South West India extends over the regions in the states and territories of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

, Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, Pondicherry, Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

, Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

, and Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...

.

The culture and literature of the area date back thousands of years. The area is dominated by the Deccan Plateau

Deccan Plateau

The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometers high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of...

, and has a tropical climate with monsoon

Monsoon

Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

s. The most populous cities as of 2008 include Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, Vadodara

Vadodara

Vadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...

, Surat

Surat

Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...

, Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, Coimbatore

Coimbatore

Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....

, Hyderabad, Madurai

Madurai

Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...

, Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...

, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...

, and Mangalore

Mangalore

Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...

.

History

Carbon dating on ash mounds associated with neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 cultures in Southern India date back to 8000 BCE. Artefacts such as ground stone axes and minor copper objects have been found in the region. Towards the beginning of 1000 BCE, Iron Age technology

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 spread through the region. There does not appear to be a fully developed Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 preceding the Iron Age in South India. South Western India was a crossroads of the ancient world that linked the Mediterranean and the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

. The southern coastline from Karwar

Karwar

Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...

 to Kodungallur

Kodungallur

Kodungallur is a municipality in Thrissur District, in the state of Kerala, India on the Malabar Coast. Kodungallur is located about 29 km northwest of Kochi city and 38 km Southwest of Thrissur, on National Highway 17 . Muziris the ancient seaport at the mouth of the Periyar River was...

 was the most important trading shore in the Indian subcontinent and saw the intermingling of locals and traders. Residents of the South West Indian coast of Malabar and the Tamil people

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

 of the Sangam period traded with the Graeco-Roman world. They were in contact with the Canaanites, Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, Greeks

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

, Arabs

Pre-Islamic Arabia

Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabic civilization which existed in the Arabian Plate before the rise of Islam in the 630s. The study of Pre-Islamic Arabia is important to Islamic studies as it provides the context for the development of Islam.-Studies:...

, Syrians

Demographics of Syria

Syrians today are an overall indigenous Levantine people. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history...

, Jews, and Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

There were several significant rulers and dynasties in south western Indian history. Dynasties such as the Maurya Kingdom, Gurjar, Rajputs, Satavahanas, Satavahanas of Amaravati

Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh

Amaravathi is a small town situated on the banks of the River Krishna in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is famous for its Amareswara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is one of the famous Pancharamas. Amaravati, also known as Dhanyakataka/Dharanikota was the site of a...

, Kadambas

Kadambas

The Kadamba Dynasty was an ancient royal family of Karnataka that ruled from Banavasi in present day Uttara Kannada district. The dynasty later continued to rule as a feudatory of larger Kannada empires, the Chalukya and the Rashtrakuta empires for over five hundred years during which time they...

 of Banavasi, Western Ganga Dynasty, Chalukya dynasty

Chalukya dynasty

The Chalukya dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi from the...

 of Badami, Western Chalukyas

Western Chalukyas

The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This dynasty is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in Karnataka and alternatively the Later Chalukya from its theoretical...

, Eastern Chalukya, Cheras

Chera dynasty

Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...

, Cholas, Hoysalas, Kakatiya dynasty, Pallavas, Pandyas, and Rashtrakuta

Rashtrakuta

The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian Subcontinent between the sixth and the 10th centuries. During this period they ruled as several closely related, but individual clans. Rastrakutas in inscriptions represented as descendants of Satyaki, a Yadava well known...

s of Manyaketha have ruled over South India. The late medieval period

Islamic empires in India

Beginning in the 12th century, several Islamic states were established in the Indian subcontinentin the course of a gradual Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent....

 saw the rise of Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 power in South India. The defeat of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal

Warangal

Warangal is a city and a municipal corporation in Warangal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Warangal is located northeast of the state capital of Hyderabad and is the administrative headquarters of Warangal District. This district is a combination of three cities: Warangal,...

 by Tughlaq forces of the Delhi Sultanate

Delhi Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...

 in 1323 CE heralded a new chapter in South West Indian history. The struggle of the period was between the Bahmani Sultanate

Bahmani Sultanate

The Bahmani Sultanate was a Muslim state of the Deccan in southern India and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms...

 based in Gulbarga

Gulbarga

Gulbarga is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Gulbarga District. It was formerly part of Nizam's Hyderabad state...

 (and later, Bidar

Bidar

Bidar is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the north-eastern part of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Bidar District....

) and the Vijayanagara Empire

Vijayanagara

Vijayanagara is in Bellary District, northern Karnataka. It is the name of the now-ruined capital city "which was regarded as the second Rome" that surrounds modern-day Hampi, of the historic Vijayanagara empire which extended over the southern part of India....

 with its capital in Vijayanagara in modern Hampi

Hampi

Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...

. With the fall of Vijayanagara and the break-up of the Bahmani sultanate, the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda

Golconda

Golconda may be:Places:* Golkonda, ruined city and fortress in India* Golconda, Illinois, town in the United States* Golconda, Nevada, former town in the United StatesOther:* Golconda...

 and Hyderabad became the dominant power in the region. During the medieval age, the region came under Persian

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 influence and under the Mughal

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 rule. The Qutb Shahi dynasty

Qutb Shahi dynasty

The Qutb Shahi dynasty was a Turko-Persian dynasty ; its members were collectively called the Qutub Shahis. They were the ruling family of the kingdom of Golkonda in modern-day Andra Pradesh, India. They were Shia Muslims and belonged to Kara Koyunlu...

 dominanted of the region until the middle of the 17th century, when the Mughals under Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb

Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...

 made determined inroads into the Deccan. Following Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb

Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...

's death, Mughal power weakened, and South West Indian rulers gained autonomy from Delhi. The Wodeyar

Wodeyar

The Wodeyar dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947, until the independence of India from British rule and the subsequent unification of the Indian dominion and princely states into the Republic of India.The spelling Wodeyar/Wadiyar is found in most...

 kingdom of Mysore, the Asaf Jahis of Hyderabad, and Marathas

Maratha Empire

The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....

 all gained power. The Marathas arose in western Maharashtra and dominated a major portion of the Indian sub-continent for 150 years.

