65 CHAPTER III in This Chapter the Researcher Deals with the Profile Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
65 CHAPTER III In this chapter the researcher deals with the profile of the study area. The name Tiruchirappali is the combination of three words Thiru + Chira+ Palli, meaning the „School Chira‟. In the Rockfort Thaayumanavar Temple, the pictures depict that there was a saint called „Chira‟, who established a school (Palli in Tamil) near that area. Hence the name Chira palli or Tiruchirappalli, Tiru is a honoric Prefix for the saint Chira. There are several theories for the origin of the city‟s name. One is that Tiruchirapalli was named after the three-headed demon Trishira (or “chira”) who performed penance at the Shiva temple in the city and obtained favors. The city was therefore named after the demon. Another theory states that since there are three peaks in the area, which are occupied by Shiva, Parvati, and Vinayaka the Tri-Shikharam or Tirisirapuram arose. The legend says that Shiva in the guise of a woman attended to the call of a devotee in labor; hence he is called as Matrubhuteswarar (Matru means mother, Bhuteswar is another name of Siva meaning „king of ghosts‟) or Taayumaanavar in Tamil. Normally names of places which end with „Palli‟ refers to the ancient devotional places of Jains (Samanar). Rocky caves in many places are 66 occupied by them. „Palli” means not only school but also refers to a resting place. Tiruchirapalli was originally a Chola citadel and later, during 1st millennium AD, then it was occupied by other South Indian Dynasties such as the Pallavas, and Pandyas. The Chola regained control over Tiruchirapalli during the 10th century. Urayur, which has a known history and tradition of about 2500 years, was the capital of Early Cholas. Later, after the fall of the Chola empire, it came under the direct control of the Madurai Nayak Dynasty who paid tribute to the Vijayanagara empire. The Rock fort temple, the most famous landmark in Tiruchirapalli, was built by Tthe Nayaks, the Madurai Nayak rulers changed their capital from Madurai to Tiruchirapalli, and back, several times. The city is home to Nagaraja Cholan and it has many historic temples, monuments, churches and mosques. It was the capital of the early Chola kings. The oldest human-built dam, Kallani, was built by Karikala Cholan across the Kaveri River about 10 miles from Urayur. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE The topology of Trichy is flat. It lies at an altitude of 78 m above sea level. The river Kaveri (also called Cauvery) and the river Coleroon (also called Kollidam) flows through Trichy, the latter forms the northern boundary 67 of the city. The river Cauvery flows along WNW-SSE direction through the city. There are a few hills located within the city, the prominent among them are Golden Rock, Rock Fort, Kajamalai and one in Thiruverumbur. There are few reserve forests along the river Cauvery, located at the west and the north- west of the city. The southern and the south-western part of the district is dotted by several hills which are thought to be an offset of the western Ghat. Eastern ghats also pass through the district. The soil here is considered to be very fertile. Trichy has a moderate and pleasant climate, with humidity slightly above normal. The city experiences mild winters and humid summers. The timing of the monsoon in this part of the country has lately become unpredictable, with the rainy season starting from mid-October until early- November and the rains then extending until early or mid-January. In Tiruchirapalli district, the first kind of SHGs is formed by different types agencies, though the objectives are the same. There are SHGs formed by NGOs facilitating the women in forming the group, handling the records, banking operations etc and ultimately linking with banks for revolving fund as well as small enterprise loan. In fact these NGOs continue to support the SHG women in all the operations. 68 A second kind of SHGs is formed by NGOs, which are basically in remote areas and banks may not be able to extend support nor are the individuals able to access the bank. In this situation the NGOs themselves take the loan on behalf of the SHGs and in turn lend to the SHGs with relatively higher interest rates that falls between the market and bank interest rates. The third kind of groups observed, is the banks themselves, particularly the Cooperative banks and the lead banks, identify certain potential groups and extend all the support as NGOs do. Apart from these three categories, which are almost found in all over the country, in Tiruchirapalli district there are various other forms of SHGs, which are NGOs formed but self-supported, SHGs formed by the Government departments apart from the Women Development Corporation, Block Development Offices etc. and independent SHGs, which are neither