Tamil Nadu is a state in India. The name means ("Tamil Land") or a place where Tamils live.
On the Bay of Bengal, at the southernmost point of the
subcontinent, is a modern Indian state.
Tamil Nadu is one of the so-called linguistic states, which
were established after India's independence in 1947 to bring together people
who spoke the same language and had a same culture under a single state administration.
As a result, Tamil Nadu was constituted from the
Tamil-speaking portions of the erstwhile Madras state.
Tamil Nadu has a long and illustrious past, with a literary legacy that dates back to the early years of the Christian period.
Several regional dynasties—the Pallavas, Cholas, and
Pandyas—built a slew of temples in the distinctive Dravida architectural style,
and Tamil Nadu still maintains hundreds of temple towns, or towns centered on a
massive temple complex with stores, marketplaces, offices, and residential
space.
Modern Tamil culture is the result of this long and historic
heritage, and Tamils take pleasure in having been minimally impacted by outsiders—neither
by Hindu influences from northern India nor by Muslim culture, which had such a
strong effect in the north.
There are so many cultural sites and holy places in Tamil
Nadu that it's impossible to list them all, but the most important are Rameshvaram,
Chidambaram, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, Kumbhakonam,
Thiruvaiyaru, Tanjore, and Kanyakumari; there's also a network of six temples
dedicated to the god Murugan scattered throughout the state, which Christine
Nivin et al., India, 8th ed., Lonely Planet, 1998, is an accessible reference
for general information about Tamil Nadu and all of India's regions.
Also see Tamil language.
