CENSUS OF INDIA 1971 Series-19 TAMILNADU Part-VI B SPECIAL SURVEY REPORTS ON SELECTED TOWNS :M:ANNARGUDI Directorate of Census Operations; TAMILNADU ,A biro,s eye vi~w of 'dannargudi towQ Fcnmwoin The census has become an indispensable instrument of policy and development ,planning. It need hardly be stressed that a census is not a mere counting ,of heads. It is a kind of stock­ taking as it were, of the nation's human wealth. Census aims at presenting as complete a picture of man as may be possible in his social, cultural and economic setting. Recognising that its role is to serve the needs of tile planner, policy maker, administrator and the academician, the Census Organisation from time to time arranges discussion with the main data users and seeks .guidance in planning its operations. How~ver, for a further llDd more realistic appreciation of the data thrown up by the census on various aspects of the life of tbe community, it h;is been realised that more and more empirical studies would have to be undertaken. This requirement was kept in view even While planning the 1961 Census. The studies undertaken as ancillary to it, and _particularly the socia-economic survey of five huudred and odd viJJages throughout the country provided insight into the meaning of the statistical data in terms of real life situations. India is no doubt predominantly rural, but uIbanisation has been rapidly occun:i~•. With incIeasing tempo of economic and industrial development of the country urbamsatiOB would seen ineVItable. Urbanisation has become sme qua non of progress. Urban centres.tic undoubtedly the centres of dlssemmation of k.nowledge, new ideas, technical skills and so on. This inlluences the life around till more and more areas get urbanised. India is at this interesting transHional stage and the Census Organisation thought it fit to undertake studies to ,get .a deeper insight Into the growl.h of small towns WhICh are likely to play an important role in the life and ec,)Oomy oJ:' the CiJmmunlly 10 the near fUllJ,Ce. U.nder tbe 191 J Census a separate Town Directory giving certc11n basiC data pertaIning to each town in the country WaB .br.ought out. .chIS IS belOg supplemented by faIrly detailed i;lccounts .of a few towns selected for .btudy all over the country wtucn may help lO brwg out the Intensity and eJfect of the socio-economic forces .generated by urba~.:usatlon a~ ~iO what uQpaCt ur-baD.lsation .bas made -on the rural .neishbourhood. In consultation with the town planners. anthropologists. sociologists, geographers. econo. mists, demographers etc., the criteria Jaid down for selection of towns for speCial stUdies were size; demographic features, such as growth rate, densalY of populatlon and age of town; func­ tional type;. loc8nonal factors such as topography and llalural environment, climate. growth pa~.J;n oJ:' the regIon. growth history and distance from nearest metropolltan area; .naWr.e of rell:ltlon with other towns; concerntration of ethnic or religIOUS group, caste or communIty; and other 'Social and CUltural phenomena. Towns with maximum clustering of the different criteria were ~preferred at the time of the selection. on an aU India basis, at the same time ensuring that the various characteristics are represented in one town or the other as finally selected for the study. This study covers, among other things, the (a) growth history of ~towns including the infrastructure of growth and basic and non-basic economy and concomitant changes in the c~ono~ic and social relations of the region. (b') growth history of the various servicing institu­ tions In the towns in response to the different factors of chan,ge and the concomitant changes in the pattern distJibution of cOllJttlunity power and prestige, (c) frequer:cy and pattern of inter­ action among the different segments of the population, (d) nature and intensity of linkages with other towns of the region on the one hand and the rural hinterland on the other. (e) persistence of the values of traditional society and percolation of technological values of modern civiliza­ tion in the social complex of the towns, and (f) other ancillary matters. A set of schedules Was evolved in connection with the present survey by the Social Studies Division of the Office of the Registrar General, India, under the .guIdance of Dr. B.K. Roy Burman, Deputy RegIstrar General. India (Social Studies). The survey of individual towns have been carried out mamly by the Directors of Census Operations m the various States and Union Territones, with the technical advice of the Social Studies Division. The research personnel have been placed at the disposal of the Directors of Census Operations/Social Studies Division of the office of the Registrar GeneJal, India, for carrylDg out the field investigations