Defeat by the British in the Anglo-Maratha

Third Anglo-Maratha War

The Third Anglo-Maratha War was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha territory by 110,400 British East India Company troops, the largest...

 wars (1817–1818) left most of India under colonial rule. The region experienced great upheavals during the struggle for Indian independence

Indian independence movement

The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...

. In the middle of the 18th century, the French

French colonial empire

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

 and the British

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 initiated a protracted struggle for military control of South West India. Shifting alliances between the two [European powers and the local powers saw mercenary armies being employed by all sides causing general anarchy in South India. As the British consolidated power over much of India in the late 1850s, they allowed the French to retain their possessions over Pondicherry. The four Anglo-Mysore wars

Anglo-Mysore Wars

The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought in India over the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, represented chiefly by the Madras Presidency...

 and the three Anglo-Maratha Wars

Anglo-Maratha Wars

The Anglo-Maratha Wars were three wars fought in India between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company:* First Anglo-Maratha War * Second Anglo-Maratha War...

 saw Mysore, Pune and Hyderabad allying themselves with the British or the French. South India during British colonial rule was divided into the Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

 and Hyderabad

Hyderabad State

-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...

, Mysore

Kingdom of Mysore

The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...

, Thiruvithamcoore (also known as Travancore), Kochi (also known as Cochin or Perumpadapu Swaroopam), Vizianagaram

Vizianagaram

Vizianagaram is the main city of the Vizianagaram District of north-eastern Andhra Pradesh in southern India. Vizianagaram district was formed on 1 June 1979, with some parts carved from the neighbouring districts of Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam. It is, at present, the largest municipality of...

, and a number of other minor princely state

Princely state

A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

s. British Residents were stationed in the capitals of the important states to supervise and report on the activities of the rulers. India gained independence from Britain in 1947.

The States Reorganisation Act

States Reorganisation Act

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India's states and territories. The act reorganised the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended the Indian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B,...

(1956) created new states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala) and reorganised modern-day Tamil Nadu along linguistic lines. The enclaves of French India

French India

French India is a general name for the former French possessions in India These included Pondichéry , Karikal and Yanaon on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast, and Chandannagar in Bengal...

, which were ceded to India in the 1950s, were constituted into the union territory of Pondicherry.

Geography

The region is a peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 in the shape of a vast inverted triangle, bounded on the west by the Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

, on the east by the Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...

 and on the north by the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The Narmada

Narmada River

The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...

 flows westwards in the depression between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The Satpura ranges define the northern spur of the Deccan plateau

Deccan Plateau

The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometers high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of...

. The Western Ghats

Western Ghats

The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

, along the western coast, mark another boundary of the plateau. The narrow strip of verdant land between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea is the Konkan

Konkan

The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...

 region. The Western Ghats continue south, forming the Malenadu (Canara

Kanara

The Kanara or Canara region comprises three coastal districts of Karnataka, namely Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada and Kasaragod district of Kerala in southwestern India. Kanara forms the southern part of the Konkan coast...

) region along the Karnataka coast, and terminate at the Nilgiri

Nilgiris (mountains)

The Nilgiri , often referred to as the Nilgiri Hills, are a range of mountains with at least 24 peaks above , in the westernmost part of Tamil Nadu state at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India...

 mountains, an inward (easterly) extension of the Western Ghats. The Nilgiris run in a crescent approximately along the borders of Tamil Nadu with northern Kerala and Karnataka, encompassing the Palakkad

Palakkad district

Palakkad District is one of the 14 districts of the Indian state of Kerala. The city of Palakkad is the district headquarters. Palakkad is bordered on the northwest by the Malappuram District, on the southwest by the Thrissur District and on the east by Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The...

 and Wayanad hills, and the Satyamangalam ranges, and extending on to the relatively low-lying hills of the Eastern Ghats

Eastern Ghats

The Eastern Ghats or Eastern Ghauts are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the...

, on the western portion of the Tamil Nadu - Andhra Pradesh border. The Tirupati

Tirumala - Tirupati

Tirupati is a major pilgrimage city located in the Chittoor district and seventh biggest city of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located at the foothills of the Eastern Ghats at a distance of south of Hyderabad, the capital of the state, east of Bangalore, and north of Chennai.Tirupati is famous...

 and Anaimalai Hills

Anaimalai Hills

The Anaimalai Hills is a range of mountains in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala states of South India. The name "Anaimalai" derives from the Tamil word 'Ana' meaning elephant and 'Mala' meaning hill, thus Elephant Hill. The highest peak of the Anaimalai Hills is Anamudi, , located in the...

 form part of this range. The low lying coral island

Coral island

A coral island is the result of an atoll whose lagoon has dried up or been filled in with coral sand and detritus. This state is typically the last in the life cycle of an island, the first being volcanic and the second being an atoll. Most of the world's coral islands are in the Pacific Ocean...

s of Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...

 are off the south-western coast of India. Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 lies off the south-eastern coast, separated from India by the Palk Strait

Palk Strait

Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Mannar district of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Palk Bay and thence with the Gulf of Mannar in the southwest. The strait is wide. Several...

 and the chain of low sandbars and islands known as Rama's Bridge

Rama's Bridge

Adam's Bridge , also known as Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu , is a chain of limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka...

. The Andaman and Nicobar islands lie far off the eastern coast of India, near the Tenasserim coast of Burma. The southernmost tip of mainland India is at Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) on the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

.

