Chennai, the first city (Metropolitan City) of the South, and capital of Tamil Nadu, though comparatively young has a chequered history dating back to 1639 when Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, agents of the East India company acquired a strip of land granted on lease by the Vijayanagar Emperor. Here was built the Fort St. George for setting up a factory as a nucleus around which arose the British Settlements. Gradually but steadily the old, tiny villages like Triplicane, Egmore, Purasawalkam and Chetput were clubbed with the new agglomeration of the fast growing Chennapatnam, as it was known then.
Chennai, widely known as Madras till 1996 has a rich tradition and cilvilization with a blend of the old, and the new, vibrating ceaselessly to keep pace with the rest of India, as the buoyant metropolis of the third most industrialised state.
Tourist Spots Around Chennai
Fort St. George
Theosophical Society
National Art Gallery
The Government Museum
Arignar Anna Zoological Park
High Court
Light House
Victory War Memorial
Santhome Cathedral
Thousand Lights Mosque
Birla Planetarium
The Marina Beach
Guindy National Park
Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary
Crocodile Bank