Services International is a well known travel agency in India and provides all type ot tour packages for Chennai. Chennai, is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai has an estimated population of 7.5 million (2007), making it the fourth largest metropolitan city in India and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.The city was established in the 17th century by the British, who developed it into a major urban centre and naval base.
By the 20th century, it had become an important administrative centre, as the capital of the Madras Presidency.Chennai's economy has a broad industrial base in the automobile, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The city is home to much of India's automobile industry and is the country's second-largest exporter of Software, information technology (IT) and information-technology-enabled services (ITES), behind Bangalore.
The city is served by an international airport and two major ports; it is connected to the rest of the country by five national highways and two railway terminals. Thirty-five countries have consulates in Chennai.Chennai hosts a large cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season, which includes performances by hundreds of artists.
The city has a vibrant theatre scene and is an important centre for the Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form. The Tamil film industry, known as Kollywood, is based in the city; the soundtracks of the movies dominate its music scene. Chennai is known for its sport venues and hosts an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) event, the Chennai Open. The city faces problems of water shortages, traffic congestion and air pollution.
The state and local governments have undertaken initiatives such as the Veeranam project, Rainwater harvesting and the construction of mini-flyovers to address some of these problems.The region around Chennai has served as an important administrative, military, and economic centre since the 1st century It has been ruled by various South Indian dynasties, notably the Pallava, the Chola, the Pandya, and Vijaynagar.
The town of Mylapore, now part of Chennai, was once a major Pallavan port. The Portuguese arrived in 1522 and built a port called São Tomé after the Christian apostle, St Thomas, who had preached in the area between 52 and 70 CE. In 1612, the Dutch established themselves near Pulicat, just north of the city.On 22 August 1639, Francis Day of the British East India Company bought a small strip of land on the Coromandel Coast from the Vijayanagara King, Peda Venkata Raya in Chandragiri. The region was ruled by Damerla Venkatapathy, the Nayak of Vandavasi.
He granted the British permission to build a factory and warehouse for their trading enterprises. A year later, the British built Fort St George, which became the nucleus of the growing colonial city. In 1746, Fort St. George and Madras were captured by the French under General La Bourdonnais, the Governor of Mauritius, who plundered the town and its outlying villages.
The British regained control in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and fortified the town's fortress wall to withstand further attacks from the French and another looming threat, Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore. By the late 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region around Tamil Nadu and the northern modern-day states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, establishing the Madras Presidency with Madras as the capital. Under British rule, the city grew into a major urban centre and naval base. |