Porur
Neighbourhood
Porur is located in Chennai
Porur
Porur
Porur (Chennai)
Porur is located in Tamil Nadu
Porur
Porur
Porur (Tamil Nadu)
Coordinates: 13°02′18″N 80°09′23″E / 13.038200°N 80.156500°E / 13.038200; 80.156500
CountryIndia
StateTamil Nadu
DistrictChennai
TalukMaduravoyal
ZoneCentral Chennai Zone
Government
 • TypeChennai Corporation
 • BodyChennai Corporation
Area
 • Total
5 km2 (1.9 sq mi)
Elevation
43 m (141 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
46,690
 • Density9,300/km2 (24,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialTamil
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
600 116
Vehicle registrationTN 10(RTO, Chennai(South West))

Porur (Tamil: [poːɾuːɾ]) is a neighbourhood of the city of Chennai, India. It forms part of the Maduravoyal taluk of Chennai district.[1] Situated about 17 kilometres (11 miles) by road from Chennai Central railway station in the western part of the city, Porur is largely a residential neighbourhood known for the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur market and the Porur Lake which is an important source of drinking water to Chennai city. Readymade garments and footwear are the main industries.

The earliest recorded history of Porur goes back to the Chola period when it formed a nādu of the Chola Empire. Porur was administered by a village panchayat till 1 October 1977, when it was elevated to the status of a town panchayat. In 2011, the Porur town panchayat was abolished and its jurisdiction included within the Greater Chennai Corporation as part of the Corporation wards 151 and 153.

During the 2011 census, Porur had a population of 46,690. Porur is well-connected by road and has a bus terminus, railway stations and an airport in close proximity. Six Chennai metro stations are being constructed in Porur as part of the Phase II extension activities. The Porur Lake is one of the biggest lakes in the Chennai metropolitan area and one of the major sources of drinking water to the city. The Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, a top-ranked private health sciences university is situated in Porur.

Location

Porur is located at 13.03° N and 80.16° E, about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) west from the Bay of Bengal coast at Foreshore Estate. It is surrounded by the Chennai neighbourhoods of Karambakkam and Maduravoyal in the north and Ramapuram, Valasaravakkam and Manapakkam to the east. To the west, Porur is bound by Iyyapanthangal of Poonamallee taluk, Tiruvallur district and Gerugambakkam and Kolapakkam villages of the Kundrathur taluk of Kancheepuram district in the south and south-west. The shortest distance by road between Porur and Chennai Central Railway Station is 17 kilometres (11 miles).[2]

History

The Ramanatheswarar Temple in Porur has an inscription of the Chola king Kulothunga I who reigned from 1070 CE to 1122 CE.[3]Porur might have served as the administrative centre of the eponymous Perūr Nādū of the Chola province of Puliyur Kottam. The juridisction of Perur Nadu extended over a considerable area and included the surrounding neighbourhoods of Manapakkam and Kolapakkam as evidenced by inscriptions at the Agasteeswarar Temple in Kolapakkam.[4][5]

The earliest modern references to Porur come from British maps and books of the late 18th century. In the early 19th century, the Kodambakkam-Kunrathur road and the St. Thomas Mount-Poonamallee Road were major trade and communication routes leading into Chennai city.[6][7]However still, Porur was predominantly rural and sparsely populated till the 1960s, when the W. S. Industries and the Moonlight factory were established with land and support from the Government of Tamil Nadu.[8][9][10][11][12][13] The population grew from 1,938 in 1961 to 3,539 in 1971 and accelerated even further in the following decades achieving growth rates of 144 percent and 126 percent during 1971-81 and 1981-91 respectively.

The village panchayat administering Porur was upgraded to a Grade-I town panchayat on 1 October 1977.[14] It was further upgraded to a selection grade town panchayat on 24 February 1982.[14]Porur was transferred from the Saidapet taluk of Chengalpattu district to the Ambattur taluk of Tiruvallur district when Chengalpattu district was bifurcated in 1997.[2]The area under the town panchayat was increased from 3.7 km2 (1.4 mi2) to 5 km2 (1.9 mi2).

