Vedaranyam

Vedaranyam, Nagapattinam Thirumaraikadu
Town
Salt Sathyagraga Memorial Stupa – a memorial of the historic salt march carried out in Vedaranyam in 1930
Vedaranyam, Nagapattinam Vedaranyam, Tamil Nadu
Coordinates: 10°22′38.6″N 79°50′58.2″E / 10.377389°N 79.849500°E / 10.377389; 79.849500
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Nagapattinam
Government
• Type	Second Grade Municipality
• Body	Vedaranyam Municipality
Area
• Total	36.26 km2 (14.00 sq mi)
Elevation	29 m (95 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	34,266
• Density	950/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	614810
Telephone code	9143695
Vehicle registration	TN 51 AZ

Vedaranyam (Tamil: [ʋeːdaːɾaɳjam]) (also spelt as Vedaraniam and Vedaranniyam) is a town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.^[1] The town is named after the presiding deity of the Vedaranyeswarar Temple. The recorded history of Vedaranyam is known from medieval Chola period of the 9th century and has been ruled, at different times, by the Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Vijayanagar Empire and the British. During India's independence struggle, C. Rajagopalachari, who would later become independent India's first Governor-General, launched a salt march in Vedaranyam parallel to the Dandi March launched by Gandhi in 1930 to protest against the sales tax levied on salt extraction.

Vedaranyam comes under the Vedaranyam assembly constituency which elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years^[2] and it is a part of the Nagapattinam (Lok Sabha constituency) which elects its Member of Parliament (MP) once in five years. The town is administered by the Vedaranyam municipality, which covers an area of 36.26 km² (14.00 sq mi). As of 2011, the town had a population of 34,266. Vedaranyam was a part of Thanjavur District till 1991 and Nagapattinam District from then on. The town is a part of the fertile Cauvery delta region, but salt extraction and prawn cultivation are the major occupations. Roadways are the major mode of transportation to Vedaranyam and the nearest Airport is Tiruchirapalli Airport, located 135 km (84 mi) away from the town. On 17 November 2018, Vedaranyam was devastated by Cyclone Gaja.