Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,823, the economy of the town and Sengottai Taluk revolves around the cultivation of rice,coconut,Mango,clove and pepper. Sengottai is well known in Tamil Nadu as a major market of Dosa kal (commonly known as Dosa tawa). This town has lot of Black smith shops. [1]
History
Sengottai was originally part of the Travancore Kingdom. In December 1851, the boundary between Tirunelveli and Travancore on the Sengottai side was clearly defined as proposed by General Cullen as early as 1846, and finally sanctioned by the Madras Government. Sengottai Municipality was constituted in 1921. In 1949, Sengottai was part of the newly formed state of Travancore-Cochin. The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 came into effect from 1 November 1956, and consequently, the Tamil-speaking area of Sengottai taluk of Quilon district were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Tirunelveli district of Madras State.[2] Sengottai was reclassified from a Grade III municipality to a Grade II municipality as per G.O. No.85 dated 22 May 1998.[3]
According to 2011 census, Sengottai had a population of 26,823 with a sex-ratio of 1,035 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[4] A total of 2,642 were under the age of six, constituting 1,327 males and 1,315 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.06% and 1.21% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 78.09%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[4] The town had a total of 7146 households. There were a total of 10,736 workers, comprising 114 cultivators, 674 main agricultural labourers, 1,923 in household industries, 7,435 other workers, 590 marginal workers, 14 marginal cultivators, 60 marginal agricultural labourers, 105 marginal workers in household industries and 411 other marginal workers.[5]
As per the religious census of 2011, Shenkottai had 76.98% Hindus, 21.19% Muslims, 1.77% Christians and 0.06% following other religions.[6]
The National Highway NH-744 from Madurai to Kollam passes through the town. State highway SH-39 (Sengottai-Courtallam-Ambasamudram-Tirunelveli) links the major parts of the extreme south of Tamil Nadu, including Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari. The road also offers good freight connectivity to Tamil Nadu's second largest seaport, Tuticorin and Cochin Port.
The Sengottai railway station is in the Southern Railways zone/Madurai division of Indian Railways and falls on the Virudhunagar to Kollam line. The station code is SCT.
Trains Arr/Dep From Sengottai
Train No/Name
Origin
Destination
Sengottai Arr Time
Sengottai Dep time
Service
16791/TN - PGT Palaruvi Exp
Tuticorin
Palakkad Jn
12:40am
12:45am
Daily
16792/PGT - TN Palaruvi EXP
Palakkad Jn
Tuticorin
02:40am
02:45am
Daily
16101/MS-QLN QUILON MAIL
Chennai Egmore
Kollam Jn
03:45am
03:50am
Daily
16362/VLNK-ERS BI-WEEKLY EXP(SUN,TUE)
Vellankanni
Ernakulam Jn
04:15am
04:20am
MON,WED
16846/SCT- Erode Jn UR EXP
Sengottai
Erode Jn
--
05:00am
Daily
06682/SCT-TEN UR Exp
Sengottai
Tirunelveli Jn
--
06:40am
Daily
16848/SCT-MV UR EXP
Sengottai
Mayiladuthurai Jn
--
07:00am
Daily
12661/MS-SCT Podhigai SF Exp
Chennai Egmore
Sengottai
08:15am
--
Daily
20681 /MS-SCT SILAMBU SF EXP(W,F,SA)
Chennai Egmore
Sengottai
08:45am
--
THU,SA,SUN
06685/TEN-SCT UR Exp
Tirunelveli Jn
Sengottai
09:05am
--
Daily
06684/SCT-TEN UR Exp
Sengottai
Tirunelveli Jn
--
10:05am
Daily
06504/Madurai - Sengottai Express Special (UR)
Madurai Jn
Sengottai
--
10:35am
Daily
20683/TBM-SCT Tri-Wkly SF Exp (Via:Tirunelveli Jn)
Tambaram
Sengottai
10:50am
--
SUN,TUE,THU(From Tambaram)
06681/TEN-SCT UR Exp
Tirunelveli Jn
Sengottai
11:50am
--
Daily
06659/SCT-QLN UR Exp
Sengottai
Kollam Jn
--
12:00pm
Daily
06664/SCT-MDU UR Express
Sengottai
Madurai Jn
--
12:10pm
Daily
06660/Kollam Jn - Sengottai UR Exp
Kollam Jn
Sengottai
02:40pm
--
Daily
06658/SCT-TEN UR Exp
Sengottai
Tirunelveli Jn
--
02:55Pm
Daily
16102/QLN-MS QUILON Mail
Kollam Jn
Chennai Egmore
03:00pm
03:05pm
Daily
16327/Madurai - Guruvayur EXP
Madurai Jn
Guruvayur
03:20Pm
03:25Pm
Daily
16328/Guruvayur - Madurai Express
Guruvayur
Madurai Jn
03:40Pm
03:45pm
Daily
06687/TEN-SCT UR Exp
Tirunelveli Jn
Sengottai
04:10pm
--
Daily
20684/SCT-TBM Tri-Wkly SF Exp (Via:Tirunelveli Jn)
Sengottai town has three parks. Muthusamy park near municipal office, Municipality park near pump house and another one is Musthafa memorial park located near Taluk Office shencottah.
^"Sengottai". Department Of Municipal Administration And Water Supply. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
^ ab"Census Info 2011 Final population totals". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.