Royapuram

13°06′15″N 80°17′37″E / 13.10403°N 80.29366°E / 13.10403; 80.29366CountryIndiaStateTamil NaduDistrictChennaiMetroChennaiLanguages • OfficialTamilTime zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)PINVehicle registrationTN-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 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