Sathyamangalam

Sathyamangalam
Town
A drive through Sathyamangalam Forest
Sathyamangalam Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Erode
Government
• Type	First Grade Municipality
• Body	Sathyamangalam Municipality
Population (2011)
• Total	37,816
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	63840x
Telephone code	04295
Vehicle registration	TN 36
Website	Sathyamangalam Municipality

Sathyamangalam (also known as Sathy) is a town and municipality in Erode district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the banks of river Bhavani, a tributary of Kaveri in the foothills of the Western Ghats. It is about 65 km from Erode and 70 km from Coimbatore. As of 2011, the town had a population of 37,816.

Geography

Sathyamangalam is situated on the southern side of the Western Ghats, which extends towards the east from the Nilgiri mountains. The town lies close to the border of the adjoining state of Karnataka. The general topography of this town is not flat and the town is generally covered by the sloping lands. The river Bhavani flows at the center of the town from west to east. Agricultural wet lands are predominant on both sides of the river and dry lands are predominant in the northern side of the town.

Economy

Sathyamangalam is a medium-sized town with an agricultural linter land on all sides. The rate of growth is low, because the northern side is surrounded by reserved forests. Poor industrial activities are also one of the reasons for slow growth rate of urban development. Sathyamangalam Municipality's area in 29.24 km, comprising four revenue villages. Only 10.46% of the municipal area is developed as urban area and the remaining 89.54% remains undeveloped agricultural land.

Demographics

Religious census
Religion			Percent(%)
Hindu			86.3%
Muslim			10.2%
Christian			3.4%
Other			0.1%

According to 2011 census, Sathyamangalam had a population of 37,816 with a sex-ratio of 1,006 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 3,382 were under the age of six, constituting 1,737 males and 1,645 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.38% and .74% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 72.02%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 11148 households. There were a total of 17,451 workers, comprising 1,094 cultivators, 1,882 main agricultural labourers, 741 in house hold industries, 11,272 other workers, 2,462 marginal workers, 26 marginal cultivators, 430 marginal agricultural labourers, 136 marginal workers in household industries and 1,870 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Sathyamangalam had 86.3% Hindus, 10.2% Muslims, 3.4% Christians and 0.1% others.

Municipal Administration

Sathyamangalam is the headquarters for Sathyamangalam taluk in Erode District. The town was upgraded to a third grade municipality from the status of town panchayat in 1970 and subsequently as a second grade Municipality in 1977. It was elevated to a first grade municipality in 1998.

Sathyamanagalam to Karanataka via Bannari (NH-209)

Bhavanisagar Dam

An Indian elephant at Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary

Transport

The town is situated at a distance of 65 km from district headquarters Erode, connected through State Highway 15 via Gobichettipalayam. The Coimbatore-Bangalore National Highway (NH 209) passes through this town. It is well connected by buses from nearby towns and cities with frequent buses available to/from Coimbatore, Erode, Gobichettipalayam and Mysore. The nearest railway station is Erode Junction (63 km). The Erode-Chamrajnagar railway line scheme was proposed in 1915 via Gobichettipalayam, Sathyamangalam. The British conducted surveys in 1922, 1936 and 1942 and survey stones were also laid for the proposed railway line. But after Independence the scheme did not take off and was rejected later amid concerns about destruction of forests and wildlife. The nearest airport is Coimbatore International Airport, which is 65 km by road, which has regular flights to New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kozhikode, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Sharjah and Singapore.

Politics

Sathyamanagalam assembly constituency was merged with Bhavani Sagar as a part of delimitation by the Election Commission of India. It was a part of the Gobichettipalayam parliamentary constituency until 2010 before being merged with Nilgiris.

Places of interest

Bhavanisagar dam

Main article: Bhavanisagar Dam

Bannari Amman temple

Main article: Bannari Amman Temple

Reserve forests and wildlife sanctuary

A portion of the Sathyamangalam forests was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2008. Sathyamangalam was declared as reserve forest under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1973. It is contiguous with the Biligirirangan Temple Wildlife Sanctuary to the north in neighboring Chamarajanagar District of Karnataka, and together forms a vital corridor for elephant movements. The forests were also the home of the Indian bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, who made a living through smuggling of ivory and sandalwood from the forests.

References

• Malli Amman Durgham#References