Arcot (Tamil: Ārkāḍu, ) is a City and Taluk of Ranipet district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, between the Mysore Ghat and the Javadi Hills (Javvadhu malai). It forms a Tri-City with the adjacent municipalities of Walajapet and Ranipet.
Etymology
Arcot is the anglicized form of the Tamil word ārkāḍ, which is commonly believed to have been derived from the Tamil words aaru (River) + kaadu (forest). However, arkaadu meant 'a forest of fig trees'.
Geography
Arcot is located at . It has an average elevation of 164 metres (538 ft).
Government
Arcot Municipality was constituted in 1959. It had Third Grade Municipality and was subsequently upgraded to second Grade Municipality in 1973. In July 1998, it was upgraded to I Grade Municipality. The selected council with 30 members and chairpersons have functioned from 25 October 2006.
Arcot Town has a 13.64 km<sup>2</sup> area with a population of 129,640 as per the census.
Arcot (State Assembly Constituency) is part of Arakkonam (Lok Sabha constituency).
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Arcot had a population of 129,640 including Tajpura and Veppur revenue villages under the municipality control with a sex-ratio of 1,014 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 7,174 were under the age of six, constituting 3,249 males and 3,925 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.31% and .15% of the population respectively 75% of the population in this town belongs to Backward peoples. The average literacy of the town was 79.32%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. As per the religious census of 2011, Arcot had 70.5% Hindus, 25% Muslims, 0.77% Christians, 0.01% Sikhs, 0.% Buddhists, 0.51% Jains, 0.16% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.
References
External links
- Vellore portal
- "Arcot." Encyclopædia Britannica (2005)
- "Arcot." The Columbia Encyclopedia (2004)
- "Arcot (S. India)". The Companion to British History, Routledge (2001)
- "Arcot". The Hobson Jobson Dictionary (1902)