Tirunelveli

**Thirunelveli** is a city in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, India. It is also called **Nellai**. Thamirabarani River flows through Tirunelveli.

Tirunelveli is famous for a sweet that is generally referred to as 'Alwa' in Tamil. There are tiny villages in and around Tirunelveli like Alwarkurichi, Kalidaikurichi, Rangasamudram, Cheran Mahadevi.
Thirunelveli is a city in Tamil Nadu state of southern India. It is the headquarters of Thirunelveli District. Tirunelveli is about 2000 years old and is a town of old tradition. Thirunelveli was the capital of the Pandya Kingdom for some time, next to Madurai.

Thirunelveli is on the banks of the river Thamirabarani; it is on the way to Kanniyakumari from Madurai. It is a twin town - Thirunelveli and Palayangkottai. The town is about 650kilometers away from Chennai.

The temple of Nellaiappar and Gandhimadhi is in the centre of Tirunelveli. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and worshipped as Nellaiappar. Thiru-Nel-Veli (Thiru - Shri, Nel = Paddy, Veli = Fence). It is believed that food grains collected for worship at the temple were protected from the floods by the fence, hence the name Nel Veli came.

The famous Courtallam Waterfalls are in Thirunelveli District. Thirunelveli is famous for Thirunelveli halwa.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Thirunelveli
- **official name**: Tirunelveli
- **other name**: Nellai
- **settlement type**: Metro City
- **image skyline**: Tirunelveli_city.jpg
- **image alt**: image showing temple tower
- **image caption**: Clockwise from Top Left : Nellaiappar Temple, Swami Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli Junction railway station, Tirunelveli Junction Railway Station, Thiruvalluvar Bridge - Aerial view, Town Arch, Speaker Chellapandian Flyover near Vannarapettai at night, Tirunelveli City Skyline, Sulochana Mudaliar Bridge at night across river Thamirabharani, National Highway 44 (India), NH 44 cutting through the Reddiyarpatti Hillock, Thamirabarani River, Tirunelveli Municipal Corporation, Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation Building
- **nickname**: Halwa City and Oxford of South India
- **pushpin map**: India Tamil Nadu#India
- **pushpin label position**: right
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision type1**: States and territories of India, State
- **subdivision name1**: Tamil Nadu
- **subdivision type2**: List of regions of India, Region
- **subdivision name2**: Pandya Nadu
- **subdivision type3**: List of districts of India, District
- **subdivision name3**: Tirunelveli District
- **government type**: Municipal Corporation
- **governing body**: Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: "Vacant"
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 189.9
- **area rank**: 5
- **elevation m**: 47
- **population total**: 473637
- **population as of**: 2011
- **population density km2**: 4370
- **population metro**: 968984
- **population demonym**: Tirunelvelian, Tirunelveli Karan
- **demographics type1**: Languages
- **demographics1 title1**: Official
- **timezone1**: Indian Standard Time, IST
- **utc offset1**: +5:30
- **postal code type**: Postal Index Number, PIN
- **postal code**: 627xxx
- **area code**: Telephone numbers in India#Fixed (landline) numbers, 91 (0)462
- **area code type**: Telephone code
- **registration plate**: TN-72 (Tirunelveli City) , TN-76 (Tenkasi Region) , TN-79 (Sankarankoil Region), TN-72A (Valliyur Region), TN-76A (Ambasamudram Region)
- **website**: URLhttp://www.tirunelvelicorporation.in/