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Major Cities in Tamilnadu
CHENNAI
: Chennai, also known as Madras, the fourth largest city in India
and the capital of Tamilnadu. The city sprawls over more than 70
square km. The population of Chennai is 5.9 million. Many of the
Indian languages are spoken in Chennai, though the main language of
Chennai is Tamil. For travelers with an interest in the colonial
history of India, Chennai has much worth exploring and abundant
transport operations make other parts of the country readily
accessible.
For more than 2000 years the area has been popular with seafarers,
spice traders and cloth
merchants. The 16th century saw the arrival of the Portuguese,
followed by the Dutch. In 1693, the British East India Company
established a settlement in the fishing village of Madraspatnam. For
St. George was constructed over a period of 15 years and finally
completed in 1653. George town grew in the area of the fort and was
granted its first municipal charter in 1688 by James II, making it
the oldest municipality in India. During the 18th and 19th
centuries, French and British traders competed for supremacy in
India. In the 19th century, the city became the seat of the Madras
presidency, one of the four divisions of British imperial India.
After independence, it continue to grow into what is now a
significant southern gateway.
COONOOR :
Coonoor is surrounded by
the tea plantations, and at an altitude of 1850 m, Coonoor is the
first of the three Nilgiri hill station-Udhagamandalam (Ooty ),
Kotagiri and Coonoor - that you come to when leaving behind the
southern plains. Like Ooty, it's on the toy train line from
Mettupalayam.While Kotagiri had the Kotas, and Ooty the Todas, so
Coonoor was home to the Coon hill tribe. ( The suffix, 'oor', means
village. ) This now bustling town appears rather squashed between
the hills and it's only after climbing up out of the busy market
area with the bus and train terminals that you'll get a sense of
what hill stations were originally all about. For this reason, too,
most of the better accommodation is in Upper Coonoor
THANJAVUR
: Thanjavur was the ancient capital of the Chola kings whose
origins, go back to the beginning of the Christian era. Power
struggles between these groups were a constant feature of their
early history, with one or other gaining the ascendancy at various
times. The Cholas' turn for empire building came between 850 and
1270 AD and , at the height of their power. Probably the greatest
chola emperors were Raja Raja who was responsible for building the
Brihadishwara Temple ( Thanjavur main attraction ) and his son
Rajendra-I whose navy competed with the Arabs for controls of the
Indian Ocean trade routes and who was responsible for bringing
Srivijaya under Chola control.
Thanjavur is famous for
its distinctive art style , which is usually a combination of raised
and painted surfaces. Krishna is the most popular of the gods
depicted and in the Thanjavur school his skin is white rather than
the traditional blue-black.
The enormous gopurams of the Brihadeshwara Temple dominate
Thanjavur. The temple itself, between the Grand Anicut Canal and the
old town is surrounded by fortified walls and a moat. The old town,
too used to be similarly enclosed, but most of the walls have now
disappeared. What remains are winding streets and alleys and the
extensive ruins of the palace of the Nayakas of Madurai.
COIMBATORE : One of the most important cities of Tamilnadu,
Coimbatore is called the
'Manchester of South India' and is the third largest city in the
state. The headquarters of the Nilgiri region, its exposure to the
Palghat Gap of the Western Ghats Coimbatore a Salubrious climate. A
highly industrialised city, it is the centre of textile
manufacturing in the state - there are over a hundred mills in and
around Coimbatore. Primarily a business centre, it is known for the
manufacturing of motor pump sets and various engineering and
electronic goods.
UDACAMANDALAM (OOTY): This famous hill station in the
Nillgiri Hills was founded by the British in the early part of
the 19th century to serve as the summer headquarters of the Madras
government. Untill about two decades ago, 'Snooty' Ooty
resembled an unlikely comnination of southern England and Australia:
single-storey stone cottages, bijou fenced flower gardens, leafy,
winding lanes, and tall eucalypt stands covering the otherwise
barren hilltops.
The other main reminders of the British period are the stone
churches, the private schools, the Ooty club, various maharajas'
summer palaces and the terraced botanical gardens.
Udhagamandalam (Ooty), is spread over a large area amongst rolling
hills and valleys. Between the lake and the racecourse are the
railway station and bus stand . From either of these it's a 10
minute walk to the market area ans 20 minutes to Ooty's real centre,
Charing Cross (the junction of Coonoor, Kelso and Commercial roads
).
MADURAI : More than 2500 years old ancient city, situated on
the banks of the river Vaigai Madurai is believed to have been built
by the Pandyan King Kulasekara. Legend has it that
drops of Maduram (nectar) fell from Lord Shiva's locks when he came
to bless its people for constructing a temple for him. Madurai's
history can be divided into four periods, beginning over 2000 years
ago, when it was the capital of the Pandyan Kings. Apart from a
brief period it fell to the Cholas, Madurai remain with Pandyan till
the decline of the empire. The 200year old reign of the Natakas
marked the golden era when art, architecture and learning scaled new
heights.
THIRUCHIRAPPALLY : The most famous landmark of this bustling
town is the Rock Fort Temple, a spectacular monument perched
on a massive rocky outcrop which rises abruptly from the plain to
tower over the old city. It is reached by a flight of steep steps
cut into the rock and from its summit you get a fantastic view of
the town plus its other main landmark.
