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Tiruchirappalli​

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.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important industrial and educational hub of central Tamil Nadu. The factories of Ordnance Factories Board such as Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) (OFT) and Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project (HAPP), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Golden Rock Railway Workshops are located in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bharathidasan University and Anna University of Technology have their campuses in the city. Tiruuchirappalli is internationally popular for a brand of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar which was exported in large quantities to the United Kingdom in the 19th century.
Law and order is enforced by the Tamil Nadu police, which, for administrative purposes, has constituted Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city as a separate district. The district is divided into five sub-divisions with a total of 18 police stations. The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city police force is headed by a Commissioner of police assisted by Deputy Commissioners. Law and order enforcement in the suburban areas are handled by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) district police. As of 2008, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a crime rate of 459.99 making it the second highest among cities in Tamil Nadu. However, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had the lowest proportion of murder, rape and kidnapping cases.
The first radio transmission station in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was opened by the All India Radio (AIR) on 16 May 1939. AIR started providing direct-to-home enabled radio broadcasting service from 2006. In 2007, the AIR launched a separate Carnatic music channel – Ragam from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Apart from the government-owned AIR, private radio channels as Hello FM and Suryan FM also operate FM stations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Indira Gandhi National Open University’s Gyan Vani started broadcasting from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in 2008. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)’s first campus community radio was started by Holy Cross College on 22 December 2006.
Other important industries in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) include the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) which was established at Senthaneerpuram in the then Golden Rock municipality in 1966. and the Trichy Steel Rolling Mills which was started as a private limited company on 27 June 1961. The Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited manufactures rectified spirit, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate. It is one of the biggest private sector distilleries in Tamil Nadu and produced 13.5 million litres of spirit alcohol between December 2005 and November 2006.
The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established in 1853 with its headquarters at Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). In 1859, the company constructed its first railway line connecting Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and Nagapattinam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important railway junction in central Tamil Nadu and constitutes a separate division of the Southern Railway. There are direct trains to Coimbatore, Chennai, Cuddalore, Erode, Karaikudi, Mayiladuthurai, Karaikal, Palakkad, Rameswaram, Thanjavur and Vriddhachalam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has rail connectivity with most important cities and towns in India.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is a major engineering equipment manufacturing hub in Tamil Nadu. It is known as the Power Tools Fabrication Capital of India. The Golden Rock Locomotive Workshops, moved to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) from Nagapattinam in 1928, is one of the three railway locomotive manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu. The workshops produced 650 conventional and low-container flat wagons during the year 2007–2008. The chief workshop manager’s office at Golden Rock was awarded a star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for the proper and regulated usage of electricity in its offices.
The annual software exports of the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) region amount to 26.21 crore (US$5.8 million). The ELCOT IT Park, the first IT park in the city has been commissioned at a cost of 60 crore (US$13.5 million) and inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin on 9 December 2010. Set up by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, the park occupies an area of 59.74 hectares (147.6 acres) and constitutes a Special Economic Zone. The Indian software company Infosys, is planning to start its operations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy).
The land immediately surrounding the Kaveri is made up of fertile alluvial soil deposited by the Kaveri and its tributary, the Kollidam. Further south, the surface is covered by poor-quality black soil. The alluvial soil is conducible for agriculture and crops such as ragi (finger millet) and cholam (maize) are cultivated. North-east of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) runs a belt of cretaceous rock known as the “Trichinopoly Group”. Layers of archaean rocks, granite and gneiss covered by a thin bed of conglomeratic laterite are found to the south-east of the city.
