Karaikudi

Karaikudi is a city and municipality in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is part of the area commonly referred to as "Chettinad". Karaikudi is declared a heritage town by the Government of Tamil Nadu, on account of the palatial houses built with limestone called karai veedu.

Karaikudi comes under the Karaikudi assembly constituency which elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years and it is a part of the Sivaganga (Lok Sabha constituency) which elects its Member of Parliament (MP) once in five years. The city is administered by the special grade Karaikudi municipality, which covers an area of 13.75 km² (5.31 sq mi). As of 2011, the town had a population of 106,714. Cauvery delta region, but salt extraction and prawn cultivation are the major occupations. Roadways are the major mode of transportation to Karaikudi and the nearest airport is Madurai Airport, located 80 km (50 mi) away from the city.

History

The town derives its name from thorny plant Karai referred in ancient literature as Kareekudi, which in modern times became Karaikudi. The town is believed to have been formed during the 1800s and the oldest structure in the town is the Koppudaiya Nayagi Amman Temple.Mahatma Gandhi delivered two speeches in Karaikudi in 1927Bharathiyar, a freedom fighter and poet visited Karaikudi in 1919 to participate in a function organized by the Hindu Madhabhimana Sangam. Post independence, the town registered significant growth in the industrial sector.

Karaikudi (State Assembly Constituency)

'Karaikudi is a state assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu.

Madras State

Tamil Nadu

References