"Southern Capital of the British Raj" Chennai (Madras) by Willettsworld

Chennai, formerly Madras until it was changed in 1996, is the fifth most populous city in India and the gateway to the south. The name Chennai is a shortened form of Chennapattinam, the name of the town that grew around Fort St. George, which was built by the British in 1640. The city's former name, Madras, is derived from Madraspattinam, a fishing village north of Fort St. George.

The region around Chennai has served as an important administrative, military, and economic centre since the 1st century AD. It has been ruled by various South Indian dynasties, notably the Pallava, the Chera Dynasty, the Chola, the Pandya, and Vijaynagar. The town of Mylapore, now part of Chennai, was once a major Pallavan port. The Portuguese arrived in the early 16th century and built a port called São Tomé after the Christian apostle, St Thomas, who is believed to have preached in the area between 52 and 70 AD. In 1612, the Dutch established themselves near Pulicat, just north of the city. But it was the British who founded the city from Fort St George and they ruled here until independence in 1948, although the French captured the fort, briefly, in 1746.

Even though the city's history doesn't trace back that far, there are loads of historical places to see such as Fort St George with the oldest Anglican church in India - St Mary's, countless colonial British Raj buildings such as the High Court, Egmore and Central Stations, St Andrew's Church, St George's Cathedral and the superb Government Museum, plus some good Hindu temples and a Portuguese church built in 1516. For me, it was the last stop on my four month long tour around India before I flew back to Delhi and then home. The city is bustling and chaotic, like most places in India, with crowds of people, mess, pollution etc but it's also changing with large I.T. software parks, shopping malls and top-end hotels being built. This place is going somewhere...