Tamil Nadu

Tradition and Culture of Tamil Nadu:

Tamil Nadu is famous for its rich tradition and culture due to its age old literature, art, music and dance. Also for its monuments and spectacular temples. It is the home of the most prominent classical dance Bharat Natyam. It is said that Tamil literature is about 2000 years old. The major festivals of Tamil Nadu is Pongal. Other festivals celebrated in Tamil Nadu are Deepavali, Ayudha Poojai, Saraswathi Pooja , Krishna Jayanthi and Vinayaka Chathurthi ,Eid ul-Fitr, Bakrid, Milad un Nabi, Muharram, Good Friday, Easter. The main language of Tamil Nadu is Tamil and English.

Fairs and Festivals of Tamil Nadu:

• Pongal Festival: Pongal is celebrated almost everywhere in India but with different names. It is the most important festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu to mark the harvesting of crops and is celebrated for four days.
• Tourist Fair: Welcome to the colourfull TTDC Trade Fair at Chennai. The exhibition introduces you to Tamil Nadu. It`s cultural wealth, places of tourist interest, economic scenario and much more.
• Tea and Tourism Festival: A three day festival at the Hill Stations showcases variety of tea on display. Also available for tasting. Cultural extravaganzas, Cuisines of the South and the pleasant climate adds more flavour.
• Natyanjali Festival: A festival dedicated to dance in devotion to Lord Shiva in the form of Nataraja is what Natyanjali Dance festival is all about. This is one of the main festival that is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm and fervor. The festival is celebrated in Chidambaram every year in the month of February-March.
• Chithirai Festival: Venue is the famous Madurai temple. The festival starts from the Tamil month -Chithirai, and goes on for ten days. The highlight is the procession of Lord `Kallazhagar` (Lord Vishnu) the elder brother of Goddess Meenakshi, who proceeds from his abode - Azhagarmalai 30 kms. from Madurai, to give away his sister in marriage to Lord Sundareshwar.
• Mango Festival: Krishnagiri is the venue for the famous mango festival. Valrious mangoes are kept on display. It is also an event for the buyers and sellers to meet.
• Saral Festival: The monsoon brings happiness. And waterfalls at Courtrallam. The water falls on rocks and tiny droplets are sprinkled into the air. Thus, giving a `fog-like` appearance. The breeze carries this `fog` far. The phenomenon is called `Saral` in Tamil. The falls are known for its medicinal value. This is the only `spa` of its kind in the South. Cultural programmes, competitions, fun and frolic make this festival remarkable.
• Summer Festival: There are several beautiful Hill Stations in Tamil Nadu. With the Summer Festivals, the hills are even better. Clutural programmes, adventure sports, boat races, flower shows and fruit shows add to the splendour.
• Cape Festival: Kanyakumari is the Southern tip of the Indian Sub-continent, surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The Hindus consider a bath in this confluence as very sacred. The Vivekananda Memorial set amidst the sea is a place known to give mental emancipation. The Cape Festival is marked by a series of cultural programme.
• Dance Festival: The Dance Festival starts on the 25th of December every year and is conducted on all Saturdays, Sundays and Government holiday`s, up to February first week. Dancers and musicians of repute from India and abroad thrill the crowds every year. Folk dances of India are other added attractions.
• Karthigai Deepam: Karthigai Deepam, called the festival of lights, is celebrated in the month of November- December. It is a very big and prominent festival of Tamil Nadu which goes on for a period of nine days.

Must Visiting Places In Tamil Nadu:

• Chennai: The capital city of Tamil Nadu formerly ( Madras )  is one of the major tourist destination of this State.
• Hogenakkal Waterfall: It is one of the best waterfalls of India also known as ‘Niagara of India’. It is on the Kaveri river in Dharampuri district of Tamil Nadu.
• Kanchipuram: It is one of the major tourist destination of Tamil Nadu and the most prominent pilgrimage destination of Tamil Nadu
• Kodaikanal: Kodaikanal is one of the best hill station of South India as well as of Tamil Nadu. It is famous for its scenic beauty.
• Mahabalipuram: One of the most important temple towns of Tamil Nadu. It is also known as Mamallapuram. It is one of the best historical sites of Tamil Nadu.
• Ooty: Also known as Udagamandalam is a major hill station of the Nilgiri Hills. It is famous for its Toy Train which is also a UNESCO world heritage. A large number of tourist visit here through out the year.
• Chidambaram: It is a pilgrimage centre and famous for the Nataraja Temple situated there. It is one of the most visited places of Tamil Nadu.
• Madurai: One of the famous pilgrimage tourist spot of India as well as Tamil Nadu. It is famous for the Meenakshi Temple situated there visited by thousands of tourists every day.
• Rameshwaram: It’s a famous religious place of India as well as Tamil Nadu as it is one of the Chaar Dham’s of India. It is also famous for the Jyotirlinga situated in Ramanathapuram.
• Kanyakumari: It is the southern most part of Indiaand also known as Cape Comorin. It is a major pilgrimage site famous for its rock cut temples and Vivekananda Rock Memorial situated in middle of the sea.
• Kumbakonam: Situated on the banks of two rivers Kavery and Arasalar, it is one of the town of Tamil Nadu famous for its ancient temples.
• Tiruchirappalli: Also known as Trichy is a famous tourist destination of Tamil Nadu situated on the banks of river Kavery.
• Thanjavur: It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Tamil Nadu famous for its magnificent temples mainly Brihadeeshwarar Temple which was built by the Chola King Rajaraja in the year 1010 AD.

Cuisines of Tamil Nadu:

The cuisine of Tamil Nadu is mainly the dishes made of rice which is a typical south Indian style. Salem is famous for its Mangoes and Madurai for sweet made of milk known as Jigarthanda and Palani for Panchamirtham. Rice is the major staple food of most of the Tamil people. Normally lunch or dinner is a meal of steamed rice (choru) served with accompanying items, which typically include sambar, poriyal (curry), rasam, kootu and curd.