The Bharathidasan University is based in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and exercises its jurisdiction over colleges in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) district and seven neighbouring ones. The university runs a management school, the Bharathidasan Institute of Management in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in collaboration with BHEL. The Government of India’s Ministry for Human Resources Development (HRD) approved a proposal for the setting up of a campus of the Indian Institute of Management in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and the campus started functioning from the 2011–12 academic season.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is hot and dry for at least eight months of the year. The hottest months are from March to July during which the city experiences frequent dust storms. During this period, the days are extremely warm and dry while evenings are rendered cooler due to the cold winds that blow from the south-east. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) experiences a moderate climate from August to October, tempered by heavy rain and thundershowers, and cool and balmy climate from November to February. Fog and dew are rare and occur only during the winter season.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Tamil Nadu, its earliest settlements dating back to the second millennium BC. Uraiyur, which served as the capital of the Early Cholas from the third century BC to the third century AD is identified by some with a suburb of present-day Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The city is mentioned as “Orthoura” by the historian, Ptolemy. The world’s oldest surviving dam, the Kallanai, was built by Karikala Chola across the Kaveri River, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) from Uraiyur.
A high-pressure boiler manufacturing plant was set up by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India’s largest public sector engineering company, in May 1965. This was followed by a seamless steel plant set up at a cost of 58 crore (US$13 million) and a boiler auxiliaries plant. The three manufacturing units constitute the BHEL industrial complex and cover a total area of about 22,927.4 square metres (246,788 sq ft). The plant can generate up to 6.2 MW of electricity using coal as a resource.
Even during British rule, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was recognised as an important educational centre in India. St. Joseph’s College, opened in Nagapattinam in 1846 and transferred to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in 1883, is one of the oldest higher educational institutions in India. Holy Cross College for Women established in 1923 is one of the oldest colleges for women in the country. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) college, established in 1883, is another premium missionary institution in the city.
The Rasika Ranjana Sabha, founded in 1914, is the only popular venue for art and cultural events in the city. According to the Limca Book of Records, the Morris theatre complex in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) runs the highest number of regular film shows in the world. The Urvasi theatre is another notable cinema in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). There are a few shopping malls in the city, the Femina Shopping Mall and the Spencer’s Shopping Mall being the most prominent among them.
A resident of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is generally referred to as a Tiruchiite. The city formed a part of the traditional Chola heartland and has a number of exquisitely sculpted temples and forts. With a substantial population of students and migrant industrial workers from different parts of India, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has a more cosmopolitan outlook than the surrounding countryside. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is home to many Carnatic musicians and film artistes.
The Carnatic kingdom was annexed by the British in July 1801 as a consequence of the alleged discovery of secret correspondence, during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, between Tipu Sultan, an enemy of the Madras government, and Umdat Ul-Umra, the Nawab at the time. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was incorporated into the Madras Presidency, the same year, and the district of Trichinopoly was carved, with the city of Trichinopoly or Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) as its capital.
During the Company Raj and later, the British Raj, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) emerged as one of the most important cities in India. It was popular throughout the British Empire for its unique variety of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar. According to the 1871 Indian census, the first in British India, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a population of 76,530 making it the second largest city in Madras Presidency, next only to the capital city of Madras.
During British rule, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was commonly referred to using the erroneous spelling “Trichinopoly”. The shortened forms “Trichy” or “Tiruchi” are commonly used while the full name Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is seldom used. During the early 1990’s when the Tamilnadu state government decreed full name be used for destination on intercity mofussil buses it caused confusion among travelers accustomed to boarding a bus labeled “Trichy.”
The name Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is popularly believed to derive from the Sanskrit “Trishirapuram”—’Trishira’ meaning “three-headed” and ‘palli’ or ‘puram’ meaning “City”. According to Hindu mythology, the town got its name from the three-headed demon Trishira who meditated on the Hindu god Shiva near the present-day Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and obtained favours at this place. However, this derivation is not universally accepted.
A weapon manufacturing unit, Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) manufactures products like grenade launchers, multi shell launchers, rifles for the Indian Armed Forces and a Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project (HAPP) facility are run by the Ordnance Factories Board of the Government of India. The HAPP unit, set up in the late 1980s, comprises a flexible manufacturing system (FMS), the first of its kind in India.
In the early 20th century, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) grew further, achieving a decadal population growth rate of 36.9 per cent during the period 1941–51. However, following India’s independence in 1947, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has fallen behind other cities as Salem and Coimbatore in terms of growth. As of 2001, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was the fourth largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai.
