Karur
Karur is a town and a municipality in Karur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu situated on the banks of Amaravati. Karur is one of the oldest towns in Tamil Nadu and has played a very significant role in the glorious history and culture of the Tamils. Its history dates back to centuries before Christ and has been a flourishing trading center even in the early Sangam days. Epigraphical, numismatic, archaeological and literary evidences have proved beyond doubt that Karur was the capital of early Chera Kings of Sangam age. It was called Karuvoor or Vanji during Sangam days. Karur is located 60 km to the South-East of Erode and 70 km to the West of Trichy, 100 km to the South of Salem, 140 km to the East of Coimbatore and 150 km to the North of Madurai. Karur district has four Municipalities 10 Town Panchayats and 158 village Panchyats and 203 Revenue Villages. Karur District has four Assembly constituencies of which one is a reserved namely Krishnarayapuram Constituency. Karur Parliamentary constituency constitutes 6 Assembly constituencies, two are from Tiruchirappalli revenue district, namely Marungapuri and Thottiam and 4 Assembly Constituencies from Karur. Karur has a very long history and has been sung by various sangam poets. It has been the battleground of various Tamil Kings like Chera, Chola and Pandya because of its strategic location in Kongu Nadu (Coimbatore). The district has a very rich and varied cultural heritage. The district is made fertile by the perennial flows of the Kaveri River on the northern side(Thavittupalayam, Vangal, Muniyappanur, Mayanur, Kulithalai) and also the Amaravati, Nalkasi and Noyyal rivers. Its economy is mainly agrarian. Presently, the district is famous worldwide for its handloom products.
Karur is one of the oldest towns in Tamil Nadu and has played a very significant role in the history and culture of the Tamils. Its history dates back over 2000 years, and has been a flourishing trading centre in the early Sangam days. It was ruled by the Cheras, Gangas, Cholas, the Vijayanagara Nayaks, Mysore and the British successively.
Karur was built on the banks of river Amaravathi which was called Aanporunai during the Sangam days. According to the Hindu mythology, Brahma began the work of creation here, which is referred to as the "place of the sacred cow." The names of the early Chera kings who ruled from Karur, have been found in the rock inscriptions in Aaru Nattar Malai close to Karur. The Tamil epic Silapathikaram mentions that the famous Chera King Senguttuvan ruled from Karur.
Epigraphical, numismatic, archaeological and literary evidence have proved beyond doubt that Karur was the capital of early Chera kings of Sangam age. It was called Karuvoor or Vanji during Sangam days. There has been a plethora of rare findings during the archaeological excavations undertaken in Karur. These include mat-designed pottery, bricks, mud-toys, Roman coins, Chera Coins, Pallava Coins, Roman Amphorae, Rasset coated ware, rare rings, etc.[1] Karur may have been the center for old jewellery-making and gem setting (with the gold imported mainly from Rome), as seen from various excavations. In 150 Greek scholars Ptolemy mentioned “Korevora” (Karur) as a very famous inland trading center in Tamil Nadu.
After the Sangam Cheras, Kongus (Gangas), a Chera related native clan ruled Karur. The history of Kongu Nadu dates back to the 8th century. The name Kongu Nadu originated from the term "Kongu", meaning nectar or honey. Kulasekhara known as Kongar Kon (the king of the Kongu people) ruled Kongu Nadu from Karur during this period.
After them, the arch rivals Cholas conquered Karur and ruled it for forty years. The Kongus (Gangas) again conquered Karur as vassals of Hoysalas. Malik Kafur ended the Hoysalas and Vijayanagara empire absorbed Karur.
The British broke Kongu Nadu after the defeat of Tippu Sultan in 1783 and the defeat of Dheeran Chinnamalai. There is a memorial at Rayanur (Rayanur Fort) near Karur for the warriors who lost their lives in the fight against the British in the Anglo-Mysore Wars. There after Karur became part of British India and was first part of Coimbatore District and later Tiruchirappalli District.
Karur is famous for its home textiles. Karur has a niche in five major product groups bed linens, kitchen linens, toilet linens, table linens and wall hangings. Overall Karur generates around Rs.6000 crores ($300 million dollars a year) in foreign exchange through direct and indirect exports. Allied industries like ginning and spinning mills, dyeing factories, weaving etc. Employs around 300,000 people in and around Karur.
On the international textile map Karur has become synonymous with hand-loom “made-ups” first as Tirupur in the hosiery product. The weaving industry of Karur and has earned a reputation for its high quality hand-loom products today. Hand-loom Exports from Karur began on a modest scale with just 15 exporters in 1975 and today Karur has 1000s of exporters and the products are supplied to world leading chain stores like WalMart, Target, IKEA, JC Penny, Ahlens etc. The hand-loom products being exported have been broadly classified under three heads viz., kitchen, bathroom and bedroom furnishing items. Some of the hand-loom made-ups exported from Karur are Bedspreads, Sheet sets, Towels, Floor rugs, Tea towels, Napkins, Aprons, Kitchen towels, Pot holders, Plate mats, Bathmats, Tea mats, Curtains, Pillow, Quilt covers, Shower curtains (above 500 classified varieties).
Other Industries in Karur
TNPL is promoted by the Government of Tamil Nadu with loan assistance from the World Bank. Today TNPL is the largest producer of bagasse (sugarcane waste from Sugar mills) based paper in the world and the 2nd largest paper producer in Asia. TNPL produces 230,000 tons of Printing & writing paper and consumes 1 million tones of bagasse every year. Karur is a hub for bus body building industries. Most of the South Indian private bus bodies are built in Karur. The total business from building bus bodies is estimated to be around Rs.324 crore per annum. EID Parry has a sugar factory in Pugalur, Karur. It has a capacity of 4000 TCD per year. It also has a 22 MW co-generation Power plant, with TNPL. Karur is the home town of India's oldest private scheduled banks, The Karur Vysya Bank and The Lakshmi Vilas Bank.