Needamangalam
Needamangalam (Nidamangalam) formerly Yamunambalpuram, is a town panchayat in Thiruvarur district in the Cauvery Delta of Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Needamangalam was originally part of the composite Tanjore Dist during British Raj until 1997 AD. In the 18th and 19th century, it was also called Yamunambalpuram (see section on Santhana Ramaswamy Temple below). Needamangalam is the headquarters of the Needamangalam Taluk. The town is located 20 km east of Thanjavur, 80 km east of Tiruchirappalli and 318 km south of Chennai. Needamangalam is a junction for two busy highways, (i) National Highway 67 is a National Highway in Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that runs from Nagapattinam, a sea-side town in Tamil Nadu to Gundlupet, Karnataka (ii) State Highway SH-66 connecting Kumbakonam with Adirampattinam via Mannargudi in Cauvery Delta. History According to Poruna-raatr-uppadai, Karikala Chola fought Battle of Venni (now Kovilvenni) near Needamangalam in which both Pandya and Chera suffered crushing defeat. Besides the two crowned kings of the Pandya and Chera countries, eleven minor chieftains took their side in the campaign and shared defeat at the hands of Karikala. The Chera king, who was wounded on his back in the battle, committed suicide by starvation. Venni was the watershed in the career of Karikala which established him firmly on his throne and secured for him some sort of hegemony among the three crowned monarchs. Venni which is also known as Vennipparandalai and now it is known as Kovilvenni. Kovilvenni is situated at a distance of 3 km from Needamangalam. Geography The town is surrounded by three rivers and town limit could not extend any more within those boundaries. Hence it is also named as needatha mangalam means "limited area". Needamangalam Taluk is crossed by the Vennar River in the north and the Koraiyar River in the south. Near the Bay of Bengal, the Venner River branches into three major distributaries, the northern branch retains its original name, Vennar. Other two branches are the Pamaniyar and the Koraiyar. They flow down to Muthupet Lagoon and from there join the sea. Climate Needamangalam is abutted by the Vennar River in the north and the Koraiyar River in the south. Needamangalam experiences abundant rainfall during rainy season and severe weather drop towards November and December of every year. Demographics Population According to the 2011 census, the taluk of Needamangalam had a population of 147,451 with 72,695 males and 74,756 females. There were 1028 women for every 1000 men. The taluk had a literacy rate of 74.99. Child population in the age group below 6 was 6,869 Males and 6,643 Females. Landmarks Cauvery Delta is known for rich heritage, culture, music and spirituality. Music and culture flourished during Sangam and Chola periods in the entire Delta region. Many musicians like Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Shanmugavadivel, Neelakanda Shastri who contributed to carnatic musics & experts in Tavil and Nadaswaram instruments based musics (prime cultural music played at wedding and temple festivals in Tamil Nadu) were based out of Needamangalam. Apatsahayesvarar Temple,