100 Most Important GK Questions of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu, located in the southernmost part of India, is a land rich in culture, tradition, and historical significance. Known for its ancient temples, classical arts, and vibrant festivals, the state is a blend of heritage and modern development. With Chennai as its capital, Tamil Nadu has contributed immensely to India’s fields of literature, science, politics, and sports. From the classical works of Sangam poets to world-renowned scientists and artists, the state’s legacy is both deep and diverse.

For aspirants preparing for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, TNPSC, and others, having a strong grasp of Tamil Nadu’s general knowledge is essential. This collection of trivia questions is specially curated to help you strengthen your understanding of the state in a concise, exam-focused format. Let’s dive into the 10 categories!

Table of Contents

1. History and Heritage
2. Geography
3. Culture
4. Politics
5. Economy
6. Education
7. Famous Personalities
8. Tourism
9. Language and Literature
10. Sports

Let’s dive into the 10 categories!

History and Heritage questions of Tamil Nadu

1. Keeladi is associated with which ancient Tamil era?
Answer: Sangam

2. Which ancient dam was built by the Chola king Karikala?
Answer: Kallanai

3. Name one of the “Great Living Chola Temples”.
Answer: Brihadisvara

4. Name one major Sangam dynasty.
Answer: Chola

5. What reorganization happened in 1956?
Answer: Linguistic

6. Who contributed to Tamil Buddhist literature?
Answer: Sattanar

7. What animal symbolized the Cholas?
Answer: Tiger

8. Which poem speaks of Karikalan’s maritime trade?
Answer: Pattinapaalai

9. Name one Tamil Shaiva poet-saint.
Answer: Sambandar

10. Which dynasty ruled Madurai after the Vijayanagara Empire?
Answer: Nayak

Geography Quiz

1. What is the highest peak in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Doddabetta

2. Which river is the longest in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Cauvery

3. Which hill range lies on the western boundary of Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Western Ghats

4. Which major coastal plain lies along the east?
Answer: Coromandel Coast

5. What is the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Kanyakumari

6. Name the man-made lake in Kodaikanal built in 1863.
Answer: Kodaikanal Lake

7. Which hills form the junction of the Western and Eastern Ghats?
Answer: Nilgiri Hills

8. Which is Tamil Nadu’s second-longest river, now polluted?
Answer: Thenpennai

9. Name the massif hills near Dindigul, part of the Eastern Ghats.
Answer: Sirumalai

10. What is Tamil Nadu’s coastline length?
Answer: 1,076 km

Culture question and answer of Tamil Nadu

1. Which classical dance originated in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Bharatanatyam

2. What folk dance involves balancing a pot on the head?
Answer: Karakattam

3. Which rapper-themed tiger dance from Tamil Nadu mimics big cats?
Answer: Puliyattam

4. What is the ancient street-theatre form of narrating epics?
Answer: Koothu

5. What is the classical music tradition of Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Carnatic

6. What is the Tamil New Year called?
Answer: Puthandu

7. Pongal is primarily a festival celebrating which crop?
Answer: Rice

8. Which UNESCO intangible heritage dance involves storytelling?
Answer: Bharatanatyam

9. Which folk puppet art is native to Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Bommalattam

10. What is the folk dance of the peacock called?
Answer: Mayilattam

Politics

1. In which year did Tamil Nadu’s Madras State get renamed?
Answer: 1969

2. How many Lok Sabha constituencies are in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: 39

3. How many seats are in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly?
Answer: 234 elected (+1 nominated)

4. Who is the current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu?
Answer: M.K. Stalin

5. Who was Tamil Nadu’s first non-Congress chief minister?
Answer: C. N. Annadurai

6. Who founded the DMK in 1949?
Answer: C. N. Annadurai

7. Which party did Periyar E. V. Ramasamy found?
Answer: Dravidar Kazhagam

8. Which AIADMK leader was the state’s first female CM?
Answer: J. Jayalalithaa

9. Who was Tamil Nadu’s only female CM before Jayalalithaa (brief tenure)?
Answer: Janaki Ramachandran

10. Which Tamil Nadu scheme helped over 700 candidates clear UPSC Prelims in 2025?
Answer: Naan Mudhalvan

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasinatha_Baskaran
Source: https://edupadhai.com/tamil-nadu-gk/

Economy question answer of Tamil Nadu

1. Which sector contributes the most to Tamil Nadu’s GSDP (~54%)?
Answer: Services

2. Tamil Nadu accounts for approximately. what percentage of India’s automobile production?
Answer: 35 percent

3. Which city is dubbed the “Manchester of South India”?
Answer: Coimbatore

4. Tamil Nadu leads India in which renewable energy segment?
Answer: Wind power

5. Coimbatore supplies two-thirds of India’s demand for which products?
Answer: Motors & pumps

6. Tamil Nadu has what share of India’s leather tanning capacity?
Answer: ~70%

7. Which port is the primary gateway of Tamil Nadu’s sea trade?
Answer: V. O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin)

8. Tamil Nadu is the second-largest state economy in India. True or False?
Answer: True 

9. Which sector is seeing a surge in Coimbatore, envisioned as an industrial & digital innovation hub?
Answer: SaaS & manufacturing-tech

