General Details about Tirunelveli District

Tirunelveli  the penultimate southern most district of Tamil Nadu, is described as a microcosm of the State, owing to its mosaic and diverse geographical and physical features such as lofty mountains and low plains, dry Teri structures, rivers and cascades, seacoast and thick inland forest, sandy soils and fertile alluvium, a variety of flora, fauna, and protected wild life.

Thenpandiyanadu of the early Pandyas, Mudikonda Cholamandalam of the Imperial Cholas, Tirunelveli Seemai of the Nayaks, Tinnevelly district of the East India Company and the British administration and Tirunelveli district of Independent India  was bifurcated on 20th October 1986. The divided districts are called as  Nellai-Kattabomman district and Chidambaranar (Tuticorin) district. Subsequently the district name was christened as Tirunelveli-Kattabomman district. As per the decision of the Government of Tamil Nadu to call all the districts by the name of  the headquarter town, Tirunelveli-Kattabomman district is now Tirunelveli district. Chidambaranar district is now called as Thoothukudi district.

The Tirunelveli Sthalapurana prescribes a tradition for the origin of the name Tirunelveli. The puranic version goes that one Vedasarma, a staunch devotee of Shiva, on his pilgrimage from the North to the South   was invited by Lord Shiva in his dream to his abode on the banks of the sacred river Tamiraparani. The delighted devotee came to  'Sindupoondhurai  on the banks of the river and stayed there with his  family.  Once there was a famine which forced Vedasarma to collect  paddy by way of begging and continuing his daily prayers. One day he  spread out the paddy to dry under the Sun before the Lord, and went  for  his ablutions in Tamiraparani. He prayed to the Lord for rain which he  thought  could be a remedy for the famine. His prayer was answered and   when he was bathing, a thunder storm broke-out and it rained  heavily.   Vedasarma rushed to the place where he had spread the  paddy. He  witnessed a miracle. Despite rain around the area, the paddy  that he had  spread did not get even a single drop of rain and did not get  soaked.  Since then according to the purana the Town is called as  “Tiru-nel-veli”  (Sacred hedged paddy).

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On acquisition from the Nawab of Arcot in1801, the British named it as Tinnevelly district though their headquarters was first located in Palayamkottai the adjacent town, where they had their military headquarters during their operations against the Palayakars. Two reasons may be attributed for naming it after Tirunelveli. One is because, it was and is the chief town of the district and the other is that it was already called as Tirunelveli Seemai under the Nayaks and Nawabs. Both Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai grew as the twin towns of the district.   

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        Geographical Data 

The Tirunelveli District is located in the world map,  between 08^o 8’ and 09^o 23’ latitude and 77^o  09’ and 77^o 54’ longitude. The total geographical area of the district is 6,823 sq. km.  

        Boundaries

The district is surrounded by the State of  Kerala,  Gulf of Mannar and the districts of Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari.

Land Category

Area in  Hectares

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          Temperature 

In the day time the coastal regions  are cooler than the interior parts by about a degree  in summer and southwest monsoon seasons and warmer by one to two degrees during the rest of the year.   From about the middle of February, temperature increases steadily.   In May which is usually the hottest month  in the interior,  the mean daily maximum temperature is 37.1 degree Celsius.  The weather   is quite hot in May and June and the maximum temperature some times reaches 45 degree Celsius.     With the onset of the southwest monsoon by the end of May or beginning of June, there is some drop in temperature.  By about the middle of October, both day and night temperatures decrease appreciably.  The period from November to January is the coolest part of the year with the mean daily maximum temperature of about 30 to 31 degree Celsius in the interior parts.  The mean daily minimum in these months is about 22 to 23 degree Celsius in the district in general.  

          Humidity

The relative humidity in general, during the year, is between 55 and 65 percent in the interior parts of the district, except during the northeast monsoon season, when it is over 65 per cent.  The coastal parts are comparatively more humid.  

          Cloudiness

During the months of April and May, the skies become heavily clouded and threatening in the afternoons on many days when thunderstorms  follow.  In the southwest and northeast monsoon seasons, the sky is heavily clouded or overcast.

      Winds

• Generally light to moderate in  strength. 

• Between May and September winds are mainly north westerly or westerly 

• From October to February winds are mainly north easterly or northerly

• Main rainy season is from October to the middle of January. 

• During these southwest monsoon season the rainfall is more in the western parts of the district.  

• November is generally the rainiest month.

• The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours recorded in the district was 371.5 mm at Sivagiri on 29/10/1929. 

• The average rain fall in the district is 814.8 mm per annum.

Comparative Statement of Rainfall of this district in mm for the past 5 years are given below:

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Population (2001 Census)