On 1 October 2011, the Porur town panchayat was dissolved and the areas under its jurisdiction absorbed into the Greater Chennai Corporation where they were distributed between wards 151 and 153 of the corporation.[15][16][17][18]In 2018, Porur was transferred from Tiruvallur district to Chennai district where it forms part of the Maduravoyal taluk.[19]

Demographics

‹ The template Historical populations is being considered for merging. ›
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1871 837—    
1921 1,332+59.1%
1941 1,667+25.2%
1951 1,790+7.4%
1961 1,938+8.3%
1971 3,539+82.6%
1981 8,633+143.9%
1991 19,507+126.0%
2001 28,924+48.3%
2011 46,690+61.4%
Source: Census of India 1871-2011

According to the 2011 India census, Porur had a population of 46,690 with males constituting 23,450 (50.22%) and females 23,250 (49.79%) with a sex ratio of 991.[2]The adult literacy rate was 93.66% with a male literacy rate of 96.5% and a female literacy rate of 90.80%.[2]The total number of households was 11,803.[2] The population of scheduled castes was 3,647 and scheduled tribes, 49.[2]There were 5,112 children who were under 6 years of age.[2]There were 564 cultivators and 209 agricultural labourers.[2]There were three notified slums within the Porur town panchayat with a population of 6,300.[2] They were Kaliamman Koil, Thiruveethi Amman Koil and Chinna Porur. Slum dwellers constituted 13.49 percent of the total population of Porur.[2]

As per the 2011 census, Hindus formed the majority numbering 39,394 individuals making up 84.37 percent of the total population followed by the Christians who comprised 3,956 (8.47% of the population) and Muslims who comprised 1,615 (3.45%).[20] There were also 71 Jains, 27 Sikhs and 16 Buddhists.[20]

The most widely spoken first language as per the 2011 census was Tamil spoken by 39,948 people (85.56% of the population). Telugu was spoken by 3,681 people (7.88%), Malayalam - 1,250 (2.67%), Hindi - 538 (1.09%), Urdu - 510 (1.09%), Kannada - 228 (0.4%), Marathi - 160 (0.34%) and Saurashtri - 108 (0.3%).

Administration and utility services

Prior to 1 October 2011, Porur was administered by a town panchayat headed by a President assisted by 18 councillors. Since its inclusion in the Greater Chennai Corporation, the territory under the defunct Porur town panchayat were distributed between wards 151 and 153 of the Greater Chennai Corporation represented by an elected councillor for each of the two wards.[17]Both the wards come under the Zone No. 11 (Valasaravakkam) of the Greater Chennai Corporation.[21]

Porur forms part of the Maduravoyal Assembly constituency of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha constituency of the Parliament of India. The incumbent member of the Tamil Nadu legislature is P. Rhevanth Charan of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam while the incumbent member of the Lok Sabha is T. R. Baalu of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Porur has many ancient Hindu temples like the Ramanatheswarar Temple that dates from the Chola period. There are also temples that have constructed quite recently. The Sethu Kshetram temple was constructed in 1964 for the employees of W. S. Industries and inaugurated by the Shankaracharya of Sringeri. A tree was planted during the kumbabhishekam of the shrine on 27 October 1966 by R. Venkataraman, Minister of Industries for the Government of Madras. The Ramanatheswarar Temple and Balamurugan Temple are managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Water supply is provided by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board with headworks at Chinna Porur and Mount-Poonamallee Road while electricity is provided by the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited. Law and order enforcement is handled by the T-15 SRMC police station which comes under the jurisdiction of the Avadi police comissionerate. The nearest fire station is located at Kumananchavadi.[2]

Porur has two public parks, one each for the wards 151 and 153, maintained by the Greater Chennai Corporation. The Dr. M. S. Swaminathan Eco Park was established in Porur at a cost of Rs. 20 crores and inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin on 7 March 2025.[22][23]

Transport and communication

Porur is well connected by road to the rest of Chennai city. The Mount-Poonamallee Road that runs between Poonamallee and Kathipara Junction is a State Highway that connects Porur with the Grand Southern Trunk Road. Beyond Poonamallee, the Mount-Poonamallee Road links with the National Highway 4 (India, old numbering) to Bengaluru. The Porur Junction is an extremely busy traffic intersection in Porur where the major arterial roads meet. The Arcot Road connects Porur Junction with Kodambakkam while the Kundrathur Road links Porur Junction with Kundrathur. Porur had a total of 37 kilometres (23 miles) of roads in 2011.[2]