and co-ordinating the studies of individual towns. etc. It is an encouraging feature that certain individual ~cholars and academic institutions have come forward to take up the studies of some towns wtthm the framework of the present scheme. I feel confident, thanks to the enthusiasm shown by my colleagues in the State Census Offices and the academic world, a corpus of knowledge wiH be built up which may be useful not only for academic purposes but ab.o lor various development activities. The credit for organising these studies rightly belongs to my colleagues in the Social Studies Dlvi~ion. I am grateful to Dr. B.K. Roy BU.rman, who was in-charge of the Social Studies DiVision. for stimulating his colleagues in the Census Offices to study in depth the specific problems of social changes and ~for developing the necessary tools for the study by devising exhaustlve schedules for collecting the requisite data. I am thankful to Dr. N.G. Nag, Deputy Registrar General (Social Studies) who later took over the co-ordination of the pro­ gramme from Dr. Roy Burman. I also acknowledge the important role of Dr. K.P. Ittaman, Senior Research Officer. who undertook the scrutiny of the Statistical data and drafts prepared in the Census Offices in the states with the assistance of Shri R.K. Mehta. The present monograph is the outcome of tbe study undertaken by the Directorate of Census Operations, Tamil Nadu. I am indebted to my colleagues in the Cenius Office for their painstaking efforts in the preparation of the monograph. New Delhi P. PADMANABHA Registrar General~ India PREFACE A special feature of our Census organisatbn is to undertake town study projects during the inter-censal period. After 1971 Census is over as many as 200 towns all over India were selected for special project studies. In Tamil Nadu alone 18 towns were selected for this project. Mannargudi was one such towa. fhe aim of the study is to portray each and every aspect of the town in question. Besides the socio-economic, religious and cultural factors the topography, growth history, backwash and spread effects of rural-urban characters are analysed in detail. Mannargudi is one of the well known ancient temple town in Thanjavur district. It is located within reasonable proximity to such temple towns of ancient fame as Kumbakonam and Thanjavur. The town is surrounded by green agricultural fields and neighbouring villages with usual flora and fauna as found in the agricultural plain lands. This publication is the result of team work and collective responsibility. Shri N. Sukumar Nandagopal. Investigator have borne the brunt of giving the first draft which was edited by Shri J.K. Nanda, Assistant Director under the supervision of Shri M. Nagappan. Deputy Director. I wish to record the able aSfoistance that I received from Shri J. Thomas Machado, Ass istant Director in revising and finalising the report. We record our deepest sense of gratitude to Shri P. Padmanabha, former Registrar General, India. and Shri V.S. Verma, the present Registrar General, India, for their continued guidance in bringing out this report. We also thank Dr. B.K. Roy Burman and Dr N.G. Nag former Deputy Registrar General (Social Studies) and Dr. K.P. Ittaman the present Deputy Registrar General and his colleagues for having offered valuable suggestions on scrutinising the report. Our thanks are also due to Shri B.P. Jain, Deputy Director (Printing) and his colleagu3s for having arranged the printing of this publication neatly. Madras M. THANGARAJU August 198& Deputy Director of Census OperatioDi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Field Investigation SjShri T.S. Rajaram. Inve.stigator N. Sukumar Nandago'pal, Investigator V. Shanmugam, Upper Division Clerk M. Ramanathan, Upper Division Clerk Tabulation Shri A.V. Raman. Tabulation Officer Smt. R. Rani Bai, Statistical Assistant Shri p.G. Sankaran, Statistical Assistant Shri M.R. V. Krishna R20, Statjstical Assis-taDt Srot. S. Malligeswari. Statistical Assistant Shri R. Balasubramanian. ComputoT 'Smt. K. Dakshayani. Computor Smt. M animekalae Kadirval. Com,puter a:'yprns Smt. S. Urn a, Lower Division Clerk Maps and Charts S/Shri R. Joseph, Cartographer A. Rajamani, Senior Artist Shri E.S. Jayamoh{ln. Artist CONTENTS Pages FOREWORD (iii) PREFACE (v) Chapter I INTRODUCTION Location; Size of population; Physical features; Climate; Flora; 1-4 Fauna; Transport and Communication; Residential Pattern; Functional areas; (i) Administrative area; (ii) Commercial area; (iii) Industrial area; (iv) Residential area Chapter II HISTORY OF GROWTH OF THE TOWN 5-7 S.ize of the town; Land use Pattern; Characteristics of Popula­ tion; Rules and Regufations framed; Land Speculation Chapter III AMENITIES AND SERVICES 8-17 Town Administration; Expenditure of the