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The city is rich in history, where the landscape of the past effortlessly blends with the present. It is often considered as the gateway to the south of India, as it provides a fascinating portrait of the southern heritage.
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Chennai is the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and is the fourth largest Metro in India. The city grew around the English settlement of Fort Saint George and eventually absorbed the surrounding towns and villages. Despite the strong British influence, Chennai has managed to retain its traditional Tamil Hindu culture and effectively blended it with the foreign influence.
Chennai lies in the South East of India, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, and is spread across 180 sq kms. The city, being an important trade center, is well connected by air, road and rail to important cities and towns in the country as well as major destinations of the world. The domestic and international airports are located about 20 km away from the main city area, in Tirusulam. The two main railway stations, Chennai Central and Egmore, connects all important places in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India.
It is a well known ‘joke’ that Chennai has three important climatic conditions -- Hot, Hotter and Hottest! Jokes apart, the city, like most of other cities in South India, is hot and humid through the year. There is scanty to moderate rainfall during the months of November and December, and the temperature may fall to a minimum of 20 Deg C, during January.
Chennai is a diversified economic base anchored by the automobile industry, IT and ITES, financial services, trade and commerce, healthcare and hardware manufacturing. Chennai leads in the health sector and is known as the health capital of India.
The Chennai port is an important trade centre and is a major economic contributor. Recently, Chennai was rated as having the highest quality of life among Indian cities ahead of the other three metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bangalore, based on the ‘Location Ranking Survey’ conducted by ECA International.
Like every other Indian metropolis, Chennai too is secular and has people from all religions living here and practicing their faith. There are temples, mosques and churches spread through the city.
Chennai hosts the Madras Music Festival, during the months of December and January, every year. It is the capital of Carnatic Music and Bharatanatyam in India.
That Chennai was formerly known MadrasPattinam?
That it is a 350 year old city?
That Mylapore, a suburb of Chennai, is older than the city?
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