Tirunelveli

This article is about the municipality in Tamil Nadu, India. For its namesake district, see Tirunelveli district.

Thirunelveli is a city in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, India. It is also called Nellai. Thamirabarani River flows through Tirunelveli.

Thirunelveli Nellai
Metro City
Tirunelveli
Clockwise from Top Left : Swami Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli Junction Railway Station, Thiruvalluvar Bridge - Aerial view, Town Arch, Speaker Chellapandian Flyover near Vannarapettai at night, Tirunelveli City Skyline, Sulochana Mudaliar Bridge at night across river Thamirabharani, NH 44 cutting through the Reddiyarpatti Hillock, Thamirabarani River, Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation Building
Nickname(s):  Halwa City and Oxford of South India
Thirunelveli Thirunelveli
Coordinates: 8°43′41.82″N 77°41′43.94″E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
Region	Pandya Nadu
District	Tirunelveli District
Government
• Type	Municipal Corporation
• Body	Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation
• Mayor	"Vacant"
Area
• Metro City	189.9 km2 (73.3 sq mi)
• Rank	5
Elevation	47 m (154 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Metro City	473,637
• Density	4,370/km2 (11,300/sq mi)
• Metro	968,984
Demonym(s)	Tirunelvelian, Tirunelveli Karan
Languages
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	627xxx
Telephone code	91 (0)462
Vehicle registration	TN-72 (Tirunelveli City) , TN-76 (Tenkasi Region) , TN-79 (Sankarankoil Region), TN-72A (Valliyur Region), TN-76A (Ambasamudram Region)
Website	URL|http://www.tirunelvelicorporation.in/

Tirunelveli is famous for a sweet that is generally referred to as 'Alwa' in Tamil. There are tiny villages in and around Tirunelveli like Alwarkurichi, Kalidaikurichi, Rangasamudram, Cheran Mahadevi. Thirunelveli is a city in Tamil Nadu state of southern India. It is the headquarters of Thirunelveli District. Tirunelveli is about 2000 years old and is a town of old tradition. Thirunelveli was the capital of the Pandya Kingdom for some time, next to Madurai.

Thirunelveli is on the banks of the river Thamirabarani; it is on the way to Kanniyakumari from Madurai. It is a twin town - Thirunelveli and Palayangkottai. The town is about 650kilometers away from Chennai.

The temple of Nellaiappar and Gandhimadhi is in the centre of Tirunelveli. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and worshipped as Nellaiappar. Thiru-Nel-Veli (Thiru - Shri, Nel = Paddy, Veli = Fence). It is believed that food grains collected for worship at the temple were protected from the floods by the fence, hence the name Nel Veli came.

The famous Courtallam Waterfalls are in Thirunelveli District. Thirunelveli is famous for Thirunelveli halwa.

Gallery

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  The Agasthiyamalai hills cut off Tirunelveli from the Southwest_monsoon, creating a rainshadow region
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  Podhigai mountain's shadow falling on Poovankurichi lake