Sholavandan

Sholavandan is a panchayat town in Madurai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the left bank of the Vaigai River, sixteen miles north west of Madurai. It is one of 12 "town panchayats" of Madurai district.

The town has been variously referred to as "Sholavandan", "Solaikuruchi" and "Senagapuri". During the Sangam period, the town belonged to Pandya Kingdom. There is a popular local myth, that a war between Chola and the Pandya kingdoms, resulted in the name. The invading Chola king, apparently got a sense of reverence and awe, seeing the intensive agriculture and scenic beauty of the village, irrigated by the Vaigai river; which reminded him of the Cauvery Delta region. He abandoned the war. The town was then named as Cholanuvandan [Cholan+Uvandan]. Uvandan means getting awed, in Tamil. Legend has it that the invading king found the village and its flourishing agriculture cultivation, even more agriculturally prosperous then the historically famous Tanjore villages: and called this town as "Chinna Tanjai" .

Sholavandan lies on the left bank of the river Vaigai. The river turns from its easterly direction, to bend and travel in a north–south direction at Sholavandan before turning south east and flowing towards Madurai city. Sholavandan can be stated to be lying in some sort of a valley between the Nagamalai hills and the Sirumalai. Both these hills can be perhaps described as spurs of the Western Ghats. Sholavandan is also the name of a forest range under Madurai division. The hills have some tracts as reserved forests, which is classified as a dry deciduous forest. The geology of the land around Sholavandan is speculated to be hard rock, represented by the Charnockites and mixed Gneisses. Sholavandan being on the banks of the river Vaigai would presumably have Alluvial soil. The fertile soil around Sholavandan could be due to this land being a part of an alluvial plain.

Sholavandan features prominently in the movie Pattikada Pattanama where Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa played the lead roles. It is also featured in the movie Karimetu Karuvayan starring Vijayakanth. Intensive agriculture of paddy, seems to have shaped the culture of Sholavandan. Retired professor and archaeologist V Vedhachalam, has documented a popular saying that a person who went to Sholavandan would get his daily rice. "The quote became popular as Sholavandan was one of the most fertile places in Madurai, where paddy was cultivated round the clock, three seasons a year."

Sholavandan houses educational institutions like Vivekananda College, Madurai; which is located at Thiruvedagam, a couple of kilometres from Sholavandan on the banks of the river Vaigai. This is an autonomous educational institution of higher learning, affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University. Vivekanandha Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Government Girls Highers Secondary School, Arasan shanmuganar Government boys higher secondary school, MVM Matriculation school and Kamarajar higher secondary school are the local schools. And also many other primary schools were started few years back, A primary school is started two years ago in rayapuram couple of kilometers from sholavandan which is Zee public school(CBSE curriculum).

Elected in the 2016 Tamil Nadu state assembly election, K. Manickam of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam represents Sholavandan in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Sholavandan assembly constituency is part of Theni (Lok Sabha constituency), which is represented by P. Raveendranath Kumar of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

At the 2001 India census, Sholavandan had a population of 21,661. (males 50%, females 50%). Sholavandan had an average literacy rate of 72% (male 79%, female 65%), higher than the national average of 59.5%. 11% of the population were under 6 years of age.

The main occupation of the people is agriculture which benefits from access to the irrigated water of the Vaigai river, through the Peranai regulator in Dindigul District. Sholavandan used to be very famous for its Betel leavess, which were exported to other states in the sub continent. Rice is the major crop grown; the extensive paddy fields, around Sholavandan are a visual evidence. Bananas and coconuts are the other major crops. Thenkarai village, which lies across the river Vaigai from Sholavandan is sometimes called a small "coconut island".