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Royapuram
Royapuram
neighbourhood
	Royapuram fishing harbour
	Royapuram Royapuram Royapuram
	Coordinates: 13°06′15″N 80°17′37″E / 13.10403°N 80.29366°E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Chennai
Metro	Chennai
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	600 013
Vehicle registration	TN-04

Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for its beach, and for Royapuram Railway Station. The station is the first railway station of South India, opening in 1856, and is today the oldest surviving railway station of the Indian subcontinent.^[1]

History

The region existed as a well known settlement during the Chola times, but the name Royapuram is derived from a Tamil appellation for St. Peter, Royappa, in connection with St. Peter's Church in the area.^[2] The region was originally called Rayarapuram named after the Rayar Kings who rules down South. It is also believed that the British / Anglo Indians settled in this locality were called Rayars, which lent the name Rayarpuram.^[3]

From the 14th century, the erstwhile Vijayanagara Rulers^[4] controlled this region till the Madras land grant to Francis Day.^[5]^[6]

Royapuram Railway Station, opened in 1856

Royapuram Railway Station was the first railway station constructed in South India and second railway line in South Asia. The first train service commenced in 1856 from here to Arcot, the then capital of the Carnatic region.^[7]

Politics

Royapuram vote
by alliance in assembly elections
Year	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
2006	53.3% 50,647	39.1% 37,144
2001	56.8% 44,465	39.3% 30,753
1996	35.4% 27,485	57.8% 44,893
1991	59.0% 46,218	37.8% 29,565
1989*	8.0% 6,532	46.0% 37,742
1984	50.3% 40,727	48.7% 39,432
1980	49.1% 36,455	50.3% 37,390
1977	31.3% 22,626	33.5% 24,217

State assembly politics

Lok Sabha politics

Royapuram assembly constituency is part of Chennai North (Lok Sabha constituency).^[8]

References

^ "The train to Royapuram". Mint. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ Muthiah, S. (11 September 2011). "Madras miscellany". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
^ Bureau, The Hindu (6 July 2022). "Watch | Inside India's oldest, surviving railway station". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 16 July 2022. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^ Krishnamachari, Suganthy (21 August 2014). "Madras is not alien". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
^ "District profile - Chennai district administration- official website". Chennai.tn.nic.in. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
^ C S Srinivasachari (1939). History of the City of Madras. pp. 63–69.
^ "The South's first station". The Hindu. Chennai. 26 February 2003. Archived from the original on 2 July 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
^ "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Tamil Nadu. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2008.