http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Nadu Seal of Tamil Nadu Motto: Truth alone Triumphs Anthem: Invocation to Tamil Mother Tamil Nadu , literally "Tamil Country") is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital is Chennai, the largest city. Tamil Nadu lies in the southern most part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is bound by the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Kerala on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait in the south east, and by the Indian Ocean in the south. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh largest state in India by area and the seventh most populous state. It is the second largest state economy in India as of 2012. The region has been the home of the Tamil people since at least 500 BCE. Its official language Tamil has been in use in inscriptions and literature for over 2000 years.Tamil Nadu is home to many natural resources, Hindu temples of Dravidian architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Established 26 January 1950 Districts 32 total Area • Total 130,058 km2 (50,216 sq mi) Area rank 11th Population (2011) • Total 72,138,958 • Rank 7th • Density 550/km2 (1,400/sq mi) Literacy 90.3% Official languages Tamil, தமிழ், English Website tn.gov.in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airavatesvara_Temple The Airavatesvara temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Shiva is here known as Airavateshvara, because he was worshipped at this temple by Airavata, the white elephant of the king of the gods, Indra. Legend has it that Airavata, while suffering from a change of colour curse from Sage Durvasa, had its colours restored by bathing in the sacred waters of this temple. This legend is commemorated by an image of Airavata with Indra seated in an inner shrine.The temple and the presiding deity derive its name from this incident. It is said that the King of Death, Yama also worshipped Shiva here. Tradition has it Yama, who was suffering under a Rishi's curse from a burning sensation all over the body, was cured by the presiding deity Airavatesvarar. Yama took bath in the sacred tank and got rid of the burning sensation. Since then the tank has been known as Yamateertham. Deities The main deity's consort Periya Nayaki Amman temple is a detached temple situated to the north of the Airavateshvarar temple. This might have been a part of the main temple when the outer courts were complete. At present, it stands alone as a detached temple with the shrine of the Goddess standing in a single large court. This temple is a storehouse of art and architecture and has some exquisite stone carvings. Although this temple is much smaller than the Brihadeesvara Temple or the Gangaikondacholapuram Temple, it is more exquisite in detail. This is because this temple is said to have been built with nitya-vinoda, "perpetual entertainment", in mind. The vimana (tower) is 24 m (80 ft) high. The south side of the front mandapam is in the form of a huge chariot with large stone wheels drawn by horses. The pedestal has a set of 3 finely carved set of steps on the south side. Striking the steps produce different musical sounds. In the south-west corner of the court is a mandapam having 4 shrines. One of these has an image of Yama. Adjoining this shrine are large stone slabs sculptured with images of the sapthamathas (seven celestial nymphs). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chariot_spoked_wheel_Darasuram.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Srirangam_rajagopuram.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maduraitemple.jpg The emblem of Tamil Nadu contains the tower or gopuram of the popular Srivilliputhur Andal Temple at the center in yellow colour. The base consists of the Indian emblem (Sarnath Lion Capital) at the center in red colour with the Indian flag on both sides.The emblem also has 2 inscriptions in Tamil script, one at the top ("Thamizh Naadu Arasu" which translates to Government of Tamil Nadu) and other at the bottom ("Vaaymayae Vellum" which translates to truth alone triumphs also commonly known as "Satyameva Jayate" in Sanskrit). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srivilliputhur_Andal_Temple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasadiya_sukta Thiruvilliputhoor Divya Desam is a popular 2000-year-old Hindu temple and one of the 108 Divya Desams, the most important abodes of Lord Vishnu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_temples_in_Tamil_Nadu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekambareswarar_Temple It is one of the five major Shiva temples or Pancha Bootha Sthalams (each representing a natural element) representing the element - Earth. The other four temples in this category are Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara (water), Chidambaram Natarajar (Sky), Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire) and Kalahasti Nathar (wind).

• published: 01 Jan 2013
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