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Salem is the 5th largest city of Tamil Nadu located in the central part of the southernmost state of India. Almost completely surrounded by hills, Salem is one of the major textile centres in the country.
Salem is also the capital of Salem district whose other major locations are Mettur, Omalur and Attur. The district is well connected by rail and road networks. Salem was the largest districts of Tamilnadu before it was bifurcated in to two as Salem and Dharmapuri. Later Salem was again divided with the formation of new districts such as Namakkal. Salem is also at the base of the renowned tourist destination of Yercaud hills, which offers breathtaking views both during the ride up the hill and from the peak. Like all towns of Tamilnadu, there are people from different states of India settled in Salem. Some of them speak Kannada, Telugu, Sowrashtra and a good number of Muslims are also present.
The word "Salem" literally means, "surrounded by hills". The city of Salem is surrounded by several ranges of hills, including the Shevaroys and Yercaud hills.
The town is surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills, the Nagaramalai in the north, the Jeragamalai in the south, the Kanjanamalai on the west and Godumalai on the east. It is divided by the Thirumanimuthar in the main division. The fort is the oldest place of the town.
Population Figures
Salem stands in fifth place in the state of Tamil Nadu in terms of the population. In reality the nett population of the city is more than thet of Tiruchchirappalli, which is said to be the fourth largest city. The fact is the population figures shown in census for Salem are given excluding many important suburbs like Kondalampatti, Kannankurichi, Malla Moopanpatti etc which have been included into Salem City Municipal Corporation limits many years ago. The total urban population of Salem district is about 13,90,000 whereas that of Trichy is only 11,39,000. And also, the total area covered by Salem city Municipal Corporation is 94 square km, and many important suburbs like Ayodhyapattinam, Dasanaikenpatti, Mohan Nagar, Uthamacholapuram, Chinna Kollapatti are not included into city limits. Wherein Trichy corporation limits extend very much outside urban limits. Salem is the second largest city of Tamilnadu in terms of population density.
History
The name 'Salem' appears to have been derived from Sela or Shalya by which the term refers to the country around the hills, as in the inscriptions. Local tradition claims Salem as the birth place of Tamil poetess Avvaiyar.
Salem was taken from Hyder by Colonel Wood in the beginning of 1768. But it was recaptured by Hyder towards the end of the year 1772. Under Lord Clive in 1799, it was again occupied by a detachment of the residents stationed at Sankari drag and remained a military station till 1861 when the troops were altogether withdrawn.
Economy
Salem is known as the Mango city in Tamilnadu, India. Its mangoes are sent to various parts of the state and even around the state. It also has a steel plant run by the SAIL and the brand Salem Stainless Steel is very widely known. Salem is also occasionally known as Steel City. It's also famous for Sago, Bauxite, Lorry Body building, Hand loom Weaving. Salem is one of the largest producers of traditional silver anklets, which is popular among women of India.
It has magnesite deposits, second largest in India. The companies like Dalmia and TANMAG have mines here. Salem also boasts of a large sago industry. The Leigh Bazaar market is one of the largest regional markets for agro products.
Salem had a very active film production, with former Modern Theatres Studios being the hub of Tamil film production. Now defunct Modern Theatres had produced some of the most successful Tamil films, in which many veteran actors have acted, including former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran (known as MGR).
Shevapet is the prime commercial market place of the city, with densely built buildings.
Besides, Salem Steel Plant, Burn Standard, PowerGrid, TANMAG which are located in the city and suburbs, Mettur (50km from Salem city) has SISCOL, MALCO, Chemplast, Thermal power plant, Hydel power plant and huge number of chemical industries.
There is an exclusive Electrical and Electronics Industrial Estate in the Suramangalam area of Salem city.
Transport
Three important National Highways criss-cross the city.
NH47- Salem to Cochin (connects Salem/Coimbatore/Cochin with Bangalore/Andra/Chennai/Pondy)
NH7- varanasi to Kanyakumari (via Bangalore, Salem) -> the longest National Highway of India. (connects Bangalore/Salem with trichy, Madurai/Coimbatore/Cochin)
NH65- Salem to Ulundurpet (connects Salem/Coimbatore/Cochin with Chennai)
Where NH7 and NH47 are prposed to be a 4lane Express Highway under the North-South corridor plan, where as a few part of NH7 is already completed
To say it simply, Salem acts as one of the busiest transit point in the roadway (as well as railway) of the country.
BUS SERVICES
The Dr MGR Central Integrated Bus Terminus located in Meyyanur area of the city is the second busiest bus terminus of the state, next only to Chennai CMBT. There are veryfrequent buses to the destinations of Erode/Coimbatore/Namakkal/Trichy/Dharmapuri/Chennai/Madurai/Vellore/Bangalore/Mettur etc.
One can get buses for almost all the places of the state and Bangalore/Pondy round the clock from the terminus.
TamilNadu State Transport Corporation, Salem division shares the load of traffic with other divisions for mofussil bus services.
TSTC Salem division takes care of the city bus services wihin the city, and connecting the city with nearby surburbs and villages.
The private bus sector in this region (especially the routes: Salem-Erode, and Salem-Namakkal) are the most profit-making sectors in the state.
Few private bus operators in Salem-Tiruchengode-Erode route have started issuing electronic-printed tickets for the passengers. The bus lobby in this sector is getting expanded day-by-day.
RAILWAYS Salem is one of the Southern Railways (proposed) Division Head Quaters which covers the Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Ooty and Karur Railway Regions.