The medieval history of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) begins with the reign of the Pallava king Mahendravarman I who ruled over South India in the 6th century AD. Mahendravarman constructed the cave-temples within the Rockfort. Following the demise of the Pallavas in the eighth century AD, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was conquered by the Medieval Cholas who ruled till the 13th century AD.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is administered by a municipal corporation established as per the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) City Municipal Corporation Act 1994. As of 2001, the city covered an area of 146.70 square kilometres and had a population of 752,066. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is well-connected by road, rail and air. There are passenger flight services to destinations in South-East Asia and the Middle East.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) a ( pronunciation (help·info); formerly called Trichinopoly in English, nicknamed Tiruchi or Trichy) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) District. It is the fourth largest municipal corporation and the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the state.
There are a total of 100 government and private schools in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Campion Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, St Joseph’s Anglo Indian Girls Higher Secondary School,RSK Higher Secondary School, are some of the notable schools in the city.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has a passport office which commenced its operations on 23 March 1983. Apart from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), it also caters to the needs of seven adjacent districts namely, Karur, Nagappattinam, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Ariyalur and Tiruvarur.
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.
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.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important industrial and educational hub of central Tamil Nadu. The factories of Ordnance Factories Board such as Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) (OFT) and Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project (HAPP), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Golden Rock Railway Workshops are located in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bharathidasan University and Anna University of Technology have their campuses in the city. Tiruuchirappalli is internationally popular for a brand of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar which was exported in large quantities to the United Kingdom in the 19th century.
Law and order is enforced by the Tamil Nadu police, which, for administrative purposes, has constituted Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city as a separate district. The district is divided into five sub-divisions with a total of 18 police stations. The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city police force is headed by a Commissioner of police assisted by Deputy Commissioners. Law and order enforcement in the suburban areas are handled by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) district police. As of 2008, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a crime rate of 459.99 making it the second highest among cities in Tamil Nadu. However, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had the lowest proportion of murder, rape and kidnapping cases.
The first radio transmission station in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was opened by the All India Radio (AIR) on 16 May 1939. AIR started providing direct-to-home enabled radio broadcasting service from 2006. In 2007, the AIR launched a separate Carnatic music channel – Ragam from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Apart from the government-owned AIR, private radio channels as Hello FM and Suryan FM also operate FM stations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Indira Gandhi National Open University’s Gyan Vani started broadcasting from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in 2008. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)’s first campus community radio was started by Holy Cross College on 22 December 2006.
Other important industries in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) include the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) which was established at Senthaneerpuram in the then Golden Rock municipality in 1966. and the Trichy Steel Rolling Mills which was started as a private limited company on 27 June 1961. The Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited manufactures rectified spirit, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate. It is one of the biggest private sector distilleries in Tamil Nadu and produced 13.5 million litres of spirit alcohol between December 2005 and November 2006.
The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established in 1853 with its headquarters at Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). In 1859, the company constructed its first railway line connecting Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and Nagapattinam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important railway junction in central Tamil Nadu and constitutes a separate division of the Southern Railway. There are direct trains to Coimbatore, Chennai, Cuddalore, Erode, Karaikudi, Mayiladuthurai, Karaikal, Palakkad, Rameswaram, Thanjavur and Vriddhachalam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has rail connectivity with most important cities and towns in India.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is a major engineering equipment manufacturing hub in Tamil Nadu. It is known as the Power Tools Fabrication Capital of India. The Golden Rock Locomotive Workshops, moved to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) from Nagapattinam in 1928, is one of the three railway locomotive manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu. The workshops produced 650 conventional and low-container flat wagons during the year 2007–2008. The chief workshop manager’s office at Golden Rock was awarded a star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for the proper and regulated usage of electricity in its offices.

The annual software exports of the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) region amount to 26.21 crore (US$5.8 million). The ELCOT IT Park, the first IT park in the city has been commissioned at a cost of 60 crore (US$13.5 million) and inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin on 9 December 2010. Set up by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, the park occupies an area of 59.74 hectares (147.6 acres) and constitutes a Special Economic Zone. The Indian software company Infosys, is planning to start its operations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy).

