State of Tamil Nādu, India — Towns & Travel Guide

What is State of Tamil Nādu known for?

Tamil Nadu is known as the land of the Tamils and their language, Tamil, which was the first tongue recognised as a classical language in India. It stands at India's southern end. Chennai, its capital, is the largest city and the centre of its public life.

The Tamil language and its long written tradition remain the state's clearest mark.

Where is State of Tamil Nādu?

Tamil Nadu occupies the far south of India, the southernmost of the country's states. It sits well within the tropics. The state covers a large area, ranking among the ten largest states of India by size, and its land spreads across the southern reach of the country from the interior to its far edges.

Chennai, the capital and largest city, anchors the state. Around it spreads the wider territory of the Tamils, the people native to this part of India, whose homeland fills the state. Its size makes it a large southern block of India.

The land is the Tamil homeland, the ground where the Tamil language has been spoken and written across a long history. From the seat at Chennai, the state reaches south toward the end of the Indian mainland. Its position at the southern edge sets the state apart from the many states lying to its north.

All of it lies in the warm southern part of the country. Tamil Nadu holds the southern corner of India. Chennai stands as the point from which the rest of the state opens out.

What is State of Tamil Nādu like?

Tamil Nadu takes its identity from the Tamils, the people native to this southern part of India. Their language, Tamil, is the state's official tongue, and it was the first language in India to be recognised as a classical one. That recognition speaks to its great age.

Tamil has been spoken and written here across a very long history, and it still runs through the public and the private life of the state alike. The people and their language have shaped this southern land together. The culture of the state is built around that language and the people who carry it.

Chennai, the capital, stands at the centre of Tamil public life and gathers much of the state's cultural energy. Beyond the city, the wider country of the Tamils keeps the same language and the same long inheritance. Its literature and speech reach back through the centuries.

The classical status of Tamil marks it out among the tongues of India. Few states hold so single an identity. Tamil Nadu wears that identity as plainly as any state in the country, its people and language bound together.

What is the history of State of Tamil Nādu?

Tamil Nadu took its modern shape in 1950, set up as a state of India. Its people are far older than that date. The Tamils have lived in this southern land across a very long history, and their language, Tamil, carries one of the oldest classical traditions in India.

Chennai has long stood as the state's chief city.

What is the climate of State of Tamil Nādu?

Tamil Nadu has a hot tropical climate, warm through nearly the whole year at India's southern end. The seasons turn on the rains. A dry, hot stretch gives way to a wet season, and the rains shape the working year across the state.

The far-south position keeps the heat steady. Little of the year turns cold.

How do you get to State of Tamil Nādu?

Most travellers reach Tamil Nadu through Chennai, the capital and largest city. It is the main point of arrival. Overland routes run in from the neighbouring states to the north, linking Tamil Nadu to the rest of India across the south of the country.

From Chennai, the state opens out. Roads and rail carry most of the traffic in and out.