Chennai in earlier days known as Tondaimandalam and had its military office at Puzhal, which was considered as a small village. In 1639 The English merchants took a fishing hamlet called Chennaipatnam this was the strong reason for their settlement in Chennai.
In 16th century Portuguese entered Chennai and established a fort called Sao Tome or San Thome. In 1639 the land was given by Raja of Chandragiri and they built a fishing farm for their settlement in 1644 and later it became as George Town.
Later, the city saw a rapid growth and it became the central administrative center for the British in the part of south India. In 19th century there was an established in railways which helped in the trading business with various cities like Bombay and Calcutta. The Indian city to be conquered by Central Powers during the world war is Madras.
Chennai is also known as "Gateway to South India" because it is situated on the south–eastern region of India in the north–eastern part of Tamil Nadu.
Chennai has a very hot and humid weather, and tropically wet and dry climate.
Chennai has rich culture with many well-known temples and a place for music and art. Bharata Natyam, a classical dance evolved from Tamil Nadu. Deepavali, Eid and Christmas are the festivals celebrated in Chennai.
Shopping
Famous shopping centers are:
- Anna Salai: Here you get a nice handmade arts and handicrafts. Leather goods, silk, hand-woven fabrics, sarees and jewellery are available here.
- Victoria Technical Institute: They sell traditional crafts, handmade clothing, batik greeting cards, embroidered items and carved wooden furniture and other items.
- Central Cottage Industries Emporium: in Temple Towers, Anna Salai, and Nandanam is the finest place for arts and crafts. It is a place for exclusive silk sarees and other fancy sarees.
- Parry's corner: This sells electronic goods, sweets and chocolates.
Transportation
- Air transportation: Chennai International Airport was the first Airport to get ISO-9001-2000 Certification.
Chennai airport has the following advantages:
- They use a paper cups at the Airport.
- Availability of mineral water.
- Domestic Terminal has Aerobridge etc.
Airport is situated in Tirisual which is 7 km south of Chennai, has two destinations namely Kamaraj, which handles domestic travelers and Anna, which handles international travelers. The other 15 Airlines from Chennai are Air India, Air Mauritius, British Airways, Delta Air, Emirates, Gulf Air, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Sri Lankan Airlines.
- Railways Transportation: Rail services connects many cities, state and country. There are two services that serve the railway destinations namely Chennai Central and Egmore.
The railway transportation in Chennai connects Chennai to many cities like Ennore, Avadi and Tambaram. The new addition to the Chennai railway service is the MRTS (Mass Rapid Transport System).
- Bus Transportation: Thiruvalluvar is the transport that will help the people of Tamil Nadu. At koyambedu, there is a bus destination called the Central Mofussil South Asia’s largest destination. You can also find the private buses that roam around the city to help the people to reach various terminal points. There is Metropolitan Transport Corporation is affordable by the common people.
Places to see
There are many beaches in the city that attracts many tourists.
- The Marina Beach
- Breezy Beach
- Elliot's Beach
- VGP Golden Beach
- Covelong Beach
The famous places in Chennai are the much crafted temples.
- ISKON Temple
- Astalakshmi Temple
- Marundeewara Temple
- Shiva Temple
- Jain Temple
The other famous sight-seeing places are Nageswara Park, Natesan Park, Sivan Park, Government Museum, Birla Planetarium, Periyar Science & Technology.