The Deccan plateau

Deccan Plateau

The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometers high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of...

 is the vast elevated region bound by the C-shape defined by all these mountain ranges. No major elevations border the plateau to the east, and it slopes gently from the Western Ghats to the eastern coast. The plateau is watered by the east flowing Godavari

Godavari River

The Godavari is a river that runs from western to southern India and is considered to be one of the big river basins in India. With a length of 1465 km, it is the second longest river in India , that runs within the country and also the longest river in South India...

 and Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

 rivers. The other major rivers of the Deccan plateau are the Pennar and the Tungabhadra, a major tributary of the Krishna. The three major river deltas of South India, the Kaveri, the Godavari and the Krishna, are located along the Bay of Bengal. These areas constitute the rice bowls of South India.

Climate

The region has a tropical climate

Tropical climate

A tropical climate is a climate of the tropics. In the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above...

 with the monsoons playing a major part. The South - West Monsoon

Monsoon

Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

 accounts for most of the rainfall in the region and much of it falls from about June to October. The south-west monsoon starts from Kerala during June and moves up towards the northern parts of India. Tamil Nadu and southeast Andhra Pradesh receive rains from the Northeast Monsoon from about November to February.

Much of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have a distinct dry season from about October through May when there is not much rainfall. This region experiences cooler nights from October to March while the days are pleasantly warm. In the northern parts of the region temperatures can fall below 10 °C (50 °F) on occasions at night during this time. Days are very hot from March to June when temperatures can go over 40 °C (104 °F). The southern coastal region has an average minimum temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) and maximum of 35 °C (95 °F) .

The climate varies between tropical wet, tropical wet and dry, and semi arid. The coastal regions experience little seasonal variations although the temperatures range between 20 °C (68 °F)to 38 °C (100.4 °F). Mumbai and the northern Konkan

Konkan

The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...

 region experience cooler winters with minimum temperatures hovering around 12 °C (53.6 °F). Interior Maharashtra experiences hot summers with maximum temperatures averaging 40 °C (104 °F) and mild winters with minimum temperatures averaging about 10 °C (50 °F). Gujarat has a warm climate with hot summers and cool winters.

Demographics

The population density is around 290 per square km. The average fertility rate is about 2.2, while the average household size is about 4.7.
The estimated population of South India is 233 million.

The sex ratio

Human sex ratio

In anthropology and demography, the human sex ratio is the sex ratio for Homo sapiens . Like most sexual species, the sex ratio is approximately 1:1. In humans the secondary sex ratio is commonly assumed to be 105 boys to 100 girls, an assumption that is a subject of debate in the scientific...

 in South India is fairly equable at 997. Scheduled Castes and Tribes

Scheduled Castes and Tribes

The Scheduled Castes , also known as the Dalit, and the Scheduled Tribes are two groupings of historically disadvantaged people that are given express recognition in the Constitution of India...

 form 18% of the population of the region. Agriculture is the major employer in the region — 47.5% of the population is involved in agrarian activities. About 60% of the population lives in permanent housing structures. 47.8% of South India has access to tap water

Tap water

Tap water is a principal component of "indoor plumbing", which became available in urban areas of the developed world during the last quarter of the 19th century, and common during the mid-20th century...

. Wells

Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...

 and springs

Spring (hydrosphere)

A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

 are other major forms of water supply.

Religion

Overall, 83.66 % of the population is Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, 10.12 % Muslim, 4 % Buddhist with Christians in Goa and Maharashtra making up the majority of the remainder.

Hinduism is practiced by the majority of the population in Gujarat. The Parsi

Parsi

Parsi or Parsee refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia, the other being the Irani community....

s who settled in Gujarat made Mumbai and Surat their home. Maharashtra is religiously diverse, with the majority being Hindus, Islam as the second largest religion, followed by Christianity. Indigenous Jews called the Bene Israel

Bene Israel

The Bene Israel are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, and Ahmedabad. Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's...

 who speak Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

 constitute a significant number. Some Jains

Jainism

Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...

 can be found in South West India. Christianity is dominant in the state of Goa. Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi , also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha also called Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival...

, Diwali

Diwali

Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...

, Navratri, Eid

Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast"...

, and Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 are the most important festivals in South West India.

Literacy

The average literacy rate of West India is around 76%, higher than the national average of 70.5%. Kerala leads the nation with a literacy rate of 91%.

Languages

Marathi, with about 73 million speakers, is the most widely spoken language, followed by Gujarati

Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...

 with about 46 million speakers and Konkani

Konkani language

KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...

 with 2.5 million speakers, all of which are Indo-Aryan languages

Indo-Aryan languages

The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...

.

The Dravidian

Dravidian languages

The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...

 language family

Language family

A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...

 of approximately seventy-three languages spoken in South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

 is also prevalent in the area. Major Dravidian languages include Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 and Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

.

As in other parts of India, a high level of multilingualism

Multilingualism

Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...

 is present, with English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 spoken as additional languages in urban areas.

The largest linguistic groups in South India include the Telugus

Telugu people

The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...

, Tamils

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

, Kannadigas, Malayali

Malayali

Malayali is the term used to refer to the native speakers of Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala...

s, Tuluva

Tuluva

The Tuluva -Geographic Distribution :Though most of the Tuluva population is found in the Tulu Nadu region, migrant poplulations are found the world over. In recent times, the first period of migration started at the beginning of the 20th century to places such as Mumbai and Chennai and other...

s, Kodava

Kodava

The Kodavas are a patrilineal ethno-lingual group from the region of Kodagu, in Karnataka state of southern India who traditionally were land-owning agriculturists with martial traditions and natively speak Kodava takk...

s, and Konkanis

Konkani people

Konkani people , form a group of people mainly found in the Konkan Coast of western India whose mother-tongue is the Konkani language....

.

The States Reorganisation Act

States Reorganisation Act

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India's states and territories. The act reorganised the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended the Indian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B,...

 of 1956 divided states in India along linguistic lines and led to the creation of separate states of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in areas where Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil respectively were dominant.
In the 2002 Census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, Telugu had the third largest base of native speakers in India (74 million), after Hindi and Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

, and was awarded the status of classical language in 2008. Tamil was accorded the status of classical language in 2002 and has about 60 million native speakers. Kannada has 38 million and was awarded the status of classical language in 2008, and Malayalam has 33 million native speakers. Each of these languages is listed as an official language of India, per the Official Languages Act (1963).

Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 is spoken by over half of the 25 million Muslims in southern India. South Indian Muslims in some regions of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka speak a dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

 of Urdu called Dakhni, while some in the Dakshina Kannada

Dakshina Kannada

- Geography :The district geography consists of sea shore in the west and Western Ghats in the east. The major rivers are Netravathi, Kumaradhara, Phalguni, Shambhavi, Nandini or Pavanje and Payaswini which all join Arabian sea. Vast areas of evergreen forests which once covered this district, have...

 region of Karnataka and regions in Kerala speak Beary bashe

Beary bashe

Beary bashe is a dialect mainly spoken by the Muslim communities of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka known as Bearys and a small number of Hindus in the District of Kasargod in Kerala state....

.

Both Dakhni and Beary bashe are influenced by other South Indian languages. Tulu

Tulu language

The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...

, a Dravidian language prevalent in coastal Kerala and Karnataka, is spoken by about 1.5 million people in the region, while Konkani

Konkani language

KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...

, an Indo-Aryan

Indo-Aryan languages

The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...

 language, is spoken by over half a million people in the region.

Culture

According to some experts, the world view of South Western Indians is essentially the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of the beauty of the body, and motherhood, which is exemplified through their dance, clothing, and sculptures. South Indian women traditionally wear the Saree while the men wear a type of sarong

Sarong

A sarong or sarung is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist and worn as a kilt by men and as a skirt by women throughout much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric most often has woven plaid or...

, which could be either a white pancha or a colourful lungi

Lungi

The Lungi , also known as a sarong , is a traditional garment worn around the waist in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula...

with typical batik

Batik

Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...

 patterns.

The music of South Western India is known as Carnatic music

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

, which includes rhythmic and structured music by composers like Purandara Dasa

Purandara Dasa

Purandara Dāsa is one of the most prominent composers of Carnatic music and is widely regarded as the "father of Carnatic Music". Purandara Dasa addressed social issues in addition to worship in his compositions, a practice emulated by his younger contemporary, Kanaka Dasa...

, Kanaka Dasa

Kanaka Dasa

Kanaka Dasa was a great poet, philosopher, musician and composer from Karnataka. He is known for his Kirtanes and Ugabhoga compositions in the Kannada language for Carnatic music...

, Tyagaraja

Tyagaraja

Kakarla Tyagabrahmam , colloquially known as Tyāgarājar and Tyagayya was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or classical South Indian music. He, along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry, forms the Trinity of Carnatic music...

, Annamacharya

Annamacharya

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya was the official songmaster of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, and a Telugu composer who composed around 36000 keertana songs, many of which were in praise of Venkateswara, the presiding deity of the temple...

, Muthuswami Dikshitar

Muthuswami Dikshitar

Muthuswami Dikshitar is a South Indian poet and composer and is one of the Musical Trinity of Carnatic music...

, Shyama Shastri, Subbaraya Shastri, Mysore Vasudevachar and Swathi Thirunal. The contemporary singer K. J. Yesudas

K. J. Yesudas

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...

 is a cultural ambassador of Carnatic music. The motion picture industry has emerged as an important platform in South India, over the years portraying the cultural changes, trends, aspirations, and developments experienced by its people. Some movie classics like Nammukku paarkkaan munthiri thoppukal (1986) by Padmarajan

Padmarajan

P. Padmarajan was an Indian author, screenwriter, and film director who contributed in Malayalam language. Padmarajan was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam, along with Bharathan, in the 1980s, which created films that were widely received while also being critically acclaimed...

, Adi Shankara (1984) by director G. V. Iyer

G. V. Iyer

Ganapathi Venkatrama Iyer was a well known Indian film director and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma", and was the only person who made movies in Sanskrit. His films were well-known for their spiritual themes. He was born in 1917 in Nanjanagud in Mysore district of Karnataka state in...

, and Perumthachan

Perumthachan

Perumthachan also spelled as "Perunthachan" meaning is an honorific title that is used to refer to an ancient legendary carpenter, architect, woodcarver and sculptor from Kerala, India...

(1990) by Ajayan have gained worldwide acclaim. South India is home to several distinct dance forms — the Koodiyattam

Koodiyattam

Koodiyattam or Kutiyattam is a form of Sanskrit theatre traditionally performed in the state of Kerala, India. Performed in the Sanskrit language in Hindu temples, it is believed to be 2,000 years old...

, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi

Kuchipudi

Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...

, Kathakali

Kathakali

Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...

, Yakshagana

Yakshagana

Yakshagana is a musical theater popular in the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, India. Yakshagana is the recent scholastic name for what are known as kēḷike, āṭa, bayalāṭa, bayalāṭa, daśāvatāra . It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during Bhakti movement...

, Theyyam

Theyyam

Theyyam or Theyyattam or Thira is a popular Hindu ritual form of worship of North Malabar in Kerala state, India, predominant in the Kolathunadu area Theyyam or Theyyattam or Thira is a popular Hindu ritual form of worship of North Malabar in Kerala state, India, predominant in the Kolathunadu...

, Ottamthullal

Ottamthullal

Ottamthullal or Ottanthullal is a type of performing art from Kerala, India. The art form was created during the 18th century by legendary Malayalam poet Kalakkaththu Kunchan Nambiar...

, Oppana

Oppana

Oppana is a popular form of social entertainment among the Mappila community of Kerala, south India, prevalent all over, especially in the northern district of Malappuram.. The Oppana Pattu might have come from Tamil culture. The Malayalam word Oppana Pattu is the derivation of Tamil word 'Oppanai...