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.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important industrial and educational hub of central Tamil Nadu. The factories of Ordnance Factories Board such as Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) (OFT) and Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project (HAPP), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Golden Rock Railway Workshops are located in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bharathidasan University and Anna University of Technology have their campuses in the city. Tiruuchirappalli is internationally popular for a brand of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar which was exported in large quantities to the United Kingdom in the 19th century.
Law and order is enforced by the Tamil Nadu police, which, for administrative purposes, has constituted Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city as a separate district. The district is divided into five sub-divisions with a total of 18 police stations. The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city police force is headed by a Commissioner of police assisted by Deputy Commissioners. Law and order enforcement in the suburban areas are handled by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) district police. As of 2008, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a crime rate of 459.99 making it the second highest among cities in Tamil Nadu. However, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had the lowest proportion of murder, rape and kidnapping cases.
The first radio transmission station in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was opened by the All India Radio (AIR) on 16 May 1939. AIR started providing direct-to-home enabled radio broadcasting service from 2006. In 2007, the AIR launched a separate Carnatic music channel – Ragam from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Apart from the government-owned AIR, private radio channels as Hello FM and Suryan FM also operate FM stations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Indira Gandhi National Open University’s Gyan Vani started broadcasting from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in 2008. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)’s first campus community radio was started by Holy Cross College on 22 December 2006.
Other important industries in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) include the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) which was established at Senthaneerpuram in the then Golden Rock municipality in 1966. and the Trichy Steel Rolling Mills which was started as a private limited company on 27 June 1961. The Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited manufactures rectified spirit, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate. It is one of the biggest private sector distilleries in Tamil Nadu and produced 13.5 million litres of spirit alcohol between December 2005 and November 2006.
The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established in 1853 with its headquarters at Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). In 1859, the company constructed its first railway line connecting Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and Nagapattinam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important railway junction in central Tamil Nadu and constitutes a separate division of the Southern Railway. There are direct trains to Coimbatore, Chennai, Cuddalore, Erode, Karaikudi, Mayiladuthurai, Karaikal, Palakkad, Rameswaram, Thanjavur and Vriddhachalam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has rail connectivity with most important cities and towns in India.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is a major engineering equipment manufacturing hub in Tamil Nadu. It is known as the Power Tools Fabrication Capital of India. The Golden Rock Locomotive Workshops, moved to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) from Nagapattinam in 1928, is one of the three railway locomotive manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu. The workshops produced 650 conventional and low-container flat wagons during the year 2007–2008. The chief workshop manager’s office at Golden Rock was awarded a star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for the proper and regulated usage of electricity in its offices.
The annual software exports of the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) region amount to 26.21 crore (US$5.8 million). The ELCOT IT Park, the first IT park in the city has been commissioned at a cost of 60 crore (US$13.5 million) and inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin on 9 December 2010. Set up by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, the park occupies an area of 59.74 hectares (147.6 acres) and constitutes a Special Economic Zone. The Indian software company Infosys, is planning to start its operations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy).
The land immediately surrounding the Kaveri is made up of fertile alluvial soil deposited by the Kaveri and its tributary, the Kollidam. Further south, the surface is covered by poor-quality black soil. The alluvial soil is conducible for agriculture and crops such as ragi (finger millet) and cholam (maize) are cultivated. North-east of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) runs a belt of cretaceous rock known as the “Trichinopoly Group”. Layers of archaean rocks, granite and gneiss covered by a thin bed of conglomeratic laterite are found to the south-east of the city.
