Endiyur

Endiyur has the following areas or streets

• Road Street.
• Anna Statue Street.
• Bajanai Koil Street
• Pathaikarai Street
• Kulanthankarai Street
• Nethuntheuru Street
• Aachari Street
• Puthu Theru Street
• Pillayar Koil Street
• Mariyamman Koil Street

Endiyur's climate is moderate, very similar to other parts of South India or Tamil Nadu. Summer is from April to August. Average temperature of summer is around 35 to 40 degree Celsius. Endiyur gets rainfall through North East Monsoon in the months of October, November and December. Average rainfall is around 15–20 cm in the monsoon season. The village does not get flooded with rainfall.[4]

Some of the interesting tourist places near Endiyur are

• Vittalapuram Murugan Temple, Vittalapuram
• Perumukkal Hills
• Gingee Fort
• Melmaruvathur Adiparasakthi Temple
• Puducherry, Auroville beaches
• Sathanur Dam
• Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar Temple[5]

Both public and private buses are available between Tindivanam to other villages in State Highways SH-134 which pass through Endiyur.

Following are some buses operated by Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC (VPM DIV I)) which pass through Endiyur.

Following are the buses operated by private players:

• VMS Bus service
• Balaji Services
• TKP Motor services
• Manakula Vinayagar (NBC)
• RRS
• KVN
• MPR
• MRS
• Lakshmi Guruswamy

Endiyur educates the inhabitants and surrounding villagers with its own Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS). This school has class from 1st standard to 12th standard (HSC). Mode of education in the school is only Tamil. Mode of education through English is available at different private schools in Tindivanam nearby. Some of the renowned private schools at which students from Endiyur study are

• St Ann's Higher Secondary School, Tindivanam[6]
• St Philomena's Higher Secondary School, Tindivanam[7]
• St Joseph of Cluny Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Erayanur
• Tagore Senior Secondary School, Tindivanam[8]
• Montfort Higher Secondary School, Tindivanam

Endiyur does not have any colleges. For higher education, students need to move away from the village. Arts college, Ayyanthoppu is available in nearby town Tindivanam. Many engineering colleges and polytechnic diploma colleges are available nearby around a distance of 50 kilometers in Maruvathur, Mailam, Puducherry to which students travel daily through school buses, buses or own vehicles.

University College of Engineering Tindivanam is one of the well renowned colleges in the area which is a constituent college of Anna University, Chennai for Engineering studies.

Other colleges near Endiyur are,

• Mailam Engineering College, Tindivanam[9]
• Indira Gandhi Jayanthi Women's College, Tindivanam[10]
• Thiru Govindasamy Government Arts College for Men, Tindivanam[11]
• Dr. Rajabather Tagore Women Teachers Training College, Tindivanam[12]
• PV polytechnic College, Tindivanam[13]
• Saraswathy College of Engineering and Technology, Tindivanam[14]
• Swamy Abedhanandha Polytechnic College-SAPTC, Vandavasi[15]

List of temples in Endiyur are,

• Draupadi Amman Temple
• Mariyamman Temple
• Kodhai Amman Temple
• Vinayagar Temple
• Kali Temple
• Rama Temple
• Anjeneyar Temple
• Ayyanar Temple
• Poovadakari Temple

Famous temples such as Vittalapuram Murugan temple, Maruvathur Adiparasakthi temple and Mailam Murugan temple are near to the village at a distance of less than 50 kilometers

Endiyur is very famous for its Draupadi Amman temple festival which is celebrated every year in the month of May or June i.e. in Tamil month Panguni. Draupadi Amman temple is located at the center of the village. During 7 to 10 days of festival in summer, separate events or chapters of Mahabharata are played daily in the form of Therukoothu (Draupadi Cult). Also, decorated god statues are taken around the village during every night in chariots. At the end of festival, Theemidhi Thiruvizha (fire stamping) is celebrated where people walk on fire which is spread in front of the temple holding some requests (Tamil: Prarthanai) to the Goddess Draupadi Amman. Endiyur celebrates Pongal also, in a grand manner for 4 days in the month of January i.e. in Tamil month Thai (start of Thai). During Pongal festival season, for the month of whole Margazhi, people draw big rangolis in front of their houses (Tamil: Vasal). During Pongal days, they draw color rangolis, make Pongal dish in big pots (fire stove is made from ground) and feed cows with Pongal made. At the 3rd day of Pongal festival-maatu pongal evening, they collect all cows in the village at the center ground (Tamil: Mandhaveli), in front of the temple and do pooja for the cows. Also inhabitants ride their vehicles such as tractor, bikes, cars, auto rickshaws etc., around the village for three rounds with all decorations in their vehicles. Colored Sticks (Tamil: Vanna Kol) with balloons are carried by children who are travelling in those vehicles. On 4th and final day of Pongal which is called Kari Naal, villagers travel to nearby temples or tourist places with the vehicles decorated. Jallikattu is not practiced in Endiyur.

