Chennai

Tamilnadu > Chennai

The Horse Rider in Anna Salai.

Chennai , formerly known as Madras, is the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India, and is the country's fourth-largest city. It is located on the Coromandel coast of the Bay of Bengal. With an estimated population of 7.45 million (2005), the 367 year old city is the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world. Its has the 2nd longest seashore in the world.

Chennai hosts a large cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season, which includes performances by hundreds of artists. The city has a vibrant theatre scene and is an important centre for the Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form. The Tamil film industry, known as Kollywood, a second largest film industry in India, is based in the city; the soundtracks of the movies dominate its music scene.

It is for this reason that Chennai is also called as the 'Gateway to South India'. The city been blessed with the wealth of arts and literature. It is famous for its various cultural events, showcasing the performing arts such as Dance, Music and Drama at its best. Tamil literature is very rich in content and preaches ancient morals and values. Chennai is also popular for the glitz and glamour of Kollywood, the 'Tamil film industry'. Many Tamil films have won acclaim in the international film festivals and have brought fame to India.

Today, the city has gone through a tremendous change and is developing rapidly. There are a number of industries here such as automobile, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The Automobile industry in Madras is one of the leading industries in the country. It is also the second largest exporter of Information Technology, after Bangalore. Apart from this, the city is a leading player in the fields of education and sports. There are a number of reputed educational institutions and stadiums here which mark the significance of the two in Chennai.

History of Chennai

Chennaipattinam was a popular trading center for spices and clothes for more than 2000 years. Portuguese and Dutch arrived in the 16 th century followed by the British and French. In 1639 the British East India Company established a settlement in the fishing village of Madraspattnam that they leased from the local Nayaks.

In Madraspattnam they started construction of Fort St. George. George Town grew in the area of fort and neighboring villages ultimately becoming the oldest Municipality of India in 1668. During the 17 th and 18 th centuries Europeans competed for supremacy in India and Briton became the ultimate gainer. Under the command of Robert Clive, British launched a campaign against French, a series of war known as the Carnatic Wars. Finally the French were forced to withdraw to Pondicherry.

The city grew into modern day Madras City merging all neighboring areas. In the 19th century the city became the seat of Madras Presidency, the southern division of British Imperial India. After independence in 1947 it became the capital of Madras State that was renamed Tamil Nadu. Very recently Madras was renamed Chennai.

Climate of Chennai

Climate of Chennai is Tropical. Chennai has mainly two seasons - summer (33 deg C - 38 deg C) Mar, Apr and May and monsoon (Oct, Nov and Dec). It receives scanty rainfall from the south-west monsoon, but gets its bountiful rains from the north-east monsoon from October through December, thus amounting to about 125-150 cm of rainfall annually. Rainfalls occur usually from October to December. During some seasons, Chennai gets ample amount of rainfall if there are depressions in Bay of Bengal.

December to February are the mildest months temperature-wise.

Climate is humid pretty much throughout the year because the city is on the coast. Summers are very hot and humid.

Culture of Chennai

Chennai, being the capital of Tamil Nadu, is home to a host of Tamil culture art forms including dance, literature, sculpture, music and cinema.

The season for Bharatnatyam and Carnatic Music draws visitors and aficionados from the world over. Being the capital of Tamil Nadu, the preferred language of communication amongst the local population is Tamil. However, English is widely spoken as the language of commerce and English speaking visitors should have no problem getting around. The city also has a fair number of people that speak Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.

Mamallapuram, an extension of the city is known for its sandy beaches, stone carvings, food and resorts. It also hosts the Cholamandalam artists village which is fairly well known in art circles both in India and abroad.

The city has a thriving Tamil film industry. It is also known as Kollywood. It is the second largest film industry in India. Some of the most prominent figures of Tamil Nadu like M.G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, M. Karunanidhi, J Jayalalithaa, Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Shankar, Mani Ratnam, Ilayaraja, AR Rahman are currently, or have at some stage of their career, been associated with Kollywood.

Amongst sports, Chennai is also a major centre for cricket, motorsports and tennis.

Chennai, like all the other metropolises in India, experienced significant economic growth in the last 15 years. It has several options for mainstream entertainment with malls, multiplexes, restaurants and hotels at nearly every major commercial district. Pubs and lounges, however, are restricted to only hotels in Chennai due to legal restrictions on the sale of liquor.