, Kerala Natanam

Kerala Natanam

Kerala Natanam is a new style of dance that is now recognised as a distinct art form evolved from Kathakali a form of Indian dance-drama...

 and Mohiniaattam

Mohiniaattam

Mohiniyattam, also spelled Mohiniattam , is a traditional South Indian dance from Kerala, developed by the Tamil nattuvanar Vadivelu,one of the Thanjavur Quartet. It is one of the eight Indian classical dance forms. It is considered a very graceful dance meant to be performed as a solo recital by...

.

South India has an independent literary tradition going back over 2,500 years. The first known literature of South India are the poetic Sangams

Sangam literature

Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...

, which were written in Tamil between 2,500 and 2,100 years ago. The Kannada classic Kavirajamarga

Kavirajamarga

Kavirajamarga is the earliest available writing on rhetoric, poetics and grammar in the Kannada language. It was written by the famous Rashtrakuta King "Nripatunga" Amoghavarsha I and some say that it is based partly on an earlier Sanskrit writing, Kavyadarsa...

written by King Amoghavarsha I in 850 CE makes references to Kannada literature of King Durvinita

Durvinita

Durvinita is seen as the most successful ruler of the Western Ganga Dynasty. Son of the previous ruler, Avinita, Durvinita's assession to the throne was disputed by his brother, who had gained the support of the Pallavas and Kadambas. There are Nallala and Kadagattur inscriptions that refer to...

 in the early 6th century. Tamil Buddhist commentators of the Nemrinatham, written in the 10th century, make references to Kannada literature of the 4th century. Distinct Malayalam and Telugu literary traditions developed in the following centuries.

South India has two distinct styles of architecture, the pure Dravida style of Tamil Nadu and the Vesara

Vesara

Vesara is a type of Indian architecture primarily used in temples. The two other prominent styles are Dravida and Nagara. Vesara is a combination of these two temple styles.-Description:...

style (also called Karnata Dravida style) present in Karnataka. The inspirational temple sculptures of Hampi

Hampi

Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...

, Badami

Badami

Badami , formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD. It is famous for rock cut and other structural temples...

, Bhattiprolu

Bhattiprolu

Bhattiprolu is a small village in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh State in Southern India.-History:The original name of Bhattiprolu was Pratipalapura, a flourishing Buddhist town in the ancient Sala kingdom that predated Andhra Satavahanas. From available inscriptional evidence, King Kuberaka...

, Pattadakal

Pattadakal

Pattadakal is a village in Karnataka. It lies on the banks of the Malaprabha River in Bagalkot district. It is 22 km from Badami and about 10 km from Aihole...

, Aihole

Aihole

Aihole is a temple complex in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It is a very popular tourist spot in north Karnataka. It lies to the east of Pattadakal, along the Malaprabha River, while Badami is to the west of both....

, Belur

Belur

Belur may refer to any of the following:* Belur, Karnataka, town in Karnataka, India* Belur, West Bengal, India, a locality on the west bank of the Hooghly River* Belur Math, the religious abbey located in Belur, West Bengal, India...

, Halebidu

Halebidu

Halebidu is located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Halebidu was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples. Halebidu literally means ruined city...

, Lakkundi

Lakkundi

Lakkundi in Gadag District of Karnataka is a tiny village on the way to Hampi from Hubli. Lakkundi 11 km from Gadag in the east...

, Shravanabelagola

Shravanabelagola

Shravana Belgola is a city located in the Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 158 km from Bangalore. The statue of Gommateshvara Bahubali at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Jainism, one that reached a peak in architectural and sculptural...

, Mahabalipuram, Tanjore, Madurai

Madurai

Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...

 and the mural paintings of Travancore

Travancore

Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

 and Lepakshi temples, also stand as a testament to South Indian culture

South Indian culture

South Indian culture refers to the culture of the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. South Indian culture though with its visible differences forms an important part of the Indian culture. The South Indian Culture is essentially the celebration of the eternal...

. The paintings of Raja Ravi Varma

Raja Ravi Varma

Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian painter from the princely state of Travancore who achieved recognition for his depiction of scenes from the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana...

 are considered classic renditions of scenes of South Indian life and mythology. Murudeshwara

Murudeshwara

Murudeshwara is a town in the Bhatkal Taluk of Uttara Kannada district in the state of Karnataka, India. "Murudeshwara" is another name of the Hindu god Shiva...

, a town in Uttar Kannada district, is home to one of the world's tallest Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

 statues.

The main spiritual traditions of South India include both Shaivite

Shaivism

Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...

 and Vaishnavite

Vaishnavism

Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....

 branches of Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

, although Buddhist and Jain philosophies had been influential several centuries earlier. Shravanabelagola

Shravanabelagola

Shravana Belgola is a city located in the Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 158 km from Bangalore. The statue of Gommateshvara Bahubali at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Jainism, one that reached a peak in architectural and sculptural...

 in Karnataka is a popular pilgrimage center for Jains. Ayyavazhi

Ayyavazhi

Ayyavazhi is a dharmic belief system that originated in South India in the 19th century. It is cited as an independent monistic religion by several newspapers, government reports and academic researchers. In Indian censuses, however, the majority of its followers declare themselves as Hindus...

 is spread significantly across the southernmost parts of South India, with many followers in South Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

 and Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. There is a large Muslim community in South India, particularly on the Malabar coast

Malabar Coast

The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...

, which can trace its roots to the ancient maritime trade between Kerala and Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

is and other Arabs. Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 has flourished in coastal South India from the times of Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...

, who is believed to have come to Kerala and established the Syrian Christian tradition today called as Saint Thomas Christians or Syrian Malabar Nasrani

Syrian Malabar Nasrani

The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...

