About South India

South India is the area encompassing the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area (635,780 km2 or 245,480 sq mi). Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse with two mountain ranges - the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram , Mysuru, Vijayawada, Madurai, Mangalore, Tiruchirapalli are some of the major cities.

General Information
The southern part of India called South India, covering states of Andhra Pardesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The region of South India also known as Dravida as is used in National Anthem of India. A majority of South Indians speaks Dravidian language: Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Other languages speaks in South India is English and Hindi.
Apart from the English name South India, southern part of India has been known by several other historical names. Adi Shankara invented the name Dravida in 8th century as he called himself Dravida Shishu (Dravida Child) means Child of South India. The term Deccan, and Anglicized from of the word Dakshina meaning south refers only the area covered by Deccan Plateau. The Deccan Plateau is a volcanic plateau that covers most of peninsular India excluding the costal area.

Culture
The Culture of South India is very similar to South Asia & Southeast Asia, because many dynastic Kingdom of South India ruled over the South and Southeast Asia. South India 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 man wears a white Pancha or a colorful Lungi with typical batik patterns and women wears a sari in traditional style. Rice is the main diet in all over in south India, while fish is an integral component of costal south Indian meals. Coconut is an important ingredient in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabadi Biryani, Dosa, Idli, Uttapam are popular south Indian meals famous throughout the region.

Geography
South India is a peninsula, bounded on the west by Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal in the east, Indian Ocean in south and in north by Vindhya & Satpura ranges. South Indian is a peninsula, bounded on the west of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal in the east, Indian Ocean in South and in the north by the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The Satpura ranges define the northern branch of the Deccan Plateau. The Western Ghats, along the western coast, mark another boundary of the plateau. The narrow strip of green land between the Western Ghats and Arabian Sea in the Konkan region. Major rivers of this region are Godavri, Krishna and Kaveri, which flow eastward and empty into the Bay of Bengal. All three rivers create deltas before Bay of Bengal and the costal delta regions traditionally constituted the rice bowl of South India.

Climate
The climate of South India is very tropical with the monsoons playing a major role. The most rainfall in the region comes through South-West monsoon in June to October months. Tamil Nadu and Southeast Andhra Pradesh receive rains from the North-East Monsoon from about November to February. The region has cooler nights from October to March while days are pleasantly warm. The northern part of South India, temperature can fall below 10°c during October to March. In the months of March to June, days are very hot and temperature can go over 40°c. The southern coastal region has an average minimum temperature of 20°c and maximum of 35°c.