| Vazhapadi | |
| Settlement Type: | Town panchayat |
| Pushpin Map: | Tamil Nadu#India |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Map showing the location of the town in Tamil Nadu, India |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Tamil Nadu, India |
| Coordinates: | 11.6561°N 78.4017°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tamil Nadu |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name3: | Salem |
| Subdivision Type4: | Taluk |
| Subdivision Name4: | Vazhapadi taluk |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 8 |
| Population Total: | 17,559 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Tamil |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 636115 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Area Code: | +914292 |
| Registration Plate: | 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]
Vazhapadi is within Vazhapadi taluk, which is the central part of Salem district. It covers 8km2 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 25km (16miles) east of Salem, the district headquarters, 200km (100miles) north of Madurai, and 250km (160miles) southwest of the state capital of Chennai.[2]
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]
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.