Cumbum Valley
Cumbum Valley, also
called Kambam Valley, is a valley in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu state in India near the Kerala state border. This is the most fertile valley in south India;
the valley includes lands between Thekkadi Hills, Varusanadu Hills, and Kodaikanal Hills.
It is one of the
few places in Tamil Nadu producing grapes. Cumbum valley produces about 90,000 tones
of Muscat grapes and 10,000 tones
of Thomson seedless grapes every year.
Cumbum or Kambam,
is a town and municipality in Theni district in the western part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Cumbum town is
located in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu, near Kerala State, geographically
located between 9°30′N and 10°11′N, and between 77°E and 77°30′E. It is the
third largest town in Theni district after Theni and Bodinayakanur. It is the
hometown of great poet Girivasan rajarathinam who settled in Ireland and busy
in politics even though he is a physiotherapist by profession. The soil in this
region is mostly red soil in nature. Agriculture plays on vital role for its
developmental activities. Crops like Paddy, Coconut, Groundnut and various
kinds of fruits and vegetables are being cultivated in this area.
It has many worship
places, out of them Sri. Kambaraya Perumal Kovil, Sri. Gowmariyamman Kovil,
Sri. Nandha Gopal Samy Kovil, Mosques, three churches are situated for a
prolong period. The town is well connected by the district roads with nearby
urban and Rural Town and villages but not connected by Railways.
The Climate of
Cumbum town is generally good, since it is situated at the foot of Western
Ghats. Average maximum temperatures are 41.6 °C and 31.6 °C
respectively. The average annual rainfall is around 836 mm with the town
getting its share if rainfall during the Southwest Monsoon.
The major source of
water for drinking and agriculture comes from the Periyar River which flows Diverted from the
state of Kerala. Suruli Falls which is
10 km from Cumbum is surrounded by mountains The nearest airport is Madurai and Kochi International
Airport (Kerala) which is 175 km by road. Thekkady (Periyar Wildlife
Sanctuary Kerala) which is a tourist destination in Kerala state is 30 km from Cumbum, near Kumuli which is a border town between the states of Tamil Nadu and
Kerala. Cumbum is a valley, surrounded by hills. The eastern side of the hills
constituting seven dams on the hills. In the South, the famous tourist
attraction, "Thekkady" is situated Kerala. Cumbum is famous for its
coconut & cardamom trading market.
The name Cumbum has
derived from the famous temple of Lord Narayana (Kambaraya Perumal) around
which the town has been built. It is believed that the temple was built during
Pallava rule. This temple is considered a popular holy place in Theni District.
Vokkaliga gownders
are Migrant settlers from the Mysore region of Karnataka who left due to
political instability from the region during the 1760s to the 1790s started
arriving in hordes and started clearing forests and tilling the land. During
the British period, after the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, several
settlements were created by the government and members belonging to the
notified communities were uprooted from their original habitations and settled
here.
The British
officers posted in the area started regularizing land holdings based on good
faith and track record. Cumbum is famous for the bullock cart (rekhla) racing
heritage. Every year during the Muthalamman temple festival, bullock cart races
takes place. This annual event is conducted by Vokkaligar gownder Ilaingarani
and The Farmers Development Association. Racing bull & cart such as all
originals heroes is all school pupil
Till 13th century,
Cumbum was ruled by Cholas. However afterwards they were weak and subsequently
Vijayanagar dynasty conquered this area. In 1374, "Sambanar" a king
of Vijayanagara dynasty conquered the then Chola kings. In remembrance of that
he built a fort which is now the Kambarayar temple.
Viswanatha Nayakar
a representative of Vijaya Nagara dynasty when ruled Madurai, constructed
temple for Kambaraya Perumal and Kasi Viswanathar inside the fort. This area
was ruled by Kamba Nayakkar and Uthama Nayakkar (both belongs to kambalathar
caste) - because of them the name of this Place - Kambam and Uthamapuram was
arrived. It was one of the 72 Palayams formed by Viswanatha Nayakkar. There
were high rise walls around the fort to monitor enemies which can be seen even
now. Now it is called as Mottaiandi temple. The gates of the forts are historic
symbols today.
In Silappathigaram,
when Kovalan was executed, Kannagi walked along the river of Vaigai and came to
Cumbum, Gudalur and from a rock from there, she went to the sky. So, this area
was initially called "Vinnaethi Parai" - A rock from where sky was
reached. Later the word got changed to "Vannathi Parai". In
remembrance of Kannagi, a river is named after her which is now called
"Koothanatch River".
Another historical
temple is Nantha Gopalan temple. Mattu Pongal is very famous in this temple.
All the nearby villagers come here with Bullock carts. We can get clay made
bullocks during this festival.
Southern and
Eastern sides Kerala is present. Keralites use to come here for buying
groceries & vegetables.
There is another
town with same name as "Cumbum" in Prakasam district of Andhra
Pradesh. This town also built by Vijayanagar dynasty having constructed with a
large irrigation tank.
Geography
Cumbum is located
at 9.73°N 77.3°E. It has an average elevation of
391 metres (1282 feet). The water in Cumbum is very sweet to drink.
One can see the backdrop of Kodaikanal Hills from Cumbum. Apart from that
Cumbum has most vigorous activity in agriculture.
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Kambam had a
population of 68,090 with a sex-ratio of 1,012 females for every 1,000 males,
much above the national average of 929. A total of 6,661 were under the
age of six, constituting 3,417 males and 3,244 females. Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes accounted for 7.76% and .02% of the population respectively.
The average literacy of the town was 76.55%, compared to the national average
of 72.99%. The town had a total of 18567 households.
There were a total
of 26,623 workers, comprising 666 cultivators, 11,596 main agricultural
labourers, 634 in house hold industries, 11,921 other workers, 1,806 marginal
workers, 12 marginal cultivators, 1,110 marginal agricultural labourers, 62
marginal workers in household industries and 622 other marginal workers.
Politics