Sri Ranganathaswamy
Temple. This temple is one of the largest and most interesting
temple complexes in India, built on an island in the middle of the
Cauvery River and covering a staggering 2.5 sq km.
Trichy itself has a long
going back to the centuries before Christian era when it was a Chola
citadel. The town and its fort as it stands today, was built by the
Nayaks of Madurai. It was one of the main centres around which the
wars of the Carnatic were fought in the 18th century during the
British-French struggle for supremacy in India.
The most famous landmark of this
bustling town is the Rock
Fort Temple, a spectacular monument perched on a
massive rocky outcrop which rises abruptly from the plain to tower
over the old city. It is reached by a flight of steep steps cut into
the rock and from its summit you get a fantastic view of the town
plus its other main landmark, the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. This
temple is one of the largest and most interesting temple complexes
in India, built on an island in the middle of the Cauvery River and
covering a staggering 2.5 sq km.
Trichy itself has a long
going back to the centuries before Christian era when it was a Chola
citadel. The town and its fort as it stands today, was built by the
Nayaks of Madurai. It was one of the main centres around which the
wars of the Carnatic were fought in the 18th century during the
British-French struggle for supremacy in India.
VELLORE : Vellore, 145 km from Chennai, is a dusty, semi rural
bazaar town. For tourists, it is noteworthy only for the
Vijaynagar fort and its temple, which are in an excellent state of
preservation and worth visiting.
The town has a modern church built in an old British cemetery, which
contains the
tomb of a captain who died in 1799' of excessive fatigue incurred
during the glorious campaign which ended in the defeat of Tipoo
Sultan'. Here, too is a memorial to the victims of the little known
'Vellore Mutiny' of 1806. The mutiny was instigated by the second
son of Tipoo Sultan , who was incacerated in the fort at that time,
and was put down by a task force sent from Arcot. Vellore is now
best known for its hospital, one of the best in the country. The
people who come here from all over India for medical care give this
humble town a cosmopolitan feel..
RAMESWARAM : Rameswaram known as the Varanasi of the south,
Rameswaram is a major pilgrimage centre for both Shaivites and
Vaishnavaites as it was here that Rama ( an incarnation of Vishnu in
the Indian epic the Ramayana ) offered thanks to Siva. At the town's
core is the Ramanathaswamy Temple, one of the most important temples
in southern India.
Rameswaram is on an island in the Gulf of Mannar, connected to
the mainland at Mandapam by rail and by one of India's engineering
wonders, the Indira Gandhi Bridge. The bridge took 14 years to build
and was opened by Rajiv Gandhi late in 1988.The town lies on the
island's eastern side and used to be the port from which the ferry
to Talaimannar ( Sri Lanka ) departed before passenger
services were suspended more than a decade ago. as a result, there
are now very few foreign visitors.
KANYAKUMARI :
Kanyakumari was once referred to as the "ALEXANDRIA OF THE
EAST".This place has been a great centre for
art,culture,civilization and pilgrimage for years. It was also a
famous centre for commerce and trade. During the early part of the
8th century A.D,Islam entered the southern part of India through the
sea route with traders and Missionaries.Through St.Thomas,
Christianity arrived
in this area in 52 A.D. Islam, Christianity and Jainism religions
have greatly contributed to the Architectural wealth and literal
heritage of this place. Kanyakumari was also under the control of
the Cholas, the Cheras, the Pandyas and the Nayaks who were the
great rulers of South India. The architectural beauty of the temples
are the beautiful work of these rulers.
KANCHIPURAM : Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of
India and was, successively, capital of the kingdom of the
Pallavas, Cholas and rajas of Vijayanagar. During Pallavas times, it
was briefly occupied by the Chalukyans of Badami, and by the
Rashtrakutas when the battle fortunes of the Pallavas kings reached
a low ebb
Kanchipuram is a temple city and its many gopurams can be
seen from a long way away. Of the original 1000 temples, there are
still about 125 left spread out across the city. Many of them are
the work of the later Cholas and of the Vijayanagar kings.Kanchi is
also famous for its hand-woven silk fabrics. This industry
originated in Pallava times, when the weavers were employed to
produce clothing and fabrics for the kings .Other than the temples,
Kanchipuram is a dusty and fairly nondescript town and there's
precious little to see or do except when the temple car festivals
take place.
MAMALLAPURAM : The town of temples, sand
and sea - Mamallapuram, formely known as Mahabalipuram is
world renowned for its beautiful Shore Temple. It was
once the main port and naval base of the great Pallava kingdom and
was later made the capital of this Dynasty.
'Mamall ', meaning the great wrestler was the name given to king
Narasimha Varman I. Most of the temples here is dedicathe Lord Siva
and Vishnu, were completed between 630 A.D and 728 A.D during the
reign of Narasimha Varman II.
At the annual
Mamallapuram Dance Festival , sand , water and temples set the
backdrop for the graceful and evocative dancers who celebrates the
ancient Indian culture and tradition. This quaint little town of
Mamallapuram is enriched with ancient and splendid sculptures. Each
of the beautiful works of arts has a story to tell. Like the large
bas relief that narrates the tale of Arjuna's Penance. Arjuna here,
is shown standing on one leg to please Lord Shiva into helping him
win back the Pandava Empire.
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