Chennai Tourism - Capital City of Tamil Nadu
The capital city of Tamil Nadu state, Chennai is usually considered as the “Gateway to South India”, because of the connectivity since centuries. From the time known, this region was ruled by the Vijayanagar dynasty kings. For effective governance, they appointed chieftains called ‘Nayaks’ to control different regions in the province. It was a person called ‘Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka’, who was appointed to maintain the central Chennai. It was he, who named this region as “Chennapatnam”, honouring his father ‘Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu’. It was at this time, the British East India Company made their arrival at Chennai to set up its trade and other commercial activities.
Considering their potential, they were granted a small portion of the coastal region of Chennai. The deal was signed for 2 years. Andrew Cogan and Francis Day were the persons from the East India Company that used that period and established a factory-cum-trading post in 1639. It began very familiar with the countries Worldwide and Chennai marked its presence. They laid the construction stone of the famous Fort St George around 1640 and colonies around for their residence. Their establishment in Chennai quickly attracted other traders, thereby enabling them to attract the collapsing Dutch traders. At the time when the power of Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka was over, he was replaced by another person Rangaraya.
But he allowed them to expand their settlements thereby getting mutual benefits. Concurrently, the Golkonda warriors under Mir Jumla invaded Chennai getting to know its potential which resulted in war with English settlements. But it was too late that the British troops had almost captured all the parts of India. They chose Chennai as their capital of the Southern part covering the present day states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka & Kerala, under the name “Madras Presidency”. In the 18th Century, the city consolidated its potential, serving as the gateway of the South with all the facilities including harbors were laid. As per the state's reorganisation act, Madras became the capital city of Tamil Nadu state.
In 1998, it was officially renamed as Chennai. With the Bay of Bengal on one side and settlements on the other three, Chennai now stands as one of the developed metropolises of Asia on par with European standards. Chennai holds more than 100 Hindu temples of centuries old and a considerable number of churches too. If you are ready to tackle the heat of the sun, love to enjoy some warmth from the hearts, wish to experience the richness of reception, then Chennai should be in your wish list. Obviously, it is the place to start a tour thanks to its connectivity all over the world. Every point of this city has its own history to cherish.