Once a fishing village, Chennai, is now a sprawling capital city of Tamil Nadu. People of Chennai are deep rooted in their cultural moorings and traditions, even though modernity has its own impact. Chennai is airy, spacious with verdant green and beaches. With a population of 6 million people, Chennai is a vibrant city ever growing, expanding and changing every year.

Popularly regarded as the "Gateway to the South", Chennai presents culture that is distinctly different from that of northern India. Music, dance and all other art forms of the South are cherished and nurtured in this city which, though industrialized, continues to be traditional and conventional in many ways.

Chennai has rich traditional and civilization and it is blend of the old, and the new, vibrating ceaselessly to keep pace with the rest of India, as bouyant metropolis of the third most industrialized state.

People of Chennai are deep rooted in their cultural moorings and traditions. From traditional vegetarian fair to fast foods, from ancient temple architecture to modern high-rise with Indo-Saracenic and Victorian as stops along the way from classical music and dance to discos, Chennai has them all and many more vivid contrasts that are a pleasant surprise. And perhaps the most striking of them all is that here is a modern metropolis with beaches, parks and even sanctuaries in the heart of the City.

Chennai is a city that has a clear skyline, long sandy beaches, parks, historic landmarks and tourist infrastructural facilities which make it a convenient entry point or base to start your tour of Tamil Nadu and South India. Where religion is concerned, history has certainly left its mark on this city which is believed to have been the place of St. Thomas, in the outskirts of the city. There are a number of churches in Chennai that are connected with the life and times of this apostle. There are also several ancient temples around Chennai, and, within the city itself are two magnificent temples - a temple in Triplicane and another in Mylapore.

Places of interest - Fort St. George , The High Court , The Marina Beach ,Sri Parthasarathy Temple , Kapaleswarar Temple , San Thome Cathedral Basilica , Guindy National Park , Kalakshetra, MGR Film City , Birla Planetarium , Valluvar Kottam , The Government Museum.