| Parangimalai | |
| Native Name: | Bhringimalai |
| Native Name Lang: | ta |
| Other Name: | St. Thomas Mount |
| Settlement Type: | Hillock |
| Pushpin Map: | India Chennai#Tamil Nadu |
| Coordinates: | 13.0078°N 80.1925°Whttps://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Parangimalai&params=13_00_28.1_N_80_11_33.0_E_type:city_region:IN-TN |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tamil Nadu |
| Subdivision Type2: | Metro |
| Subdivision Name2: | Chennai |
| Governing Body: | St.Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Elevation M: | 91.44 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Tamil |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Planning agency |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | CMDA |
Parangimalai (known in English as St. Thomas Mount) is a small hillock in the Chennai district of Tamil Nadu, India, near the neighbourhood of Guindy and very close to Chennai International Airport. By extension, it is also the name of the neighbourhood surrounding the hillock.
The neighbourhood is served by the St. Thomas Mount railway station, on the southern line of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Integration of the Metro and MRTS with the suburban station in the neighbourhood, is expected to make the suburb the city's largest transit hub after Chennai Central.[1]
In the state assembly elections of 1967 and 1971, there was a constituency known as the Parangimalai.
According to Hindu tradition, sage Bhringi resided and meditated on the hillock in his quest to see Shiva. The locality thus came to be known as Bhringi malai, or "the hill of Bhringi", which over time morphed into "Parangimalai". It is also said that this connects several other regions in the city with the origin of their names. For instance, the place where he laid his pitcher, known in Tamil as kindi while performing worship, has now come to be known as "Guindy".[2]
The place is named St. Thomas Mount in English after Saint Thomas the Apostle, who lived and preached in the locality according to Christian tradition.[2]
The ancient Syrian Christian community of India trace the origin of their church to St. Thomas the Apostle. From the 17th century, this part of Chennai was populated predominantly by Anglo-Indians. The St. Thomas Garrison Church is at the foot of St. Thomas Mount.
A shrine dedicated to "Our Lady of Expectation" (Mother Mary) was built in 1523 on top of the Mount. The altar of this shrine was built on the spot where St. Thomas' death is traditionally believed to have been occurred. At the northern foot of the mount, is a gateway of four impressive arches surmounted by a cross bearing the inscribed date 1547. A flight of 160 steps leads up to the summit of the mount. There are 14 stations of the cross on the way to the summit.
The St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church is located east of the shrine at North Silver Street, footholds of the mountain shrine.
St. Thomas Mount has several schools and training institutions.
The St. Thomas Mount block is a revenue block in the Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu, India. As per the Census 2011, the St. Thomas Mount development block covered an area of, of which was classified as rural and as urban. The block included 121,017 household with a total population of 475,995. The sex ratio was 978.7 females per 1,000 males. The number of children in the age group 0–6 years was 55,103. Scheduled castes numbered 74,322 (15.6%) and scheduled tribes were 2.544 (0.53%). The literacy rate was 77.6%, with males at 81.3% and females at 73.9%.[13]
The following 15 rural village panchayats come under St Thomas Mount Panchayat Union:[14]
The 14 Stations of the Cross are positioned along the 160-step climb up the Mount.