. Kerala is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities

Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...

 in the world who may have arrived on the Malabar coast during the time of King Solomon. The oldest surviving Jewish synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 in the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 is the Paradesi Synagogue

Paradesi Synagogue

The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations, located in Kochi, Kerala, in South India. It was built in 1568 by the Malabar Yehudan people or Cochin Jewish community in the Kingdom of Cochin...

 in Kochi, Kerala.

The states of Maharashtra, Goa, and Gujarat are varied and distinct. Goa has a Latin

Culture of Portugal

The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past Millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations , passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period , the...

 aura due to centuries of Portuguese rule. The architecture and cuisine of Goa is a unique blend of Indian and Portuguese cultures. Goa is known for its beaches and churches. Maharashtrian

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 culture derives from the ancient Indo-Aryan

Indo-Aryans

Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...

 Vedic

Vedic period

The Vedic period was a period in history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. The time span of the period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700–1100 BCE, also...

 culture influenced deeply by the Maratha Empire

Maratha Empire

The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....

 and British

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 colonial rule. Maharashtrians

Marathi people

The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

 take great pride in the Maratha Empire, and many places in Maharashtra are named after the founder of the Empire, Shivaji. Marathi literature

Marathi literature

Marathi literature is the body of literature of Marathi, a Sanskrit-derived language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra and written in the Devanagari script.-Early Marathi Literature :...

 and cinema

Marathi cinema

Marathi cinema refers to films produced in the Marathi language in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the oldest and pioneer film industry in India...

 are popular in the state as well as across India.

Gujarati culture is a blend of Hindu and Jain traditions. It has been influenced by the Parsis, who migrated to Gujarat from Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 about 1,000 years ago. In recent years, Gujarat has been rocked by communal violence

2002 Gujarat violence

The 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...

, damaging centuries old traditions of tolerance. Mumbai and Goa are renowned for nightlife. Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 has had a huge impact on the lifestyle and culture of this part of India as the Bollywood film industry is based in Mumbai.

Politics

Politics in South Western India is home to a mix of regional parties and larger national political parties like the Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 (INC), the Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

 (BJP), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

 (CPI(M)). With the exclusion of Karnataka, each state has at least two parties

Two-party system

A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...

 dominating politics in that state.

Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...

 (Army of Shiv), referring to Shivaji Bhosle), is a far-right political party in India founded in 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. The party originally emerged out of a movement in Mumbai that broadly favoured increased influence of Marathis in Maharashtra. It built a strong base amongst the Marathi community in the 1960s based on its militant ideology that Maharashtra belonged to the Marathi community and migrants from other Indian states should be thrown out. Although the party's primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. Gradually the party moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist

Hindu nationalism

Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...

 agenda as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

. The party has taken part in several Maharashtra state governments and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance

National Democratic Alliance (India)

The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...

 cabinet that ruled India between 1998-2004.

Pre-independence politics in the Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

 was dominated by the Justice Party

Justice Party (India)

The Justice Party , officially known as South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. The party was established in 1917 by T. M. Nair and Theagaroya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency...

  and the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 (INC). Periyar Ramasami, who founded the Dravidian movement (Self Respect Movement), was elected leader of the Justice Party in 1938. In 1944 the party was renamed Dravidar Kazhagam

Dravidar Kazhagam

Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...

, with its initial aim being the secession of Dravida Nadu from the rest of India. Following independence, Periyar strongly believed that the party should not participate in elections in the newly created India, something his closest followers disagreed with. In 1948, C. N. Annadurai

C. N. Annadurai

Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...

, a follower of Periyar and a Joint Secretary of Dravidar Kazhagam, parted ways with Periyar to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...

 (DMK) political party. The Indian National Congress's political influence over Tamil Nadu gave way to the rise of the DMK which formed its first government in 1968 and again in 1978. The following year, a split in the DMK resulted in the formation of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...

 (AIADMK), led by M. G. Ramachandran

M. G. Ramachandran

Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials , was an Indian film actor, director, producer and politician....

. Together, the AIADMK and the DMK currently command a 60% share in Tamil Nadu state elections.

The main facets of state politics in Tamil Nadu include language — the distinction between Tamil and non-Tamil speakers; and caste — a distinction addressed by the Self-respect Movement. The imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking areas of India is a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu. In January–February 1965, large scale anti-Hindi agitation, a cause championed by the DMK, occurred in Tamil Nadu.

In 1982, the establishment of the Telugu Desam Party

Telugu Desam Party

Telugu Desam Party or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N. T...

 in Andhra Pradesh by former Telugu actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) broke the dominance of the INC in Andhra Pradesh politics. The party was voted into power four times. In 1996, a year after winning the state assembly election by a landslide, a dispute between NTR, his wife Lakshmi Parvati, and his immediate family resulted in a split in the TDP. Concerned over Lakshmi Parvati's undue influence over NTR and his policies, the bulk of the party favoured the leadership of NTR's son-in-law, N Chandrababu Naidu, who later became Chief Minister of the state. Naidu was regarded as a visionary who promoted the growth of information technology in the state. On August 26, 2008 Chiranjeevi

Chiranjeevi

Chiranjeevi is a Telugu film actor and a politician. He has appeared primarily in Telugu Cinema along with a few Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Punadhirallu . However, Pranam Khareedu released at the box office earlier...

, a leading actor of the Telugu film industry launched a new party at Tirupathi, called Prajarajyam. He said he would be contesting for the elections scheduled in the next year.

The Janata Dal

Janata Dal

Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...

 party has been far more successful in Karnataka than it has been in national politics. National political parties such as the BJP and INC have experienced more comparative success in Karnataka than they have in other states of South India. Karnataka's political environment is dominated by two rival caste groups — the Vokkaliga

Vokkaliga

The Vokkaligas are an Indian caste or social group found mainly in the Old Mysore Region of southern Karnataka state. In Tamil Nadu they are known as Okkaligar and use Gowder as a title...

s and the Lingayats. Ramakrishna Hegde

Ramakrishna Hegde

Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms and as Minister of Commerce and Industry in the Union government.-Early life:...

 played an integral part in the ascent of the Janata Dal into the national foray in the late 1980s. However, it was his political rival H. D. Deve Gowda

H. D. Deve Gowda

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda was the 11th Prime Minister of India and the 14th chief minister of the state of Karnataka ....

