The town elects aMember to theTamil Nadu legislative assembly. It is currently represented byK. A. Sengottaiyan ofAIADMK.[4]Gobichettipalayam was a parliamentary constituency until 2009 when it was replaced by the newly formedTirupur constituency during delimitation byElection Commission of India. After the delimination, Gobichettipalayam assembly constituency became part of the Tirupur constituency, which is currently represented byK. Subbarayan ofCommunist Party of India.[21]
The municipality has 67.604 km (42.007 mi) of roads of which 6.6 km (4.1 mi) is owned by the State Highways Department.[11] The town is well connected by roads with the major arterial roads includingState Highway 81,State Highway 15,State Highway 15A. TheTamil Nadu State Transport Corporation operates a depot as a part of the Coimbatore division of TNSTC. Buses ply to all major towns and cities within Tamil Nadu and neighboring state ofKarnataka.KSRTC buses also connect to the town due to its proximity to Karnataka.
The nearest major railway station isErode Junction located 38 kilometres (24 mi) from the town. A proposal to construct a railway line connectingMysore withErode via Gobichettipalayam was mooted during the British rule in 1915. Four official surveys were made in 1922, 1936, 1942 and as recently as 2008, but the plan failed to take off due to the concerns of railway line passing through theSathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary.[22][23] The nearest airport isCoimbatore International Airport, located 74 km (46 mi) from the town. The airport has regular flights from/to major domestic destinations and international destinations likeSharjah,Colombo andSingapore.[24]
Gobichettipalayam has a goodeducational infrastructure. Notable schools includeDiamond Jubilee Higher Secondary School, which was established over 100 years ago and was visited byMahatma Gandhi, andShree Vidyalaya, which has a full-timedyslexic center.[25][26] The town is home toGobi Arts and Science College, one of the oldest arts colleges in the state.[27] The city itself has only a few colleges, but its proximity toCoimbatore andErode makes it an ideal educational hub.
The town has been described by the government as "bi-functional", with 31% of the work force engaged in agriculture, 56% in trading and other activities and 13% in industry.[11] A number of banks have their branches in the town with private bankerICICI Bank establishing its third branch in Tamil Nadu here. The economy is predominantly dependent on agriculture.[28] The economy of Gobichettipalayam centers on agriculture, withpaddy,sugarcane,plantain,tobacco andturmeric being the principal crops.[6] There are regulated market places run by the Government of India for the trade of agricultural products mainlyturmeric,copra andbananas.[18] The town is known for its greenery which attracts cine industry. It is known as "MiniKollywood" because of thefilm production that takes place here and many films inTamil and other languages have been shot here.[18]
Gobichettipalayam is one of the leading producers ofsilk cocoon in the country.[28]Mulberry cultivation has increased in the recent years and a silk research extension center was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu in collaboration with the Central Silk Board.[29] India's second automated silk reeling unit was established here in 2008.[30] A large number of spinning mills have come up in to support to theweaving andknitwear to supplementTirupur.IT andBPO sectors are also developing with a few start up companies based out of the town.[31] Other industries include cotton textiles, motors, pumps, automobile spares, textile machinery manufacturing, castings and machined parts.
Kongu Tamil, a dialect ofTamil is the language spoken by majority of the people.[32][33]English is used as an official language along with Tamil. Other languages spoken includeMalayalam,Kannada andTelugu. The cuisine is predominantlySouth Indian withrice as its base. Most locals still retain their rural tradition, with many restaurants still serving food on abanana leaf.Idly,dosa, vada-sambar andbiryani are popular among the locals.[34][35]
In the southern part of Mysore the Tamil language is at this day named the Kangee, from being best known to them as the language of the people of Kangiam
Gobichettipalayam travel guide from Wikivoyage
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