Vazhapadi
Town panchayat
Vazhapadi Location in Tamil Nadu, India Show map of Tamil Nadu Vazhapadi Vazhapadi (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 11°39′22″N 78°24′06″E / 11.65611°N 78.40167°E / 11.65611; 78.40167
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Salem
Taluk	Vazhapadi taluk
Area
• Total	8 km2 (3 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	17,559
• Density	2,200/km2 (5,700/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	636115
Telephone code	+914292
Vehicle registration	TN-77

Vazhapadi (Valapady, or Valappadi) is a town panchayat in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Vazhapadi taluk, one of the 13 taluks of Salem district.^[1]

Geography

Vazhapadi is within Vazhapadi taluk, which is the central part of Salem district. It covers 8 square kilometres (3.1 sq mi) in the eastern part of the taluk, near the border with Attur taluk. National Highway 79 passes to the south of the town, and the only railroad line in the taluk runs through the town. It is 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Salem, the district headquarters, 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Madurai, and 250 kilometres (160 mi) southwest of the state capital of Chennai.^[2]

Demographics

In 2011 Vazhapadi had a population of 17,559 people living in 4,582 households. 8,843 (50.4%) of the inhabitants were male, while 8,716 (49.6%) were female. 1,679 children in the town, about 9.6% of the population, were at or below the age of 6. The literacy rate in the town was 74.4%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 26.4% and 0.26% of the population, respectively.^[3]

Politics

Former union minister Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy was born in Vazhapadi. He served as Union Minister of Petroleum as part of NDA government under Atal Behari Vajpayee. He was widely known as Valappadiyar.^{[citation needed]}