The Bharathidasan University is based in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and exercises its jurisdiction over colleges in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) district and seven neighbouring ones. The university runs a management school, the Bharathidasan Institute of Management in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in collaboration with BHEL. The Government of India’s Ministry for Human Resources Development (HRD) approved a proposal for the setting up of a campus of the Indian Institute of Management in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and the campus started functioning from the 2011–12 academic season.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is hot and dry for at least eight months of the year. The hottest months are from March to July during which the city experiences frequent dust storms. During this period, the days are extremely warm and dry while evenings are rendered cooler due to the cold winds that blow from the south-east. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) experiences a moderate climate from August to October, tempered by heavy rain and thundershowers, and cool and balmy climate from November to February. Fog and dew are rare and occur only during the winter season.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Tamil Nadu, its earliest settlements dating back to the second millennium BC. Uraiyur, which served as the capital of the Early Cholas from the third century BC to the third century AD is identified by some with a suburb of present-day Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The city is mentioned as “Orthoura” by the historian, Ptolemy. The world’s oldest surviving dam, the Kallanai, was built by Karikala Chola across the Kaveri River, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) from Uraiyur.
A high-pressure boiler manufacturing plant was set up by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India’s largest public sector engineering company, in May 1965. This was followed by a seamless steel plant set up at a cost of 58 crore (US$13 million) and a boiler auxiliaries plant. The three manufacturing units constitute the BHEL industrial complex and cover a total area of about 22,927.4 square metres (246,788 sq ft). The plant can generate up to 6.2 MW of electricity using coal as a resource.
Even during British rule, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was recognised as an important educational centre in India. St. Joseph’s College, opened in Nagapattinam in 1846 and transferred to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in 1883, is one of the oldest higher educational institutions in India. Holy Cross College for Women established in 1923 is one of the oldest colleges for women in the country. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) college, established in 1883, is another premium missionary institution in the city.
The Rasika Ranjana Sabha, founded in 1914, is the only popular venue for art and cultural events in the city. According to the Limca Book of Records, the Morris theatre complex in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) runs the highest number of regular film shows in the world. The Urvasi theatre is another notable cinema in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). There are a few shopping malls in the city, the Femina Shopping Mall and the Spencer’s Shopping Mall being the most prominent among them.
A resident of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is generally referred to as a Tiruchiite. The city formed a part of the traditional Chola heartland and has a number of exquisitely sculpted temples and forts. With a substantial population of students and migrant industrial workers from different parts of India, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has a more cosmopolitan outlook than the surrounding countryside. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is home to many Carnatic musicians and film artistes.
The Carnatic kingdom was annexed by the British in July 1801 as a consequence of the alleged discovery of secret correspondence, during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, between Tipu Sultan, an enemy of the Madras government, and Umdat Ul-Umra, the Nawab at the time. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was incorporated into the Madras Presidency, the same year, and the district of Trichinopoly was carved, with the city of Trichinopoly or Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) as its capital.
During the Company Raj and later, the British Raj, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) emerged as one of the most important cities in India. It was popular throughout the British Empire for its unique variety of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar. According to the 1871 Indian census, the first in British India, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a population of 76,530 making it the second largest city in Madras Presidency, next only to the capital city of Madras.
During British rule, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was commonly referred to using the erroneous spelling “Trichinopoly”. The shortened forms “Trichy” or “Tiruchi” are commonly used while the full name Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is seldom used. During the early 1990’s when the Tamilnadu state government decreed full name be used for destination on intercity mofussil buses it caused confusion among travelers accustomed to boarding a bus labeled “Trichy.”
The name Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is popularly believed to derive from the Sanskrit “Trishirapuram”—’Trishira’ meaning “three-headed” and ‘palli’ or ‘puram’ meaning “City”. According to Hindu mythology, the town got its name from the three-headed demon Trishira who meditated on the Hindu god Shiva near the present-day Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and obtained favours at this place. However, this derivation is not universally accepted.
A weapon manufacturing unit, Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) manufactures products like grenade launchers, multi shell launchers, rifles for the Indian Armed Forces and a Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project (HAPP) facility are run by the Ordnance Factories Board of the Government of India. The HAPP unit, set up in the late 1980s, comprises a flexible manufacturing system (FMS), the first of its kind in India.
In the early 20th century, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) grew further, achieving a decadal population growth rate of 36.9 per cent during the period 1941–51. However, following India’s independence in 1947, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has fallen behind other cities as Salem and Coimbatore in terms of growth. As of 2001, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was the fourth largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai.
