Pallikonda
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Pallikonda | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Pallikonda Toll Plaza on NH 46 | |
  Pallikonda Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Coordinates: 12°55′00″N 78°56′00″E / 12.91667°N 78.93333°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Vellore |
| Named after | Ranganathaswamy temple |
| Government | |
| • Type | Pallikonda Selection Grade Town Panchayat |
| Area | |
• Total | 19.2 km2 (7.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 23,067 |
| • Density | 1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Vehicle registration | TN-23 |
| Website | townpanchayat |
Pallikonda is a selection grade town panchayat in Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It connects with 90 villages as well as the town of Gudiyatham.
Pallikonda hosts a large non-sepulchral megalithic assembly with a vast capstone supported by three equally enormous boulders. The presence of the megalith was officially reported by Col. Congreve of the Madras Regiment in 1845 and was included in the book "Rude Stone Monuments" by J. Fergusson in 1872.[2] The capstone projections are positioned so that they point towards north and south. The surface of the capstone is riddled with more than 75 cupules, built in clusters. Cupules of a large cluster form direct sight-lines to the position of the stars Vega and Capella during solstice sun rise and sunset.[3]
The "Uttara Ranganathan" temple beside the Palar river bank has the deity "Anantashayana", the sleeping form of Vishnu. Since the deity lies north of the river Palar, it is termed as "Uttara" (North).[4][5]
Geography
Pallikonda experiences hot and dry weather throughout the year. The temperature ranges from a maximum of 43.5 °C (110.3 °F) to a minimum of 18.4 °C (65.1 °F). Like the rest of the state, April to June are the hottest months and December to January are the coldest. Pallikonda receives 996.7 mm (39.24 in) of rainfall every year. The southwest monsoon, with an onset in June and lasting up to August, brings scanty rainfall. The bulk of the rainfall is received during the northeast monsoon in October, November and December. The humidity ranges from 40%–63% during summer and 67%–86% during winter.[6]
| Climate data for Pallikonda | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 35.3 (95.5) |
39.8 (103.6) |
42.8 (109.0) |
44.4 (111.9) |
45.0 (113.0) |
44.3 (111.7) |
40.9 (105.6) |
39.4 (102.9) |
39.6 (103.3) |
39.2 (102.6) |
35.8 (96.4) |
35.0 (95.0) |
45.0 (113.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.2 (84.6) |
32.0 (89.6) |
35.0 (95.0) |
37.1 (98.8) |
38.5 (101.3) |
36.3 (97.3) |
34.6 (94.3) |
34.0 (93.2) |
34.0 (93.2) |
33.0 (91.4) |
29.5 (85.1) |
28.3 (82.9) |
33.5 (92.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.2 (64.8) |
19.2 (66.6) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.8 (76.6) |
26.3 (79.3) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.1 (77.2) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.1 (75.4) |
22.9 (73.2) |
20.8 (69.4) |
19.2 (66.6) |
22.7 (72.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.2 (50.4) |
12.0 (53.6) |
12.1 (53.8) |
13.8 (56.8) |
18.1 (64.6) |
19.6 (67.3) |
18.8 (65.8) |
18.7 (65.7) |
18.7 (65.7) |
15.6 (60.1) |
12.1 (53.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
10.2 (50.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 9.0 (0.35) |
7.1 (0.28) |
5.9 (0.23) |
21.8 (0.86) |
83.9 (3.30) |
71.0 (2.80) |
117.0 (4.61) |
124.9 (4.92) |
149.6 (5.89) |
176.9 (6.96) |
155.2 (6.11) |
78.6 (3.09) |
1,000.9 (39.41) |
| Average precipitation days | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 9.4 | 7.7 | 3.9 | 56 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department,[7] | |||||||||||||