Tamil Nadu

(“land of the Tamils”) Modern Indian
state at the southern tip of the subcontinent, on the Bay of Bengal. Tamil Nadu
is one of the so-called linguistic states,
formed after Indian independence in
1947 to unite people with a common
language and culture under one state
government. Tamil Nadu was thus
formed from the Tamil-speaking areas
of the former state of Madras. Tamil
Nadu has a long and rich history, and
the Tamil literary tradition stretches
back to the early centuries of the common era. Successive regional dynasties—the Pallavas, Cholas, and
Pandyas—built a host of temples in the
characteristic Dravida architectural
style, and even today Tamil Nadu has
hundreds of temple towns, that is,
towns in which the urban hub is an
enormous temple complex that includes
shops, markets, offices, and residential
space. Modern Tamil culture is the product of this long and ancient tradition,
and Tamils pride themselves in having
been influenced little by outsiders—neither by the Hindu influences from
northern India, nor by the Muslim culture whose influence was so profound in
regions farther north. Tamil Nadu has so
many cultural sites and holy places that
it is impossible to name them, but the
most important are Rameshvaram,
Chidambaram, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram,
Kumbhakonam, Thiruvaiyaru, Tanjore,
and Kanyakumari; there is also a network of six temples to the god Murugan
scattered in different areas of the state,
685
Tamil Nadu
which between them lay out the
parameters of the Tamil country. For
general information about Tamil
Nadu and all the regions of India, an
accessible reference is Christine Nivin
et al., India, 8th ed., Lonely Planet,
\1998. See also Tamil language.