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STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA

TAMIL NADU
Capital: Chennai
Language: Tamil
tn.gov.in/

Tamilnadu, the land of the Tamils is the heart of Dravidian culture with a distinctive style of their own. It is situated in the south-east of the Indian peninsula and is bounded by the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnatka in the North, Kerala & Karnataka in the West, the Bay of Bengal is in the East. At the southern tip is Kanyakumari, where the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea & Indian Ocean meet.

Tamilnadu boasts of long sunny beaches, warm plains, hill resorts, waterfalls, temples and monuments. The land mass of the State can be divided into two natural divisions, the eastern coastal plain & the hilly region along the north and the west. The coastal plain is usually sub-divided into the Coromandel plain, the alluvial plain of the Cauvery delta & the dry southern plains. The western ghats runs along the whole western side with the Palghat gap forming the one major gap in the mountain stretch. The mountain range to the south of the Palghat gap is known as the Anamlai Hills. These slopes with thick evergreen forests is the source of the rivers Cauvery, Vaigai and Tamaraparani. The perennial rivers are palar, Cheyyar, Ponnaiyar, Cauvery, Meyar, Bhavani, Amaravati, Vaigai, Chittar & Tamaraparani. The non-perennial rivers are the Vellar, Noyal, Suruli, Gundar, Vaipar, Valparai & Varshali.

Under the Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava & Nayak rulers art, architecture, literature and culture flourished. Since this region of Indoia was less affected by the foreign invaders, this peaceful land has retained much of its original culture.

It is also a land of temples, the temples being a sociao- religious institutions. There are more than 30,000 temples, most of them having a wonderful history (sthala puranam). The temples were originally not mere places of worship. In those days, they served as centres of learning, feasting, social interaction, a place where art, craft and culture flourished. The traditional South Indian style (Dravida style) was followed in the construction of the temples (the vimanas, the gopurams and other parts). The Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, the Nayaks contributed greatly.

Tamil is an ancient and rich language and has a history which can be traced back to the age of the Tolkappiyam (the tamil grammar text). The Pathu Pattu, Ettu Thogai, Aga Naanooru, Pura Naanooru, Tirukural by Tiruvalluvar, epics Silappadikaram, Manimekalai, Kamba Ramayanam, Works of Ottakuthar, Pugalendi, the contributions of the Saiva & Vaishanava saint poets are just some of the major Tamil literary works. Great contributions are being made to date.