Arakkonam

Arakkonam (også stavet "Arkonam") (Tamil: அரக்கோணம்) er en middels stor by i den indiske delstaten Tamil Nadu og har ca 77 000 innbyggere. Byen ligger i Vellore District ca 69 km fra delstatshovedstaden Chennai.

Sammen med Vellore er Arakkonam en av de varmeste byene i India med temperaturer som kan overstige 43 °C gjennom flere dager i den varme sommersesongen.

Historie
Byens navn antas å være avledet fra tamilsk Aaru konam som betyr hexagon – sekskant. Dette ut fra seks viktige steder langs byens seks sider. (Det historiske navnet var arunthamizh kundram).

Nærliggende byer er Kanchipuram, Tiruttani, Tiruvalangadu, Thakkolam, Manavoor og Sholingur Paranji. Arakkonam er et viktig jernbaneknutepunkt i det sydlige India og stasjonen var kjent under navnet Arkonam inntil for få år siden.

Kultur

Språk
Tamilsk er det språket som benyttes av den største andel av befolkningen. Det nest største språket er telugu. Grunnet militært nærvær i området snakkes også en del hindi.

Utdanning

Skoler
 Govt. AdiDravidar welfare higher secondary school (Gutter)
 Govt. AdiDravidar welfare higher secondary school (Jenter)
 Govt. AdiDravidar welfare primary school
 Railway Mixed High School, EM
 Municipality Middle School, Winterpet
 Govt. Boys Hr. Secondary School
 Givt. Girls Hr. Secondary School, Housing Board
 CSI Central Higher Secondary School
 St Andrews Higher Secondary School
 Rajeswari Primary and Nursery School, Griblespet, Arakkonam (grunnlagt i 1981)
 Sacred Heart Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 GoodWill Nursery & Primary School
 Valluvar Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 Sacred Heart Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 Mary Vision Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 SMS Vimal Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 Vivekanada Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School 
 Sotta Subramanyam and Kari Senthil Matriculation Higher Secondary School 
 Bharathidasanar Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 Dr. V. G. N Matriculation Higher Secondary School
 Selvam Matriculation Higher sec. school
 Krishna Matriculation school, Near by Krishna Polytechnic
 Dhanam Matriculation school 
 Govt HIgh School – Kumpinipettai
 Govt High school – Chitteri
 St.Andrew's matriculation school
 Mahathma Gandhiji visited the Govt. Adi Dravidar welfare primary school. The ADW schools serve the poor and backward caste students. 
 CSI Central High Secondary School, in the center of the town, is one of the oldest schools in India, having recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. This school is managed by the CSI Madras Diocese. Nearly 4,000 students study at this school. This school has been serving the nation for more than 109 years.
St. Andrew's High Secondary School, in the center of the town, is one of the oldest schools in India, having recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. This school is managed by the CSI Madras Diocese. Nearly 5,000 students study at this school. This school has been serving the nation for more than 159 years.

College
Krishna College of Engg & Tech, Arakkonam  
Arakkonam Jaya Arts and science
Mercury College of Arts and Science

Industri
Ramco Asbestos Sheet Factory
Tiruvalangadu Sugar Factory
UltraTech Cement Limited., Chitteri
MRF Ltd, Itchiputhur
Sree Saraswathi Spinnig Mills, Itchiputhur
TVS foundries, Sholinghur
FL SMIDTH, Kavanoor.
Fenner India Limited, Kavanoor
Dennis Steel plant
Genius Glass Company Mulvaai
Saatva Logistics Melpakkam
Gold crompton, mosurroad

Byer i Tamil Nadu