Theni One: Andipatti

Andipatti is a town in Theni district in Tamil Nadu state in southern India. It is on the bank of Vaigai River with rich flora and fauna species. It is a valley surrounded by mountains and there is a theory saying Western Ghats starts from this place. Agriculture is the main economy of the town with handloom and textile mills spread across the city limits. Breathtaking Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary known for its quiet scenic beauty is in the taluk. Thankfully megamalai is not much invaded by tourists. The places nearer to it are Theni, Madurai, Cumbum, Gudalur. Its also spelled 'Aundipatty' the town is known all over the state and country as having been the constituency of the two chief ministers. One being late M. G. Ramachandran (MGR), and more recently the constituency of J. Jayalalithaa, the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
There is an NGO based in Aundipatty called Arogya Agam, which is involved in rural healtcare and women development and empowerment. It is also well known for the incident when the late All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Chief Minister MGR won the MLA election in this place even without visiting this place for election campaign since he was admitted to SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York and became the Chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
The Vaigai Dam which is one major reservoirs in Tamil Nadu is 7 km away from Andipatti.

History

On February 9, 1934, Mahatma Gandhi visited Andipatti, arriving by train at 5:30 PM from Theni. At the Andipatti Railway Station, the villagers of Andipatti received him, along with a large crowd from the neighbouring villages. A wooden table was placed on the platform of the Andipatti Station and Gandhi used it as a dais to address the gathering. a Welcome Address in Tamil printed on khadi cloth and wooden-framed was read out by Mr. P.C. Rajan and handed over to Gandhi, who was delighted to see it printed on his favourite khadi cloth. He wished to carry it with him on his tour, but realised that he could not carry it all through his journey. Hence with the permission of the villagers, he decided to auction the memento and use the fund for welfare scheme. P.C. Rajan was the successful bidder and he collected the souvenir from the hands of Gandhi. The piece was later on donated by Mr. Rajan to the authorities of the Gandhi Museum in Madurai in the 1960s.