Kancheepuram, also known as Kanchipuram is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in Tondaimandalam region, 72 km (45 mi) from Chennai – the capital of Tamil Nadu. It has a total population of 1,64,384.
The highest employment in the district is in Agriculture, FMCG, Leather, Jute products, Rubber & Plastic products, Cotton Textiles, and Chemical industries. The district has 22% of the workforce employed in the Agricultural Sector, 75% in the Industrial Sector and the remaining 3% are Household workers.
Kancheepuram District was a part of ancient Pallava Kingdom up to the middle of eighth century with their capital at Kancheepuram. The famous monolithic temples and rathams at Mahabalipuram located within the district are the contributions of the Pallavas to the cultural heritage of the country. After the end of Pallavas regime in 760 AD., the district came under the control of the rulers of Mysore. The Rastra kings had invaded the district in the beginning of the ninth century and again in the middle of the tenth century. Sometimes later, the district came under the Cholas. Due to the supremacy in the battle with Kurumbars, Kulthunga Chola and his son Adondai conquered the Kurumbars country which contained forest lands and twenty four forts, thirteen of which can be identified as falling within the jurisdiction of the present Kancheepuram district.
Kancheepuram district was initially known as Chengalpattu district. For the administrative reasons, Chengalpattu distict was bifurcated on 18-11-1997 into Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts. Kancheepuram town, known as city of thousand temples, is the headquarters of the district.
The district has normal weather during winter but very hot in the summer. Rainfall depends mainly on the North East Monsoon. River Palar is the main river in the district, which is not perennial. Cheyyar and Vegavathy rivers are tributaries of Palar and join it at Thirumakkudal.
