Denkanikottai

Until 1654 A.D., Denkanikottai was ruled by Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar of Srirangapattana, Kingdom of Mysore The territory later moved into the hands of Hyder Ali. Later it was part of the struggle between the British and Hyder.

Denkanikottai is located at 12°31'11"N 77°46'48"E. It is situated on the south-western extreme of the Deccan Plateau, East of the Western Ghats. The forest area of Denkanikottai forms the prime elephant habitat in the district. It is part of the Cauvery Elephant Reserve a part of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (450 km²). It has dry but pleasant weather conditions throughout the year. Its elevation is 3,000 feet (879 m) above the sea level. Here the Hill allowance is allowed for the Central Government employees.

The climate in denkanikottai is tropical. In winter, there is much less rainfall in Denkanikotta than in summer. According to Köppen and Geiger, this climate is classified as Aw. The temperature here averages 24.0 °C. Precipitation here averages 877 mm. The driest month is January, with 4 mm of rain. With an average of 202 mm, the most precipitation falls in October. April is the warmest month of the year where the temperature in April averages 27.3 °C to 33.7 °C. December has the lowest average temperature of the year where it is 15 °C to 20.9 °C.

Town landmarks; clockwise: Beterayaswamy Temple,Yarab Dharga,Bettamugilalam,Panchapalli Dam

Aerial view of town (near Beteraya Swamy Temple)

The flora include a variety of timber trees like rosewood, teak, and sandalwood; Hundreds of medicinal herbs; minor forest plants like nelli, kadukkai, cheekai, and pungam; trees like charakkonnai and pungam. The latter is in abundance and its oil is extracted from the seeds, creating a non-polluting biofuel.

Wild animals include elephants, sambar, spotted deer, gaur, wild boar, and panther. The forest area of Denkanikottai Taluk forms the prime elephant habitat with a lot of bamboo and constitutes the Cauvery elephant reserve, which is constituted over an area of about Denkanikotta to Hogenekkal via Anchetty. The bird population includes the paradise flycatcher. Big lakes in Anchetty and Hosur areas also attract large number of migratory birds like painted storks and teals. In addition to these birds and mammals, there are variety of butterflies and giant spiders that are on the endangered list. Kodakkarai shoal forest in Denkanikottai taluk is known for large scale migratory butterflies. During a season, one can observe thousands passing through like a passing cloud.

As of 2015 India census, Denkanikottai had a population of 31,868. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Denkanikottai city is divided into 18 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. The Denkanikottai Town Panchayat has population of 31868 of which 16,325 are males while 15,543 are females as per report released by Census India 2015.[1] Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 2986 which is 12.31% of total population of Denkanikottai (TP). In Denkanikottai Town Panchayat, Female Sex Ratio is of 968 against state average of 996. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Denkanikottai is around 912 compared to Tamil Nadu state average of 943. Literacy rate of Denkanikottai city is 79.83% lower than state average of 80.09%. In Denkanikottai, Male literacy is around 83.05% while female literacy rate is 73.47%.Denkanikottai Town Panchayat has total administration over 5,393 houses to which it supplies basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorize to build roads within Town Panchayat limits and impose taxes on properties coming under its jurisdiction. It was once primarily inhabited by the Irula tribes. The size of this taluk is bigger than Kanyakumari district.

The economy of Denkanikottai is primarily dependent on business. It is also an agrarian economy depending on the agricultural output of surrounding villages in its taluk. A variety of fruits and vegetables are cultivated around Denkanikottai. The land is very fertile and there is significant access to fresh water as well as labor. Crops consist of tomatoes, cabbages, onions, mangoes, capsicum, carrot, cucumber, beans, coriander leaves, turnip and radish. Roses are also grown in large numbers. In July 2019, the government announced the construction of an international flower auction centre with quality control laboratory, cold storage facility, administrative building and an electronic auction hall at a cost of ₹ 202 million. It will deal with flowers cultivated on 3,702 hectares in the district, which are also exported to Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The climatic condition in this area resembles the UK Climate, hence nearby place Thally called as "Little England". Due to its climate and the presence of religious places tourism is also a source of revenue. Tourist sites include the Betrayswamy Temple, along with Yaarab Baba Dargah whose minarets resemble the Haji Ali Dargah of Mumbai, and the Little Flower Church. People from across the state and the neighboring states visit here for pilgrimage.

• BeterayaSwamyTemple
• Gavi Narashima Swamy Temple
• Panchapalli Dam
• Shivan kovil
• Yarab Dargah
• Bettamugilalam Elephant Forest
• Aiyur Reserve Forest
• Hogenakkal Water Falls(60 km)
• Melagiri Hills
• Little Flower Church
• Cauvery Elephant Reserve