This article is about the municipality in Tamil Nadu, India. For its namesake district, see
Sivaganga district.
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Sivaganga, also known as Sivagangai, is a town and a municipality in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Sivaganga district.
Sivaganga has an average elevation of 102 metres (334 feet).
Sivaganga had a population of 40,129. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Sivaganga has an average literacy rate of 72.18%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83.14%, and female literacy is 61.74%. In Sivaganga, 11.5% of the population is under 6 years of age.[1]
Kilavan Sethupathy
The Kingdom of Ramnad originally comprised the territories of Ramnad, Sivaganga and Pudukottai of today. Raghunatha Sethupathy alias Kilavan Sethupathy, the 7th King of Ramnad reigned between 1674 and 1710. Kilavan Sethupathy, came to know of the bravery and valour of Peria Oodayan of Nalukottai, 4 kilometres from Sholapuram, near Sivaganga.
Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathy
The King assigned to Peria Oodaya Thevar of Nalukottai a portion of land sufficient to maintain 1000 armed men. Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathy became the 8th King of Ramnad in 1710 after the death of Kilavan Sethupathy. The King gave in marriage his daughter Akilandeshwari Nachiar, to Sasivarna Thevar, the son of Nalukottai Peria Oodaya Thevar. The King gave Sasivarna Thevar lands as dowry, free of taxation, sufficient to maintain 1,000 men. He placed him in charge of the fortresses of Piranmalai, Tiruppathur, Sholapuram and Tiruppuvanam as well as the harbour of Thondi. Meanwhile Bhavani Sankaran, the son of Kilavan Sethupathy conquered Ramnad territory and arrested Sundareswara Regunatha Sethupathy, the 9th King of Ramnad. Bhavani Sankaran proclaimed himself as the Rajah of Ramnad. He became the 10th king of Ramnad and he reigned from 1726 to 1729.
He quarrelled with Sasivarna Peria Oodaya Thevar of Nalukottai and drove him out of his Nalukottai palayam. KattayaThevar, the brother of the late Sundareswara Raghunatha Sethupathy fled from Ramnad and sought refuge with the Rajah of Tanjore Tuljaji. While Sasivarna Thevar was passing through the jungles of Kalayarkoi, he met a gnani (sage) named Sattappiah, who was performing Thapas (meditation) under a jambool tree near a spring called Sivaganga . The deposed king prostrated himself before him and narrated all the previous incidents of his life. The Gnani whispered a certain mantra in his ears (Mantra Opadesam) and advised him to go to Tanjore and kill a ferocious tiger, which was kept by the Rajah especially to test the bravery of men. Sasivarna Thevar went to Tanjore. There he became acquainted with Kattaya Thevar a refugee like himself. Satisfied with the good behaviour of Sasivarna Thevar and Kattaya Thevar, the Rajah of Tanjore wanted to help them to regain the States again, ordered his Dalavoy to go with a large army to invade Bhavani Sankarathevar. Sasivarna Thevar and Kattaya Thevar at once proceeded to Ramnad with a large army furnished by the king of Tanjore. They defeated Bhavani Sankara Thevar at the battle of Uraiyur and captured Ramnad in 1730. Thus Kattaya Thevar became the 11th King of Ramnad.
1st Raja Sasivarna Thevar (1730–1750 )
Kattaya Thevar divided Ramnad into five parts and retained three for himself. He granted the two parts to Sasivarna Thevar of Nalukottai conferring on him the title of "Rajah Muthu Vijaya Regunatha Peria Oodaya Thevar ".
2nd Raja Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar (1750–1772)
Sasivarna Peria Oodaya Thevar died in or about the year 1750. He was succeeded by his only son Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar. He was the second Rajah of Sivaganga. His wife Rani Velu Nachiar acted as "friend, philosopher and guide" to him. Tandavaraya Pillai was the able minister of Sivaganga. Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar granted commercial facilities to the Dutch only after the British rejected a similar offer, made to Colonel Heron. Further the aim of the British was to oblige the ruler of Sivaganga to serve the Nawab or to pay tribute to him or to dissuade them from establishing relations with foreign powers like the Dutch.
A two pronged offensive was made by the British. Joseph Smith from the east and Benjour from the west invaded Sivaganga Palayam in June 1772. The country was full of bushes of cockspur thorn, though there were villages and open spaces here and there. Rajah Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar, in anticipation of the invasion, erected barriers on the roads, dug trenches and established posts in the woods of Kalayarkoil. On the 21st of June 1772 the detachment of Smith and Benjour joined forces and occupied the town of Sivaganga.
