All Details About Chennai

You will find all details about Chennai here. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu. This was formerly called as Madras. It is one of the cosmopolitan cities of India. This is one of the densely populated places with a population of 4.68 million. It is also a center of South Indian culture with its historical buildings, sandy beaches and a number of monuments. The area of Chennai is 174 square kilometer at an altitude of mean sea level.

History of Chennai

There are lots of details to be said about Chennai because this is a historical place which has a history of over 350 years. The name Chennai was derived from the word Chennappattanam. Fort St. George was the oldest building here built in 1640 by English. It is also called as Madrasapattanam during the British rule. It was officially renamed as Chennai in 1996.

Before the arrival of Portugese in 1522 Chennai was ruled by Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava Kings. For a short period of time from 1746 to 1749 Madras went into the control of French. Then it fell back to the hands of English. In the early 20^th century Madras presidency was established with Madras as its capital. After Indian independence it came to be called as the Madras State which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969.

Geographical Details About Chennai

The temperature of Chennai ranges from maximum 37 degree centigrade to minimum 21 degree centigrade in summer and maximum 32 degree centigrade to minimum 20 degree centigrade in winter. The average rainfall received here is 1,272 mm per year. The rainfall is heavy here from June to September. It gets its rainfall from north east monsoon winds. The cyclones in Bay of Bengal also bring rain to the city.

Chennai has a wet and dry tropical climate with sea breeze blowing at the fall of the day. The eastern coastal plain runs for about 6 kilometers that the Marina Beach is considered to be the world’s second longest beach. The two rivers flowing through Chennai are Cooum river and Adyar river. The Buckingham Canal joins these two rivers. The water resources of the city are Veeranam Lake project, Telugu Ganga project and Chemparambakkam lake.

The important areas in Chennai are Mylapore, Alwarpet, Nandanam, Mandaveli, George Town, Anna Nagar, Otteri, Vadapalani, Kodambakkam, Guindy, Meenampaakkam, Washermanpet, Vepery, Nungampakkam, Mount Road, Paris Corner, Royapettah, Chetput, Arumbakkam, Nerkundram, Veyasarpadi and Ashok Nagar.

Culture of people

Tamil is the main language spoken in Chennai. Other languages spoken here are Telugu, Urdu, English and Kannada. Bharatnatyam is the classical dance that is favored by people. Carnatic music flourishes here and music season is celebrated every year by the Madras Music Academy. Tamil film industry is centered in Chennai in the place called Kodambakkam. This is often called as Kollywood.

People of various religions like Hindus, Muslim, Christians and Sikhs live here. They celebrate various festivals like Pongal, Deepavali, Ramzan, Bakrid, Easter, Krishna Jayanthi, Christmas, Muharam, Sivarathri, Navarathri, etc. Though various cultures are followed and various festivals are celebrated they live in harmony.

The typical dresses of Chennai are sarees and lungis. Women wear sarees, cholis, sudithars and salwars while men wear shirts, lungis, pants and dhotis. Rice is the staple food here. Many other varieties like pongal, idli, dosa, puttu, idiyappam and paniyaram that are made of rice are consumed. Men are the head of the family and women give respect to their husbands in most of the families. The one for one culture is practiced and women are respected at par with goddesses.

Economical details and educational details about Chennai

If you want to know all the information about Chennai then you must not miss its economical details. The economy of Chennai is one of the fastest growing in India. 10.9% of total income of Tamil Nadu comes from Chennai. The total income of this place is Rs. 12,485.92 crores. This is expected to increase to about $150 billion in 2025.

The major industries of Chennai are automobile industry, software industry, hardware industry, health industry, textile industry, finance industry, apparel and footwear manufacturing industry, electronics industry, leather industry and film industry. The important multinational companies are Samsung, Motorola, Flestronics, Nokia, Dell, etc. Lots of cloth and garments manufacturing units are situation in the Ambattur – Padi industrial area.