The medieval history of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) begins with the reign of the Pallava king Mahendravarman I who ruled over South India in the 6th century AD. Mahendravarman constructed the cave-temples within the Rockfort. Following the demise of the Pallavas in the eighth century AD, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was conquered by the Medieval Cholas who ruled till the 13th century AD.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is administered by a municipal corporation established as per the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) City Municipal Corporation Act 1994. As of 2001, the city covered an area of 146.70 square kilometres and had a population of 752,066. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is well-connected by road, rail and air. There are passenger flight services to destinations in South-East Asia and the Middle East.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) a ( pronunciation (help·info); formerly called Trichinopoly in English, nicknamed Tiruchi or Trichy) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) District. It is the fourth largest municipal corporation and the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the state.
There are a total of 100 government and private schools in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Campion Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, St Joseph’s Anglo Indian Girls Higher Secondary School,RSK Higher Secondary School, are some of the notable schools in the city.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has a passport office which commenced its operations on 23 March 1983. Apart from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), it also caters to the needs of seven adjacent districts namely, Karur, Nagappattinam, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Ariyalur and Tiruvarur.
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.
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.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important industrial and educational hub of central Tamil Nadu. The factories of Ordnance Factories Board such as Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) (OFT) and Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project (HAPP), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Golden Rock Railway Workshops are located in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bharathidasan University and Anna University of Technology have their campuses in the city. Tiruuchirappalli is internationally popular for a brand of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar which was exported in large quantities to the United Kingdom in the 19th century.
Law and order is enforced by the Tamil Nadu police, which, for administrative purposes, has constituted Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city as a separate district. The district is divided into five sub-divisions with a total of 18 police stations. The Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) city police force is headed by a Commissioner of police assisted by Deputy Commissioners. Law and order enforcement in the suburban areas are handled by the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) district police. As of 2008, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had a crime rate of 459.99 making it the second highest among cities in Tamil Nadu. However, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) had the lowest proportion of murder, rape and kidnapping cases.
The first radio transmission station in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) was opened by the All India Radio (AIR) on 16 May 1939. AIR started providing direct-to-home enabled radio broadcasting service from 2006. In 2007, the AIR launched a separate Carnatic music channel – Ragam from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Apart from the government-owned AIR, private radio channels as Hello FM and Suryan FM also operate FM stations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). Indira Gandhi National Open University’s Gyan Vani started broadcasting from Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in 2008. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)’s first campus community radio was started by Holy Cross College on 22 December 2006.
Other important industries in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) include the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) which was established at Senthaneerpuram in the then Golden Rock municipality in 1966. and the Trichy Steel Rolling Mills which was started as a private limited company on 27 June 1961. The Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited manufactures rectified spirit, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate. It is one of the biggest private sector distilleries in Tamil Nadu and produced 13.5 million litres of spirit alcohol between December 2005 and November 2006.
The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established in 1853 with its headquarters at Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). In 1859, the company constructed its first railway line connecting Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and Nagapattinam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is an important railway junction in central Tamil Nadu and constitutes a separate division of the Southern Railway. There are direct trains to Coimbatore, Chennai, Cuddalore, Erode, Karaikudi, Mayiladuthurai, Karaikal, Palakkad, Rameswaram, Thanjavur and Vriddhachalam. Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) has rail connectivity with most important cities and towns in India.
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) is a major engineering equipment manufacturing hub in Tamil Nadu. It is known as the Power Tools Fabrication Capital of India. The Golden Rock Locomotive Workshops, moved to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) from Nagapattinam in 1928, is one of the three railway locomotive manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu. The workshops produced 650 conventional and low-container flat wagons during the year 2007–2008. The chief workshop manager’s office at Golden Rock was awarded a star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for the proper and regulated usage of electricity in its offices.
The annual software exports of the Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) region amount to 26.21 crore (US$5.8 million). The ELCOT IT Park, the first IT park in the city has been commissioned at a cost of 60 crore (US$13.5 million) and inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin on 9 December 2010. Set up by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, the park occupies an area of 59.74 hectares (147.6 acres) and constitutes a Special Economic Zone. The Indian software company Infosys, is planning to start its operations in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy).

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