The Marina Beach is a beach situated along a 12 km shoreline in Chennai. The beach begins near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south. Although many locals claim the Marina to be the world's longest (or second longest) beach, there exist in fact several longer beaches, including Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, Ninety Mile Beach in Australia and Ninety Mile Beach in New Zealand.


     Jog Falls created by the Sharavathi River falling from a height of 253 meters (829 ft) is the highest plunge waterfall in India. It is also called by alternative names of Gerusoppe falls, Gersoppa Falls and Jogada Gundi. The river originates at Ambuthirtha in Thirthahalli taluk, flows north-west through the Western Ghats forming the Jog Falls before joining the Arabian Sea at Honavar.


     Chidambaram Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the heart of the temple town of Chidambaram, 78 km south of Pondicherry and 60 km north of Karaikal in Cuddalore District ot Tamil Nadu. To the followers of Shaivism (Saivism) or the saivaite, the very word koil refers to Chidambaram (to the followers of Vaishnavism koil refers to Srirangam or Thiruvarangam).


     Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple Tamil is a historic Hindu temple located in the holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva in the form of Sundareswarar or Beautiful Lord and Goddess Parvati in the form of Meenakshi.



     Tirupati Venkateswara Temple also known as Tirumala Venkateswara Temple is a famous Hindu Temple of Lord Venkateswara located in the hill town Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh. The temple is located on the Venkatachalam hill that forms part of the seven hills of Tirumala, and hence the temple is also known as the Temple of Seven Hills. The temple is the richest and the most visited place of worship in the world.

     Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (b. December 10, 1878 - d. December 25, 1972), known as Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, writer and statesman. He was the second Governor-General of independent India. Later he became the Chief Minister of Madras State, and was one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (in 1954). Rajagopalachari was born in a small village called Thorapalli of the then Salem District. (Now Thorapalli is in Krishnagiri District.)

     The Param Vir Chakra is India's highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It may be awarded posthumously and, indeed, most of the awards have been posthumous. It was established on 26 January 1950 (the date of India becoming a republic), by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947 (the date of Indian independence). and presently it is the second highest award of the government of India after Bharat Ratna.

     The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash component of Rs.5,00,000. The award was instituted in the year 1991-92, to supply the lack of a supreme national accolade in the field of sports. The Khel Ratna was devised to be an overarching honour, conferred for outstanding sporting performance, whether by an individual or a team, across all sporting disciplines in a given year.

     The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is an annual award given by the Indian government for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. It was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian cinema.

     The Prime Minister of India is the head of government of the Republic of India, and head of the Council of Ministers, appointed by the President to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive in India. The Prime Minister is responsible for the discharge of the functions and power vested in the President in terms of the Constitution of India. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, and recognized as leader of the majority party in the two Houses of the Parliament of India.

     The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. The powers of the President of India are comparable to those of the monarch, king or queen of United Kingdom. The president is also called Rashtrapati. The president of India resides in a mansion known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which roughly translates as "presidential palace". India became formally independent from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947. However only on January 26, 1950 when India become republic, Dr Rajendra Prasad become the first elected President of India.

     The Jnanpith Award is the highest literary honour conferred in the Republic of India. It is presented by the Jnanpith Trust, which is largely owned by the Jain family, publishers of The Times of India. The award carries a check for Rs. 700,000, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Vagdevi, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts. The award was instituted in 1961. An Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour.

     Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (September 5, 1888 - April 17, 1975), was a philosopher and statesman. He introduced Western idealism into Indian philosophy. In India, his birthday is celebrated as Teacher's Day in his honour. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Sarvepalli is his family name) was born at Tiruttani, a town in Tamil Nadu, South India, 64 km to the northwest of Chennai. His primary education was in Gowdie School,Tiruvallur,and higher school education in P.M.High School,Gajulamandyam,Renigunta. He graduated with a Master's Degree in Arts from the University of Madras.

     Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) popularly known as M.S. was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna. M.S.Subbulakhsmi was born to a musical family, in the temple town of Madurai. M.S. started learning Carnatic music from a very early age and released her first recording at the age of 10.

     Maruthur Gopala Ramachandran (January 17, 1917-December 24, 1987) popularly known as MGR, Puracthi Nadigar, Ponmana Chemmal and Puratchi Thalaivar. He was a long time Tamil film actor and Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death. He was born at Nawalapitiya near Kandy, Sri Lanka, to Maruthur Gopalamenon and Satyabhama. After his father's death, MGR settled with his family at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.

     Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, CBE (November 7, 1888-November 21, 1970) was an Indian physicist, who was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect, which is named after him. Raman was born in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. At an early age, Raman moved to the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

     Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam usually referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, is the current President of India. He is referred as the Missile Man of India. Abdul Kalam was born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu to a working class Tamil Muslim family. He received his degree in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1958.

     Kumaraswami Kamaraj, better known as K. Kamaraj (July 15, 1903-October 2, 1975) was an Indian politician widely known as a kingmaker in Indian politics, and remembered for his honesty, integrity and simplicity. He was involved in the Indian independence movement and was a close ally of Jawaharlal Nehru. He was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966. He was affectionatly known as the Gandhi of the South, the Black Gandhi, and in Tamil Nadu, his home state he is still hailed for facilitating the spread of education to millions of the rural poor during the 1950s.

     Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order". Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the order of precedence. Bharat Ratna roughly translates as 'Gem of India'. It was established by the President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad in 2nd January, 1954.