Vellore

     Vellore is nearly 145 Km from Chennai. Vellore had the privilege of being the seat of the Pallavas, Cholas, Nayak, Marathas, Arcot Nawabs and Bijapur Sultan Kingdoms.  Vellore was once the capital city of the mighty Vijayanagar empire during 1606 – 1672.  The Fort in Vellore was described as the best and the strongest fortress in the Carnatic War in the 17th Century.  The monuments found in the district give a vivid picture of the evolution of the city through the ages. Vellore is a busy town, a market for various agricultural Commodities and the district headquarters. There are some rare places of tourist important in and around Vellore.  For tourists, it is noteworthy only for the Vijayanagar fort and temple, which are in an excellent state of preservation and worth visiting.  The famous rivers palar and ponnar flows through this City.  The town has a modern church built in an old British cemetery, which contains the tomb of a captain who died in 1799 during the campaign which ended in the defeat of Tipu Sultan.  There is also a memorial to the victims of the little known ‘Vellore Mutiny’ of 1806. The mutiny was instigated by the task force sent from Arcot. One could stay here comfortably and visit the places.  Vellore is now best known for its hospital, one of the best in the country.  The people who come here from all over India for medical care give this humble town a cosmopolitan feel.  Hundreds of leather and tannery industries are located around Vellore and its nearby town such as Ranipet, Ambur and Vaniyambadi. The district is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. The Vellore climate is generally hots with cool nights a typical example of inland climate where there is considerable difference between high and low temperatures.  The total area of the land is 6,077 square kilometers. The population was 34,77,317 during the census taken in the year 2001. Every year the land receives 9222.4 mm of rainfall. The maximum temperature goes to 39ºC and falls to a minimum of 17ºC.

Arcot

     It is on the Chennai Vellore road. Arcot was the headquarters of Nawab of Carnatic, who ruled this region in 18th century AD.  The fort enclosing the Arcot town was on the bank of river palar.  It was built by Daud Khan, Nawab of Arcot.  The fort was huge one and had a circumference of 8 km. The invasion of Tipusultan of Mysore resulted in the complete destruction of the fort.  Arcot was the first important fortified town captured (1751) by Robert Clive in the British-French struggle for south India.