, then the Chief Minister of Karnataka, who later went on to become the Prime Minister of India

Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...

.

Kerala hosts two major political alliances: the United Democratic Front

United Democratic Front (India)

United Democratic Front is an alliance of political parties of Kerala state in India. This alliance is led by the Indian National Congress....

 (UDF, led by the Indian National Congress) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

). Kerala numbers among India's most left-wing states. Kerala has had the alternate election of Congress and the Communists to power.

Cuisine

Rice is the staple diet, while fish is an integral component of coastal South West Indian meals. Coconut is an important ingredient in Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh cuisine is characterized by pickles and spicy curries. Hyderabadi cuisine

Hyderabadi cuisine

Hyderabadi cuisine is a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad, India. The city was founded by the Sultan's of Golconda, who has developed its own cuisine over the centuries...

, a legacy of the past, is popular for its biryani. Dosa

Dosa

Dosa or Dhosai is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils. It is indigenous to and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as being popular in Sri Lanka...

, Idli, and Uttapam

Uttapam

Uttapam or ooththappam is a dosa-like dish made by cooking ingredients in a batter. Unlike a dosa, which is crisp and crepe-like, uttapam is a thick pancake, with toppings cooked right into the batter...

 are popular throughout the region. There are large coffee estates in southern Karnataka and parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The cuisine of South Western India is diverse. Goan cuisine

Goan cuisine

Goan cuisine consists of regional foods popular in Goa, located along India's west coast along the Arabian Sea. Seafood, coconut milk, rice and paste are main ingredients of Goan delicacies. The area is located in a tropical climate, and spices and flavors are intense. Use of Kokum is another...

 is dominated by the use of cashew nuts, coconuts, and seafood. Pork Vindaloo

Vindaloo

Vindaloo is an Indian curry dish from the region of Goa. It is popular globally in its Anglo-Indian form as a staple of curry house menus, often renowned as a particularly spicy dish, though it is not necessarily always the hottest available. The name Vindaloo is derived from the Portuguese dish...

 and Xacuti

Xacuti

Xacuti is a curry prepared in Goa, India with complex spicing, including white poppy seeds, sliced/grated coconut and large dried red chilies. It is usually prepared with chicken or lamb...

 are goan curries. Bebinca

Bebinca

Bebinca, also known as bibik or bebinka, is a type of pudding and a traditional Goan dessert. The ingredients include plain flour, sugar, ghee and coconut milk....

 is a sweet prepared with eggs and coconuts. Maharashtrian cuisine

Maharashtrian cuisine

Maharashtrian cuisine is cuisine of the Marathi people, those from the state of Maharashtra in India. Maharashtrian cuisine covers a range from being mild to very spicy dishes. Wheat, rice, jowar, bajri, vegetables, lentils and fruit form important components of Maharashtrian diet...

 ranges from bland to fiery hot. Pohay

Pohay

Pohay or Pohe is an Indian fast food prepared in Maharashtra.Its origins are unknown. Northern variants of this dish tend to be sweet, while Maharashtrian pohay tends to be spicy. It is also often served with an extremely spicy curry, locally called 'tarri'. Pohay with tarri is a relished snack in...

, Shrikhand

Shrikhand

Shrikhand is an Indian sweet dish made of strained yogurt. It is one of the main desserts in Gujarati cuisine and Maharashtrian cuisine. It is also served with Gujarati thali sometimes as a sweet dish. Preparation of this dish is very simple but it takes some time to process yogurt properly.The...

, Pav Bhaji

Pav bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a fast food dish that originated in Marathi cuisine, and is native to Maharashtra and is popular in most metropolitan areas in India, particularly in Pune. Pav in Marathi means a small loaf of bread. The word has been derived from Portuguese pão . Bhaji in Marathi means vegetable dish...

, Vada Pav

Vada pav

Vada pav , sometimes spelled wada pav, is a popular vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. It consists of a batata vada sandwiched between 2 slices of a pav. The compound word batata vada refers in Marathi to a vada made out of batata, the latter referring to a potato...

 are good examples of Maharashtrian cuisine. Maharashtra has some of the best vineyards in India, with Nashik and Sangli

Sangli

Sangli is a city in the state of Maharashtra of India. Sangli is known as the Turmeric city for its vast production of Turmeric. Sangli is situated on the banks of river Krishna and is the largest market place for Turmeric in Asia and houses many sugar factories, which it is also noted for...

 districts the country's biggest grape-producing districts.

Gujarati cuisine

Gujarati cuisine

Gujarati cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Gujaratis from India, who are predominant in western India. It is primarily a vegetarian cuisine, despite having an extensive coastline for sea food, due influence of Jain vegetarianism and traditional Hinduism...

 is almost exclusively vegetarian. Gujarat is one of three states in India that prohibit alcohol, along with Mizoram

Mizoram

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...

 and Manipur

Manipur

Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...

.

The dosa is a Southern Indian [delicacy whose origins are unclear. It is generally believed that dosa had its roots in the temple Streets of Udupi, Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

.

Traditionally Tamil dishes are served on a banana leaf

Banana leaf

Banana leaf is the leaf of the Banana plant. It is used for various functions, such as for decorative elements, wrappings, plate mat, and employed in cooking method....

 instead of a plate, and are eaten with the right hand. Rice is the staple food of Tamils and accompanied with various sauces along with meat or vegetarian dishes. Traditional Tamil cuisine includes Dosai, Idly, Vadai, Pongal

Pongal

Thai Ponggal is a harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Indian Union Territory of Pondicherry and in Sri Lanka. Pongal coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India. Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over" or "spill over". The boiling...

 and Uthappam. These dishes are served along with Sambar, Rasam

Rasam

Rasam is a South Indian soup. Traditional preparation involves tamarind juice as base in addition to tomato, chili pepper and other spices as seasonings. Steamed lentils are added by some along with any preferred vegetables. Nowadays all the seasonings required are combined and ground beforehand...

