Chennai (/ˈtʃɛnaɪ/ (listen), Tamil: [ˈt͡ɕenːaɪ̯]), also known as Madras[upper-alpha 1] (the official name until 1996), is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, it is the largest cultural, economic and educational centre of South India.