30% of India’s total automobile industry is based around Chennai. The main automobile and automobile spare parts industry located here are Ashok Leyland, Nissan Renault, TI Cycles of India, Royal Enfield, TVS Group, Hyundai, Ford, Mitsubhishi, Royal Enfield, Appollo tyres, Michelin, Madras Rubber Factory, BMW, etc.

Computer software industry in Chennai contributes to the 14% of the total software exports of India. The largest IT Park in Asia, Tidel Park spreads over 1.28 million square feet in its building area. There are more than 500 IT companies here the important one among them are Polaris Software Lab Ltd, TVS Infotech, Pentagon Global Solutions, TCS, IBN Software, etc.

There are numerous ICSE schools, CBSE schools and state board syllabus schools and arts and science colleges, engineering colleges, nursing colleges and medical colleges located here. Some of the schools in Chennai are St. John’s Senior Secondary School, Chinmaya Vidhyalaya, Don Bosco Matriculation School, The Hindu Higher Secondary School, Vidhya Mandir Sr. Sec. School, SBOA School, Bala Vidhya Mandi Sr. Sec. School, D. A. V. Girls High School, Besant Arundale Sr. Sec. School, etc. Some of the colleges located here are Pachaiyappa’s College, Madras Christian College, Rani Mary College, The New College, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Loyola College, ACS Medical College, Madras Medical College, Kilpauk Medical College, Stanley Medical College, Sri Balaji Medical college, Saveetha Medical College, Kilpauk Medical College, Sapthagiri College of Engineering, MGR Engineering College, Jeppiyar Engineering College, Crescent Engineering College, Velammal Engineering College, Anna University, University of Madras, etc.

Transport facilities in Chennai

Chennai is well connected by rail, road, air and sea transports. The Southern Railway has its headquarters in Chennai. The two main railway stations in Chennai are Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore. Apart from these two there is suburban railway system with four broad gauge sectors connecting Chennai Central and Arakkonam, Chennai Central and Gummidipoondi – Sulurpet – Gudur, Chennai Beach and Tambaram and Chengalpet, Chennai Beach and Velachery. Chennai metro rail is under construction.

The buses are run by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the buses run between various routes like Parrys to Tambaram, Chennai Central to CMBT, Parrys to CMBT, etc. Deluxe and A/C buses are also run by the State Corporation. Auto-rickshaws, taxis and cars are available for traveling around the city and for sightseeing. You can also avail the services of prepaid taxis.

Chennai International Airport is situated in situated near Meenampakkam. This is the third busiest transport in India after Mumbai and Delhi. There are two terminals in this airport, Anna Terminal for international flights and Kamaraj Terminal for domestic flights. You can fly to many parts of the world by the service offered by the companies like Jet Airways, Singapore Airlines, Tiger Airways, Indian Airlines, Air India Express, Oman Air, Air Arabia, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, Spice Jet, etc.

The two major ports of the city are Chennai Port and Ennore Port. The Chennai Port is the second busiest port with an annual cargo tonnage of 61.46 million. There is also a small harbor at Royapuram that is used for fishing boats. L&T Shipbuilding Company has established Kattupalli Shipyard near Ennore.

Internal Infrastructure of Chennai

You will find it very interesting to know about the internal infrastructure of Chennai. The important places of worship here are Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Thomas, St. Mary’s Church, St. Thomas Mount, Big Mosque, Amir Mahal, Kapaleeswarar Temple, The Parthasarathy Temple, Sri Ramakrishna Math Universal Temple, etc.

The important shopping malls here are Spencer Plaza, Chennai Citi Center, Shoppers’ Stop, Ispahani Center, Prince Plaza, Ampa Mall, Express Avenue, etc. The jewelry shops in Chennai are Joyalukkas, Jaipur Gems, Aishwarya Jewelry, Vummidi Bangaru Jewelry, Bapalal Jewellers, Jugal Kishore Jewellers, Aarthi Thanga Maligai, N. Gopaldas Jewellers, Kanisk, etc. The important book stores are Bookfield, Higginbothams, Kennedys Book House and Alwar’s Roadside Bookshop.

