03.CHENNAI
|
 |
| Chennai – The capital city of Tamil Nadu is Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai has an estimated population of 7.5 million (2007), making it the fourth largest metropolitan city in India. It is often termed as Cultural Capital of India. |
| General Informations |
| Area |
: |
174 sq. kms |
| Population |
: |
7.5 million appx |
| Altitude |
: |
Sea level |
| Climate |
: |
Max. Min. |
| Summer |
: |
37ºC 21.10ºC |
| Winter |
: |
32ºC 19.81ºC |
| Rainfall |
: |
1,272 mm |
| Season |
: |
Tropical throughtout the Year |
| Clothing |
: |
Tropical |
| Languages Spoken |
: |
Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu and English |
 |
|
| |
| Places of Interest: |
| |
| Fort St. George: |
| Fort St.George occupies pride of place and prominence in Chennai. This bastion derived its name form St. George, the patron saint of England. The State Legislature and the Secretariat are located inside this fort. The St. Mary’s Church, the oldest Anglican Church in India built in 1680 is situated here. The tombstones in its courtyard are some of the oldest British tombstones in India. |
 |
| The weddings of Robert Clive and Governor Elihu Yale, who later founded the famous Yale University in the U.S.A were solemnised in this ancient prayerhouse. |
|
|
| |
| The Marina Beach: |
| The Marina Beach, the pride of Chennai is the second longest beach in the world and has a wide sandy shore. Situated on the beach, are the Samadhi or memorials dedicated to C.N.Annadurai and M.G.Ramachandran, both former Chief Ministers of the state. They attract thousands of visitors everyday. Some of the most beautiful buildings in Chennai such as the University of Madras, the Senate House, Chepauk Palace, Presidency College and the Ice House are located on the beach drive. Evenings on the beach are really colorful with many stalls lining up on the beach and a large number of enthusiastic tourists starting to show up. |
| |
| Vivekananda House & Museum: |
| The state government had leased this building Sri Ramakrishna Mission. It is an imposing structure on the Marina along the South Beach Road. It was constructed in 1842 to store ice blocks imported from the USA by the Tudor Ice Company and the business continued until 1874, when the ice began to be produced locally. This is why it is called Ice House. Later Bilagiri Iyengar purchased this building in 1885 and called it "Castle Kernon." In 1897 Swami Vivekananda visited this city and stayed in this historic building from February 6 to 15 in 1897 on his way to Calcutta, after his acclaimed speech at Chicago for the Parliament of Religions. |
| |
| Guindy National Park: |
| Guindy National Park is a major attraction for all true wildlife enthusiasts. It is situated on an area of 2.82 sq. km. The distinctive feature of this park is that, it is actually located within a city, unlike all other national parks in the country. It has a small population of animals that include Black bucks, Bonnet Macaques, Spotted deer, Mongoose and Jackals. Among the birds seen here are - Yellow wattled lapwings, Partridges, Bulbuls, Babblers, Mynas, Cuckoos, Pittas and occasionally a Baza. |
 |
|
|
| |
| Kapaleeswarar Temple: |
| Kapaleeswarar temple is an ancient temple around 350 years old devoted to Lord Shiva. Situated at Mylapore, this temple is the biggest in the city. The structure of the temple is purely in Dravidian style and is a great example of their wizardry in architecture. Inside on the walls, you will find inscriptions which date back to 13th century. The gopuram in the center has carvings illustrating tales from Hindu Mythology and with a towering height of 37 meters, it has an impeccable presence. The Teppam festival (float festival) is an annual event which attracts a large number of devotees. The Paradosham Festival which is held after every two weeks is also a crowd gatherer. |
| |
| Kalakshetra: |
| Kalakshetra is the apex institution for classical dance, music and the fine arts, established in 1936 which is the brainchild of Late. Rukmini Devi. A Proteges of Annie Beasant was deeply influenced by the progressive views of the Theosophical Society. She defied tradition by learning and performing the classical dasi attam, which was considered to be in the sphere of Devdasis (Temple Dancers). Covering an area of 100-acre in Thiruvanmiyur in South Chennai, Kalakshetra has enrolled students from around the world who have the flair for learning the best. Over the years, Kalakshetra has been associated with the betterment of the ancient cultural traditions of India. The auditorium within the Kalakshetra is built according to the Natya Shastra. The institute also conducts research into works of several renowned Sanskrit scholars to stage dance productions, not only for Indian audiences but also for major world theaters. |
| |
| Snake Park: |
| Situated in the Guindy National park, it has become a major attraction among the visiting school and also among all ages.It has a huge variety of snakes, venomous and non-venomous, small and huge turtles and tortoises, various species of Crocodiles, Caimans and Gharials. It also has an interesting enclosure with four chameleons which are quite difficult to spot because more often than not, they stay hidden in the small bushes. The park also holds hourly lecture sessions to educate people about these wonders of wildlife. And especially for the daredevils, they will have an opportunity to handle snakes during these demonstrations. |
| |
| Parthasarathi Temple: |
| The temple dedicated to Lord Krishna is a creation of Pallavas in the 8th century. Although this is considered to be one of the oldest temples in the region but it definitely has the most visually appealing structure. The temple is spread over an area of 1.5 acres and is a Triplicane. The temple finds its mention in the ancient Vaishnavite works of Alwar saints and is one of the 108 sacred centers of the Vaishnavites. |
 |
| Vaikunthekadashi is the main festival celebrated in this temple. There are special prayers that are offered to the deity on every Saturday in the Month of Purattasi. |
|
|
| |
| VGP Golden Beach: |
| Golden beach is located on the Bay of Bengal. VGP Golden Beach is a major tourist attraction in Chennai. This is a very skillfully planned beach resort geared to entertain the visitor with sculptured vignettes from the past folk dances and ethnic food cuisine. There is an entertainment arcade for children and for adults. There are folk dance performances apart from an Art Centre which sells handicrafts and articles made out of sea shells. The beach is clean and ideal for sun-bathing. |
| |
| MGR Film City: |
| Set up by the Government of Tamil Nadu in the sprawling Tharamani area, MGR Film city houses various locations and settings for film-shooting besides dubbing and re-recording theatres. |
 |
|
|
| Birla Planetarium: |
| The Birla Planetarium at Kotturpuram, between Adyar and Guindy, is the most modern planetarium in the country. Adjoining the planetarium is a Periyar Science and Technology Museum which will be of interest to students and other science scholars. |
| |
| Valluvar Kottam: |
| The standing memorial to immortal Tamil Poet-Saint Thiruvalluvar is shaped like a temple chariot and is, in fact, the replica of the temple chariot in Thiruvarur. A life-size statue of the saint has been installed in the chariot which is 33m. tall. The 133 chapters of his famous work Thirukkural have been depicted in bas-relief in the front hall corridors of the chariot. The auditorium at Valluvar Kottam is said to be the largest in Asia and can accommodate about 4000 people. |
| |
| The Government Museum: |
| National Art Gallery, Gallery of Contemporary Arts and Children`s Museum also lie in the Museum Complex. |
 |
|
|
| Crocodile Bank (44 kms.) |
| Several species of Indian and African crocodiles and alligators bred in captivity are kept here in open pools. Visitors can view the reptiles from close but safe proximity. There is also a small snake farm here that conducts demonstrations of venom extraction. |
| |
Top  |
|
|
