Arakkonam

Arakkonam அரக்கோணம்
Town
Arakkonam Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Vellore
Government
• Type	First Grade Municipality
• Body	Arakkonam Municipality
Population (2011)
• Total	78,395
Languages
• Official	Tamil and English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	631001, 631002, 631003, 631004, 631005,631006.
Vehicle registration	TN-73
Website	www.arakkonam.info

Arakkonam is a municipality town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a population of about 101,626 as per the census 2011. This town is located in the Vellore District about 69 kilometres (43 mi) (via rail) from the state capital of Chennai. Arakkonam is one of the hottest towns in India, where the temperature can exceed 43 °C (110 °F) for several peak days in the summer. As of 2011, the town had a population of 78,395.

History

The ancient name of the town was "Arunthamizh kundram" ("Aruntamil kunram") which is believed to have been derived from the Tamil words aaru konam meaning "six angles" or hexagon, based on the fact that six important places exist on the town's six sides, namely Kanchipuram, Thakkolam, Manavur, Thiruvalangadu, Tiruttani and Sholinghur.

Arakkonam is one of the most important junctions of Indian Railways in South India, that is why the station at Arakkonam is called as Arakkonam Joint Junction. The first train to south India was from Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) to Royapuram (Chennai) via Arakkonam. Arakkonam Joint Junction is one of the oldest junctions in the country connecting with major cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Goa, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Tirupati, Mangalore,kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Municipality

The Arakkonam Municipality was constituted as 3rd Grade Municipality on 01.10.1958, it was upgraded as 2nd grade municipality on 1.5.1974 and now it is a 1st grade municipality from 17.4.1984. The area of this municipality is 9.06 km². This is also one of the assembly and parliamentary constituencies. This municipality contains 36 wards.

Urban infrastructure

Arakkonam Junction railway station is third largest railway junction in Vellore district next to Vellore Katpadi and Jolarpet. It strategically located at the intersection of the Chennai-Bangalore line and the Guntakal-Chennai line, which is part of Mumbai-Chennai line. Except a few super fast trains, all the trains stop at this station. The town has one of the biggest workshops for Southern Railway, known as the Engineering Workshop (EWS) and the Electric Loco Shed. A frequent suburban electric train facility is also available towards Chennai. The second biggest Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown is located at Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu. It is used to store all types of food grains for a long periods. Transport is also available by road to all major cities and towns.

The runway at INS Rajali, a naval air force of the Indian Navy in Arakkonam is 4,500 metres in length, making it the second longest airforce runway in South Asia. It is also Asia's second biggest Naval Training Centre. The esteemed organisation in Arakkonam is the Indian Railways - Engineering Workshop Shops (EWS) which has many Employees serving the Indian Railways in various process related with fabrication and processing of various metal components for the railways. Most of the machines in these workshops are a century old and some of them are working.

There are other industries like MRF (Madras Rubber Factory), Ultratech Cement, Ramco Industries, Best and Crompton Exports all located in Arakkonam.

Many official buildings in Arakkonam were built during the British era. There is an underpass which connects Arakkonam and Kanchipuram beneath the railway track and is one of the oldest structures in Arakkonam having manufactured by lime Mortar and Stones. Arakkonam Fire Station, built in 1925, is one of the oldest fire stations in the nation.

Some major town include Stuartpet, Nehruji Nagar, Ganesh Nagar, Jothi Nagar, Geeta Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Town Hall streets, Winterpet and Sholinghur Road,Gandhi road,Palanipet, S.R. Gate (Southern Railway Gate), Griblespet TNHB, venkatesapuram,T.N.Nagar, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar Nagar,ABM Church,Nethaji Nagar, Kurinjhi nagar,Kamaraj Nagar, Shah nagar,.

Demographics

Religious census
Religion			Percent(%)
Hindu			81.22%
Muslim			9.83%
Christian			7.95%
Sikh			0.04%
Buddhist			0.03%
Jain			0.35%
Other			0.58%
No religion			0.01%

According to 2011 census, Arakonam had a population of 78,395 with a sex-ratio of 1,020 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 7,727 were under the age of six, constituting 3,995 males and 3,732 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 27.1% and 1.11% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 81.81%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 19507 households. There were a total of 26,029 workers, comprising 80 cultivators, 206 main agricultural labourers, 674 in house hold industries, 21,857 other workers, 3,212 marginal workers, 42 marginal cultivators, 33 marginal agricultural labourers, 156 marginal workers in household industries and 2,981 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Arakonam had 81.22% Hindus, 9.83% Muslims, 7.95% Christians, 0.04% Sikhs, 0.03% Buddhists, 0.35% Jains, 0.58% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Politics

Arakkonam (State Assembly Constituency) is part of the Arakkonam (Lok Sabha constituency). The AIADMK candidate MR.S.Ravi,Advocate won Arakkonam assembly constituency in the 2011 elections. In the parliamentary elections held in 2009, the DMK candidate Shri S Jagathrakshakan got elected as MP from this constituency. In the 2014 lok sabha election, G.Hari of AIADMK wrested the seat from the DMK with victory margin of over 2,40,000 votes. He polled 493534 votes while the DMK candidate N.R. Elango polled just 252768 votes. Mr.S.Kannadasan of AIADMK won the post of municipality chairman in the 2014 by-election.

See also

• Arakkonam.info
• INS Rajali
• Arakkonam (Lok Sabha constituency)
• Arakkonam taluk
• Arakkonam Junction railway station
• Schools in Arakkonam