We feel enthusiastic and energetic at once when we heard the word Chennai. The reason is that Chennai is one of the biggest cultural, economic and educational centers in South India and it is formerly known as Madras. Madras day is celebrated on 22 nd of August month every year. Chennai is considered as Metropolitan Area because it is the fifth largest city and 36th largest urban area by population in the world. Chennai is among the most visited Indian cities by foreign tourists. Marina Beach is considered to be the second largest beach in the world. People visiting Chennai would like to make a visit to marina, which is major point of attraction to Chennai.
The Quality of Living Survey rated Chennai as the safest city and named as hottest city by BBC. Chennai has the mixture of both modern and traditional values. Under PM Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities Mission Chennai has been selected as one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city.USA is known as the world’s traditional automotive center. But in India, Chennai is a major hub for all manufacturing and big automotive companies because it is responsible for 60% of the country’s automotive exports.
ORIGIN OF NAME:
It is believed that the name Madras is originated before the British arrival in India. Still, origin of the name is unclear; according to Portuguese language madras means “mother of God”. According to some sources, Madras was derived from Madraspattinam, a fishing-village north of Fort St George.
But historians clearly proved that the name Chennai was derived from the name of a Telegu ruler DamarlaChennappaNayakudu. In 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name from Madras to Chennai.
HISTORY OF CHENNAI:
On 20 August 1639 Francis Day of the East India Company along with the Nayak of Kalahasti Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu, the Military administrator under Vijayanagar Emperor travelled to Chandragiri palace to meet the Vijayanagara King Peda venkataraya and to obtained grant for a small strip of land in the Coromandel Coast from in Chandragiri as a place to build a factory and warehouse for their trading activities
The region was then primarily a fishing village known as "Madraspatnam". A year later, the English built Fort St. George, the first major English settlement in India, which became the nucleus of the growing colonial city and urban Chennai, grew around this Fort. After India its independence in 1947, the city became the capital of Madras State, which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969. The violent aqitations of 1965 against the compulsory imposition of Hindi and in support of English in India in the state marked a major shift in the political dynamics of the city and eventually it had a big impact on the whole state. Because of Madras and its people, English now exists in India, otherwise Hindi might have been made the sole official language in India.On 17thJuly 1996, the city known as Madras was officially renamed Chennai, in line with what was then a nationwide trend to using less Anglicized names.
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE ABOUT CHENNAI:
The region around Chennai has served as an important administrative, military, and economic centre for many centuries. The Pallava dynasty of Kanchipuram built the areas of Mahabalipuram and Pallavaram during the reign of Mahendravarman 1.
The famous tamil poet and weaver named Thiruvalluvar lived in mylapore. The oldest buildings in the city dates from the 7th and 8th centuries CE, which include the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore and the Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane, built in the Dravidian architecture. Chennai ranks second to Kolkata of Indian heritage buildings. The Chepauk Palace in the city, designed by Paul Benfield, is said to be the first Indo-Saracenic building in India. Since then, many of the colonial-era buildings in the city were designed in this style of architecture, which is most apparent around the Fort St. George built in 1640. Most of these were designed by English architects Robert Fellowes Chisholm and Henry Irwin.
The best examples of this style include the Madras High Court, Southern railway headquarters, Ripon building, Government Museum, Senate House of the University of Madras, Amir Mahal. After Independence, the city witnessed a rise in the Modernism style of architecture.
MUSEUMS:
Chennai is famous for many museums, galleries, and other institutions.The city also has one of the oldest Museum and Art Gallery in the country- Government Museum and The National Art Gallery. The city also hosts two art festivals annually. No charges collected from the visitors,it’s free of cost. So tourists like to do researches on these museums.
MUSIC AND ART:
Chennai is a major center for music, art and culture in India. The Madras Music Academy conducts Madras Music Season every year during the month of December. Carnatic musicians from in and around the city will participate in this progamme. An art festival called the Chennai Sangamam, which is cited every year during the month of January.
TOURIST SPOTS IN CHENNAI:
Marina beach, breezy beach, Elliots beach, Marundeeshwarar temple, Dash n Splash, MGR Film City, Koli Hills, hotels like Taj Club House, Lemon Tree Hotel, Spring Hotel, ArignarAnna Zoological Park, VGP Golden Beach, ValluvarKottam, Asthalakshmi Temple, Vivekananda House, Connemera Public Library, Santhome Cathedral Basilica Church are the famous tourist spots in Chennai.
SHOPPING ZONES:
Several rich and cheaper shopping zones are available in Chennai. Like T. Nagar, Sowcarpet, Ritchie Street, Spencer Plaza, Pondy Bazaar, Parry’s Corner, Mylapore Luz Corner etc,, those are all the best places for shopping goods items were the price is reasonable.
Several shopping malls are there in Chennai, which is a great place to enjoy your weekend with your family.
POWER PLANTS:
Major power plants in the Chennai city includes North Chennai Thermal Power Station, GMR Vasavi Diesel Power Plant, Vasavi Diesel Power Plant, Ennore Thermal Power Station, Basin Bridge Gas Turbine Power station, Madras Atomic Power Station,and Vallur Thermal Power Project. According to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO), as of 2013, the city consumes about 20 percent of the electricity in the state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2014, the city consumes around 3.83 crore units of power a day or 1,400 crore units annually. There are 24 hours hospitality and ambulance service available in Chennai. Wide array of transport facilities such as airways, roadways and metro rail projects are running in several parts of Chennai.
In Chennai several high tech colleges, schools and several multi-national companies are located. So students from rural side after completing their school education migrated to Chennai for their higher education. Chennai brightens many individuals life.
FAMOUS PERSONALITIES IN CHENNAI:
Indian Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, Director Manirathnam, Music mastero Ilayaraja, Tamil Cinema fames like Rajinikanth and Kamalhassan, Indian Chess Player VishwanathanAnand, Google CEO SundarPichai are some of the famous personalities who residing/came from Chennai.
All these people born and brought up as a common human being, due to their hard work and perseverance they achieved a great success, today they became a celebrity and made Chennai as remarkable city.