Gobichettipalaiyam

Gobichettipalayam is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest city and urban agglomeration in Erode district and is the administrative headquarters of Gobichettipalayam taluka. It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, 400km southwest of the state capital Chennai and 80km east of Coimbatore. Agriculture and textile industries contribute majorly to the economy of the town. The town is situated at above sea level, surrounded by Western Ghats.The town is a part of Gobichettipalayam constituency and elects its member of legislative assembly every five years, and a part of the Tirupur constituency that elects its member of parliament. The town is administered by a municipality established in 1949 and has a population of 60,279 as of 2011. It is known as "Mini Kollywood" because of the film shooting that takes place here and many films in Tamil and other languages have been shot here. LHistoryA major part of present Gobichettipalayam was previously known as "Veerapandi Gramam", and documents and records still use that name. The town was part of the country ruled by king Vēl Pāri, who is regarded as one of the Kadai ēzhu vallal (the last seven great patrons). Pariyur, a temple town near Gobichettipalayam was named after him. The land was later ruled by the Cheras and Vijayanagar empire with the town deriving its name after Gobi Chetti, a Vijayanagara Polygar. It was captured by Tipu Sultan and after Tipu's defeat, British annexed it to their territory.