formed by NGOs nor supported by banks rather they are formed on their own and functions with the help of their own group fund. Having realized that the SHGs are the prospective channel of women development, several NGOs are mushrooming in both rural and urban areas in Tiruchirapalli district. Informal information from the Associations of NGOs revealed that there are more than 200 NGOs in Tiruchirapalli district alone. It is also true that all of them are invariably working on various women 69 development programmes including SHG formation. As a result of competition among NGOs in forming SHGs, the NGOs are acting as a financial intermediary and extend credit. The process in which they form the group goes like this. Some representatives from the NGOs visit the target area either rural or urban, identify a few potential women, promise that they will be given loan at a lower interest rate compared to traditional money lenders and ask those women to identify 20 women from the area. Once they are identified they will be extended credit at the rate of say Rs.2,000 or Rs.3,000 per head with 24% to 36% interest. Attracted by these terms and conditions, several women in Tiruchirapalli urban have joined together in a group and claiming themselves as SHGs, though they are not strictly SHGs formed in the way in which the other SHGs are formed. Further, it is highly doubtful whether these groups would continue to exist after the credit needs are met. Apart from this, there are some development departments such as National Cooperative Union, which aims at an integrated agricultural development, agricultural, horticultural and other department which also form SHGs under the Women Development Programme. Of all these groups, the Mahalir Thittam recognizes the first three groups and others are not recognized and accordingly they are not extended with any financial assistance. 70 LANGUAGES The most widely spoken language is Tamil, though there are also significantly large numbers of people speaking Telugu, Saurashtrian, Kannada and Thanjavur Marathi. The standard dialect is the central Tamil dialect. Madurai Tamil is also widely spoken. During the pre-independence era, Anglo-Indians, many of whom worked in the „South-Indian Railways‟, started settling in „Gloden Rock Township‟ and „Crawford‟ located within the city. Crawford is considered as one of the expensive areas in the city. The place is populated predominantly by Christians. CULTURE The city has a multi-cultural society with a sizeable presence of Tamil, English, Marathi, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam-speaking population. The city projects a calm outlook and is considered to be friendly toward tourists. One may experience typical Anglo-Indian, Andhra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu cuisines here. In addition to Pongal, the Thamizhar Thirunaal, Ugadi, Holi & Onam are the other festivals celebrated by the respective communities retaining their cultural roots. People living in Trichy have a rich ancient cultural heritage. The city served as the centre of fine arts since Sangam literature period. Uraiyur, the 71 name of the city, was the capital of early Cholas. Here lived a number of great Tamil Scholars who contributed to the Tamil literature. People living here even today speak Tamil mostly what is being used in written form than any other people living in other parts of Tamil Nadu. CUISINE Trichy cuisine is predominantly South Indian with rice as the main dish. The city prefers a fairly mild flavor, with variations to suit the local palette. Lunch is usually served in many restaurants over a banana leaf. North Indian, Chinese and Continental cuisines are also available. Jelebi, idly dosa, halwa, parotta and biryani are popular among the locals. INDUSTRIES The district has fairly rich mineral deposits. The upper region contains only a moderate number of valuable minerals of which the magnetic iron beds in the Musiri are most important. A good deal of building stone is quarried in Tiruchirappalli. The most important heavy industry in the district is the high pressure boiler plant of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) located at Tiruverambur with M/s.Tehcno Export of Czechoslovakia. This plant engaged in the manufacture of heavy boilers required for thermal Stations was started in 1965 at a cost of Rs.24.50 Crores. The initial output capacity of 750 M.W per 72 year has presently been increased to 2500 M.W The plant achieved an out turn of 11450 M.T of material for the manufacture of boilers. The seamless steel tube plant of the BHEL, an ancillary unit of the high pressure Boiler Plant in Technical Collaboration with West Germany, this plant setup at a capital outlay of Rs.58.2 Crores is designed to manufacture 40,000 tonnes of boiler seamless steel tubes per year. The Ordinance Factory inaugurated in July 1996 is another public sector unit.