Chennai's Urban Culture

main item: Chennai culture

Chennai culture shows the diversity of its population composition. The city is famous for its classical dances and Hindu temples. Every December, Chennai holds a five-week Madras Music Season, which is called one of the biggest cultural events in the world. [14] The music season includes traditional Carnatic music performed by hundreds of artists in and around the city.

Chennai is also famous for its classical dance Bharatanatyam, which is an official dance in Tamil Nadu. An important cultural center for Bharatanatyam is Kalakshetra (Sanskrit for place of the arts), located on the beach in the south of the city.

Chennai is the base of the huge Tamil film industry. dubbed Kollywood after the locality of Kodambakkam where most of the movie studios are located。 Every year, about 3 Tamil films are produced. Film soundtracks dominate the music scene in the city.

Traditional Bharata natyam performance

Chennai has a vibrant theatre scene, and there are many Tamil plays being performed. In general, Tamil theatre is divided into sabha-oriented theater which is parodies on political issues or trends supported by slapstick comedy and the non-sabha oriented theater which includes serious plays and historical plays. English theatres are also very popular, and cultural festivals in colleges and universities play an important role by providing a platform for young people who are addicted to culture and art in the city. Also present is an established and growing culture of bands in the west and other styles.

Chennai celebrates many festivals. Pongal, celebrated in January is the most important festival, and the celebration lasts for more than 5 days. Tamil New Year Signing the Beginning of Tamil Calendar, usually falls on April 14, is widely celebrated. As a cosmopolitan city, almost all important religious festivals like Thai Poosam, Diwali, Eid and Christmas are celebrated here.

Chennai is famous for countless restaurants, which offer a light meal or lunch which is universally included rice-based dishes like pongal, dosai, black mung bean rice cakes and vadai, together with steaming hot filter coffee, is a very popular drink in Chennai. This unique cuisine is replicated in many a Madras Cafe in India and other parts of the world.

See: Chennai Tourism and Chennai Cooking.