Vedaranyam

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**Vedaranyam** () (also known as **Vedaraniam** and **Vedaranniyam**) is a town in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is named after the deity, or god of the Vedaranyeswarar Temple. The known history of Vedaranyam is from the old Chola period in the 800s. It has also been ruled by the Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Vijayanagar Empire and the British Empire. While India was fighting for independence, the freedom for India to be ruled by itself, C. Rajagopalachari, who would later become independent India's first Governor-General, started a salt walk in Vedaranyam that was similar to the Dandi March started by Gandhi in 1930 to fight against the sales tax forced on getting salt from the sea.

Vedaranyam is in the Vedaranyam assembly constituency which selects a person to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. It is a part of the Nagapattinam (Lok Sabha constituency) which selects its Member of Parliament (MP) once in five years. The town is ruled by the Vedaranyam municipality, which rules an area of . The town had a population of 34,266 people in 2011. Vedaranyam was a part of Thanjavur District up to 1991. The town is a part of the Cauvery delta region which is very good for farming. Most people work to raise prawn and finding salt inside the sea. Roads are the most used way of movement to Vedaranyam. The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli Airport and it is  from the town. On 17 November 2018, Vedaranyam was badly hurt by cyclone Gaja.

## Origin of word

Vetharanyam is named after Vedaranyeswarar, the main deity, or god of the Vedaranyeswarar Temple. It is a Hindu temple that was created for Shiva. The place was also known as "Tirumaraikadu", this means that the oldest Hindu writing, or Vedas came from. The Saiva music work _Tevaram_ by Appar and Tirugnanasambandar names the place as "Tirumaraikadu". Hindu writing says the Vedas practiced Shiva in this place and gave the name "Vedaranyam" to the place.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Vedaranyam, Nagapattinam
- **native name**: Thirumaraikadu
- **settlement type**: Town
- **image skyline**: Vedaranyam stubi.jpg
- **image alt**: A pillared memorial within a small walled enclosure
- **image caption**: Salt Sathyagraga Memory Stupa – a memory place of the famous salt walk that took place in Vedaranyam in 1930
- **imagesize**: 175px
- **pushpin map**: India Tamil Nadu
- **pushpin label position**: left
- **pushpin map caption**: Vedaranyam, Tamil Nadu
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: States and territories of India, State
- **subdivision name1**: Tamil Nadu
- **subdivision type2**: List of districts of India, District
- **subdivision name2**: Nagapattinam District, Nagapattinam
- **government type**: Second Grade Municipality
- **governing body**: Vedaranyam Municipality
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 36.26
- **elevation m**: 29
- **population total**: 34266
- **population as of**: 2011
- **population density km2**: auto
- **demographics type1**: Languages
- **demographics1 title1**: Official
- **demographics1 info1**: Tamil language, Tamil
- **timezone1**: Indian Standard Time, IST
- **utc offset1**: +5:30
- **postal code type**: Postal Index Number, PIN
- **postal code**: 614810
- **area code type**: Telephone code
- **area code**: 9143695
- **registration plate**: TN 51 AZ