South India · Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Sources: wikimedia
About Tamil Nadu
- Coastal
Where it is
Tamil Nadu is the southernmost state of India, with a long Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal, the tip of the peninsula at Kanyakumari, and the Western Ghats and Nilgiri hills along its western side; its capital is Chennai.
History
In the Sangam age Tamil Nadu was divided among the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms, whose poetry is among the oldest in India. The Pallavas built the shore temples of Mamallapuram, and the Cholas, at their height in the 11th century, built the great temple of Thanjavur and ruled across the seas. After the Vijayanagara and Nayak periods the British ruled it as the Madras Presidency, and Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969.
People
Tamil, with a literature going back more than two thousand years, is the state language, and Pongal, the harvest festival, is the great celebration of the year. Temple festivals, Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, silk weaving, farming and fishing shape the life of its communities.
Known for
- Temple towns such as Madurai, Thanjavur and Rameswaram
- Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music
- Kanchipuram silk saris
- The Nilgiri hills and Ooty
- Idli, dosa and Chettinad cooking
Did you know?
In 2004 Tamil became the first language to be recognised as a classical language of India.
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