Culture of Chennai

[2] Every December, Chennai holds a five-week-long Music Season, which has been described as one of the world's largest cultural events.

An important cultural centre for Bharatanatyam is Kalakshetra (Sanskrit for "place of the arts"), located on the beach in the south of the city.

[6] In 2007, much before Margazhiyil Makkalisai, Chennai Sangamam, a Tamil cultural festival was started with similar goals of secularising and democratising public spaces and traditional artforms.

[7] Usually held around Pongal festival, in January, the event showcases artforms like Thappattam, Karakattam, Devarattam, Kaniyan Koothu, Kavadi Aattam, Thodar Nadanam, Amba Paatu, Villupaatu, Sakkaikuchiyattam.

[8] In addition to Tamil-Dravidian art forms, the 2024 edition featured artistes from Odisha, West Bengal and Punjab showcasing their traditional and tribal music and dance too.

Political satire, slapstick comedy, history, mythology and drama are some of the popular genres of Tamil plays.

They are the logistics partners of The Metroplus Theatre festival[15] which is held by a leading newspaper of the city, The Hindu, every year around July and August.

Madras youth choir, based at Chennai - the oldest Indian choral music group in India started by M B srinivasan, presents many programmes through the year.

[16][17] The mylapore webportal dedicated to Arts & Culture of Chennai, music, drama, awards and events.

The industry makes about 100 Tamil movies a year, and its film soundtracks dominate the music scene in the city.

Lalit Kala Akademi, at Greams Road, holds regular exhibitions of works by established and emerging artists.

Emerging artists including Aparajith, Benita Perciyal, Sivabalan, Cheenu Pillai, Sheela Maradi and Ramasuresh have made a name for themselves.

Chennai also has a growing expatriate population especially from the United States, Europe and East Asia who work in the industries and IT centres.

Other languages spoken in the city include Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu and they contribute to the vocabulary of Madras bhashai as well.