The next day, the British forces marched to Kalayarkoil and captured the posts of Keeranoor and Sholapuram. Now, Benjour continuing the operations came into conflict with the main body of the troops of Sivaganga on the 25th June 1772. Muthu Vaduganatha Rajah with many of his followers fell dead in that heroic battle. The heroic activities shown in the battle field by Velu Nachiar is praised by the historians. The widow queen Velu Nachiar and daughter Vellachi Nachiar with Tandavaraya Pillai fled to Virupakshi in Dindigul. Later they were joined by the two able Servaigarars Vellai Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu.
3rd Rani Velu Nachiar(1772–1780)
Rani Velu Nachiar and her daughter Vellachi Nachiar lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupakshi near Dindigul. Frustrated by the joining of forces against him, the Nawab ordered that Velu Nachiar and the Marudhu brothers were permitted to return to Sivaganga to rule the country subject to payment of Kist to the Nawab. Abiding by this Order, Rani Velu Nachiar accompanied by the Marudhu brothers and Vellachi Nachiar entered Sivaganga. An agreement was reached whereby Rani Velu Nachiar was permitted to govern the Sivaganga Country and Chinna Marudhu, the younger was appointed her minister and the elder Vellai Marudhu as the Commander-in-chief. Thus the widow Queen Velu Nachiar succeeded her husband in 1780.
Marudhu brothers(1748–1801)
The Queen Velu Nachiar granted powers to the Marudhu brothers to administer the country in 1780. Velu Nachiar died a few years later, but the exact date of her death is not known (it was about 1790). The Marudhu brothers were the sons of Udayar Servai alias Mookiah Palaniappan Servai and Anandayer alias Ponnathal. They were from Kongulu Street of Ramnad. They belonged neither to the family of the ancient poligars nor to their division of the caste.
Servaikaran was the caste title and Marudhu the family name. The Marudhu brothers served under Muthu Vaduganathan. Later they were elevated to the position of commanders. Two forms of the boomerang were used in India. These weapons were commonly made of wood. It was crescent-shaped, one end being heavier than the other, and the outer edge was sharpened. Their name in Tamil is 'valari' stick. It is said that the Marudhu brothers were experts in the art of throwing the valari stick. It is said that Marudhus used the valari in the Poligar wars against the British. The Marudhu brothers with 12,000 armed men surrounded Sivaganga and plundered the Nawab's territories. The Nawab on the 10th of March 1789 appealed to the Madras Council for aid. On 29 April 1789, the British forces attacked Kollangudi. They were defeated by a large body of Marudhu's troops. He was in close association with Veera Pandiya Kattabomman of Panchalankurichi. Kattabomman held frequent consultations with Marudhus. After the execution of Kattabomman in 17 October 1799 at Kayattar, Chinna Marudhu gave asylum to Kattabomman's brother Oomadurai (dumb brother). He issued an epoch-making Jumboo Deweepa proclamation to the people in the island of Jamboo to fight against the British whether they were Hindus, Mussalamans or Christians. At last the Marudhu Pandiyars fell victim to the cause of liberating the motherland from the British supremacy. Marudhu Pandiyan, the popular leader of the rebels, together with his gallant brother Vellai Marudhu were executed on the ruins of the fort at Tiruppathur in Sivaganga District on 24 October 1801. They showed their determination and spirit at the outset of the final struggle of 1801 by setting their handsome village Siruvayal on fire to prevent its being made use of by the British forces.
The Marudhu brothers were not only warriors noted for bravery, but were great administrators. During the period from 1783 to 1801, they worked for the welfare of the people and the Sivaganga Seemai was reported to be fertile. They constructed many notable temples and churches in the area of Sivagangai also a few notable places like Kalayar Kovil Marudhu Temple, Pallithammam Moovarasar Church with many Ooranis and Tanks.
After so many successions of legal heirs had ruled the estate, lastly Sri D. S. Karthikeya Venkatachalapathy Rajah succeeded to the estate of the late Sri. D. Shanmuga Rajah and he was the Hereditary Trustee of Sivaganga. Devasthanam and Chatrams consisted of 108 temples, 22 Kattalais and 20 Chatrams.
Sri. D.S. Karthikeya Venkatachalapathy Rajah died on 30 August, 1986, leaving a daughter named Tmt.. Maduranthagi Nachiyar as his heir. At present, Tmt. Maduranthagi Nachiyar administers the Sivaganga Estate, Sivaganga Devasthanam and Chatram of Sivaganga Royal Family. Based on the "District Gazette" 1990 of Ramanathapuram, and the history of Sivaganga maintained by Samasthanam, Sivaganga District has been formed mostly with an area of entire Sivaganga Zamin and part of Ramnad Zamin.The nearest towns include Ilaiyangudi, Ramanathapuram, and Sivagangai.
