Vellore is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Palar River in the north-eastern part of Tamil Nadu and has been ruled, at different times, by the Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Vijayanagar Empire, Rashtrakutas, Carnatic kingdom, and the British. Vellore has four zones (totally 60 wards) which covers an area of 87.915 Sqkm and has a population of 4,23,425 based on 2001 census. It is located about 145 kilometres (90 mi) west of the state capital Chennai and about 211 kilometres (131 mi) east of Karnataka capital Bengaluru. Vellore is administered by a Vellore Municipal Corporation under the mayor P.Karthiyayini. Vellore is part of Vellore (State Assembly Constituency) and Vellore (Lok Sabha constituency).
Vellore has become one of the top educational destination due to the presence of India's top medical institute Christian Medical College & Hospital (recipient of 2011 CNBC-TV18 awards for Best multi-specialty (non-metro area) and Best cardiology care in India) and best private technological institute VIT University. Vellore is the only city other than Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to have two of the top ten premier educational institutions (CMC & VIT) in the country. Vellore is also the top destination for medical tourism in India as it houses a century old Christian Medical College & Hospital.
Vellore region is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country.Vellore is also home to several manufacturing & automobile companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, MRF Limited, TVS-Brakes India, Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Limited, Greaves Cotton, ArcelorMittal Dhamm Processing, SAME Deutz-Fahr (Italy), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and KRAMSKI (Germany).
Vellore Fort, Government Museum, Science Park, Vainu Bappu Observatory, Amirthi Zoological Park, Religious Places like Jalakandeswarar Temple, Srilakshmi Golden Temple, Big Mosque & St.Johns church and Yelagiri Hill station are the among top tourist attractions in and around Vellore.
