Gudalur, Theni

Gudalur is a municipal town in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the population of the town was 41,915.GeographyGudalur is located at. It has an average elevation of 1182 metres (3888 ft).DemographicsAccording to 2011 census, Gudalur had a population of 41,915 with a sex-ratio of 1,006 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 3,355 were under the age of six, constituting 1,727 males and 1,628 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 6.61% and.56% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 66.83%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 12001 households. There were a total of 20,860 workers, comprising 799 cultivators, 13,578 main agricultural labourers, 637 in house hold industries, 4,206 other workers, 1,640 marginal workers, 22 marginal cultivators, 1,055 marginal agricultural labourers, 121 marginal workers in household industries and 442 other marginal workers.As per the religious census of 2011, Gudalur (M) had 92.31% Hindus, 5.25% Muslims, 2.34% Christians, 0.01% Sikhs and 0.1% following other religions.HistoryGudalur is very beautiful place located in the western Ghats region. Different race and community people are living with harmony. They are united by doing agriculture activities. So the local festivals are based on the monsoon and paddy harvesting seasons. The majority population are belongs to Vokkaliga Gowders, historically they 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. They still speak Kannada language within their community and well mingled with local population. 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.