Chennai - The Detroit of India

Chennai is the fourth largest city of India with an estimated population of 7 million. It is the capital of the state of TamilNadu. It is the third largest commercial and industrial centre in India, and is known for its cultural heritage and temple architecture. It is also a well known centre for Indian classical music and dance performances. It is also a major centre for the production of automobiles. That's why it is also refferred as Detroit of India. The city has a 12 km long coast line on the east coast.

It has also remained capital of British India. Formerly it was known as Madras - which seemed to be of Portuguese origin. It was renamed as Chennai in 1996.The region around Chennai has served as an important administrative, military and economic centre dating back to 1st century. It has been ruled by several major Kingdoms of South India like The Pallava, the Chola, the Pandya and Vijaynagar empires. First of all Portuguese arrived here in 1522, they built a port and named it St Thomas. Later on, British obtained a small strip of land in the coromandal coast from Vijaynagar King. They also got permission to build a factory and warehouse for their trading activities.

A year after, Fort St. George was built, which subsequently became the nucleus around which the colonial city grew. Fort St. George and Madras were captured by French in 1746. After 3 years, British again regained the control in 1749, and they fortified the base to withstand further attacks from French and Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore. Under British rule, city grew into a major urban centre and naval base. When India got independence in 1947, the city became capital of Madras state which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969.

Major tourist attractions of the city include Marina Beach which is second largest beach in the world. Some of the important buildings of the state like Senate House, Chepauk Palace, Presidency College, PWD office and Ice House are located on beach drive.
Kapaleeswarar Temple - It is the oldest temple of Madras dedicated to Lord Shiva, was built in 13th century. This temple attracts large number of tourists everyyear during festival season in the temple.

Fort St. George - The British People built Fort St. George in 1653. The Fort has a museum with a vast collection of British and French Antiques and other artifacts. Beautiful St. Mary's church also stands in the premises of the fort - The first church of India.