History and Growth of the Town
Dharmapuri municipality was first constituted on the 14th Feb 1964 as per G.O.No. 360 RD&LA department dated 01.04.1964 as Third Grade Municipality. It was later upgraded as Second Grade Municipality from 05.08.1971 G.O.No.1401 Dated 31.08.1971, upgraded to First Grade from 31.08.1987 G.O.No.65 Dated 12.10.1987 upgraded to Selection Grade Municipality from 02.12.2008 G.O.No.65 Dated 02.12.2008 and now it is upgraded to Special Grade Municipality from 06.03.2019 G.O.No.50 Dated 06.03.2019. This municipality had a population of 68619 as per 2011 census.
Dharmapuri town is situated at 120 8” Northern latitude and 78o 10” Eastern longitude. Dharmapuri is in bramahar basin with an elevation of 306 Meters above the sea level. The hottest season of the town commences in March and records the highest temperature in the late April or early May. The weather cools down steadily from June and records Minimum of 73o fht to above 100o. The maximum rainfall occurs during the southwest Monsoon season. The soil of the town and its urban area consists of gravel clay mixed with the loam and soft lime rock. The town is well connected by roads and rail which is close to major cities like Bangalore Salem and Vellore. It is situated on the NH-7 Connecting Salem and Bangalore. The arterial roads Morappur road, Krishnagiri road, Tirupathur road and Pennagaram road, pass through this town. The Salem –Bangalore Broad gauge railway line runs through this town.
Dharmapuri town was the capital of the kingdom of Adhiyaman Neduman Anji a renouned king of the Sangam period. Later it was ruled by Pallavas, Cholas, Vijanagar kings Moghul kings and the British since 1792 AD. Dharmapuri town is now the District Head Quarters and located at the center of the district. It is at a distance of 68 Kms North of Salem and 138 kms South of Bangalore .The Municipal limit extends to an area of 11.65 Sq Km for which the Over al density of population works out to 52 per hecture.