Graphite is one of the common resources in Sivagangai.[3] Graphite is used as an industrial lubricant and as a moderator in nuclear reactors. Very valuable graphite is available in Sivagangai and its surrounding areas.
The majority of the workforce is dependent on agriculture (72.8%). The principal crop of Sivaganga district is paddy rice. Most of the district has red soil. The other crops grown are sugarcane, groundnuts, pulses, millet and cereals. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University plans to set up the State's first Red Soil Dryland Research Centre in Sivaganga district.
The Spices Board will be setting up a new spices park at Sivaganga on an investment of Rs.18 crores. As of December 2010[update] this park is expected to be operational by March 2011.[4] It will be immensely helpful to farmers of chilli, turmeric, medicinal plants and tamarind, as the focus would be to export their products. The proposed spices park would establish machinery for cleaning, sorting, grading, packaging, storing, sterilising and other work. The focus would be to encourage chilli, a leading crop in Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and nearby districts, and turmeric crops. Medicinal plants, being raised in and around Madurai district, would also get a boost, as it was planned to patronise[clarification needed] farmers of medicinal plants.
Sakthi sugar factory is also located in Padamathur, Sivaganga. It has the capacity to produce more than 5000 tons of sugar per day. It provides employment to more than 1000 labourers, directly and indirectly.
Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited has commissioned a 5 MW grid connected solar PV project at Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu. The project was awarded to Sapphire Industrial Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of MBCEL, through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Tamil Nadu Renewable Development Agency. The project is implemented under the 50 MWp generation based incentive scheme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.[5]
Sivaganga assembly constituency is part of Sivaganga (Lok Sabha constituency).
- Alangaara Annai Cathedral, Madurai Road, Sivagangai
- Calvary Assembly of God Church. 2-2 Thondi Road, Sivagangai. Senior Pastor: Rev. C. Borgia
- sri udanurai vani karuppaiah temple, vani village, sivagangai
- sri sitthi vinayakar temple Aranmanai Siruvayal, sivagangai
- Swarna Kaaleswarar Temple—Kalaiyarkoil, Sivagangai
- Sri Annai Kathayi Amman Kovil-College Road,Sivagangai
- Sri Arulmigu Athikuntha Varatha Ayyanar Koil—Nalukottai, Sivagangai
- Arulmigu Sri Kulanthai Velayutha Swamy—Thirukovil, Sivagangai
- Sri Arulmigu athinamilaki Ayyanar kovil—Melapoongudi, Sivagangai
- Arulmigu Seruvalinga Ayyanar Koil—Esanoor, Sivagangai
- Arulmigu Suyambu Naganathar Soundara Nayaki Thirukoil, Nagamugundhangudi, Ilayankudi, Sivagangai
- Arulmigu Muthumariamman Thirukovil, Thayamangalam.
- Arulmigu Soundaranayagi udanurai Pushpaneshwarar Thirukoil, Thiruppuvanam.
- Arulmigu Adaikalam katha Ayyanar and Pathirakaliamman Thirukoil—Madapuram, Thiruppuvanam.
- pathirakali,vanniya perumal Temple — Pasankarai, Sakanthi.
- Aadi Ratneswarar Temple, Thiruvaadanai
- Karpaka Vinayakar Temple—Pillayarpatti
- Arultharu Shanmuganathan — Kundrakudi
- Arulmigu Meenachi Sunthareswarar Temple (Guru Pagavan Aalayam)– Pattamangalam
- Swami Narayana Perumal — Thirukostiyur
- Sowarna Moortheeswarar—Kandadevi
- Koviloor Temple — Karaikudi
- Nagarasivan Temple — Karaikudi
- Sri Kailasanathar Temple — Elayathankudi
- Thirunokia Azhagianathar Temple—Thiruppachetty
- Santhana Gopala Krishnan Temple — Madagupatti
- arthanathiswarer temple—Piranmalai.
- sri veriyannan swamy — Murukkappatti
- Adaikkala Annai Church Puliadithammam.
- Aruulmiku vettudaya kaliamman—Ariyakurichi, Kollangudi, Sivagangai
- Ketavaram tharum kudiiruppu kaliamman — Kandupatti, Sivagangai
- Arulmigu Sri Kadukavalor Swamy Temple, S.Mampatty, Sivagangai
- Sri Ayyanar Samadha Kalkullathu Kali Temple, Eriyur, Sivagangai
- Arulmigu Sri Malaimaruntheeswarar Temple—Eriyur, Sivagangai
- Durgai Amman Kovil — Sivagangai
- Ayiram Kanudaya Kannathal — Natarasankottai, Sivagangai
- Soolapidari Amman Alayam—Sitthanoor, Devakottai
- Arulmigu Sri poisolla mei ayyanar kovil kollangudi.
