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Chennai (ெசன்ைன in Tamil), formerly known in English as Madras, is a coastal city in southern India. Situated on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, it is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. It is also India's fourth largest city and ranks 35th among the fifty most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The name was officially changed to Chennai in 1996, but the older name Madras is still widely used. The city used to be the nerve centre of the British Colonial Empire in India, and has a diverse cultural heritage. Template:Chennai infobox

Geography

Chennai is located at 13.04° N and 80.17° E, on the Coromandel Coast in South India, at the north-eastern tip of Tamil Nadu state. It has a long shoreline on the Bay of Bengal on the east, and a large artificial harbour, servicing sea-lines to South East Asia and the Pacific. It is the home of the 13 km-long Marina Beach.

The land on which Chennai is built is flat coastal plain. The average elevation is 6 meters above sea-level. Two rivers pass through Chennai, the Cooum (or Koovam) in the central part and the Adyar in the southern part. Both rivers are placid, and meander lazily on their way east to the Bay of Bengal. The estuary of the Adyar river is the habitat of several species, and is classified as an Ecological Heritage Site by the government.

Two small waterways exist in addition to the rivers. The Buckingham Canal runs parallel to the coast, about 3-5 km inland. It connects the two rivers to each other and extends farther in both directions, upto the Ennore creek in the north and up to Sadras in the south. The Otteri Nullah is an east-west stream that runs through north Chennai and meets the Buckingham Canal at Basin Bridge.

There is some rowing on the Adyar river, but there is no boat traffic on the other waterways. The canal has not been navigable within city limits since about 1975 due to extensive silting, which is also a problem with the two rivers. The Adyar and the southern stretch of the canal were fully desilted in 2004. The Cooum is more difficult to desilt, because it is narrower than the Adyar, and several illegal hutments have sprung up along its banks. (It was not always so; some photographs from 1950 or earlier show people swimming in the Cooum. That would not be possible today).

Several lakes of varying size are located on the western fringes of the city. Red Hills and Sholavaram lakes in the north-west supply most of the city's water. Chembarakkam lake (the source of the Adyar river) is located 40 km west of the city, and is another water source.

History

Records dating back to the First Century CE indicate that present day Chennai developed from a few scattered village in the ancient province of Tondaimandalam. The province had its capital and military headquarters at Puzhal, which today is a small village on the northwest fringe of Chennai.

The apostle St "Doubting" Thomas is believed to have emigrated to India in 52 CE to preach the teachings of Jesus. In Chennai, he used to preach from a hillock in the southwest part of the city. He was subsequently assassinated around the year 70 CE. A small church was built on the beach, in what is today the locality of San Thome.

Over the centuries the city changed hands many times as various South Indian empires gained power in the region. The Pallavas were the most notable. Several large temples in and around Chennai were built by them, including the Kapaleeshwarar temple at Mylapore and the Shore Temple in Mahabalipuram.

Modern Chennai had its origins as a colonial city and its initial growth was closely tied to its importance as an artificial port and trading centre. The Portuguese were the first to establish a port, that of Sao Tome or San Thome in 1522, pushing back the ancient Pallava port of Mylapore. They also disinterred St Thomas from the beach church and buried him on top of the hillock where he used to preach from. The Portguese also built two churches - one on the site of the original beach church at San Thome, and one on the hill where St Thomas was buried. (According to some accounts, they destroyed the Kapaleeshwarar temple and built the church on top, but this hypothesis is extremely controversial). The first church was rebuilt by the British again in 1893 and that version is now called the San Thome Basilica. The other church, built in 1523, still stands today on top of the hill, which is now called St Thomas Mount.

By 1612, the Dutch established themselves in Pulicat to the north. Modern Chennai grew out of a small village when in 1639 a fishing hamlet called Madraspatnam was selected by early English merchants of the East India Company as a site for the settlement. It is believed that there were two hamlets called Madraspatnam and Chennaipatnam, which eventually merged due to development. Some believe that the British favored the name "Madraspatnam" while the locals called it "Chennaipatnam", but this hypothesis is disputed. In 1639 the British East India Company was granted land between these settlements by the Nayak of Vandavasi, where they built Fort St George in 1640. The Fort was intended to strike shock and awe into opponents of British presence in India. It became the nucleus around which the colonial city grew. The Fort still stands today, and a part of it is used to house the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the Chief Minister's office.

