Tamil
Nadu Education 
Institutions in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu ("Land of the Tamils") is a state at the southern
tip of India. The bordering states/territories are Pondicherry, Kerala,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The nation of Sri Lanka, which has a significant
Tamil minority, lies off the southeast coast.
Tamil Nadu was formerly called Madras
State. Upon India's independence, Madras state was
much larger than the present state; In 1953, the Telugu-speaking northeastern
part of the state became the new state of Andhra Pradesh. In 1956, the
state acquired its present borders when the western portion of Madras
state, on the Arabian Sea, was divided between Mysore state (later Karnataka)
and the new state of Kerala. In August 1968 Madras state was re-named
Tamil Nadu. State politics continue to have a lot to do with protecting
and celebrating the Tamil (and Dravidian) language and culture.Unlike
most other parts of the country, Tamil Nadu gets its rainfall largely
from the "North-East monsoon" in the months of October-December.
Farmers are very dependent on the fickle handful of cyclonic storms that
are formed in this season in the Bay of Bengal.There is a long standing
dispute with Karnataka over the matter of Cauvery river water. The river
flows south from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu. The contention is over whether
or not the upper riparian Karnataka has released its fair share of river
water to the lower riparian Tamil Nadu.Chennai, which was known until
1996 as Madras, is the largest city and the state capital. Chennai is
the home of Marina Beach, the second largest beach in
the world. Coimbatore,Cuddalore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Salem and Tirunelveli
are other large cities of Tamil Nadu. Silver Beach in Cuddalore is the
largest beach next only to Marina and is of tourist importance.
Tamil Nadu is known for its rich tradition of literature,
music and dance which are continuing to flourish today.
It is one of the most industrialized states in India.
Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu (as well
as one of the official languages of India). Some of
the prominent personalities from the state are Subramanya
Bharathy, C.V. Raman, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar,
R K Narayan, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Abdul Kalam and
Vilayanur Ramachandran. Other mythological and/or
ancient personalities include Kannagi, Thiruvalluvar,
Kambar and Manuneedhi Chozan. Alan Turing, the theoretical
computer scientist, spent his early childhood in the
then Madras presidency. Tamil Nadu is also home to
India's second largest film industry after Bollywood,
producing a huge number of Tamil films each year.
