ABSTRACT
Tamilnad may best be described under six sub-regions: the Coromandel coastal; the Tamilnad Hills; the Ponnaiyar/Palar trough; kongunad; the Cauvery Delta; the Dry Southeast. Between Palar and Cauvery the coastal plain is backed by a discontinuous line of highland, made up of small but bold hill-masses of which the chief are the Javadis, Shevaroys, Kalrayans and Pachaimalais. There seems to be no collective name for them, and 'Tamilnad Hills' seems reasonable. The Tamilnad summits are generally rather higher than the opposite heights of the Mysore Plateau. The general limits of the trough between the Mysore Ghat and the Tamilnad Hills are well defined, but in the south the area around Salem raises difficulties. The original core, as often in Tamilnad, was the intersection of the four large streets for temple cars; growth has been disorderly, with slums and congestion but also attempts to plan better things.
