NAMI4KKAL TO WN
347
built near a thermal spring not far from its western extremity. It
is a considerable engineering work, several long tunnels and high
viaducts being necessary. It follows the line taken by the chief
of the two cart-roads over the range, the route connecting Kurnool
District with the coast, which is 18 miles in length and rises to about
2,000 feet above the sea. The other road, which goes by way of
the Mantralamma or Dormal pass farther north, is much less important.
Naltigiri.-Spur of the Assia range in the head-quarters subdivision
of Cuttack District, Bengal, situated in 20' 35' N. and 86' 15' E.,
on the south of the Birctpa river. The hill has two peaks of unequal
height, with a pass between. It is famous for its Buddhist remains,
some of which are in a fair state of preservation.
Namakkal Subdivision.-Subdivision of Salem District, Madras,
consisting of the NAMAKKAL and TIRUCHENGODU tdlashs.
Namakkal Taluk. - TWO in Salem District, Madras, lying
between ii' r' and 11' 25' N. and 77° 5r" and 78' 30' E., with
an area Of 7r5 square miles. It is the most southerly tdluh of the
District and lies lower than the others, forming a wide plain broken
on the north and east by the great range of the KOLLAIMALAIS.
The Cauvery skirts it and encircles a small tract of country, which,
with its flourishing groves of plantains, betel-vines, and coco-nut palms,
its sugar-cane and green expanses of rice, rivals in richness the delta
of Tanjore. The population in igoi was 313,895, compared with
300,047 in 1891. There are 356 villages and two towns, NAMAKKAL
(population, 6,843) and SENDAMANGALAM (13,584). The demand for
land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 was Rs. 4,47,000.
Namakkal Town.-Head-quarters of the subdivision and Wuk
of the same name in Salem District, Madras, situated in 11° 14' N.
and 78° io' E., on the Salem-Trichinopoly road, 31 miles from Salem
city, and 20 miles from the nearest railway station, Karfir on the South
Indian Railway. Population (1901), 6,843. The town is famous for
its temple of Namagiri Amman built at the base of the Namakkal
rock-a great rounded mass of gneiss about 200 feet high, crowned
by a hill fort visible for miles round, and easily distinguished from
the surrounding hills by its white colour. The battlements are still
in perfect preservation, being made of well-cut blocks of the same
stone as the hill itself, and secured to the rock by mortar. No mortar
has been used in the higher courses, which hold together solely by
their own weight and accurate fitting. Besides the fort, a Hindu
temple and a Muhammadan flagstaff stand on the top of the rocki
The building of the fortress is ascribed by some to Ramachandra
Naik, poli,;dr of Sendamangalarn, and by others to Lakshminarasayya,
an officer under the Mysore Raja. It is perhaps less than 200 years
old, and was captured by the English in 1768, only to be lost again
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