Thiruvarur is located at . The town is bounded by Sukumar river in the north, Valaiyar river in the south while the Odambokki river flows through the centre. The town has an average elevation of from the sea level. The municipality covers an area of Thiruvarur is situated at a distance of 300 km from Chennai, from Nagapattinam, from Karaikal, from Mayiladuthurai and from Thanjavur. The town along with the district receives an annual rainfall of . The town experiences tropical climate during summer; from March to May. The proximity to sea results in high humidity throughout the year and peaks 70% from August to May. The town has a plain terrain of alluvial soil consisting of sand, silt and clay. Vennar and Vettar, the tributaries of river Cauvery are the major water bodies around the town. Surface water canals contribute 89% to irrigation, while the rest 11% is accounted by dug wells and tube wells. Paddy is the major crop while the others being black gram, green gram, ground nut and gingely. Demographics During 1901, the population of the town stood at 15,436. According to 2011 census, Thiruvarur had a population of 58,301 with a sex-ratio of 1,053 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 5,779 were under the age of six, constituting 2,888 males and 2,891 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 32% and .66% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 82.%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 14997 households. There were a total of 18,953 workers, comprising 672 cultivators, 960 main agricultural labourers, 318 in house hold industries, 15,596 other workers, 1,407 marginal workers, 47 marginal cultivators, 261 marginal agricultural labourers, 52 marginal workers in household industries and 1,047 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Thiruvarur had 84.38% Hindus, 14.13% Muslims, 1.39% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.02% Jains, 0.05% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference. The population growth rate was higher during the decade of 1981–90 due to increased provision of social, economic and recreational facilities that caused the rural population to migrate to urban areas. The overall growth rate had declined over the last two decades due to poor returns in agriculture and increased migration of agricultural labourers to other