Tamil Nadu

The farthest Southern- most State of Indian Sub-continent – Tamil Nadu is known as the “Land of Tamils”. The State was formed in 26 January 1950, with Chennai (Madras) as its Capital city. This region has been formed by 32 districts. Tamil and English are the official language spoken here. Tamil is the ancient language and the oldest surviving classical languages of the world. This State is the centre of the Dravidian culture where you could see its phenomenon in the State in form of splendid temples, magnificent places, elaborate carvings, and the close –knit traditional society.

Established 26 January 1950
Capital Chennai
Largest City Chennai
District 32
High Court Madras High Court
Rivers Kaveri, Palar, Vaigai, Ponnaiyar, Thamirabarani, Bhavani, Noyyal, Amaravathi and Amaravathi etc.
National Parks Mudumalai National Park, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Mukurthi National Park, Guindy National Park, Bandipur National Park and Periyar National Park
Languages Tamil and English
Population (2011) 7,21,47,030
Density 550/km2
Area 130,060 km2
State Animal Nilgiri tahr
State Bird Emerald dove
State Tree Palm tree
State Flower Gloriosa lily
State Game Kabaddi
State Dance Bharathanattiyam
Literacy Rate (2011) 80.33%
Females per 1000 males 987
Lok Sabha constituencies 39
Assembly constituency 235
Official Website http://www.tn.gov.in/
Time zone UTC+05:30

History

The region of Tamil Nadu existed 3,000,000 years before the arrival of Homo sapiens from Africa. Moreover, archaeological excavations were done in Adichanallur to Tirunelveli and it was discovered evidences from the Neolithic ages and the Indus Valle Civilizations. The history of Tamil Nadu began with the rule of 3 Tamil powers- Chera, Chola and Pandya. These kingdoms enjoyed political and commercial relations with distant foreign lands like Greece, Rome, Western Asia, etc. During the mid- 6th Century till the 9th Century, Chalukyas of Badami, the Pallavas of Kanchi (now Kanchipuram), and the Pandyas of Madurai fought with each for supremacy in this region. This era also marked the golden age of Hinduism and development of fine arts. The Cholas were the most dominant power in this region and Rajendrachola Deva I (1014–44) was the most distinguished ruler of this dynasty. During the mid-14th Century, the Vijayanagar Empire came into prominence and ruled till 300 years.

During 1640, East India Company of England came from England and opened a trading post in Chennai with the permission from the local ruler. After this, the history of Tamil from the mid- 17th Century till 1946 AD fell into the power of the British Empire and came to be known as the Madras Presidency. In 1953, the Telugu- speaking area were separated to form a new State of Andhra Pradesh. In 1956, this State again was divided to form Kerala and Mysore (now Karnataka). Finally, the remaining part of Madras was formed into Tamil Nadu in 1968 officially.

Geography

The area covered by Tamil Nadu is 130,058 km2 and it shares the borders with Kerala (West), Karnataka (North-West), Andhra Pradesh (North) and the Bay of Bengal (East). It also surrounds the Union Territory of Puducherry. The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula that is the far southern part of Tamil Nadu is the Kanyakumari. This is the meeting point of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean. Tamil Nadu lies between the flat land of the Eastern coast and the hilly regions of North, West and South. The Eastern plains are fertile since it is situated in the fertile Kaveri River delta. The peaks of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri hills which run along the State’s western border. Other parts of these mountain ranges are Anai Peak and Anaimalai Peak. However, the southern parts are the flat arid regions and are not fertile. The major rivers of this State are the Kaveri, the Ponnaiyar, the Palar, the Vaigai, and the Tambraparni which flow eastward from the inland hills. Tamil Nadu is also the third longest coastline of India which measures at about 906.9 km. These coastlines were also the worst affected area of the 2004 Tsunami of Indian Ocean.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Tamil Nadu had a population of 72,147,030 with 36,137,975 males and 36,009,055 females. The sex ratio of the State is 995 females per 1000 males. Tamil Nadu has 51,837,507 literates and this makes the literacy rate at 80.33 %. This State consists of 87.6% Hindus, 6.1% Christians, 5.9% Muslims, 0.1% Jains and 0.3% following other religions or no religion.

