Cuddalore District is located on the east coast of
Tamil Nadu. It is bounded by
Viluppuram,
Nagapattinam,
Perambalur and
Tiruvallur districts and the
Bay of Bengal. Cuddalore is an important tourist place in Tamil Nadu with historical monuments, edifices and ancient temples. With an area of 3,678 sq km, Cuddalore District has a population of over 2.3 million. It gets abundant rainfall from the north-east and south-east monsoons. The temperature varies from 20
o C to 37
o C.
Tamil,
Malayalam and
Telugu are the languages spoken.
The main crops are paddy, groundnut, sugarcane, maize, gingelly and
tapioca. The East India Distilleries, the Aruna Sugars Ltd at Pennadam and the South India Sugars Ltd at Mundiambakkam are some of the major sugar factories. Chemical factories such as the Premier Fertilizers Ltd and the Consolidated Chemicals India Ltd are situated in Cuddalore District.
Fort St. David is the most important landmark in Cuddalore. The Shaivite temple of
Chidambaram is renowned for its sculptures in various Natya (dance) postures. Mangrove Forest at Pichavaram, Lignite Mines in
Neyveli, Cuddalore Sea Port, Natrajar Temple at Chidambaram, Padaleeswarar Temple and Devanatha Swami Temple of Cuddalore and Bhuvarahaswami Temple, Srimushnam are some of the tourist spots.
Cuddalore District is well connected with other part of the country by road and rail. Nearest international and domestic airport is at
Chennai.