Virudunagar is a small town located at a distance of 45 Kms South-West
of Madurai. This place was once referred to as 'Virudupatti'. In the beginning
of 20th century A.D., Virudupatti was one among the six important places
of Ramanathapuram District. Due to the rapid growth in the field of Trade
and Education, it was renamed as 'Virudunagar' on 29th October 1923. The
term 'virudu' means 'Award' in Tamil. Now this town comes under Kamarajar
district.
Majority of the Virudunagarians belong to the 'Nadar' community. The
people of this community migrated to improve their business status and
settled in Virudunagar
during 19th century A.D. Virudunagar exports all kinds of oil to Dubai and
Srilanka and also exports Cotton, chilli, spices, cardomom to USA and
Singapore. Virudunagar
is a famous business centre without markets. The Business people of Virudunagar
play an important role in price fixation of consumer products. Hence there
is a popular saying, "virudunagar produces nothing but controls everything". Virudunagar has got a rich cultural background. Temples in Virudunagar are
very ancient. The four hundred year old Mariamman Temple and the pool inside
the temple are very famous. This temple is said to have been built in the middle
of 18th century A.D. Scenes from the great epic Ramayana are depicted on the
tower of the temple. Kousika Mahanadi river flows in Virudunagar. This river
originates from the Western Ghats. Saint Kousikar is said to have fetched water
from this river for his Yaga. Hence,it was given the name' Kousika Mahanadi'.
This small town has produced several notable personalities like Shri.K.Kamaraj.
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