The history of the Tamils presents an exciting pageant of a powerful civilization whose origins dates back to ancient times. It is clear that the Tamils, who belong to the Dravidian race, were the first major occupants of the country and settled in the north western part of India long before the coming of the Indo Aryans. Excavations have revealed that the features of the people of the Indus valley Civilization bore a strong resemblance of this race.


The Pallava's ruled betwen the 6th and 8th century AD over a large portion of Tamil Nadu with Kanchipuram as their base. Among the famous temples built by the Pallavas are the temples of Kanchipuram, the Kapaliswarar and Parthasarathy at Madras the magnificent poetry in rock and stone at Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram). Kanchi has been described extensively by the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang who visited this city in the middle of the 6th century AD, as a major centre of learning.

Tamil Nadu is bounded by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the north and Kerala on the west. The coastal eastern and southern boundaries are lapped by the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean respectively. The eastern and western tips of the state are defined by the Point Calimere and Mudumalai wildlife sanctuaries while the southernmost tip of Cape Comorin or Kanyakumari, the Land's End of India.

There are more than 30,000 temples in this sate; which has given Tamil Nadu the title, "Land of Temples". The resemblance of the temples in Tamil Nadu constructed over the years by the different rulers is the gopuram or the imposing tower over the entrance. The Tamils have always been a God fearing lot and are ardent worshippers of Shiva, Vishnu, Parvati and Lakshmi Subramanya. Each of thee gods take on different names at different temples depending on the legend behind the temple Vinayaka or Pillayar is perhpas the most worshipped of the gods and is also called Ganapati or Ganesh. He is the elephant headed elder son of Lord Shiva and Parvati and is extremely benign in apearance. During any festival or celebration, worship of this God is given precedence over the other. The largest Pillaayar temple is at Pillayarapatti near Karaikkudi.