Chennai
Chennai is the capital city of Tamil Nadu and one of the famous tourist places in India. Yes, people from different parts of the world visit here to explore the ancient temple architecture and sculptures, language, culture, food, etc. One major factor attracting foreign tourists is existence of world’s ancient civilization and language ‘Tamil’ spoken by more than 70 million people in the state of Tamil Nadu and few other countries across the world. ‘Tamil’ language has a large collection of literature and is the only one that can be recognized by modern speakers throughout time. For instance, someone from the current generation who speak Tamil could read ancient Tamil texts. With other languages, they change so much over time that the language would be unrecognizable.
Most of the tourist attractions are located in the city limits. So people can reach to the attractions by public transports like, bus, local trains, metro rails which has more frequency making it available for travel throughout the day. You can opt to use autos and car rentals for your private travel.
Guindy Park is the 8th smallest National park of India located inside a city. The place has a limited number of birds and animal species like, tortoise, deer, jackal, white peafowl, hyena, etc. You can visit this zoo in an hour.
Snake Park lies just besides Guindy National Park in the same space. The park contains numerous species of snakes and other reptiles. You can see the sedated snakes kept alive in glass jars. There are many other snakes like, python for visitors’ view kept in a fenced space.
The cathedral basilica is constructed by Portuguese in 16th century. This church is one of the three known churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus after the one in Vatican City and other in Spain. You will be stunned by the architecture of the church painted in white on the exterior and beautiful roof and walls in the interior part. You’ll feel the inner peace sitting in this church.
Marina Beach is the longest beach in India and the second longest beach in the world. The beach has a very large shore for people to sit and relax. You’ll see 30,000 to 50,000 people on this beach everyday relaxing by evening. Before entering into shore, there are statues of great leaders like, Kamarajar, Mahatma Gandhi, The Great Tamil Poet Bharathidasan and the end you’ll find the memorials of Dr. MGR and Perarignar Anna. There is an interesting fact about Dr. MGR Memorial. Place your ear on the memorial and listen carefully. You’ll definitely hear the ticking sound of a watch coming from inside of memorial. The shore is the place for a lot of fun rides, food outlets serving fresh catch fish fries, juices, ice golas and many more snacks. You should try the famous ‘Nagaraj Kulfi’ near Avvaiyar statue on the shore.
Take a day to explore other places in the outskirts of the city on ECR (East Coast Road). The museum is a place of 18 historical houses depicting the different house models of India. You’ll feel life in every house here. The place also conducts other performances like, puppet show, tribal dances and sells craft items. This is a place to click beautiful pictures with your family in the house environment and you can spend leisure for 2 hours.
The Boat House lies ahead of the last visited museum on ECR. This is a boating point on the backwaters. There are pedal boats, motor boats and row boats and life jackets will be provided. However, only motor boats take you near the meeting point of backwaters and sea.
Next to Boat house, comes the crocodile bank at a distance. The bank is the place of shelter for hundreds of crocodiles, snakes, giant lizards, tortoises, etc. They breed crocodiles in this place counting in higher numbers. You can watch the live venom suction process from poisonous snakes here. The most highlight of this place is the ‘Anaconda’ snake. Anaconda movie lovers always want to see the live snake here. The place also has a night safari while the crocodiles become active being nocturnal (nigh) animals.
Mahabalipuram, earlier called as ‘Mammalapuram’ is the place of ancient architectures attracting tourists from different parts of the world. The Group of Monuments in Mahabalipuram is a collection of 7th and 8th century monuments in Tamil Nadu and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pancha Rathas is also known as ‘Five Rathas’ or ‘Pandava Rathas’ was sculpted in 7th century. This is an example of monolith Indian rock cut of granite (each structure is carved over a single, long stone) architecture and is one of the Group of Monuments of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Each of the five monuments in Pancha Rathas resemble a chariot (ratha) named after the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi from the epic ‘Mahabharata’. However, post the death of the King Narasimhavarman I, the structure remains incomplete and never consecrated and considered as misrepresentation of names. You can see the uncarved portions of rock till date.
You should climb up the hill to reach this Mandapam at the hill top. This is a beautiful architecture and is one of the Group of Monuments of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Varaha Cave Temple, also known as ‘Varaha Mandapa’ is a rock-cut cave temple dating back to 7th century. This is temple is an example of Indian rock-cut architecture and part of the Group of Monuments designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Krishna’s Butter Ball is something beyond Science as it is a wonder of nature. This is a gigantic granite boulder balanced by nature on the slope of the hillock. The boulder is approximately 6 meters high and 5 meters wide and weighs around 250 tonnes but stands on approximately 1.2 meters base slope. Considering this a threat to humans during natural calamities, scientists tried pulling the boulder using elephants but nothing moved even an inch. The monument stays firm even after Tsunami and cyclones.
Arjuna’s Penace is also known as ‘Descent of the Ganges’ attributed to Mamalla in the 7th century; adopted stone as the medium for sculpting in situ rock faces, which until then was done with some perishable material like wood or loose stones. The monument was created on two large boulders of pink granite in the open air giving a natural effect. The natural cleft is skilfully sculptured between the two boulders. A water tank was once located at the top of the rock to release water denoting the Ganges River. The relief is an ensemble of over a hundred figures of Gods, people, half-humans and animals. This is part of the Group of Monuments of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Shore Temple is a structural temple built with blocks of granite in 8th century A.D. The temple overlooks the shore of Bay of Bengal and hence named as ‘Shore Temple’. The site was a busy port during the reign of Narasimhavarman II of the Pallava dynasty. It is one of the Group of Monuments of Mahabalipuram and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The beach is very beautiful with rocks in some places. You can see high tides in this beach always as the sea is very deep near the shore itself. There is a long street of shopping before entering into shore. You’ll get a lot of street snacks to eat here and buy handicrafts of shells, stones, idols, clothing, etc.
