Introduction

This metropolis is often called the cultural capital of India for its deep-rooted traditions and long heritage. Chennai is a city younger than its image. More than any other city in India, it is a true reflection of this country’s diversity.  In a time span of just over 350 years, Chennai has blossomed into a charming city that has a large heart and is very welcoming. It is city that encourages all forms of development, both modern technology and the traditional arts and crafts, and it embraces a series of paradoxes. It was in 1639 that Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, agents for the English East India Company, acquired a strip of land on lease from the Vijayanagar King.  They built the Fort St.George, which remains of the city’s important landmarks and serves as the Government Secretariat today.  It was built to set up a factory that served as a nucleus for British settlements that began to be formed.  Surrounding villages like Triplicane, Purasawalkam, Egmore and Chetput slowly merged with the new developments, to form Chennapatnam, as it was known.  The city was called Madras till 1996 and then renamed Chennai.  Today this buoyant metropolis is a blend of the old and the new, the traditional and the modern.

Spread over 200 square kilometres with the Bay of Bengal on the east, the city is the gateway to the rest of South India. There are verdant green patches found amidst the high-tech, high-rise buildings.

With a population of around six million, it is India’s fourth largest city.  From before days of Independence to present , the people of Chennai have played an important role in shaping the country’s political destiny.