SALEM:MY NATIVE

             Salem  pronunciation (help·info) (Tamil: சேலம்) is a city and a corporation in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located in the north central part of the southernmost state of India. It is the 5th largest Municipal Corporation and Urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu next to Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy.

Early History:

The name Salem appears to have been derived from hai or Shalya or Sayilam which are found in inscriptions referring to the country around the hills. Salem and the hilly region around it were part of the Chera and Kongu country in ancient times. They were ruled by their own Kongu Kings who were the Kurunila Mannargal of ancient Tamilnadu. Local folklore has it that the region around Salem was the birthplace of the Tamil poetess Avvaiyar. Inscriptions from the Ganga dynasty have been recovered from parts of the district. The city lies in the middle of Kongu Nadu.

Entertainment:

Cinema Theatres:

Salem has long been established as a city of cinema theatres. It was unique in having a large number of cinema theatres at a particular place called Kitchipalayam.

In 80s at the peak there was almost 28 theatres showing all kind of cinemas including Hollywood movies, Dubbed movies and old movies. But currently there are about 15 theatres there as some of them were closed and even now there are about 15 theatres functioning. Some of the famous theatres are

Sapna, Santham, Santosh, SANGEETH COMPLEX,(2 screen) ARRS Multiplex (5 screen) geethalaya BIG CINEMAS(KS Theatre), RAJ SABARI BIG CINEMAS keethana& ramana( 2 screen), etc.

Modern Theatres: Modern Theaters Ltd was a motion picture movie studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, started by Thiruchengodu Ramalingam Sundaram (aka TRS) in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 movies until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of which Tamil movies were the majority.

In the early 1930s, T.R. Sundaram entered the world of Tamil cinema as a partner of a Salem-based film company, Angel Films. He was involved in productions such as Draupadi Vastrapaharanam (1934), Dhruva (1935) and Nalla Thangal (1935). Then he decided to start his own company, Modern Theatres Limited. He realized that to make film making a business, it had to be organized and managed like a business enterprise. He also planned a schedule of producing films on a tight budget (two or three a year), so that the market and consumers were regularly and continually supplied with his products. The maiden production of Modern Theatres, directed by T.R. Sundaram, was Sathi Ahalya, a mythological plot was released in 1937. Sundaram promoted Modern Theatres as a joint stock company and built a studio on a vast stretch of land on the outskirts of Salem town. The hundred odd films that came from his studio covered a wide spectrum of themes — mythology, comedy and original screenplays to adaptation of classic works of literature and murder mysteries. It is, however, the James Bond style of films starring Jaishankar that are almost synonymous with the banner. Following the Hollywood studio system, TRS had on his rolls writers, technicians, actors and so on. He paid generously and promptly, a rarity in the film circle.

Shopping Malls:

Salem is also emerging as one of the major shopping centers in the recent past. Saradha College Road and the Omalur Road have witnessed lots of growth in the shopping and retail portfolio, Swarnambigai Plaza, Kandaswarna Shopping Mall, V.V Shopping plaza, Tulsi Retail, Kandaswarna Mega Mall, Spencers, More for you,Shortly open Europa discount store.and also growing up northern salem areas. Nilgiris, Airport and so on.Also, ARRS MEGA MALL a mall with international standards with a theatre consisting of 8 screens is coming up.

There also a good number of hotels and restaurants present in the city.

Parks:

Annaa Park with facilities for children is situated near the Gandhi Stadium. Another park known as Mettur Park is located near the Mettur Dam. Salem also has a theme park named 'Paravasa Ulagam'.

Export commodities:

Salem is renowned for fabric exports, dating back to 1930's. Salem is the major exporter of fabric / cloth items until the recent development of Tirupur as a knitted garment export hub. Salem is also popular for its mangoes and are exported to different parts of the World. Plans are underway to build a mango pulp factory near Salem to export conditioned mango pulp.

Special Economic Zones (SEZ):

Being one of the fastest growing tier II cities, the Tamil Nadu government and ELCOT are planning to establish an IT park in Salem covering about 160 acres (0.65 km²).SAIL is planning a Steel SEZ inside the Salem Steel plant covering about 250 acres (1.0 km²)

There is an exclusive Electrical and Electronics Industrial Estate in the Suramangalam area of Salem city

Gallery:

Kiliyur waterfall near Yercaud	Rainbow near Pagoda point	View of Salem city at night	A quiet road in Yercaud
Boating lake	Dry season falls	Water falls at hills	Lakeview in Yercaud
Lakeview in Yercaud	Boating at Yercaud Lake	Coffee Plantation in Yercaud