Economy

In 2014- 2015, Tamil Nadu’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was Rs. 9.767 trillion (US$150 billion), and growth was 14.86. It also ranks third in FDI approvals. The economic contribution of Tamil Nadu is 45 % from the services, 34 % from the manufacturing industries and 21 % from agriculture. Historically, Tamil Nadu was an agricultural State, producing rice, bananas, turmeric, flowers, tapioca, mango, natural rubber, coconut, groundnut, coffee, tea, sugarcane and oil palm. The allied activities of agriculture are poultry and livestock which is also the major economic contributor. Tamil Nadu is also rich in textiles and leather industry, automobiles, heavy industries, information technology, etc.

Tamil Nadu is the south Asian manufacturing hub for Nokia, Flextronics, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Foxconn, Samsung, Cisco, Moser Baer, Lenovo, Samsung, Dell, Sanmina-SCI, and Texas Instruments. Other major national and global IT Companies such as Syntel, Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services, Verizon, Hewlett-Packard, Bosch, Amazon.com, eBay, PayPal, IBM, Accenture, Ramco Systems, DXC Technology, Cognizant Technology solutions, Tech Mahindra, Polaris, Aricent, MphasiS, Mindtree, Hexaware Technologies and many others have their offices in Tamil Nadu.

Transportation

Tamil Nadu’s extensive road network includes 29 national highways, covering a total distance of 5,006.14 km. This region is also the terminus for the Golden Quadrilateral project, that connects Indian metro cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. The major road transport is managed by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. Tamil Nadu also has a good railway network under the Southern Railways connecting many Indian cities and towns. Tamil Nadu has four international airports, and their names are Chennai International Airport, Coimbatore International Airport, Tiruchirapalli International Airport and Madurai International Airport. Salem Airport and Tuticorin Airport are domestic airports. Moreover, the State has three major seaports located at Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin.

Tourism

In India, the largest tourism industry is headed by Tamil Nadu. This is promoted and managed by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC), a Government of Tamil Nadu undertaking. Every year around 4.68 million international tourists and 333.5 million domestic tourists come to watch the gems of Tamil Nadu. The state is famous for beautiful Hindu temples in Dravidian style. Some of these are The Brihadishwara Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the Airavateswara temple,the Shore Temple and the Arunachaleshwara Temple, along with the collection of other monuments in Mahabalipuram which) have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Other tourist attractions are Yercaud, Kodaikanal Lake, Ooty, Croog, Munnar, Marina beach, Nataraj temple, Guindy National park, Meenakshi Amman temple, etc.

Sports

The Kabbadi is the State game of Tamil Nadu while the traditional games are Silambam – a martial arts played with a long bamboo stuff, cockfight, Jallikattu, etc. Other modern sports include cricket, chess and tennis. Tamil Nadu also has its own IPL team – Chennai Super kings. The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is an international cricket ground with a capacity of 50,000 and houses the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Noted sports personalities like Vishwanath Anand (World Chess Champim 2007-2013), Dinesh Kartik (Cricketer), Mahesh Bhupati (Tennis player), Laxmipathy Balaji (Cricketer), etc hails from Tamil Nadu.

Culture

Tamil Nadu is the land of great Hindu temples and is famous for classical dance – Bharatnatyam and Tanjore arts. Pongal is the most important festival of Tamil Nadu. Other festivals celebrated here are Dussera, Diwali, Vaikasi, Visakam, Avani Moolam,etc. Kanchipuram silk and poothkuli is the most important and famous art & craft of the State.

Education

Tamil Nadu has good number of educational institutes for quality higher education. These are: Indian Institute of Technology Madras, College of Engineering, Guindy, Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli, St. Joseph’s Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli, Indian Maritime University, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Madras Medical College, Loyola College, Chennai, Ethiraj College for Women, Stella Maris College, Chennai, Anna University, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

Hospital and Healthcare

Tamil Nadu’s best Hospitals are listed below which are top in quality, services, and equipped with modern facilities. These are: Manipal Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Malar, Madras Medical Mission Hospital, Sankara Nethralaya, Christian Medical College, and many more on the list.