Tiruchirapalli
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Template:Trichy infobox Tiruchirapalli (also spelt Tiruchirappalli, commonly known as Tiruchi or Trichy, formerly known as Trichinopoly under British rule) is a city situated on the banks of the Cauvery River, centrally located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city is the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli District.
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Origin of the name
The name of the town, Tiruchirapalli, originates as a tribute (thiru in Tamil means respected) to a Jain monk called Chira, so “Tiruchirapalli” means “the town of respected Chira”.
History
It has many historic churches, mosques, temples, and monuments. It was an important town in the days of the later Cholas as well as during the early days of the British East India Company.
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Rock Fort is a 183-metre high rock which is the only outcrop in the otherwise flat land of the city. The Rock is one of the oldest in the world — approximately 3,800 million years old, which makes it as old as the rocks of Greenland and older than the Himalayas. On top of the rock is the Ucchi Pillayar Koil (the Columns Hall of a Thousand Pillars), a temple dedicated to Vinayaka, from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Tiruchirapalli.
For this reason the city is also called the Rock City. On the southern face of the rock are several beautifully carved cave temples of the Pallava period.
Around the rock temple is a busy commercial region, specialising in textiles. It is known as Chatram nowadays. Chatram is a place for shoppers. The Main Guard Gate is flooded on festive occasions such as Diwali and Pongal.
Economy
Tiruchirapalli is an industrial city with many manufacturing industries and factories in its suburbs. A few industries are:
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
- Ordnance Factory
- Golden Rock Coach Manufacturing Unit
Education
Considered an educational town, Tiruchirapalli has schools and colleges that are hundreds of years old. College Road in Chatram has three colleges and five schools, prominent among them being Bharathidasan University and the National Institute of Technology Trichy.
(See also List of Colleges in Trichy.)
Notable people from Tiruchirapalli
- Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, the Nobel laureate, physicist.
Tiruchirappalli District
Tiruchirappalli District has an area of 11,075 km². It is bounded on the north by Salem District, on the northeast by Perambalur District, on the east by Thanjavur District, on the southeast by Pudukkottai District, on the south by Sivaganga and Madurai districts, on the southwest by Dindigul District, on the west by Karur District, and on the northwest by Namakkal District.
The temple towns of Srirangam, Uttamar Kovil, and Thiruvanaikavil are near Tiruchirapalli. Other towns include Kumaravayalur, Manapparai, Samayapuram, and Kumaravayalur. The Cauvery River runs through the district, and the Grand Anicut, a dam built across the Cauvery in the 2nd century is still in use as part of the district's irrigation system.de:Tiruchirapalli pt:Tiruchchirappalli ta:திருச்சிராப்பள்ளி