Tiruvallur | |
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Neighbourhood | |
Veeraraghava Swami Temple
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Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
Coordinates: 13°09′N 79°55′E / 13.15°N 79.91°ECoordinates: 13°09′N 79°55′E / 13.15°N 79.91°E | |
Country | India |
State | Tamil Nadu |
District | Tiruvallur |
Metro | Chennai |
Government | |
• Type | First Grade Municipality |
• Body | Tiruvallur Municipality |
• District Collector | Tmt E.Sundaravalli, I.A.S., |
Area | |
• Total | 10.75 km2 (4.15 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 56,074 |
• Density | 5,200/km2 (14,000/sq mi) |
Languages | |
• Official | Tamil |
Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
PIN | 602001 |
Telephone code | 91-44 |
Vehicle registration | TN-20 |
Website | municipality |
Tiruvallur is a suburb city of Chennai and Grade I municipality in Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Cooum river about 42 km (26 mi) northwest of Chennai (Madras), the capital city of Tamil Nadu and located near Tiruvallur district... It is well known because of the Veera Raghavar temple which is one of the 108 sacred shrines of Vaishnavites. There is a pond nearby this temple, where the tank festival is held. There is a Siva temple near this shrine which is also quite popular among the locals. There is also a 40 feet tall Viswaroopa Panchamukha Hanuman temple, where the murti is made of a single green granite stone. Poondi reservoir from where drinking water is drawn to Chennai city is at about 9 km (5.6 mi) from this town. The neighborhood is served by Tiruvallur railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. As of 2011, the town had a population of 56,074.It is one of the fast developing suburban areas in Chennai.
The word "Tiruvallur" is supposedly derived from the Tamil sentence "tiru evvull?" meaning, "Tiru" - god (a common prefix in South India for temple towns), "evvull" - where do I sleep. So, Tiruvallur means, a place/town where, the god, Veera Raghavar asked a saint for a place to sleep for a night. A Rishi named Saalihothirar came down from Badrinath now in Uttaranchal State and settled in this place in order to reach Paramapadam (The abode Of Lord Mahavisnu). He took bath in Hiruthaapanasana Theertham and started the vow of silence (mouna viratham ) for one year. Daily he collected some rice and after a year of fasting, he purified collected rice and cooked. He offered a part of cooked rice to God (Naivedhyam) duly keeping the rest for himself to eat. He waited for some Guest, probably a muni or rishi, so that he could offer him to eat and end his fasting. At that time the God Narayana with the intention to test devotion of the Rishi came there as an old muni. He looked as if he was so hungry and thirsty. On seeing him, Saalihothirar greeted him and made him to sit and offered him a part of rice he already kept for himself. But the Guest (Lord Narayana) wanted the entire quantity of food (Rice).Saalihothirar was very happy to give all of the food to the Guest starving himself. After eating the entire food,the Lord asked where can he sleep? ( Ev-uL-uRangalAm). Saalihothirar asked him to sleep in his hut itself . In Tamil ='Ev' (எவ்)=which/'uL' (உள்)=place/room/uRangalAm(உறங்கலாம்) could sleep. Tiru (திரு) is a prefix before name of any holy place. ur ( ஊர்) means a place/village. Therefore, திரு+எவ்+உள்+ஊர் transmute as திருவள்ளூர்.