Located alongside the coastline of Bay of Bengal, and breathtaking sights of the Western Ghats the state is also a home to the rarest confluence of the three oceans, namely Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. The state is highly industrialized and the has the metropolitan state capital of Chennai which is now the best-sought destination in India for its state of the art health care units, IT, biotechnology and the automobile capital of the country.

The state of Tamil Nadu is also known for its excellent temple architecture. Kancheepuram, also called the 'Golden city of Temples' was once a proud capital of the Pallavas, Cholas, and Vijaynagar kings.

Dravidian style of temple architecture is visible in most of the temples of Tamil Nadu.These temples are huge in size and sometimes encompass entire townships. Many of them are huge with towering structures called gopurams.

Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest dance forms of India that originated in Tamil Nadu. It was originally performed in temples as part of the religious ritual. This classical dance of the 'devadasis' (temple dancers) is now famous throughout the world. Bharat Natyam combines melody, rhythm, facial expressions, hand gestures, and postures of the body to portray narratives of devotional themes. Tamil, the oldest living language in the world is the language spoken by the natives.

Tamil literature and grammar are very old and popular since the period of 500 BC. Thirukkural, the masterpiece of Tamil literature with the highest and purest expressions of human thought, dates back to this early period. Intricate rock carvings, festivals, classical music, and dance highlight the cultural heritage and make Tamil Nadu the cultural capital of the country.

Coimbatore is one of the most industrialized cities in the state and is popularly known as "The Textile Capital of South India" or "The Manchester of the South". Trichy is a thriving commercial center and is famous for artificial diamonds, cigars, handloom cloth, glass bangles and wooden and clay toys. Sivakasi is known as "A town of three industries", namely Matches, Fire works and Printing. Salem is well known for cotton and silk handloom weaving.

The Tamil cuisine is perhaps the oldest representative of the other cultures of the world. The delicious dishes from the state are relished allover the country and abroad. The cuisine has important delicacies like dosa, idli, and vada served with sambar and chutneys. The meals are traditionally served on Banana leaves.