General Details about Tirunelveli District
Tirunelveli the penultimate southern most
district of Tamil Nadu, is described as a microcosm of the State,
owing to its mosaic and diverse geographical and physical features
such as lofty mountains and low plains, dry Teri structures, rivers
and cascades, seacoast and thick inland forest, sandy soils and
fertile alluvium, a variety of flora, fauna, and protected wild
life.Thenpandiyanadu of the early Pandyas, Mudikonda Cholamandalam
of the Imperial Cholas, Tirunelveli Seemai of the Nayaks, Tinnevelly
district of the East India Company and the British administration
and Tirunelveli district of Independent India became Nellai-Kattabomman
district on its bifurcation in 1986 and subsequently was christened
as Tirunelveli-Kattabomman district. As per the decision of the
Government of Tamil Nadu to call all the districts by the name
of the headquarter town, Tirunelveli-Kattabomman district
is now Tirunelveli district.
Origin of the District
On acquisition
from the Nawab of Arcot in1801, the British named it as Tinnevelly
district though their headquarters was first located in Palayamkottai
the adjacent town, where they had their military headquarters
during their operations against the Palayakars. Two reasons may
be attributed for naming it after Tirunelveli. One is because,
it was and is the chief town of the district and the other is
that it was already called as Tirunelveli Seemai under the Nayaks
and Nawabs. Both Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai grew as the twin
towns of the district.
Geographical Data
The Tirunelveli
District is located in the world map,
between 08o 8’ and 09o 23’ latitude
and 77o 09’
and 77o 54’ longitude. The total geographical area
of the district is 6,823 sq. km.
Climatic Condition
Temperature
In the day time the coastal regions
are cooler than the interior parts by about a degree
in summer and southwest monsoon seasons and warmer by one to two
degrees during the rest of the year.
From about the middle of February, temperature increases
steadily. In May which is usually
the hottest month in
the interior, the
mean daily maximum temperature is 37.1 degree Celsius.
The weather
is quite hot in May and June and the maximum temperature
some times reaches 45 degree Celsius. With the onset of the southwest
monsoon by the end of May or beginning of June, there is some
drop in temperature. By
about the middle of October, both day and night temperatures decrease
appreciably. The
period from November to January is the coolest part of the year
with the mean daily maximum temperature of about 30 to 31 degree
Celsius in the interior parts. The mean daily minimum in
these months is about 22 to 23 degree Celsius in the district
in general.
Humidity
The relative humidity in general, during the
year, is between 55 and 65 percent in the interior parts of the
district, except during the northeast monsoon season, when it
is over 65 per cent. The
coastal parts are comparatively more humid.
Rainfall
Main rainy season is from October to the middle
of January.
During these southwest monsoon season the rainfall is more in
the western parts of the district.
November is generally the rainiest month.
The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours recorded in the district was
371.5 mm at Sivagiri on 29/10/1929.
The average rain fall in the district is 814.8
mm per annum.
