Vaniyambadi is a town in the Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu and the headquarter for the Vaniyambadi Revenue district comprising Vaniyambadi and Ambur. It is located about 200 km from Chennai and 178 kilometer from Bengaluru. The Vaniyambadi Municipality was formed by the G.O. MS. No. 421 Local & Municipality Dept. in April 1886. In 1996 this Municipality was upgraded to Grade II Municipality by G.O. MS. NO. 118 Rural Development Local Administration Dept. dated 01.05.1996. In 1998 this Municipality was upgraded to 1st Grade. It is one of the hubs of Leather exports in Tamil Nadu. It is also famous throughout India for its special Vaniyambadi Biryani. The city is the home for many prestigious century-old educational institutions viz. The Vaniyambadi Muslim Educational Society (VMES) (Estd. 1901), The Hindu Higher Secondary School (Estd. 1914). The famous hill station Yelagiri is approximately 20 km away from town. Another hill station leading way through Andhra Pradesh is a short way to Kolar Gold Fields and Karnataka. Etymology Vaniyambadi in Tamil Nadu derives its name and identity from mythological lore. Vaniyambadi is derived from Vaniampadi = Vani Ammai + Padi (Tamil: வாணி அம்மை + பாடி) which denotes "Vani Ammai" the name of the Goddess Saraswathi, and "Padi" refers the infinitive, "to sing". Legend has it that Saraswati sang on the banks of the Palar River for God Vishnu and God Shiva here, and hence it was named Vaniyambadi. Indeed, temples dedicated to Sundara Varadaraja Perumal (Vishnu) and Athitheeswarar (Shiva) dot both banks of the fast-flowing Palar River. Vaniyambadi, today, is surrounded by lovely hills with many a scenic hill station positioned on them, green farmlands crisscrossed by numerous water channels and a sleepy little town amidst it all. History Vaniyambadi is a well-known place in the history of fights against the British. Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan have been known to have camped in Vaniyambadi during their battles against the British empire, also Vaniyambadi battle is first for Tippu at the age of 17 when his Father was ill. The Mysorean army set off on its fresh round of campaigning in the beginning of November 1767. According to De la Tour, it was two days after Haidar's mother had departed with her retinue. The main army marched towards Vaniyambadi while another detachment had been sent earlier in the direction of Tirupattur which had again fallen into British hands. The scouting