Welcome to my website to know about Pudukkottai District (India)!
 | Pudukkottai District (Tamil: புதுக்கோட்டை மாவட்டம்) is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Pudukkottai is the district headquarters. It is also known colloquially as Pudhugai (Tamil: புதுகை). Pudukkottai district is bounded on the northeast and east by Thanjavur District, on the southeast by the Palk Strait, on the southwest by Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts, and on the west and northwest by Tiruchirapalli District The district has an area of 4663 km² with a coastline of 42 km. The district lies between 78° 25' and 79° 15' east longitude and between 9° 50' and 10° 40' of the north latitude. |
The Public Office building to the south of the town is wide two-storied structure of exposed brick, pointed neatly with arched gothic windows and spiral staircases. The building, which in the days of the Darbar housed the offices of the Diwan, the Darbar Office and the Chief Court, is now occupied by the office of the revenue divisional officer and the civil courts along with several departments of district administration.
To its front stand a bronze statue of Marthanda-bhairava Tondaiman (மார்தாண்ட பைரவ தொண்டைமான்) and elsewhere in the compound a sculptural symbol to mark the formation of the new district. Contiguous to it is the residence of the collector, set in spacious grounds.
The Government Hospital, the residences of the British officials and the Raja’s College also belong to the same architectural style. These buildings are of red brick uncovered by mortar and belong to a style popularised by Robert Chisholm and vaguely called ‘Indo-Saracenic’. The Raja’s College is an imposing building with a large playground, where under the last Tondaiman, a keen cricketer, many important cricket matches were played. A brother of the last Tondaiman represented the state on a few occasions.
In another part of the town are the offices of the collector housed in the New Palace.
The New palace (Present Collectorate building)
The New Palace, designed and built by the late Nilakanta Sastriar, whose daughter was Tmt. Rukmini Devi Arundale, the founder of Kalakshetra in Chennai. Sastriar was the special Engineer for the Palace construction and later State Engineer. The Palace has a handsome appearance, with its well dressed stonewalls and Moorish cupolas and is surrounded by a large park, with lawns and gardens. There were tennis, cricket and football grounds, and a riding course. The building was first occupied in 1930 and the Raja lived here with his family. A bungalow in the compound was occupied by the Raja’s Aide-de-camp. To the south of the New Palace is a bungalow, once occupied by the Raja’s English tutor.
There is a Government Museum in Tirugokarnam. It was opened in 1910. It consists of different sections like
Arts and Industries-representing local arts and industries with specimens from outside the State for comparison and study
Economic section containing a representative collection of local cereals, fibers etc-
The Natural History section
Ethnology-with a fine selection of arms and armour and of musical instruments
Numismatics-a fairly representative collection of Indian coins
Archaeology-illustrative of the large field of ancient monuments and sculpture for which the State is famous
Paintings
Zoology
Reference library
The museum has developed largely in recent years and is well worth visiting. It is open to the public on all days except Sundays and State holidays.
Aspirations
I am looking for my next big adventure. There are still many places I want to visit and even more to which I want to return. The camera is charged up and my backpack is packed; drop me a line if you know where I should go next.
