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Kombu thooki (bodinayakanur)

History

Bodinayakanur, is the beautiful city located on the foothills of the Western Ghats, in south Tamil Nadu. This city is surrounded by the spectacular mountain ranges of Western Ghats on three sides. It is on the Madurai to Cochin National Highway 49 (India). It is accessible by the road from Chennai and Madurai. The nineteenth century beautiful palace built in the heart of the city by the Travancore regime proclaims the rich heritage of the city.
  
Origin

Bodinayakkanur is named after a brave person called Bodayanayakkar.  During the Travancore regime, a wild boar roamed the nearby lowland forest and trouble the peoples and farmers, so the Raja of Travancore announced that the town will be named after the person who kills the wild boar.  To honour the bravery of  Bodiyanakkar for killing the wild boar, the city was name as bodinayakkanur and later it got transformed to Bodinayakanur.

The South Kashmir

Due to the weather and natural beauties, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, called the city as "South Kashmir". This lovely city is famous for cardamom, coffee, tea, pepper, and silkcotton market. Bodinayakanur is  also proudly called as `THE CARDAMOM CITY’.
Bodinayakanur is known for its sweet and tasty water.  The weather conditions is moderate throughout the year. The main source of income for the population is agriculture.

The main language spoken in this city is Tamil.  Today several languages such as Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and other Indian languages are being spoken in the city. We can see lot of north Indian peoples in the city as it is the main business hub for spices and herbals.
Bodinayakanur is the second biggest and most populated city in Theni district; the city is the taluk head quarters.

The city has a very old water purification and pumping system built around 1900 and  fully functional till now. It has a railway station built by the British for transporting   cardamom products.
The vehicle registration is done at Theni. The RTO number is TN-60. The district court is in Theni. The collector's (District) office is in Theni. There is a municipality court in Bodinayakanur. The city is honored with municipality status since 1916.

The city has many satellite villages. Hill road starts 5km from the town towards Munnar which attracts many tourists. Munnar, a spectacular hill station located around 70km from the city. This town is located amidst hills and has a pleasant weather with good rainfall throughout the year. Other famous areas nearby are Kodaikanal, Megamalai, Suruli falls, Thekkadi, Kozhukkumalai(World`s best Tea), Bodi Mettu, Kuragani(Hills). One of the best tourist place for trekking, climbing and sight seeing.

The famous school here is the century old Z.K.M Higher Secondary school built at 1903, which has the largest student body in the district. Another famous school is Nadar Higher Secondary School Thirumalapuram. There is one girls higher secondary schools by the name of Pankajam Girls Higher Secondary School. There are also two municipal high schools. There is a famous matriculation school named Scism Matriculation Higher Secondary School. There is a co-educational arts college offering several courses run by the Cardamom Planters Association, is about 30 years old. Now one polytechnic college has been started near Bodinayakanur. Government Engineering College may be functional from next academic year

Following are the famous temples in Bodinayakanur. Most of the temples have their yearly celebrations in the month of April and May.

1.     Paramasivan Temple ( Situated in a small hill on west side of town)(It's is also called as south thiruvannamalai)
2.     Santha perumal temple(located near railway station)-bodinayakanur
3.     Shri Thottarayar Onnamal Temple, Melachokkanatha puram - An Vaishnava temple built by Alli Kula Anuppa Gownders.
4.     Perumal Kovil - Bodinayakanur
5.     Sri Kondarangi Mallaya Swami thiru Kovil, Old Bus stand - Bodinayakanur
6.     Sri Periya Sowdamman Kovil, South Raja Street - Bodinayakanur
7.     Sri ramalinga sowdamman kovil in j.k patty - Bodinayakanur
8.     Sri Subramanian Temple - Bodinayakanur9.      Sri Saalai Kali Amman Temple - Bodinayakanur
10.    Orsuluvar Kula Srimathu Kamatchiamman, Sangili Karuppan, Veeruchinnammal Thirukkoil, 15w, Venkatachalapathy Koil Lane, J.K.Patty - Bodinayakanur
11.    Sri veera alazhamman kovil in Thirumalapuram.12.    Sri Muthumariamman Temple in SS Puram
13.    Kottai Karuppasamy & Sengaleeswari Amman Kovil in Ammakulam, Archakar M.Chockalingam14.    Karupa samy kovil thirumalapuram
15.    Anbupiryal amman temple, East Raja Street. 16.    Kombu thooki Ayyanar Temple on kurangani road, Bodinayakanur.
17.    Anai Pillayar Kovil on Annai kattu on kurangani road, Bodinayakanur.

There is one more interesting temple in the hill near bodi, Athigariyappar temple.It is located at anakarai. The last visit to this temple was around 1992. at present the path is inaccessible. many tried to reach this temple, but it was a failure. Still people living in the forest for agriculture purpose could hear the bell sound from the temple, which is being pulled by the monkey and wild animals in the thick forest. If a good adventurer finds a route to this temple, it would be a great discovery of this decade.

The main business is agriculture. Paddy, Sugar cane, Banana, Corn, Maize are some of the main crops planted here. The climate is very good. The average temperature in day time is 25 degree Celsius to 30 degree Celsius. It is on the border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The major plantation crops here is Silk Cotton, Mango, Pepper, Coffee, Tea and Cardamom.[citation needed]. Athiyuthu, Anakarai two hilly areas are located to the north of Bodinayakanur.This place is famous for high quality coffee production. The coffee cultivation in these areas were carried out for more than 250 years. Now due to lack of road facility and mobility very few agricultural activities are taken place

Bodinayakkanur assembly constituency is part of THENI(Lok Sabha constituency).

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms. Jayalalitha, was elected for the first time as Member of Legislative Assembly from Bodinayakanur Constituency. This place is border to Kerala. Bodimettu which is some 25km form Bodinayakanur is the border place of  Tamilnadu and Kerala. Sastha Temple was located in Bodimettu.

As of 2001 India census Bodinayakanur had a population of 73,430. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Bodinayakanur has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 78% and female literacy of 64%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. This city is also called as "Cardamom city of India"'.