Vriddhachalam history

Vriddhachalam (also known as Virudhachalam) is a municipality and taluk headquarters in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The ancient name of this town is Thirumudhukundram.

The name Vriddhachalam is obtained from two Sanskrit words - Vriddham which means old and Achalam which means mountain. So,Vriddhachalam means 'old mountain'. It is also called by other name Thirumudhukundram which also means the same. (Thiru = holy, mudhu = old, kundram = hill). In pure Tamil Virudhachalam is called as Pazhamalai. it also means the same old mountain. It is one of the important railway

Demographics

As of the census of India 2001, Vridachalam had a population of 60,164 comprising 30,493 males and 29,671 females, making the sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) of the town to 973. A total of 7,052 people were under six years of age and the child sex ratio (number of females per thousand males under six years of age) stood at 925. The town had an average literacy of 84.57%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. A total of 8,964 comprising 16.88% of the population belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 227 comprising 0.43% of the population belonged to Scheduled tribes (ST). There were are total of 13,328 households in the town. As of 2001, Vridachalam had a total of 17,124 main workers: 464 cultivators, 1,225 agricultural labourers, 460 in house hold industries and 14,975 other workers. There was a total of 2,094 marginal workers: 46 marginal cultivators, 791 marginal agricultural labourers, 172 marginal workers in household industries and 1,085 other marginal workers

Places of interest

One of the oldest town in Cuddalore district. The ancient Lord Siva temple (Pazhamalai Nadhar Temple) is located in the heart of town. The temple was constructed by one of the chola empires. It has 5 big towers- one in the middle, the remaining represent the four directions. There is another famous temple - Thiru Kolanjiapper temple - located 5 km away from the town. Both of them are located near Cuddalore - Salem highway

Politics

MLA of Vriddhachalam assembly constituency is B.V.B.Muthukumar. During the 2009 general elections, Virudhachalam was a part of Cuddalore (Lok Sabha constituency)  that had the following six assembly segments. Tittakudi (SC), Vridhachalam, Neyveli, Cuddalore, Panruti and Kurinjipadi.Before 2009, Cuddalore Lok Sabha constituency composed of the following assembly segments:Ulundurpet (SC), Nellikkuppam, Cuddalore, Panruti, Rishivandinam and Sankarapuram.The Lok Sabha seat has been held by the Indian National Congress for eight terms during 1951–56, 1971–77,1977–80.1980–84, 1984–1989,1989–91,1991–96, and 2009–present,Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for four times during 1962–1967,1967–71,1999-04, and 2004–09,Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam once during 1998–99,Tamil Maanila Congress once during 1996-2001 and an independent during 1957–62,The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is S. Alagiri from the Indian National Congress Party.