The city of Madras in 1909

In 1746, Fort St George and Madras were captured by the French under General Bertrand François Mahé de Labourdonnais, who used to be the Governor of Mauritius. The French are then described to have plundered the village of Chepauk and demolished Blacktown, the locality across from the port where all the dockyard labourers used to live. The British regained control in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. They then strengthened and expanded Fort St George over the next thirty years to bear subsequent attacks, the strongest of which came from the French (1759, under Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally), and Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore (1767). The 1783 version of Fort St George is what still stands today.

In the latter half of the 18th century, Madras became an important English naval base, and the administrative center of the growing British dominions in southern India. The British fought with various European powers, notably the French at Vandavasi (Wandiwash) in 1760, where de Lally was defeated by Sir Eyre Coote, and the Danish at Tharangambadi (Tranquebar). The British eventually dominated, driving the French, the Dutch and the Danes away entirely, and reducing the French dominions in India to four tiny coastal enclaves. The British also fought four wars with the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and later his son Tipu Sultan, which led to their eventual domination of India's south. Madras was the capital of the Madras Presidency, also called Madras Province.

After Independence, the city became the administrative and legislative capital of Madras State. The state was subsequently divided into parts. In 1953 the northern districts became the new state of Andhra Pradesh, and Bellary district was cede to Mysore state. In 1956, Madras state took its present boundaries when the new state of Kerala was formed from Malabar district and the former princely states of Travancore and Cochin, and South Kanara district was ceded to Mysore. In 1968, the Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu ("land of Tamils"), partly to resist the imposition of Hindi as a national language by the Central Government in New Delhi.

In 1996, the state government renamed the city from "Madras" to "Chennai". According to most accounts, this was in accordance with "Madraspatnam" and "Chennaipatnam", but this is disputed by some.

British governors of Madras include:

Economy

Industries

Founded as a trading outpost by the British East India Company in the early seventeenth century, Chennai is today a large industrial and commercial centre. The major centres of commerce in Chennai are Parry's Corner and T.Nagar, named after Thomas Parry, who set up the EID Parry company, and Sir P Thyagarayar, the founder of what later became the Justice Party respectively.

Chennai is sometimes called "The Detroit of India", producing over 40% of India's automotive output. It has long been a traditional centre for the automobile industry in India and in recent years has consolidated that position. The large majority of the automotive parts business in India is based in Chennai, mainly in the Ambattur-Padi industrial zone. Several auto and tyre companies such as Hyundai, Ford, Ashok Leyland, TVS, Honda and MRF have manufacturing plants in and around Chennai.

The leather industry is located mostly in the southwest of the city. So many tanneries were once located there in a tight cluster that the ground water there changed colour due to chromium in the effluents. The locality (which has now been cleaned up) is now known as "Chromepet". Other major heavy industries are textiles and chemicals, located mainly in the northeast and northwest industrial zones. Software development and business process outcourcing have become very important since the late 1990s. The "IT Corridor" is in the southeast of the city, along the old Mahabalipuram Road (which has been supplanted by the East Coast Road). Several technology parks have been built in the area, the most important being Tidel Park, built by TIDCO as a Government initiative.

Several organizations such as World Bank, IBM, Infosys and Wipro have their BPO centers in Chennai. For a full list, see here.


Transport

A port city, its harbours have been crucial to Chennai's development. Five major roads radiate outward from Chennai:

  • Erukancheri High Road to the northwest, becoming National Highway 5 to Kolkata;
  • Poonamallee High Road (Periyar Salai) to the west, becoming National Highway 4 to Bangalore;
  • Mount Road (Anna Salai) to the southwest, becoming National Highway 45 to Tiruchirapalli and interior Tamil Nadu;
  • Madras-Tiruvallur High Road (MTH Road), built parallel to NH 4 to the west, leading to Tiruvallur;
  • Beach Road to the south along the coast, becoming East Coast Road to Pondicherry and beyond.

The more important of the radial roads are connected to each other by two ring roads, the Inner Ring Road and Outer Ring Road. A major problem facing Chennai is urban sprawl. When the Inner Ring Road was built in the early 1980s, it used to effectively bypass the city and was valuable for rapid freight movement between the southwest NH 45 and the northwest NH 5. The city grew subsequently and subsumed the road as part of itself. The Outer Ring Road was built through the late 1990s to provide a better bypass. It currently links NH 45 with NH 4, and a second stage linking NH 4 with NH 5 is planned. Elevated roadways are also being built along several sections of existing roadway to reduce travel time.

The Central Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) was opened in 2001 in Koyambedu in western Chennai. This is the largest bus station in South Asia and serves as the terminus for all intercity buses from Chennai. The CMBT is located on the Inner Ring Road, obviating the need for intercity buses to enter the main city.

