Dindigul

City of Tamil Nadu state, southeast India, about 50 km/30 mi north of Madurai; population (2001 est) 219,700. It is a market town handling produce (mainly fruit) from the Sirumalai Hills to the east, and the Palanis to the west. There are several tanneries, large cotton mills, and a tobacco factory. Dindigul is noted for its cheroots. It has a citadel built by the Nayaka kings in the 17th century, on an isolated granite rock which rises over 90 m/300 ft from the plain.

The strategic importance of the fort encouraged the Mysore army to capture it in 1745, and the governor Hyder Ali is reputed to have disposed of prisoners by throwing them over the cliff.