Prime trains for Salem:
To Chennai:
Yercaud Express Salem dep 22:15, Chennai arr 04:30 Nilgairi Express Salem dep 23:40, Chennai arr 05:15 Kovai Express Salem dep 16:15, Chennai arr 21:15 InterCity Express Salem dep 08:55, Chennai arr 14:00 WestCoast Express Salem dep 09:30, Chennai arr 15:15
From Chennai:
Yercaud Express Chennai dep 23:30, Salem arr 05:10 Kovai Express Chennai dep 06:15, Salem arr 10:50 InterCity Express Chennai dep 14:30, Salem arr 19:20 WestCoast Express Chennai dep 11:30, Salem arr 16:30
To Bangalore:
Yeshwanthpur passenger Salem dep 05:30, Bangalore(YPR) arr 10:55 Kurla Express Salem dep 07:45, Bangalore arr 12:25 Bangalore passenger Salem dep 13:40, Bangalore arr 18:45 InterCity Express Salem dep 17:05, Bangalore arr 21:10
From Bangalore:
InterCity Express Bangalore dep 06:15, Salem arr 09:55 Salem Passenger Bangalore dep 07:30, Salem arr 12:55 Salem passenger Bangalore dep 16:00, Salem arr 21:30 Coimbatore Express Bangalore dep 23:10, Salem arr 03:55
To Mumbai:
Kurla Express Salem dep 07:45, Mumbai(LTT) arr 12:30(next day) Mumbai CST Express Salem dep 21:10,Mumbai arr 03:55(second day)
From Mumbai:
Kanyakumari Express Mumbai dep 15:30, Salem arr 20:40(next day) Coimbatore Express Mumbai dep 22:25, Salem arr 03:55(second day)
To New Delhi:
Kerala Express Salem dep 23:00, New Delhi arr 16:00(third day)
From New Delhi:
Kerala Express New Delhi dep 11:00, Salem arr 02:10(third day)
Above trains are daily one. Salem has many more trains to above metro cities.
Salem is also a important Railway Junction where, every Trains connecting Kerala and Karantaka have to cross Salem
AIRPORT Salem also has a airport near Omalur, which is 20 minute drive from the City Center, but there are no regular air services for the Airport.
Religious Sites
There are several Mariamman temples in Salem. Mariamman is a Hindu goddess, an incarnation of Shakti. Every year around July the City celebrates Mariamman Festivel for a fortnight. During this festivel, Goddess Mariamman is decorated with Jewellery and flower chariots and taken around the City in mid-night. On the first important day of the festivel, people walk on Fire (Note:devotees call fire as flower) with their prayers. The second day is colourful with parades of fancy dress. This is one of the best time to visit Salem City. This festival is celebrated at temples at Fort, Shevapet, Ammapet, Gugai, Andheripati etc., Shevapet Mariamman temple car is the biggest one among the cars of amman temples across the state. This festival will be celebrated for a week.
Kandashramam is small hill temple for Lord Muruga. It is situated 10KM from Salem City towards Chennai highway. In Salem City, at Nethimedu there is another hill for Lord Murugan.
Two more mountain temples are there in Salem for Lord Vishnu.
Salem also has Heritage Temple called SITTHAR KOIL, which is located about 10kms from salem. This is a shiva Temple, which is located on the foot hills of Kanja Malai. Some BEleives say that, this temple was built by SITTHAR's Which is belevied that they Still survive in the Mount of Kanja Malai.
Aragalur is located approximately 21 km from Attur that boast of 2 old temples and a large Buddha statue. The one day Temple Car festival in summer invites lots of people in the region.
Education
Salem, which was once considered as the most educationally backward district in Tamilnadu, now has a large number of good educational institutions. New schools and colleges have come up in the recent past.
Government College of Engineering - Salem is a premier engineering institute run by the Government of Tamil Nadu, located on the Salem-Bangalore Express Highway (4-lane National Highway No: 7), about 10kms from Five Roads Junction of the city. It offers Bachelors Degree in Engineering in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics, Electronics and Communication, Metallurgy, and ComputerSciencew and Engineering streams. It also offers B.Sc course in Applied Sciences stream. It offers Masters degree in Civil and Mechanica (Design) disciplines.
Salem has two medical colleges and a good number of quality engineering colleges. The Catholic diocese of Salem has started St. John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School in its sprawling campus in the heart of the city at New Fairlands. This is an English medium school and it has its own website at http://www.salemstjohns.com.
Holy Cross Matriculation Higher Secondary School , a Boys school run by Brothers of Holy Cross located at K.N.Colony ( 7 km from city) on the way to Chennai, It has been the pioneer of English medium education in Salem for more than 42 years. The school website is at http://www.salemholycross.org/ and http://www.salemholycross.net
The Cluny Catholic order for nuns, also run Cluny Matriculation Higher Secondary School for girls, that has earned a good reputation among the people of Salem. Salem is famous for its colleges like Saradha Institutions, Vysya and Vinayaka Missions to name a few.
Vidhya Peetham Matriculation School is in Mannarpalayam (around 10kms from the city). Conceptual learning, hybrid phonic spelling, multisensorial worksheets, play-way, burden free education, abundant extra-curricular activities, student teacher ratio of 30:2 are some of the special features of this school. For more details visit http://www.vidhyapeetham.org
Periyar University, established in the recent past, has got awards from University Grants Commission for great research activities in bio-sciences department. It is located on the Bangalore Higway, about 15km from the heart of the city. All Arts and Science Colleges of Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts come under Periyar University. It also offers variety of courses through distance education programme. For more details, visit http://www.periyaruniversity.ac.in
NOTABLE PEOPLE OF SALEM
Rajaji- Former Governor general, Congress leader and Chief Minister.
External links
- Salem district map
- Open Directory Project: Salem, Tamil Nadu
- Current weather conditions in Salem
- Salem City .. quite a good amount of Information
- Official Website of Salem City Municipal Corporation
