Namakkal Town
Namakkal Town, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters of the subdivision and taluk of the same name in Salem District, Madras, situated in 11° 14' N. and 78° 10' E., on the Salem-Trichinopoly road, 31 miles from Salem city, and 20 miles from the nearest railway station, Karur on the South Indian Railway. Population (1901), 6,843. The town is famous for its temple of Namagiri Amman built at the base of the Namakkal rock — a great rounded mass of gneiss about 200 feet high, crowned by a hill fort visible for miles round, and easily distinguished from the surrounding hills by its white colour. The battlements are still in perfect preservation, being made of well-cut blocks of the same stone as the hill itself, and secured to the rock bv mortar. No mortar has been used in the higher courses, which hold together solely b)- their own weight and accurate fitting. Besides the fort, a Hindu temple and a Muhammadan flagstaff stand on the top of the rock. The building of the fortress is ascribed by some to Ramachandra Naik, poligdr of Sendamangalam, and by others to Lakshminarasayya, an officer under the Mysore Raja. It is perhaps less than 200 years old, and was captured by the English in 1768, only to be lost again to Haidar All a few months later. At the foot of the rock on the other side lie the drinking-water tank called the Kanialalayam, and a public garden. The town possesses a high school, the only Local fund institution of that class in the District. Ghi of an excellent quality is brought to the Namakkal market and exported to distant places.
