Sankagiri


Sankagiri is located at the western end of Salem dist. In English it is called as Sankari. It is well connected by bus routes with adjoining urban centres namely Salem, Erode, Bhavani, Omalur, Tiruchengode and Edappadi.
Sankagiri is known for Sankagiri fort, lorries and lorry building industries. It is the headquarters of Sankagiri revenue district comprising Edappadi. It is also headquarters of Sankagiri educational district.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Sankagiri had a population of 29,467. Male constitute 52% of the population and female 48%. Sankari has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: Male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 60%. In Sankari, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. 40% percent of the people are engaged in agriculture, the remaining are lorry proprietors. Around Sankari many Schools are there. Now the education and the literacy rate of the people around is increasing rapidly.

Early History and Etymology

In sangam age Sankagiri was comes under Mazhanadu. It was also called as Kundrathur. Sankagiri Fort was built in the 15th century by the Vijayanagar empire. It was later under the control of Dheeran Chinnamalai and Tippu Sultan before the British annexed it to their territory. Dheeran Chinnamalai was hanged by the British at Sankagiri Fort on 31 July 1805. The fort later served as a British tax storage facility for Kongu Nadu and the town developed around it. Sankagiri, pronounced as San-ka-giri in Tamil. Sangu means conch and Giri means hill.

Economy

The economy of the town was predominantly dependent on agriculture. Over the past decade, truck, cement and steel industries have developed around the town contributing to the economy. There is a cement plant of the renowned India Cements Limited which has a production capacity of 2000T/day and of late lorry industry in sankagiri is fast picking up with trichengode and namakkal, places renowned for truck industry in the country.

Places of interest

Sankagiri railway station is also called as Sankari durg, which is a B grade station in salem division. It has train services to/from:
The nearest railway junctions are Erode and Salem. It is not so crowdy because it is located away from the town, meanwhile peoples around Sankagiri requested southern railways through salem division for more trains to halt here. There are 14 trains halt here daily. Among 14, three are express trains. They are:
  1. Yercaud express,
  2. West coast express,
  3. KSR Bengaluru intercity express.

    Politics

Sankari assembly constituency is a part of Namakkal.