CHAPTER - III A PROFILE OF TIRUCHIRAPPALLI THE AREA OF STUDY

III.1. INTRODUCTION The district of Tiruchirappalli, was formerly called by the British as Trichinopoly and is commonly known as Tiruchi. It is the fourth largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu after Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore with an estimated population of 1 1,39,534 (as of 2009) exclusively in the city zone . It is situated in the centre of the state, on the banks of river Cauvery. Tiruchirappalli may well be termed as one of the prominent educational and fast developing industrial centres of Tamil Nadu. Tiruchi is a Municipal Corporation and the administrative

headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The most famous landmark of Trichy is the Rockfort temple which is perched on a huge rocky out crop, 83 metres in height, from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Tiruchirapalli. This smooth crop was first hewn by the Pallavas but it was the Nayaks of Madurai who later built the Rock fort temple , which was also used as their military fort. Hence Trichy is also called as Rock City. Around the rock temple is a busy commercial region , mainly known for its textiles, several departmental stores and bazaars holding imported goods. Trichy city also encompasses Srirangam, a

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Vaishnavite temple which is one of the biggest functioning Hindu temples in the world. There are a few forts located within the city and the prominent among them are Golden Rock, Rock Fort, Kajamalai and one in Thiruverumbur. III.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Woraiyur , a part of present day Tiruchirappalli, was the capital city of Cholas from 300 B.C. onwards. This is supported

by archaeological evidences and ancient literatures 1. The oldest human-built dam, Kallanai, about 10 miles from Woraiyur, was built by Karikala Cholan across the river Cauvery. Later, Woraiyur along with the present day Tiruchirappalli areas came under ascended the control of Mahendra and its neighboring Varma Pallava I, who

the throne

in A.D. 590. It was in A.D. 880,

Aditya Chola brought a downfall to the Pallava dynasty and their region also became a part of Greater Cholas. In A.D. 1225 the area was occupied by the Hoysulas. Afterwards, it came under the rule

of later Pandyas till the advent of Mughal Rule. The short span of Mughal rule was put to an end by the Vijayanagar rulers. The

Nayaks, the Governors of Vijayanagar empire, ruled this area till A.D. 1736. It was Viswanatha Nayaka who built the present day Teppakulam and the Fort. After the fall of the Nayaks dynasty, the the Muslims ruled this region French or the English again with the aid of either English control.

armies. Finally the

brought
1

Tiruchirappalli

and other areas under their

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Soon after the area was ceded to East India Comp any as per the agreement at the eve of the Kanatic war, Tiruchirappalli di strict was formed under the Collectorship of Mr. John (Junior) Wallace in 1801. The district was then under the hegemony of British for

about 150 years till the independence of India. III.3 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE North Latitude East Longitude Between Between 10 77 - 45' to to 11 - 30' 78 - 50' 2

The topology of Trichy is flat. It lies at an altitude of 78 m above sea level. The river Kaveri (also called Cauvery) and the river Coleroon (also called Kollidam) flows through Trichy, the latter forms the northern boundary of the city. There are a few reserve forests along the river Cauvery, located at the west and the north -west of the city. The southern and the south-western part of the district are dotted by several hills which are thought to be an offset of the western ghats. Eastern ghats also pass through the district. The soil here is considered to be very fertile. As two rivers flow through the city, the northern part of the city is filled with greeneries rathe r than other areas of the city. Tiruchi has a moderately dry climate, with humidity slightly above normal. The city experiences mild winters and humid
2

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summers. The monsoon rains in this part of the country over the past few years have become unpredictable, with the rainy season starting between mid-October and early-November and extending until early or mid-January. III.4 DEMOGRAPHY Tiruchirappalli is a centrally located inland district, without any sea-coastline. This district has an area of 11,095 square kilometers, bounded on the north by Namakkal district, to the east by Thanjavur district, to the south by Sivaganga and Madurai districts and to the west by Karur district 3. III.5 POPULATION According to 2001 census, the population of T iruchirappalli district was 41.14 lakhs, ranked fourth in the state, with a density of 371 per square kilometers. 73 .27 percent of the total population live in rural areas whereas only 26.73 percent live in urban area, as it is clear from the following table:

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Table III.1 Population in Tiruchirappali district by residence and gender. No. of Persons Total Rural Urban 4114323 3014698 1099625 Male 2074415 1515984 558431 Female 2039908 1498714 541194

Source: Tiruchirappalli Corporation

Chart III.1 Population in Tiruchirappali district by residence and gender. 1600000

1515984

1498714

1400000

1200000

1000000

Population

800000

Rural Urban 558431

600000

541194

400000

200000

0 Male Gender Female

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Table III.2 Literates in Tiruchirappalli district by residence and gender No. of Persons Total Rural Urban 2211211 1426513 784698 Male 1337304 902034 435270 Female 873907 524579 349328

Source: Tiruchirappalli Corporation As per the above table, out of the rural population of 3014698, only 1426513 are literates showing the literacy level at 47 percent. But amongst urban population, lit eracy level is quite high at 71 percent. The percentage of literacy to the total population is 54.

