Chennai is one of the four major Indian metropolitan cities of India. It is a relatively new city having been established in 1639 when the British East India Company was awarded the land to build a settlement by a local ruler. During the course of couple of centuries, the city has grown immensely to become the 4th largest metropolitan of India. The magnificent Fort St. George was completed in 1640. Under the British, Madras became the capital of Madras Presidency- encompassed southern areas not governed by princely states. There are a large number of package tours available to see the city from close angle. In the recent years, the city has emerged as the 2nd largest exporter of software i.e. IT and IT-enabled services.
In 1996, the name of the city was changed from Madras to Chennai as the former was thought to have colonial vestiges. It is equally famous for its well-known heritage. The place is famous for its art-forms, Tamil cinema, monuments, etc. Recently, a famous son of the soil, A R Rahman, got two Oscars and Two Grammy awards for composing music of the movie, Slum dog Millionaire.