MAJOR
CITIES IN TAMILNADU, INDIA |
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 |
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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
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(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. |
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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
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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. |
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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.
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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
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MADURAI : More than
2500 years old ancient city, situated on the banks of the
river
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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. |
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.. |
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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 |
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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. |
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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.
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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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