Salem, Tamil Nadu

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Salem ேசலம் pronunciationⓘ is the fifth largest city of Tamil Nadu located in the central part of the southern most state of India. Almost completely surrounded by hills, Salem is one of the major textile centres in the country.

View of Salem city at Night from Lady's seat, Mt Yercaud @ 1600 mts above MSL

Salem is also the capital of Salem District. Salem is also at the base of the renowned tourist destination of Yercaud hills, which offers breathtaking views both during the ride up the hill and from the peak. Yercaud is at an altitude of 1600 m above mean sea level. There are people from different states of India settled in Salem. Some of them speak Kannada, Telugu, Sowrashtra and a good number of Muslims are also present.

The word "Salem" literally means, "surrounded by hills". The city of Salem is surrounded by several ranges of hills, including the Shevaroys and Yercaud hills.

The city is surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills, the Nagaramalai in the north, the Jeragamalai in the south, the Kanjanamalai on the west and Godumalai on the east. It is divided by the Thirumanimuthar in the main division. The fort is the oldest place of the town. Template:Infobox Indian urban area

History

The name 'Salem' appears to have been derived from Sela or Shalya by which the term refers to the country around the hills, as in the inscriptions. Local tradition claims Salem as the birth place of Tamil poetess Avvaiyar. Inscriptions from Ganga dynasty have been recovered from parts of the district.

Salem was taken from Hyder by Colonel Wood in the beginning of 1768. But it was recaptured by Hyder towards the end of the year 1772. Under Lord Clive in 1799, it was again occupied by a detachment of the residents stationed at Sankari drag and remained a military station till 1861 when the troops were altogether withdrawn.

Demographics

Salem stands in fifth place in the state of Tamil Nadu in terms of the population. In reality the net population of the city is more than that of Tiruchchirappalli, which is said to be the fourth largest city. The population figures shown in the census for Salem are given excluding many important suburbs like Kondalampatti, Kannankurichi, Malla Moopanpatti etc. which have been included into Salem City Municipal Corporation limits . The total urban population of Salem district is about 13,90,000 whereas that of Trichy is only 11,39,000. And also, the total area covered by Salem city Municipal Corporation is 94 square km, and many important suburbs like Ayodhyapattinam, Dasanaikenpatti, Mohan Nagar, Uthamacholapuram, Chinna Kollapatti are not included into city limits. Wherein Trichy corporation limits extend very much outside urban limits. Salem is the second largest city of Tamil Nadu in terms of population density. The population of the city and suburbs alone is above 1,000,000. Salem has a sister city, Salem, Oregon, USA.

Economy

Salem is known as the Mango city in Tamilnadu, India. Its mangoes are sent to various parts of the state and even outside the state. It also has a steel plant run by the SAIL and the brand Salem Stainless Steel is very widely known. Salem is also occasionally known as Steel City. It's also famous for Sago, Bauxite, Lorry Body building, Hand loom Weaving. Salem is one of the largest producers of traditional silver anklets, which is popular among women of India.

It has magnesite deposits, second largest in India. The companies like Dalmia and TANMAG have mines here. Salem also boasts of a large sago industry. The Leigh Bazaar market is one of the largest regional markets for agro products.

Salem had an active film production (not so active now according to Anna K), with former Modern Theatres Studios being the hub of Tamil film production. Now defunct Modern Theatres had produced some of the most successful Tamil films, in which many veteran actors have acted, including former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran (known as MGR).

Shevapet is the prime commercial market place of the city, with densely built buildings.

Besides, Salem Steel Plant, SAGOSERVE, Dalmia Magnesite Corporation, Burn Standard, PowerGrid, TANMAG which are located in the city and suburbs, Mettur (50 km from Salem city) has SISCOL, MALCO, Chemplast, Thermal power plant, Hydel power plant and huge number of chemical industries.

Salem Steel Plant, SAGOSERVE, TANMAG, Burn Standards, Dalmia Magnesites, Tata Refractories are some of the notable industrial units of the city. POWERGRID has a station on the Steel Plant Road.

There is an exclusive Electrical and Electronics Industrial Estate in the Suramangalam area of Salem city.