In addition to the roads, Chennai has a complex rail network for both passengers and freight. Three important railway lines radiate from Chennai Central station:

These railway lines are also used by commuters on suburban trains. In addition to these train services, there is an elevated MRTS railway system, which is intended to provide a loop around the city for commuters who currently use city bus services. The MRTS is operational between Beach and Tiruvanmiyur (about 40% of the total planned length). The section between Tiruvanmiyur and Velacheri is under construction, and a stretch from Velacheri to St Thomas Mount has been approved. A suburban stretch from St Thomas Mount to Tiruvottiyur is being planned.

Chennai has a fairly extensive public transport system which is efficient but can get very crowded at times. The bus services are run by the government-owned Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC). The bus service runs from about 4 AM to midnight, and plies about 1478 buses on 375 routes each day, with an average duration of 67 minutes (ranging from 30 to 120 minutes) and a fare ranging from INR 3.00 to INR 14.00 depending on the route. (Reference)

In addition, private call taxis and autos are extensively used. Rental cars and two-wheelers are available too.

Chennai is connected well by air to most cities in South East Asia and the Middle East. It is connected to major aviation hubs in Europe. The city is served by the Chennai International Airport.


People and culture

People

The majority of the people in Chennai are Tamilians. A sizable Telugu minority exists. English is widely spoken, and is used almost exclusively in business and education. The Tamil spoken in Chennai uses English words very liberally, both for basic words like "time" and "office" and certainly for all technical words like "carburetor" and "vacuum gauge".

Historically, Madras under the British used to be the capital of the Madras Presidency, which covered most of the area now occupied by the modern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, excluding the princely states enjoying British patronage. Madras thus inherited a rich mix of languages and dialects, most of which have corroded with time. Marwari moneylenders and businessmen from northern India (mainly from Gujarat and Rajasthan) settled in and around north Chennai in the 1950s, many of them in the locality of Sowcarpet, which is a polyglot mix of sahukar (Hindi for "moneylender") and pettai (Tamil for "neighbourhood"). Chennai has adopted a truly cosmopolitan colour, becoming a melting pot of cultures and traditions.

Culture

Chennai is a major cultural hub. It is famous for a branch of classical music called Carnatic music, and a classical dance form called Bharatanatyam, which is also the official dance of Tamil Nadu. An important cultural centre for Bharatanatyam is Kalakshetra (Sanskrit for "place of the arts"), located in Adyar in the south of the city. Housed in sylvan surroundings by the seashore, Kalakshetra is a cultural hotspot with thousands of Bharatanatyam learners from many countries.

Every December, Chennai has its five week-long Music Season. The Music Season was started in 1927, to mark the opening of the Madras Music Academy. It used to be a traditional month-long Carnatic music festival, but since then it has also diversified into dance and drama, as well as non-Carnatic art forms. The traditional role of the Music Season is to allow aficionados of Carnatic music to appreciate performances by renowned artistes, and also to provide a good opportunity for promising young artistes to display their talent and skill. During this time, a large number of Sabhas (music halls) organise Kutcheris (formal concerts). Artistes come from across India and from the international Indian diaspora to play during the season. The event has grown over the years; there were over 1200 performances by about 600 artistes in 2004-05 (about 700 vocal, 250 instrumental, 200 dance and 50 drama and others ([1])). The Madras Music Season has been described as Asia's biggest cultural event.

Apart from the rich indigenous culture of the city, Chennai also has a vibrant Western cultural scene. A recent trend has been schools that teach ballet, jazz and other forms of traditional and modern western dance forms. There are a number of active theatre and dance groups that give performances on a regular basis. Rock shows are also a regular feature. The unwind centre hosts a show every Friday night. The June Rock Out, conducted every year, brings in rock bands from around the country to participate. Chennai also has a number of home-grown rock bands who mostly play covers of popular Western rock music. For instance: Moksha, The LBG, Buddhas Blown, No Idea, Shadow Symphony, Sound Sleep, Tin Leaf and Powder in the Ashtray. Some of these groups also play their own music, most notably The LBG.

Chennai has a large film industry nicknamed Kollywood, after the locality of Kodambakkam where most of the movie studios are located. The movie industry is usually held responsible for making about 300 Tamil movies a year.

Cuisine

Chennai is known for traditional Tamil cuisine. The overwhelming staple is rice. The usual meals (meals in Chennai English means any heavy meal, typically lunch and dinner. "Meals" is both singular and plural; for instance, some waiters may yell "Oru meals" in the general direction of the kitchen after taking your order) consists of steamed rice served with anywhere from two to six accompanying items. Typically the items are sambar, dry curry, rasam, kootu and thayir (curd) or moru (whey or buttermilk). Lighter meals (ie, the meals which are not meals) usually include one or more of pongal, dosa, idli or vada. Many meals are chased by a hot filter coffee, the signature beverage of the city. Another popular beverage is strongly brewed tea found in thousands of small Tea Kadais found across the city.

