Cumbum, Tamil Nadu
Cumbum[1] or Kambam (
pronunciation ), is a town and municipality in Theni district in the western part of the Madurai Region Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Cumbum
Cumbum Pallathakku(Valley) | |
|---|---|
Valley | |
| Nicknames: Grape valley of south india, | |
  Cumbum Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Coordinates: 9.73°N 77.3°E | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Theni |
| Zone | Madurai |
| Government | |
| • Type | First Grade Municipality |
| • Body | Cumbum Municipality |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.58 km2 (2.54 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 391 m (1,283 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 68,090 |
| • Density | 10,000/km2 (27,000/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil , Malayalam |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 625516 |
| Telephone code | +91 4554 |
| Vehicle registration | TN 60 |
Geography and Climate
Cumbum is located at 9.73°N 77.3°E. It has an average elevation of 391 metres (1282 feet). One can see the backdrop of Kodaikanal Hills from Cumbum. Apart from that Cumbum has most vigorous activity in agriculture.
Cumbum town is located in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu, near Kerala State, geographically located between 9°30′N and 10°11′N, and between 77°E and 77°30′E. It is the third largest town in Theni district after Theni and Bodinayakanur. The soil in this region is mostly red soil in nature. Agriculture plays a vital role for its developmental activities. Crops like Paddy, Coconut, Groundnut and various kinds of fruits and vegetables are being cultivated in this area.
It has many worship places, among them Sri. Kambaraya Perumal Kovil, Sri. Gowmariyamman Kovil, Sri. Nandha Gopal Samy Kovil, Mosques, three churches are situated for a prolong period. The town is well connected by the district roads with nearby urban and Rural Town and villages but not connected by Railways. Average maximum temperatures are 41.6 °C and 31.6 °C respectively. The average annual rainfall is around 836 mm with the town getting its share if rainfall during the Southwest Monsoon.
The major source of water for drinking and agriculture comes from the Periyar River which flows Diverted from the state of Kerala. Suruli Falls which is 10 km from Cumbum, is surrounded by mountains. The nearest airport is Madurai and Kochi International Airport (Kerala) which is 175 km by road. Thekkady (Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary Kerala) which is a tourist destination in Kerala state, is 30 km from Cumbum, near Kumily which is a border town between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Cumbum is a valley, surrounded by hills. The eastern side of the hills constituting seven dams on the hills. In the South, the famous tourist attraction, "Thekkady" is situated Kerala. Cumbum is famous for its coconut & cardamom trading market.
| Climate data for Cumbum, Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 29.1 (84.4) |
30.7 (87.3) |
32.5 (90.5) |
32.8 (91.0) |
32.7 (90.9) |
31.0 (87.8) |
29.9 (85.8) |
30.1 (86.2) |
30.4 (86.7) |
29.6 (85.3) |
28.5 (83.3) |
28.4 (83.1) |
30.5 (86.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 19.7 (67.5) |
20.5 (68.9) |
22.1 (71.8) |
23.3 (73.9) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.2 (73.8) |
22.6 (72.7) |
22.5 (72.5) |
22.3 (72.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
21.3 (70.3) |
20.1 (68.2) |
22.0 (71.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 22 (0.9) |
30 (1.2) |
55 (2.2) |
108 (4.3) |
113 (4.4) |
139 (5.5) |
181 (7.1) |
123 (4.8) |
117 (4.6) |
241 (9.5) |
175 (6.9) |
71 (2.8) |
1,375 (54.2) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[2] | |||||||||||||
History
The name Cumbum is derived from Cumbaraya Perumal, the temple around which the town has been built. An article in the newspaper Dhinamalar recounted the temple's origins:
"A king ruling this region then desired to build a temple for Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu at a single site. Perumal appeared in his dream and said that there was a stone post at the foot hills of western ghats and that His idol was there. The king found Perumal there and installed Him here. As the Lord was found under a stone post (Cumbam), He was named Kambaraya Perumal and the place Cumbam. He also brought a Shivalinga from Kasi-Varanasi and built the Shiva temple. He celebrated the consecration of the temples the same day. The Holy tree Vanni is worshipped as Lord Brahmma. People thus have the opportunity of worshipping Lords Shiva, Vishnu and Brahmma in a single temple."[3]
During the British period, after the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, several settlements were created by the government. Members belonging to the notified communities were forced to remove to the Cumbum area.
The people of Cumbum and nearby villages played a vital role in the construction of Mullai Periyar Dam. When John Pennycuick decided to divert the west-flowing Periyar River eastward so that it could irrigate acres of dry land, the construction works were disrupted by relentless rain. Large numbers of sand bags kept for the construction of the dam were destroyed due to flooding. Since he could not get adequate funds from the British government, Pennycuick went to England and sold his property to raise the money. Local landowners in Cumbum and Gudalur provided more money, along with manpower, to aid in the dam's construction. It was completed in 1895.
Indian Freedom Struggle
The Hindu quotes, "Peer Mohammad was popularly known as Cumbum Pavalar. Born in 1888, Peer Mohammad was posted as Sub-Inspector of Police in Andipatti The Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Gandhiji in 1920 inspired Peer Mohammad. As a result, he resigned the police job. Inspired by the Gandhian ideals, he published a work entitled Gandhi Maaligai. The foreword to the book was written by Periyar E.V.R. This work of Peer Mohammad highlighted the importance and greatness of Gandhian principles. The Gandhi Maaligai contained songs on Hindu-Muslim unity and the Congress movement. Further, there were songs on Hakim Ajmal Khan, Pandit Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari, Periyar E.V.R and Mattaparai Venkatramaier. Peer Mohammad’s songs on nationalists became very popular. His another work, Paa Manchari, contained songs on nationalists. He also established a reading room near the Cumbum Municipal Office." [4]
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Kambam had a population of 68,090 with a sex-ratio of 1,012 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[5] A total of 6,661 were under the age of six, constituting 5,417 males and 5,344 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 7.76% and .02% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 86.55%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[5] The town had a total of 118567 households. There were a total of 26,623 workers, comprising 666 cultivators, 11,596 main agricultural labourers, 634 in house hold industries, 11,921 other workers, 1,806 marginal workers, 12 marginal cultivators, 1,110 marginal agricultural labourers, 62 marginal workers in household industries and 622 other marginal workers.[6]
As per the religious census of 2011, Kambam had 78.6% Hindus, 19.05% Muslims, 2.26% Christians, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.07% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[7]
Other Popular Places of worship
Sri Gowmariamman temple,[8] Our Lady of Snow's Church, Rayappanpatti [9] kambarayappa perumal temple, Sree Ayyppan Temple, Nehruji Street, Near North Police Station [10]
Politics
Cumbum assembly constituency is part of Theni (Lok Sabha constituency).[11]
References
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "CLIMATE: KUMBAM, Tamil Nadu", Climate-Data.org. Web: .
- http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/New_en.php?id=467
- Gopalakrishnan, P. B. (23 July 2012). "Madurai's very own freedom fighters". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- "Census Info 2011 Final population totals". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Kambam". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- "Population By Religious Community - Tamil Nadu" (XLS). Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
- http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=489
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- https://www.facebook.com/cumbumayyappan/
- "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 October 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
5. http://temple.dinamalar.com/New.aspx?id=467 N Ramakrishnan is the M.L.A From the DMK party. Cumbum constituency People Selected Third time.
External links
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