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Chart III.2 Literates in Tiruchirappalli district by residence and gender 1000000 902034 900000

800000

700000

No. of persons

600000 524579 500000 435270 400000 349328 Rural Urban

300000

200000

100000

0 Male Gender Female

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III.6 INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND ECONOMY Trichy is a major engineering hub and fabrication centre. This district has seen considerable advancement in modern

industrialization, particularly, after the advent of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), with an array of ancillary units around it. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is a leading Power Plant manufacturer in the world 4. At Tiruchirapalli, the High Pressure Boiler Plant of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited was setup in 1963. Now, it is one of the foremost manufacturing facilities within BHEL and it has 3 major plants namely, High Pressure Boiler Plant, Seamless Steel Tube Plant and Boiler Auxiliaries Plant. A labour force of 1,20,000 is absorbed in the industrial belt around Trichy Town. It is a highly profitable public sector undertaking, which along with its ancillary industries, contribute nearly 6000 crores of rupees per annum. BHEL is the first state -owned company to acquire ISO 9000 certification during 1993, for all its operations. Further it has been accredited to ISO 14001 Standard. There are also many BHEL groomed small to medium industries in the national and the international market such as Cethar vessels, Vessons Energy systems, Anand Engineeering, GB industries and Adela Software and Services Private limited.

Live registrar of Tiruchirappalli Municipal Corporation Limited.

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The Ordinance Factory (HAPP and small Arms Project), Golden Rock Locomotive Workshop, Sugar mills, Paper mills and Dalmia cements etc., have enabled Tiruchirappalli district to find a place in the industrial map of the country. Recently, the government has taken initiatives for setting up Information Technology Park in the city which would shoot up the economy of the city. More ove r the city has many reputed MNC s and still many more to pop up. This district does not lag behind in respect of banking facilities. With 516 branches of commercial banks and 87 branches of co-operative banks spread throughout the district, there is a steady flow of credit, to and from the industrial sectors. III.7 DEPARTMENTAL STORES IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI CITY The Tiruchirappalli city being a big educational center, a center of business transaction and a developing center of focus for Information Technology companies, is well knitted with the transport facilities. Comprising of customers of varied status, in the recent years the retail marketing has gained mome ntum in

Tiruchirappalli city, meet ing the needs of the customers under one roof. As retailing is the final stage in the distribution process (from manufacturers to consumers), the retailer plays an intermediary rol e

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as he collects an assortment of goods and services from various sources and offers them to the customers. With the growing needs and expectations, the retailer is in the threshold of providing a worldclass comfortable shopping and work environment for

customers and employees respectively. The departmental stores in Tiruchirappalli city have become a life style center s often with products that speak to shoppers of various demography and age group. The emergence of new departmental stores meet s out the varied demands of the customers under a singl e roof in

Tiruchirapalli city. In recent years there is a tremendous growth in the

departmental stores and the buying habits of the customers in Tiruchirappalli city. According to the statistics provided by the Sales tax office, Tiruchirappalli city has be en divided into 10 divisions. The following table reflects the statistics of the study area and the sample distribution used in the study.

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Table III.3 Departmental stores in Tiruchirappalli City No. of No.of Division departmental stores departmental Sample stores selected (Universe of the study) Woraiyur Palakarai 1 Palakarai 2 Gandhi Market Myllam market 1 Myllam market 2 Singarathope Rock Fort Srirangam Thiruverumbur Total 238 188 192 170 186 132 196 152 181 176 1911 21 19 21 20 20 17 21 21 19 19 198 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 20

The table shows the ten divisions of Tiru chirappalli city and the total number of departmental stores in each division. The departmental stores with large plinth area, serving large number of customers by providing suffici ent product mix were selected for the present study. Out of 1911 departmental stores only 198 stores fall

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within the purview of the definition of sample taken in the study. Thus two shops from each division were taken as the source to collect the primary data. III.8 TIRUCHIRAPPALLI CITY MAP

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