Tam: கரூர் karūr
‘Black Town’ [Vanji] City/District, Tamil Nadu
From Tam: karu, ‘black’; ūr, ‘village’, ‘town’; and vañci, ‘creeper’.
Karur’s predominant soil type is black, accounting for over one-third of the soil in the region and this place name.
Both Karur and Vanji are ancient names and in Sangam times it was already an important trading centre.
Vanji, the city, is mentioned many times in Sangam poetry and Tamil epics:
The king of Vanji, victorious city with sky-high fame,
where young women with fine hair on their rounded forearms wear pure jewels and play on the rippled sand,
decorating the sand dolls they made with flowers they pluck from bent branches,
and plunge into the cool waters of Porunai River,
his victories sung in verses, captured guarded forts of enemies and made them run, showing their back,
and the female singer who sang the bravery of the mighty king won splendid, heavy, pretty jewels,
and the bard who sang along with her with perfect rhythm, won a lotus formed in glowing fire, strung on a silver strand.
Puranānūru 11
The modern Karur produces 60% of India’s mosquito nets: 2,000 units, employing 50,000 people, manufacture products using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) mono filament yarn.
Karur Railway Station Balaji