, Kootu

Kootu

Kootu is a Tamil word means 'add' i.e. vegetable added with lentils which form the dish, made of vegetable and lentils and are semi-solid in consistency, i.e., less aqueous than sambhar, but more so than dry curries...

, Aviyal

Aviyal

Avial is a dish that has a unique place in typical Kerala as well as Tamil cuisine and Udupi cuisine. It is a thick mixture of vegetables, curd and coconut, seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves...

, Chatni and Poriyal

Poriyal

Poriyal is the Tamil word for fried or sometimes saute'd vegetable dish. The kannada word for the same dish is Palya. It is usually made by shallow frying shredded or diced vegetables along with spices...

. The traditionally prepared filter coffee has a unique taste. The fast food culture is witnessing a steady growth in Tamil Nadu in recent years. The Chettinad

Chettinad

Chettinad is a region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu state, India. Karaikudi is known as the capital of Chettinad , which includes Karaikudi and 74 other villages...

 region of Tamil Nadu has a spicy non-vegetarian cuisine, and Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...

 has a unique wheat halwa.

The cuisine of Kerala is linked to the history and culture of the area. Because many of Kerala's Hindus are vegetarian, and because Kerala has large Muslim and Christian minorities that are predominantly not vegetarian, Kerala cuisine has a multitude of both vegetarian and meat dishes. As with almost all Indian food, spices play an important part in Kerala cuisine. The main spices used are cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, green and red peppers, cloves, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander, and turmeric. Herbs are seldom used.

Economy

South Western India has relatively high standards of living, although the city of Mumbai suffers from extreme overcrowding due to immigration from across the country. The region generates 20.34% of the national GDP, with an annual growth rate of 14.5% as of 2006. The states generate about 23% of the tax revenues

States of India by tax revenues

This is a list of States of India by projected own tax revenues of their governments for the year 2010–15 by the Thirteenth Finance Commission with figures in crore of Indian Rupees...

 of the country. More than 85% of the households have access to electricity with about 55% owning a television. Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 employs most people in the region, while services have the largest share of the total GDP.

India's economy after independence in 1947 conformed to a socialist framework, with strict governmental control over private sector

Private sector

In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...

 participation, foreign trade and foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...

 (FDI). Through 1960-1990, South Indian economies experienced mixed economic growth. In the 1960s, Karnataka and Kerala achieved above average economic growth, while Andhra Pradesh's economy declined during this period. Kerala experienced economic decline in the 1970s while the economies of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. and Tamil Nadu consistently exceeded national average growth rates after 1970. Karnataka experienced the highest positive differential in economic growth after the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, while Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were noted by some to be more reform-oriented in terms of economic policy when compared to other Indian states.

Over 48% of South India's population is engaged in agriculture, which is largely dependent on seasonal monsoons Some of the main crops cultivated in South India include rice, sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

, pearl millet

Pearl millet

Pearl millet is the most widely grown type of millet. Grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times, it is generally accepted that pearl millet originated in Africa and was subsequently introduced into India. The center of diversity, and suggested area of domestication, for...

, pulses, sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

, cotton, chilli, and ragi

Finger millet

Eleusine coracana, commonly Finger millet , also known as African millet or Ragi is an annual plant widely grown as a cereal in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. E...

. Areca

Areca

Areca is a genus of about 50 species of single-stemmed palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from Malaysia to the Solomon Islands. The generic name Areca is derived from a name used locally on the Malabar Coast of India....

, coffee, tea, vanilla, rubber, pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

, tapioca

Tapioca

Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...

, and cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

 are cultivated on the hills, and coconut grows in abundance in coastal areas. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of rice in India, and Karnataka produces 70% of India's coffee. Frequent droughts in northern Karnataka, Rayalaseema

Rayalaseema

Rayalaseema is a geographic region in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It includes the districts of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool. These Telugu speaking districts were part of Madras Presidency until 1953 when Telugu speaking districts of Madras presidency were carved out to form...

, and Telangana

Telangana

Telangana is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad state which was ruled by Nizam. It is bordered with the states of Maharashtra on the north and north-west, Karnataka on the west, Chattisgarh on the north-east and Orissa to the east...

 have left farmers debt-ridden, forcing them to sell their livestock and sometimes even to commit suicide. The region suffers from water scarcity, especially during summer. Since the liberalisation of the Indian economy, South India has seen a decrease in revenue from agriculture and agriculture related services.

Traditionally, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been home to large, public sector

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...

 industries (referred to as Public Sector Undertakings, or PSUs), with both states posting above average growth rates in this sector following economic liberalisation. The registered headquarters of 42% of all Central PSUs in South India are located in Karnataka. Chennai, The Detroit of South Asia, accounts for about 35% of India's overall automotive components. The growth of information technology (IT) hubs in the region have spurred economic growth and attracted foreign investments and job seekers from other parts of the country. Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, the Silicon Valley of India

Silicon Valley of India

The Silicon Valley of India is a nickname of the Indian city of Bangalore. The name signifies Bangalore's status as a hub for information technology companies in India and is a comparative reference to the original Silicon Valley, based around Santa Clara Valley, California, a major hub for IT...

, is India's IT hub, and is home to over 200 software companies. In fiscal 2006-2007, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka attracted the third and fourth highest total FDI approvals in India, respectively, totalling to over . Software exports from South India grossed over in fiscal 2005-06.

Though Kerala lags behind many of the Indian states in terms of industrialisation, it ranks first in the country in terms of quality of life

Human Development Index

The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...

.