- Arulmigu Sri sithi vinayagar kovil kollangudi.
- Arulmigu Sri Muthu mariamman kovil kottur.
- Sri Malaikolunthu Eswarar—Thirumalai, Sivagangai
- sri kaliuga varatha ayyanar kovil thamarakki Sivagangai
- sri arul migu elaikathamman thirukovil thamarakki Sivagangai
- sri muniyandi thirukovil thamarakki south
- sri sangli karuppuswami thamarakki south
- Angel Nursery And Primary School, Thondi Road, Sivagangai
- Angel Gabriel Nursery And Primary School, Indira nagar, Sivagangai
- Oxford maticulation higher secondary school, Sivagangai
- T.R.V.A High School,Pattamangalam, Sivagangai
- Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sivagangai
- Govt Higher Secondary School—Keelapoongudi, Sivagangai.
- Govt Higher Secondary School—Hanumanthakudi-Devakottai
- Sambaviga Higher secondary school, Sivaganga
- St.Justins women higher secondary school, Sivagangai
- St.Justins matriculation higher Secondary school, Sivagangai
- 21st Century International Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Sivaganga.
- Rajah's Higher Secondary School, Sivagangai.
- K.R Higher Secondary School, Sivagangai.
- Govt Girls Higher Secondary School, Sivagangai.
- Maruthu pandiyar Higher Secondary School, Sivagangai.
- St.Joseph Higher Secondary school sivagangai.
- Government higher secondary school, Chinnakkannanoor
- Sri Visalakshi Kalasala Higher Secondary School, A.Thekkur
- Government Higher Secondary School, Kollangudi
- Sudhanatha Bhrathi Desiya Vidyalayam High School, Sholapuram
- Velammmal matriculation higher secondary school, Thiruppuvanam
- Govt Higher Secondary School, Thamarakki, Sivagangai
- Govt Higher Secondary school, Salaigramam, Sivagangai
- tagore middle school,aranmanai siruvayal, sivagangai
- Alagappa university,Alagappapuram,karaikudi,sivagangai
- Hyde's Institute of Paramedical Science Railway Feeder Road, T.Pudur, Senthamil Nagar Sivagangai.
- Sivagangai Medical College, Sivagangai
- Rajah Doraisingam Government Arts College, Sivagangai
- Government Women's College, Sivagangai
- Pannai Engineering College, Keelakandani, Sivagangai
- Pandiyan Saraswathy Yadav Engineering College, Arasanoor, Sivagangai
- Roselin College of Education, Sivagangai
- Stanisma Community college, Sivagangai
- Sivagangai Community College
- Hyde Charitable Trust 2/502 Railway Feeder Road, T.Pudur, Senthamil Nagar Sivagangai.
- The King Maruthu Pandiyar built the Temple in Kalaiyarkoil at the time of British rule in Tamil Nadu.
- There is a Palace in the center of the Town Sivagangai.
- The very powerful God 'sri kollangudi arulmigu vettudaiyar kali amman koil'.
- Famous temple in Thirukotiyur, The god's name is Sowmiya Narayana Perumal. It has also the 108 Divaya Desangal list. The temple is located in between of Sivaganga to Tiruppatur road, and 8 km distance from Tiruppatur.
- SRI ARULMIGU ATHINAMILAGI AYYANAR is very well respected god in Melapoongudi. Many people celebrate a festival in the Tamil month of Avani (3 days. Friday-Saturday and Sunday). Beside the temple we can see a beautiful small mountain ( White Mountain). The White mountain is the longest mountain in that area; it runs from Malampatti up to Yarioor.
- Arulmigu Seruvalinga Ayyanar Temple( koil), Esanoor dates back to the 17th century. Esanoor village itself is named after god Esan + 'oor'. The main shrine was built by then Sivaganga Zamindar Sasivarna Thevar ( 1730–1750) during 1737 - 1739.
- Malaimarundheeswarar kovil, Eriyur, 25 km northwest of Sivaganga and 5 km from 226 National Highway.
- Arulmigu Manikori Amman kovil, Ammachipatti, Alavakottai, 20 km from Sivagangai.
- Arul migu sri varatha muneeswarar thiru koil, Edayamelur, 8 km from Sivagangai;
