Culture Of Tamil Nadu
The people of Tamil Nadu lead by and large, relaxed lifestyles. Tamils have deep interest in music, dance and literature. Dance forms like Bharanatyam and various forms of music, including Carnatic Music, have flourished here for centures. Festivals are a daily feature in this region. Navaratri or Dussehra (September/October), Deepavali (October/ November), Karthika (November/December) and Pongal (January ) are the popular ones. A unique festival of Carnatic music, the Thyagaraja festival is held annually in January at Thiruvariyar, the birth place of famous singer poet Thyagaraja, where one can witness the amazing spectacle of mass performance, in total harmony and rhythm. Handicrafts include the most intricately carved designes in wood, stone and metal. The exquisitely carved Bronze and Tanjore plate deserve special mention here.
The people of the state speak Tamil language. But of late owing to immigrants from other states into the urban centres of the state, there has been a discernible increase in the number of languages spoken in the state. Today several languages such as Telegu, Malayalam, Hindi and other Indian languages are being spoken in the state. Other than these languages, English is spoken by the educated in most parts of the state. Tamil Nadu has a literacy rate of 62.66 per cent with the male literacy rate being 63.78 per cent and the female literacy rate being 44.60 per cent.
Tamils are lovers of good food. Their favourite cuisines invariably consist of idly (steamed rice cakes), dosai (a pancake made from a batter of rice) and lentils crisp fried on a pan, vada (deep fried doughnuts made from a batter of lentils), pongal (a mish mash of rice and lentils boiled together and seasoned with ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and cummin seed), uppuma (cooked semolina seasoned in oil with mustard, pepper, cummin seed and dry lentils.) Lunch or meals consists of cooked rice served with an array of vegetable dishes, sambar, chutneys, rasam (a hot broth made with tamarind juice and pepper) and curd (yogurt).
The People
Tamil, the official state language, is spoken by most of the people. The main religions in the state are Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Jainism. Hindu families owe allegiance to a number of sectarian monastic institutions, or maths, of which the most important is the Shankara Math at Kumbakonam. Although Tamil Nadu is one of the most urbanized states of India, it is still a rural land; agriculture is the mainstay of life for about three-quarters of the rural population. Tamil Nadu is rich in handicrafts; notable among them are handloomed silk, metal icons, leather work, kalamkari (hand-painted fabric, using natural dyes), brass, bronze, and copper wares, and carved wood, palm leaf, and cane articles.
[Read more on People of Tamil Nadu]
Festivals
Pongal festival, Jallikattu-Bull fight in January; Chitthiraj festival, Mamallapuram dance festival, Chidambaram dance festival, Mahamagam festival in Kumbakonam, Arubathimoovar festival at Chennai, Summer festival in Ooty; Courtallm ritual bathing festival, Kanthuri festival, Kavaddi festival on Palani Hills, Velankanni festival, Navarathri, Karthigai Deepam or Tamil Nadu's Festival of Lights, Music festival in Chennai during December.
Performing Arts in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is synonymous with the Indian musical maestro of the 18th century, Thyagaraja. The land of Carnatic music, Tamil Nadu, is the birthplace of many other music legends as well. The main instruments used are the Violin, Wooden flute, 'Veena', 'Gottuvadayam', 'Mridangam' (also spelt as Mridanga), 'Nadaswaram' and 'Ghatam'.
Bharatanatyam, one of India's major classical dance forms, and Carnatic music are both widely practiced. Painting and sculpture, however, are less developed, although there are schools that teach the art of sculpture in stone and bronze. Tamil literature rapidly adapted to the Western literary forms of the novel and the short story. Since the 1940s, cinema has become the most popular form of mass entertainment. There are both touring and permanent cinema theatres; and sentimental and spectacular films, often featuring light music and dancing, are produced by the film studios situated largely around Chennai.
