Virudhachalam

Vriddhachalam is a municipality and taluk headquarters in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The ancient name of this town is Thirumudhukundram. As of 2011, the town had a population of 73,585.EtymologyThe name Vriddhachalam is obtained from two Sanskrit words - vriddham which means "old" and achalam which means "mountain". Similarly it has a name as Pazhamalai, pure tamil. As per geography the oldest mountain is under ground at Vriddhachalam. Evidence is NLC India LTD,(formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation),which operates the largest open cast Lignite mines in India.GeographyVriddhachalam is located at. It has an average elevation of45m.DemographicsAccording to the 2011 census, Virudhachalam had a population of 73,585 with a sex ratio of 985 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 7,735 were under the age of six, constituting 4,041 males and 3,694 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 16.76% and.44% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 77.57%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 18209 households. There were a total of 26,153 workers, comprising 609 cultivators, 2,257 main agricultural labourers, 644 in house hold industries, 18,988 other workers, 3,655 marginal workers, 77 marginal cultivators, 409 marginal agricultural labourers, 245 marginal workers in household industries and 2,924 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Virudhachalam had 85.72% Hindus, 10.78% Muslims, 3.23% Christians, 0.06% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.07% Jains, 0.13% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.