Lalgudi is a town located around 20 km from Tiruchirapalli on NH-227 Tiruchirapalli-Chidambaram. Lalgudi lies close to the Coleroon River. Ayyan Vaikal is the river passing through Lalgudi.
Local government
Lalgudi assembly constituency is one of the original constituencies in the state of Tamil Nadu formerly known as madras state.. From the year of 2009 Lalgudi assembly constituency is part of Perambalur.
Education
The town of Lalgudi heads the Educational District of Lalgudi which comprises the taluks of Lalgudi and Manachanallur. The government-operated Lalgudi Boys Higher Secondary School and the Management-operated Girls Higher Secondary School are major schools at which most of the rural boys and girls study. Other schools include Panchayat Union Middle School, St. Anne's Primary Convent, St. Anne's Girls High school, Government Elementary Schools near Omakulam, Lions Mat Higher Secondary School, Sri Vivekananda Matriculation School for the past 28 years. Government Boys Higher Secondary School is more than 100 years old and one of the best Govt. Schools in the state. A majority of students pursue higher education only at Tiruchirapalli due to lack of standard institutions in Lalgudi. "Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute" affiliated with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is functioning in Kumulur village in an area of 300 acres 4 km near to Lalgudi offering B.Tech. Agricultural Engineering. There is also a polytechnic college in Lalgudi - Mandhurai, many of the students travel to Trichy city every day by train to pursue their college education. A Government Arts & Science college was opened in Paramasivapuram fourth cross and now it's shifted to Kumulur village.
Demographics
Indiacensus, Lalgudi had a population of 21,204. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Lalgudi has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 86%, and female literacy is 76%. In Lalgudi, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Landmarks
Lalgudi is famous for its temples. The Shiva Temple is one of the early Chola period temples, and the Tamil Appar is said to have visited this temple. The statue of Lingam, the main god of the temple, is quite different from other Lingams: It has a vertical wedge-like cut on the top which is red in colour. The statue is of rock, as is this redness on the head of Lingam. There is a mythological story behind the redness of this Lingam. This temple's was built in the year 810 AD comparatively older than Thanjavur Big temple. There is also a temple for Mother Parvathi in the same temple. Punjai sangenthi is the nearest village to Lalgudi. The famous Ayyanar temple there was built during the Chola period. There is a Shiva Temple 4 km from Lalgudi, at a village named Senni Vaikkal. The temple's date of construction is unknown. The main deity is Meenakshi Sundareswarar. The Main deity is a huge Lingam made of Maragatham with 'Karupacchai' color. The lingam is really huge and the vibration in the temple is soul stirring. the sthala varaluru states Kumbera's sons came down to earth and they constructed the temple here after the vilva they offered to Lord turned into Gold. The temple is quite old and cannot be visited easily as it is quite remote and not popularly known. Unfortunately this ancient and beautiful temple is in ruins and badly needs funding for restoration. All the good work is carried out by the Koil gurukkal who worshipped the lord from age 9, after taking the baton from his father, who was the earlier gurukkal. The Gurukkal, with funding made by good samaritans is doing an astounding job to do three times pooja to the Lord and keep the temple activities going. however the temple still needs Kumbabhishekam done as the last kumbabhishekam was performed 50 years ago.
Poet, translator, essayist, dramatist, editor M. Gopala Krishna Iyer is from Lalgudi.
Pediatric critical care physician and an expert in Pediatric Neurocritical care has numerous publications, awards and honors to his credit. He trained from , and The Hospital for Sick Children. He hails from Angarai village in Lalgudi.
Lalgudi N Ilayaraja art director of Vishwaroopam and Kaththi, who also won national award
Famous rural
is the village near Lalgudi which heads the revenue village of Neikuppai south. The village of Dharmanathapuram was surrounded by fertile wet lands. This village was established during early British period by the landlord Savarimuthu. St. Paul of Thebes Church, Dharmanathapuram is the Roman Catholic shrine present in this evergreen village. Poovalur is the most famous village about 2.5 km only from Lalgudi town. There are lot of temples, the most important one is the Thirumoolanatha Swamy Alayam. Periyaverseeli is another village near Lalgudi which is surrounded by the greenish fertile land. Famous "our lady of refugee" Adaikala Madha church which belongs to Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumbakonam, the famous car festival of the church being celebrated every year on the 3rd Sunday after the Easter was over, the village can be viewed in google maps by the term Periyaverseeli, Mayilarangam, Tamil Nadu. The church was built in the year 1932 by the priest singarayar. The church stand still as the symbol of faith today also. Mayilarangam is also known for its Mayuranathar Swami Siva temple from which the village derives its name.