Porur is served by an efficient public transportation. The nearest MTC bus terminus is situated at Iyyappanthangal. There are bus services linking Porur with Royapuram, Saidapet, Little Mount, T. Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Mandaveli, Nanganallur, Mugalivakkam, Ramapuram, Poonamallee, Vellavedu, Kundrathur, Pattur, Mangadu and Sriperumbudur and Porur Junction with Royapuram, Vadapalani, K. K. Nagar, Vallalar Nagar and M. K. B. Nagar. There are seven major bus stops: Saravana Stores/Sakthi Nagar, Gopalakrishna theatre, Porur Junction and Sri Ramachandra Medical College on the Mount-Poonamallee Road and Lakshmi Nagar, Alapakkam and Karambakkam on Arcot Road. There are private bus and share auto services from Porur Junction to Guindy and small bus services providing connectivity from Porur Junction to the Alandur metro station and Porur Junction to Guindy Racecourse bus stop. The nearest suburban railway station is Guindy (8 kms) while the nearest domestic-cum-international airport is located at Meenambakkam.[2]

The Porur Junction metro station, Porur Bypass metro station, Karambakkam metro station, Thelliyaragaram metro station and Alapakkam metro station are under construction along the Yellow Line while the Mugalivakkam metro station is being built on the Red Line of the Chennai Metro. The Alandur metro station is the nearest operational metro station.

Notes

  1. ^ "Corporation of Chennai". 10 June 2020. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Census of India 2001: District Census Handbook Thiruvallur Village and Town Wise Primary Census Abstract" (PDF). Directorate of Census Operations Tamil Nadu.
  3. ^ "Arulmigu Ramanadheswarar Temple Porur - Inscriptions" (in Tamil). Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.
  4. ^ Sridhar, T. S. (2006). Inscriptions of Kanchipuram district (in Tamil). Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology. pp. xvi–xvii.
  5. ^ Sridhar, T. S. (2006). Inscriptions of Kanchipuram district (in Tamil). Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology. p. 37.
  6. ^ Butterworth, Captain W. J. (1839). The Madras Road Book. Madras: The Male Military Orphan's Asylum Press. p. 3.
  7. ^ Butterworth, Captain W. J. (1839). The Madras Road Book. Madras: The Male Military Orphan's Asylum Press. p. 62.
  8. ^ "Tamil Nadu Government - RTO Details". www.tn.gov.in.
  9. ^ Indian journal of power and river valley development, Volume 41. 1991. p. 237.
  10. ^ Eastern economist, Volume 41. 1963. p. 910.
  11. ^ India Major Manufacturers. Business Information Agency. p. 237.
  12. ^ B. S. Baliga (1957). Madras District Gazetteers. p. 805.
  13. ^ B. S. Baliga (1957). Madras District Gazetteers. p. 870.
  14. ^ a b B. S. Baliga (1983). Madras District Gazetteers Volume 12 Part 2. p. 1273.
  15. ^ "Bill to expand Chennai passed by T. N. Assembly". Times of India. 14 January 2011.
  16. ^ "L. A. Bill No. 2 of 2011 A Bills further to amend the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919" (PDF). Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary. 2011.
  17. ^ a b "No. VI(2)/160(a-3)/2018" (PDF). Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary. Government of Tamil Nadu.
  18. ^ "Abstract of areas added to Chennai metropolitan area" (PDF). Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.
  19. ^ "G. O. (Ms.) No. 13" (PDF). Government of Tamil Nadu.
  20. ^ a b "Census Tables C-01 Population by religious community". Census of India.
  21. ^ "G. O. (Ms.) No. 136 dt 12-9-2011" (PDF). Government of Tamil Nadu.
  22. ^ "CM Stalin opens Swaminathan Wetland Park". Indian Express. 8 March 2025.
  23. ^ Srimathi, Geetha (7 April 2025). "Porur eco park in Chennai is a space for nature, play, wellness". The Hindu.