Export Commodities:

  • Textiles, yarn, granites, readymade garments, mangoes, coir products and stainless steel

Import Commodities:

People and culture

A major chunk of Salem's population is of Kongu (Coimbatore based) Race. A considerable number of Kannadigas and Malayalis also live in Salem. Tamil is the main language in Salem. Apart from Tamil, people having Telugu, Kannada and Sourashtra languages as their mother tongue are also found in large numbers, especially within the town limits of Salem.

Food is one of the notable aspects of this city. Lot of hotels are famous for their own special menus. Especially, Salem is popular for its night time fastfood outlets.

Movies are the main source of recreation in Salem. Once Salem used to have the highest number of theaters in Tamil Nadu. The newly built multiplex is the latest attraction to movie lovers of the city. Salem also houses a golf course on the way to Salem steel plant.

Anna park, and two amusement parks in Salem suburbs attract the kids.

Yercaud is the recreation place for most of the people in Salem, especially youngsters. Yercaud is just a one hour drive away from Salem city center. Working people in Salem come here during weekends to enjoy the cooler climate of Yercaud.

Religious sites

There are several Mariamman temples in Salem. Mariamman is a Hindu goddess, an incarnation of Shakti. Every year around July the City celebrates Mariamman festival for a fortnight. During this festival, Goddess Mariamman is decorated with jewellery and flower chariots and taken around the city at midnight. On the first important day of the festival, people walk on fire (Note:devotees call fire as flower) with their prayers. The second day is colourful with parades of fancy dress. This is one of the best time to visit Salem City. This festival is celebrated at temples at Fort, Shevapet, Ammapet, Gugai, Andheripati etc., Shevapet Mariamman temple car is the biggest one among the cars of Amman temples across the state. This festival will be celebrated for a week.

Kandashramam is small hill temple for Lord Muruga. It is situated 10 km from Salem City towards Chennai highway. In Salem City, at Nethimedu there is another hill for Lord Murugan.

Two more mountain temples are there in Salem for Lord Vishnu.

Salem also has Heritage Temple called Sitthar Koil, which is located about 10 km from Salem. This is a Shiva Temple, which is located on the foot hills of Kanja Malai. Some believers say that, this temple was built by Sitthar's which is believed that they still survive in the Mount of Kanja Malai. The famous Tamil Poetess Avvayar is believed to be living in this hills.

Aragalur is located approximately 21 km from Attur that boast of 2 old temples and a large Buddha statue. The one day Temple Car festival in summer invites lots of people in the region.

Education

Salem, which was once considered as the most educationally backward district in Tamil Nadu, now has a large number of good educational institutions. New schools and colleges have come up in the recent past.

Government College of Engineering - Salem is a premier engineering institute run by the Government of Tamil Nadu, located on the Salem-Bangalore Express Highway (4-lane National Highway No: 7), about 10 km from Five Roads Junction of the city. It offers Bachelors Degree in Engineering in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics, Electronics and Communication, Metallurgy, and Computer Science and Engineering streams. It also offers B.Sc course in Applied Sciences stream. It offers Masters degree in Civil and Mechanical (Design) disciplines.


Sona College of Technology |Sona Tech is another premier engineering institute run by Chockalingam Trust, along with its sister concern - Thiyagaraja Polytechnic, is at a strategic position in between the Salem Railway Junction and Five Roads - the heart of the City. It offers Bachelors, Masters Degree in various Engineering streams. Refer: http://sonatech.ac.in/


VMKV Salem is one of the premier Engineering Colleges of South India catering to the growing needs of India's booming Hi-Tech sector. It is a deemed university that provides undergraduate and graduate degree cources in Computer, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering etc.


Salem has two medical colleges and a good number of quality engineering colleges. The Catholic diocese of Salem has started St. John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School in its sprawling campus in the heart of the city at New Fairlands. This is an English medium school and it has its own website at http://www.salemstjohns.com.

Holy Cross Matriculation Higher Secondary School , a Boys school run by Brothers of Holy Cross located at K.N.Colony [Ammapet area] (7 km from city) on the way to Chennai. It has been the pioneer of English medium education in Salem for more than 42 years. The school is known for its Infrastructure and All-Round Development. It also has Hostel facilities. The school website is at http://www.salemholycross.org/ and http://www.salemholycross.net

The Cluny Catholic order for nuns, also run Cluny Matriculation Higher Secondary School for girls, that has earned a good reputation among the people of Salem. It is the best school for girls. The school website is at http://www.clunysalem.org

Salem is famous for its colleges like Saradha Institutions, Vysya and Vinayaka Missions to name a few.