10. What key summit did the state launch in January 2024 to boost investment?
Answer: Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet

Education quiz question of Tamil Nadu

1. Which district is the most literate in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Kanyakumari

2. Which district has the lowest literacy rate?
Answer: Dharmapuri

3. By when is Tamil Nadu set to achieve full (95 %) adult literacy?
Answer: End 2025

4. Under which national scheme did Tamil Nadu certify over 5 lakh adult learners?
Answer: FLNAT (NILP)

5. Recently, which TN district saw more women than men gaining literacy?
Answer: Trichy

6. Which district ranked third in the 2025 State-Level Achievement Survey?
Answer: Madurai

7. Who is the current Tamil Nadu School Education Minister known for the “Ennum Ezhuthum” scheme?
Answer: Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi

8. How many universities are there in Tamil Nadu
Answer: 56

9. What is the oldest medical college in Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Madras Medical College (est. 1835)

10. Which IIT is considered Tamil Nadu’s premier engineering institute?
Answer: IIT Madras

Famous Personalities

1. Who is known as the “Missile Man of India” from Tamil Nadu?
Answer: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

2. Which Tamil Nadu scientist led the Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions?
Answer: Mylswamy Annadurai

3. Who was the first female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu?
Answer: J. Jayalalithaa

4. Which national chess champion hails from Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Viswanathan Anand

5. Which Tamil mathematician is famous for his intuitive theorems?
Answer: Srinivasa Ramanujan

6. Who is the Alphabet Inc. CEO originally from Madurai?
Answer: Sundar Pichai

7. Who was Tamil Nadu’s first Bharat Ratna awardee musician?
Answer: M. S. Subbulakshmi

8. Who was the fiery nationalist poet known as “Mahakavi”?
Answer: Subramania Bharati

9. Which queen from Sivagangai fought the British in the 18th century?
Answer: Rani Velu Nachiyar

10. Who is the prominent archaeologist who led Tamil Nadu’s archaeology department?
Answer: R. Nagaswamy

Tourism

1. Which UNESCO World Heritage site features rock-cut temples and the Shore Temple?
Answer: Mahabalipuram

2. What is the granite balancing boulder in Mahabalipuram called?
Answer: Krishna’s Butterball

3. What is Tamil Nadu’s longest urban beach located in Chennai?
Answer: Marina Beach

4. Which beach town marks the confluence of three seas?
Answer: Kanyakumari

5. Which Hindu temple on Pamban Island is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas?
Answer: Ramanathaswamy Temple

6. Which Tamil Nadu town is famously called the “Temple Town” with 188 temples?
Answer: Kumbakonam

7. Which waterfall in Dharmapuri is a major tourist attraction?
Answer: Hogenakkal Falls

8. Name the popular hill stations called “Queen” and “Princess” of the hills.
Answer: Ooty and Kodaikanal

9. Which mangrove forest is near Chidambaram and promoted for eco-tourism?
Answer: Pichavaram Mangroves

10. Which Eastern Ghats hill (in Salem/Namakkal) is being developed for eco-tourism?
Answer: Kolli Hills

Language and Literature

1. Which epic features Kannagi as the central character?
Answer: Silappatikaram

2. Who authored the first Tamil novel, Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram (1879)?
Answer: Mayavaram Vedanayagam Pillai

3. Who composed the Tamil Ramavataram (Kamban’s Ramayana)?
Answer: Kambar

4. Who wrote Manimekalai, considered the “Odyssey of Tamil poetry”?
Answer: Sīthalai Sāttanār

5. Who penned Kuyil Pattu?
Answer: Subramanya Bharathi

6. Which Tamil movement promoted pure Tamil by rejecting loanwords?
Answer: Tanittamil Iyakkam (Pure‑Tamil Movement)

7. Where was the first Tamil Sangam held?
Answer: Madurai

8. Who translated the Mahabharata into Tamil as Perundevanar or Kamban?
Answer: Kambar

9. What is Purananuru?
Answer: Sangam anthology of 400 heroic poems

10. What was the first regular Tamil newspaper, started in 1882?
Answer: Swadesamitran

Sports

1. Which traditional sport was officially recognized by Tamil Nadu in 2023 and revived across rural areas?
Answer: Atya Patya

2. What is the state game of Tamil Nadu as per official sources?
Answer: Kabaddi

3. Which ancient pole-and-rope sport from Tamil Nadu is making a comeback in Trichy?
Answer: Mallakhamb

4. Which Indian chess legend from Tamil Nadu is a five-time World Champion?
Answer: Viswanathan Anand

5. Who led India’s hockey team to Olympic gold in 1980 and is from Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Vasudevan Baskaran

6. Which Tamil Nadu athlete was the first to win an Asian Games medal in athletics?
Answer: Santhi Soundarajan

7. Which Pro Kabaddi legend from Tanjore became India’s national team coach?
Answer: K. Baskaran

8. Which volleyball duo from Tamil Nadu won silver at the Khelo India Beach Games 2025?
Answer: Robin Ravi & S. Bharat

9. Which premier cricket stadium is located in Chennai?
Answer: M. A. Chidambaram Stadium

10. Which international tennis tournament is held annually in Chennai?
Answer: Chennai Open (WTA/ATP)