The important cinema theatres are Udhayam theatre, Devi Cineplex, Sathyam Cine Comples, Escape Cinemas, Inox, Abhirami Cine Complex, Mayajaal Cine Complex, Shanti Cine Complex, Ega theatres, Sangam Cine Complex, Rakki theatre, Ganga Theatre, AGS Royal, Vetri theatre, etc.

The telecommunication facility in Chennai is provided by BSNL, Airtel, Reliance, Tata, Aircel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Idea, Uninor, MTS, Virgin and Videocon companies. Though most of the banks in the country have their branch in Chennai, important ones among them are ABN Amro, Andhra Bank, HSBC, American Express, Citibank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce. These banks have numerous ATM centers across Chennai.

Many multispecialty hospitals are located in Chennai. People from all over India come to these hospitals to get specialized treatments for various diseases. Complicated surgeries like heart transplantation are done in the major hospitals. Some of the hospitals located around Chennai are Apollo Hospitals, Aysha Hospital, New Hope Medical Centre, Balaji Hospital, Madras Medical Mission, Hindu Mission Hospital, Dr. Kamakshi memorial Hospital, Devaki Hospitals, Ramachandra Hospital, Dr. Mehta’s Hospital, etc.

The Accord Metropolitan, Ambassador Pallava, Chola Sheraton, Courtyard Chennai, Hyatt Regency, ITC Hotel Park Sheraton and Towers, Le Royal Meridian, The Park, Radisson GRT Hotel, Taj Connamera, Taj Coromandel and Trident Chennai are some of the five star hotels in Chennai.

Places of Visit in Chennai

Chennai is not only a metropolitan city but also a tourist place that draws thousands of tourists. There are so many historical places, monuments, theme parks, beaches and lakes located around Chennai. Hardly any first time visitor to Chennai would leave without spending time in the Marina Beach. Anna Samadhi and MGR Samadhi are located in Marina Beach. From the lighthouse here you can watch the panoramic view of the whole city. Covelong Beach and Eliot’s Beach fascinate the visitors with their white sand, wind surfing and many other water sports activities.

Fort St. George is the most important historical place which houses Fort Museum. The legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu is conducted here and so it is also called as secretariat building. The tallest flagpole in India with an altitude of 150 feet has been erected here. The State Government Museum is another place worth visiting and this includes Archaeology section, Geology section, Zoology section, Botany section, Numismatics section, Bronze section, Art gallery, Children’s museum and many more interesting sections.

The National Art Gallery was established in 1907 which has the rare collection of paintings, sculptures and handicraft items. The Birla Planetarium situated at Kotturpuram is a place worth visiting. Valluvar Kottam is situated in Nungampakkam in memory of the Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar. All the 1330 Thirukkurals are written on stones and these stone inscriptions and the temple chariot shaped memorial are the center of attraction here.

The Arinjar Anna Zoological Park which is popularly called as Vandalur Zoo houses 170 species of mammals, birds and reptiles in it. Lion safari and elephant rides are available here. Guindy National Park stretches over 280 hectares with numerous varieties of flora and fauna. Guindy Snake Park consists of different species of snakes and other reptiles like lizards, crocodiles and turtles. This is also the breeding ground of snakes. All these places are the favorites of small children. Those who are visiting Chennai with kids should not miss them.

Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram is located near Chennai that has rock cut caves and monolithic scriptures that bears testimony to the Pallava art and architecture. If you want to spend a whole day in a single place then there are many theme parks located in and around Chennai. These parks are open on all week days and public holidays. Those who are looking for a recreational area away from the busy life of the city may choose these places. Some of them are Kishkinta, Little Folks, MGM Dizzee World, VGP Golden Beach, DASH n SPLASH, Prime Time, etc.

These details about Chennai will help you to enjoy the various treasures in store for you here.