Vidhya Peetham Matriculation School is in Mannarpalayam (around 10 km from the city). Conceptual learning, hybrid phonic spelling, multisensorial worksheets, play-way, burden free education, abundant extra-curricular activities, student teacher ratio of 30:2 are some of the special features of this school. For more details visit http://www.vidhyapeetham.org

Periyar University, established in the recent past, has got awards from University Grants Commission for great research activities in bio-sciences department. It is located on the Bangalore Higway, about 15 km from the heart of the city. All Arts and Science Colleges of Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts come under Periyar University. It also offers variety of courses through distance education programme. For more details, visit http://www.periyaruniversity.ac.in

Amala Matricultion Hr Sec School---Idappadi It is located in Morasappatti

Recreation

  • Parks:
    • Anna Park, Omalur Main Road, Near Four Roads Junction, Salem-7
    • Ramakrishna Park, Ramakrishna Road, Salem-7
  • Theme Parks:
    • Dreamland, Calicut Main Road, Uthamacholapuram, Salem-10
    • Paravasa Ulagam, Namakkal High Road, Mallur, Salem.
  • Cinema Theatres in Salem city:
    • ARK Complex, Fort, Salem-1
    • Kailash Complex, Fort, Salem-1
    • Geethalaya 70 mm A/c dts Fort, Salem-1
    • M/s Rajeswari A/c dts Fort, Salem-1
    • Alankar dts Fort, Salem-1
    • Sangam Fort, Salem-1
    • Sangeeth Complex, Gugai, Salem-6
    • Shanthi Qube digital cinema dts, Fort, Salem-1
    • Oriental Shakthi A/c AA road, Salem-1
    • Jaya A/c Trichy Road, Gugai, Salem-6
    • Sree Rajasabhari A/c dts, Trichy Road, Gugai, Salem-6
    • K.S. Theatre A/c dts, Sankari Main Road, Line Medu, Salem-6.
    • Saradhas Complex, Ammapet Main Road, Ammapet, Salem-3
    • Saraswathi dts, Cuddalore Main Road, Ammapet, Salem-3
    • Sreeman dts, Shevapet, Salem-2
    • Jeyaram, Salem-15
    • ARRS Multiplex, Meyyanur bypass road, Salem-4
    • Gowri A/c dts, Omalur Road, Five Roads Junction, Swarnapuri, Salem-4
    • Rathna, Junction Main Roads, Five Roads Junction, Salem-4
    • Priyarathna, Thammannan Road, Chatiram, Salem-9
    • Ramana Complex, Suramangalam, Salem-5
    • Divya 70 mm, Salem bypass road, Kondalampatti, Salem-10
  • Eat-outs:
    • Shevaroys International Food Mall, Meyyanur Road, Five Roads
      • Sizzlers
      • Broaster
      • Bangalore Gangotri
      • Akshaya
      • Shevaroys Bakery
      • Shevaroys Juice-spot
      • Club China
      • Mughal Mahaal
    • ARRS Food Mall, ARRS Multiplex
      • Marry Brown
      • Kings Restaurant
      • Madurai Meenakshi Bhavan
      • Boomerang
      • Archana Sweets
    • Saravana Bhavan Group
      • Saravana Bhavan
      • Saravana Bhavan Classic
      • Saravana Bhavan Grand Style
      • Saravana Bhavan Majestic
      • Saravana Bhavan Chinna Chinna Aasai
    • Baar-be-que Restaurant, Five Roads
    • Adyar Ananda Bhavan A2B Restaurant

Transport and Traffic

Three important National Highways (NH7, NH47 and NH68) criss-cross the city. Salem acts as the major transit point for Bangalore/Coimbatore/Madurai/Chennai. This keeps the 6/4-lane bypass road of the city busy round the clock. The presence of the bypass road eases the congestion in the city roads as the mofussil buses bound for and from Namakkal, Coimbatore, Erode, Trichy, Madurai are diverted through the bypass road to enter the Central Bus Terminus. The important arterial roads of the city are:

  • Omalur Road (From Thiruvalluvar statue to Five roads and beyond)
  • Sharadha College Road (From Five Roads to Hasthamppatty round-tana)
  • Cherry Road (From Hasthampatty round-tana to Thiruvalluvar statue)
  • Trichy Road (From Fort to Seelanaickenpatti and beyond)
  • Yercaud Road (From Hasthampatty round-tana to Yercaud Foot Hills and
  • Cuddalore Road (From Ammapet to Ayodhyapattinam and beyond)
  • Peramanur Road (From Four roads to Peramanur)
  • Ramakrishna Road
  • Thammannan Road (From Four Roads to Leigh Bazaar)
  • Junction Road (From Five Roads to Junction)
  • Meyyanur Road (From Five Roads to Three Roads)
  • The bypass road


Bus services

The Dr MGR Central Integrated Bus Terminus located in Meyyanur area. One can get buses for almost all the places of the state and Bangalore/Pondy round the clock from the terminus. TamilNadu State Transport Corporation, Salem division shares the load of traffic with other divisions for mofussil bus services. TSTC Salem division takes care of the city bus services wihin the city, and connecting the city with nearby surburbs and villages. The private bus sector in this region (especially the routes: Salem-Erode, and Salem-Namakkal) are the profit-making sectors in the state. Few private bus operators in Salem-Tiruchengode-Erode route have started issuing electronic-printed tickets for the passengers. The bus lobby in this sector is getting expanded day-by-day. If anybody wants to go Erode from salem make sure that the bust goes via Sankagiri.(not via Tiruchengode ).

Railways

Prime trains for Salem:

To Chennai:

Yercaud Express Salem dep 22:15, Chennai arr 04:30 Nilgairi Express Salem dep 23:40, Chennai arr 05:15 (From Coimbatore) Kovai Express Salem dep 16:15, Chennai arr 21:15 (From Coimbatore) InterCity Express Salem dep 08:55, Chennai arr 14:00 (From Coimbatore) WestCoast Express Salem dep 09:30, Chennai arr 15:15

From Chennai:

Yercaud Express Chennai dep 22:30, Salem arr 04:10 Kovai Express Chennai dep 06:15, Salem arr 10:50 (to Coimbatore) InterCity Express Chennai dep 14:30, Salem arr 19:20 (to Coimbatore) WestCoast Express Chennai dep 11:30, Salem arr 16:30 (to Coimbatore)

To Bangalore:

Yeshwanthpur passenger Salem dep 05:30, Bangalore(YPR) arr 10:55 Coimbatore-Kurla Express Salem dep 07:45, Bangalore arr 12:25 Bangalore passenger Salem dep 13:40, Bangalore arr 18:45 Coimbatore InterCity Express Salem dep 17:05, Bangalore arr 21:10

From Bangalore:

Coimbatore InterCity Express Bangalore dep 06:15, Salem arr 09:55 Salem Passenger Bangalore dep 07:30, Salem arr 12:55 Salem passenger Bangalore dep 16:00, Salem arr 21:30 Coimbatore Express Bangalore dep 23:10, Salem arr 03:55

To Mumbai:

Coimbatore Kurla Express Salem dep 07:45, Mumbai(LTT) arr 12:30 (next day) Kannyakumari Mumbai CST Express Salem dep 21:10,Mumbai arr 03:55 (second day)

From Mumbai:

Kanyakumari Express Mumbai dep 15:30, Salem arr 20:40 (next day) Coimbatore Express Mumbai dep 22:25, Salem arr 03:55 (second day)

To New Delhi:

Kerala Express Salem dep 23:00, New Delhi arr 16:00 (third day)

From New Delhi:

Kerala Express New Delhi dep 11:00, Salem arr 02:10 (third day)

Above trains are daily one. Salem has many more trains to above metro cities.

Salem is also an important Railway Junction where, every Trains connecting Kerala (via erode and coimbatore) and Karantaka have to cross Salem

Airport

Salem also has an airport at Kamalapuram, on Bangalore Highway, near Omalur, which is 25 kilometers from the city, but there are no air services for the Airport.

Police and prisons

                      Salem City    Salem Moffusil  
a. Police force 
    1. Local          900         679
    2. Armed Reserve  253         338

b. Police stations     14          33

c. Police outposts     NIL        NIL

d. Spal units          12          12

2 Prisons 

a. Central prisons      1

b. Other prisons
   Sub Jail 12

   Spl. Jail 1
   
   5th Gardan 1
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