The inhabitants of the village are Hindus and they belong to Vanniyar (Vanniya Goundar) community. Few families of Acharya community and only one Muslim family live in the village. There is no population of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) in the village.[16]

Many inhabitants of Endiyur are farmers. They own lands and they do farming on their own. They cultivate paddy, sugarcane, groundnuts, urad dhall, water melon, chilly, sesame seeds etc., The village has good water facilities through lake water irrigation (from chineri and periyeri) and well water irrigation systems. Fertilizer and pesticides are obtained from cooperative society and also from shops in Tindivanam. Agricultural equipment such as paddy planting machine, harvesting machines etc., are available with few farmers in the village who lend those equipment on rental basis to other farmers also. Tractors are available with many farmers in the village. Also, few farmers take tractors on rental basis from other farmers when they need them. Many inhabitants of the village from recent generation are well educated (mostly engineering studies) and they are working at companies located in Chennai or surroundings. Few of the inhabitants from the village are settled in other states of India or outside India also.

People speak Tamil and follow Tamil culture in Endiyur. Rice is the staple food of the village, like other Tamil Regions. Men wear shirt and dhoti as traditional dress and women wear saree as traditional dress. Endiyur has a marriage hall named Saraswathi Mahal. Marriages are conducted in marriage halls in the village or marriage halls in Tindivanam.

Some of the important family functions celebrated by families of Endiyur are,

• Kathani Vizha (Ear Pinching Function), which is done at the age of 2 to 4, in the temple of family God (Tamil: Kulathevaivam)
• Manjal Neeratu Vizha (Turmeric Bathing Ceremony) after puberty of a girl at the age of 12 to 16[17]
• Parisam Podudhal (Engagement) before Marriage
• Kalyanam (Marriage)[18]
• Valaikaapu (Fertility Function) done before first child birth at 7 to 8 months of pregnancy

The Central Bank of India maintains a branch office in Endiyur.[19]

Drinking water is distributed to all houses in the village through drinking water taps. A drinking water treatment plant is available at the village which was installed by Palmyra NGO in 2012. Taps are located at every 50 to 100 meters and one drinking water tap is shared between 3 and 5 families. Water is provided every morning from 7 to 9 a.m. People collect water in vessels and use them for whole day. Drinking water for the village is collected from selected drinking water wells from the village and it is stored in water tank located in the middle of the village. Houses in the village have their own wells or bore wells to use water for other purposes such as bathing and toilet.

Endiyur has a government primary hospital. The hospital is open in the day times, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Polio drops, Malaria Vaccine, Cholera Vaccine etc., are provided to inhabitants from the village hospital. Pregnant women in the village are checked regularly in the village hospital. For urgent treatments, people reach out to hospitals in Tindivanam. Tindivanam has a government hospital and also many private hospitals such as Senthil Clinic, Dr.Ramadoss Clinic etc.,

• Endiyur comes under Brahmadesam Police Station which is administrated by Police Sub-Inspector and it is located at a distance of 11 kilometers from Endiyur.
• Endiyur has a Sub Post Office which is coming under Tindivanam Head Post Office. Postal Code of Endiyur is 604001.
• Endiyur has a village administration office which is managed by a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) generally known as Maniyakar in Tamil. Birth certificate, death certificate, income proof, address proof, ration cards, land measurement proof etc., are obtained from the VAO.
• Endiyur has a veterinary hospital where cows and other cattle from the village are treated by a veterinary doctor
• Loan for agricultural equipment such as tractors are obtained from Land Development bank (LD Bank), Marakkanam.
• Endiyur has a cemetery grave yard outside the village where dead bodies of the villagers are burnt or buried

Palmyra is a facilitating NGO located in Aurobrindavan, Auroville. It helps Endiyur with various projects such as canal construction from lakes to lands, toilet construction for houses in the village, formation of self-help groups, maintenance of lakes in the village for irrigation etc., Palmyra has finished a project of construction toilet and bathroom facilities in every house in the village in 2013 and around 250 people got sanitation facilities as a result of this project.[21] Palmyra has also worked on drinking water treatment plant and installed a water treatment plant in the village in the year 2012.[22]

Women in Endiyur have formed self-help groups (Tamil: Mahalir Sangam) from the year 2000 and they run those groups continuously. These groups help women in the village with empowerment. They collect small savings every month and lend the same money as loan to the needy in the group itself. Also these self-help groups deposit their savings in bank and get interest for their savings. Government provides subsidies for the self-help groups to get loans for special occasions[23]

Endiyur Boys (Tamil: எண்டியூர் பாய்ஸ்) Group has educated youngsters from Endiyur who are working towards improvement of their village by sharing knowledge with other fellow villagers.. Many members of the group are away from the village as they are working in Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. But still the group is active through online social networks such as whatsapp and Facebook. This group discusses on current affairs of their village and improvement steps to be taken through whatsapp group chats and Facebook