A trend in Chennai for the past several years has been to fuse traditional Tamil cuisine with elements from other cuisines from around India and the world. This was started with coffee, to the surprise of many. Before the ubiquity of the Western-style coffee shop, "bringing coffee to Madras" had the same connotations as "taking coal to Newcastle". But the success of coffee shops has brought other culinary crossovers in its wake.

Architecture and Urban Planning

Chennai has a very heterogeneous mix of architectural styles, from ancient temples built by the Pallavas through the British era to features of 20th century urban planning. Chennai has a colonial core in the port area, surrounded by progressively newer areas as one travels away from the port, punctuated with old temples, churches and mosques.

One can sense the colonial legacy in the vicinity of the Chennai port. South of the port is Fort St George. The stretch between the Fort and the port is occupied mostly by the High Court buildings and several clubs, some of which have existed from the British era. A little south of the Fort, across the Cooum river is the Chepauk cricket stadium, another British staple, dating from 1916. North and west of the port is Georgetown, where dockyard workers and other manual labourers used to live. Georgetown is now a bustling commercial center, but its architecture is significantly different from areas closer to the Fort, with narrower roads and tightly packed buildings.

Residential areas like Tiruvallikeni (Triplicane), Mayilapur (Mylapore) have a distinct old aura about them. Several houses in these areas, especially those situated far from main roads, date from the early 20th century. Many of them were built in the traditional Tamil style, with four wings surrounding a square courtyard, and tiled sloping roofs. In sharp contrast, the apartment buildings along the larger roads in the same areas were built in 1990 or later.

Many other old buildings are still fully functional and host government, business or educational establishments. For instance, the General Hospital moved to its current location in 1772 (it opened to Indians in 1842), the Presidency College was built in 1840, the Royapuram Station dates from 1856, the Central Station dates from 1873, the High Court was completed in 1892, the Ripon Building (which houses Chennai Corporation and the mayoral offices) dates from 1913, and the Southern Railway Headquarters was built in 1922. Many of the colonial era buildings are designed in the Indo-Saracenic style.

Other roads and localities have undergone significant change in the late 20th century. Many areas along the western stretch of the city were planned development efforts, such as Ashok Nagar, KK Nagar and Anna Nagar. Several areas south of the Adyar river, including Kotturpuram, Besant Nagar and Adyar itself, have been developed only since the mid 1960s. Characteristic features of all these localities are their unusually wide roads and Cartesian grid layouts. Many of these places were remote suburbs when they were first developed.

Current urban development efforts are concentrated along the southern and western fringes, largely seeking to benefit from the growing IT corridor in the southeast and the new ring roads in the west. The extent of the city's sprawl is indicated by the fact that the area administered by Chennai Corporation is 174 sq km, while the total urbanized area is estimated to be over 1100 sq km.


Places of Worship

Main article: List of religious places in Chennai

Theatre

  • The Madras Players - the oldest and one of the top amateur theatre groups in the country formed by N S Yamuna, Ammu Mathew, Vishalam Ekambaram and other theatre enthusiasts along with the British Council, has been staging great performances and world premiers of certain renown playwrights since 1955.

Schools, Institutions and Universities

Main article: List of schools, colleges and universities in Chennai

Parks and Beaches

Main article: List of parks and beaches in Chennai

Sports facilities

Chennai is home to the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium for cricket (formerly known as Madras Cricket Club ground or Chepauk Stadium) in Chepauk. This grass pitch stadium seats 50,000 and is home to the Tamil Nadu cricket team.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Periamet seats 40,000 and hosts soccer, athletic and volleyball competitions.

The Egmore Stadium for field hockey seats 4,000 spectators and has an astro turf field.

The Tennis Stadium, Nungambakkam seats 7,000 spectators and has 6 courts.

The Aquatic Complex in Velachery Road seats 4,000 spectators.

The Guindy Race Course is also in Chennai.

The IIT Madras Chemplast cricket ground was acknowledged by the maestroSachin Tendulkar as the most scenic in India

The Sriperumputhur (Thirupperumputhur) and Sholavaram car and bike racing courses are on the outskirts of the city.

The city boasts of one of the most modern and well-equipped Squash Courts in India.

Famous people born in Chennai

Note: This includes all notables born here, even if they aren't native Indians.


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