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About
Tamil Nadu
 Tamil Nadu is a beautiful state nestled in the southern
Indian peninsula, on the shores of the Bay of Bengal and the
deep blue Indian Ocean. It is a heady combination of tropical
climate, cooler hill resorts, ancient culture, and friendly
people making it an ideal holiday destination. The state of
Tamil Nadu is divided into 26 Administrative Districts which
in turn are further bifurcated into smaller divisions and
subdivisions including a total of 17,272 villages.
The state
Capital, Madras now renamed as Chennai is the fourth largest
city in the Indian sub-continent. It extends over an area of
174 Sq.km Its Legislative House has 235 seats. The state sends
57 members to the Indian national parliament: 18 to the Rajya
Sabha (upper house) and 39 to the Lok Sabha (lower house).
There are 18 local government administrative
districts.
History
The history of Tamil Nadu dates
back to the time the Dravidians had moved south, following the
advent of Aryans in the north. Historically, South India
consisted of four main Dravidian Kingdoms, the Pallavas, the
Cholas, the Pandyas (who ruled over what is now Tamil Nadu)
and the Chalukyas. The Muslim invasion of the South in the
14th century caused a retaliatory reaction from the Hindus,
who rallied to build a strong new kingdom, with its capital at
Vijaynagar.
On independence, the Madras province, as the south
was known then, was divided on a linguistic basis into states
of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. A mutual exchange of
certain areas between Kerala and Tamil Nadu (Malabar and
Kasargod to Kerala; Shencotta and Kanyakumari from Kerala) was
undertaken according to the State Reorganisation Act,
following which Madras adopted a new name, Tamil Nadu.
Society, arts and culture
 The
people of Tamil Nadu lead by and large, relaxed lifestyles.
Tamils have deep interest in music, dance and literature.
Dance forms like Bharanatyam and various forms of music,
including Carnatic Music, have flourished here for centures.
Festivals are a daily feature in this region. Navaratri or
Dussehra (September/October), Deepavali (October/ November),
Karthika (November/December) and Pongal (January ) are the
popular ones. A unique festival of Carnatic music, the
Thyagaraja festival is held annually in January at
Thiruvariyar, the birth place of famous singer poet
Thyagaraja, where one can witness the amazing spectacle of
mass performance, in total harmony and rhythm. Handicrafts
include the most intricately carved designes in wood, stone
and metal. The exquisitely carved Bronze and Tanjore plate
deserve special mention here
The people of the state speak Tamil language. But of late
owing to immigrants from other states into the urban centres
of the state, there has been a discernible increase in the
number of languages spoken in the state. Today several
languages such as Telegu, Malayalam, Hindi and other Indian
languages are being spoken in the state. Other than these
languages, English is spoken by the educated in most parts of
the state. Tamil Nadu has a literacy rate of 62.66 per cent
with the male literacy rate being 63.78 per cent and the
female literacy rate being 44.60 per cent. Tamils are lovers of good food.
Their favourite cuisines
invariably consist of idly (steamed rice cakes), dosai (a
pancake made from a batter of rice) and lentils crisp fried on
a pan, vada (deep fried doughnuts made from a batter of
lentils), pongal (a mish mash of rice and lentils boiled
together and seasoned with ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and
cummin seed), uppuma (cooked semolina seasoned in oil with
mustard, pepper, cummin seed and dry lentils.) Lunch or meals
consists of cooked rice served with an array of vegetable
dishes, sambar, chutneys, rasam (a hot broth made with
tamarind juice and pepper) and curd (yogurt).
The
places of tourist interest in the state are Chennai, the
beautiful capital city; Mamallapuram, the beach resort;
Kanchipuram, the land of 1000 temples; Madurai famous for the
Meenakshi temple; Rameshwaram, Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur,
the temple trio; the charming hill resorts of Yercaud,
Ootacamund and Kodaikanal and Kanyakumari, the southern tip of
India, renowned for its fantastic sunrise and sunset.
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