Chennai - சென்னை

Chennai - The Gateway of South

Chennai, the 'Cultural capital of India' is the fouth largest metropolis in the country. The present town was founded in 1639, by Sir Francis Day, who arrived with East India Company. The British East India Company established a fort and a trading post at the small fishing village of chennai. Today, it has emerged as a major industrial and educational centre.

Chennai erstwhile known as Madras, is the elegant and eloquent capital city of Tamilnadu. It is the fourth largest metropolis in India with a population of 6 million people multilingual, multiracial, multi religious, all blended into a harmonious homogeneity. Located in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India, the city faces the Bay of Bengal. Chennai-Madras, one of the four major metropolitan cities of India, is the capital the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu-the exotic state famous for its cutworks in the temples, coconut fringes, and silk saris.

This capital city has several important temples. The ancient ones among them are the Kapaleeswarar temple at Mylapore and Parthasarathi temple at Thiruvallikeni. Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu is the fourth largest metropolis in India. Located on a 17 km stretch of the Coramandel coast, the city is trisected by the waterways of Cooum and Adyar and the Buckingham Canal. With a population of 6 million people, Chennai is a vibrant city ever growing, expanding and changing every year.

Popularly regarded as the "Gateway to the South", Chennai presents a culture that is distinctly different from that of northern India. Music, dance and all other art forms of the South are cherished and nurtured in this city, which, though industrialized, continues to be traditional and conventional in many ways.

Chennai is a gracious city that has a clear skyline, long sandy beaches, parks, historic landmarks and tourist infrastructure facilities which make it a convenient entry point or base to start your tour of Tamil Nadu and South India. As far as religion is concerned, history has certainly left its mark on this city, which is believed to have been the place of St. Thomas, in the outskirt of the city. There are a number of churches in Chennai that are connected with the life and times of this apostle. There are also several ancient temples around Chennai, and, within the city itself are two magnificent temples - a temple in Triplicane and another in Mylapore.