Chennai

I have been waiting for too long to start blogging on my travel. However I never wanted to create a new blog when already I have one. My blog is like a mixed bag which includes articles on some of the topics which I love mainly sports, politics, movies, music and of course some of my personal life. I have already written about my travel experience, but this will be the start of series of all the places I have visited. My travelogue is entirely based on my experience, what I loved and some travel tips.

I was wondering about how to start this and I found that there is nothing better than Chennai to start with. So let’s start with Chennai, my home town (city).

Chennai previously called as Madras is the capital of southern state of India, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the biggest cities and oldest cities in India. The Chennai day, the day the city was founded is on August 22^nd. The city was the capital of the then state of Madras during the British regime and subsequently it was changed to Tamil Nadu meaning the land of Tamils. Tamil is widely spoken language here, but people do understand English very well.  

Chennai has got a mixture of heritage and modern outlook and some of the buildings stand testimony to it. Below are some of the places that one must visit when they are on a trip to Chennai

Sun Rise at the Marina Beach

Marina Beach: Whenever someone says Chennai and the first thing that comes to everybody’s mind is the famous Marina Beach. This the world’s second longest beach with a distance of 13KMs. The beach is beautiful and efforts have been made to make this a litter free zone. People from all walks of life enjoy their evening stroll in the beach and the place will be crowded in the evenings especially during the weekends. One should not miss the Bajji which will be sold in the every nook and corner of the place. This place is around 3 to 4KMS from the famous Anna Salai and is easily accessible from all corners of the city.

Temples/Church/Mosques: Chennai is one city in India which boasts some of the biggest and ancient temples of India. Temples like Parthasarathy Temple at Triplicane, Ashtalakshmi Temple at Besant Nagar, Kabaleeshwarar Temple at Mylapore, Kaalikambal Temple at Georgetown are not only big but also ancient and adds lots of historic significance to the city. The Basillica of the National Shrine of St.Thomas is one of the 3 churches in the world to have built over the tomb of Apostle of Jesus Christ this one being St.Thomas. The big Mosque at Triplicane is one of the oldest mosques in the city.

Fort St.George: This houses the TamilNadu Legistlative assembly and secretariat. This was the first fortress of the English in India.  The fort campus also has a Church St.Mary’s, Wellesly Museum and a flag post which is the tallest in India.

Guindy National Park: Probably the only national park in the country within the city limits. It houses various reptiles like the crocodiles and snakes. Chennai is also famous for the Arignar Anna Zoological Park which is one of the biggest in India.

Museum: The government museum at Egmore is certainly should be on the agenda of any one visiting Chennai. It is one of the largest in Asia and 2^nd oldest museum in India.

Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram: A 2hrs drive on the east coast road from Chennai is the famous Mahabalipuram. This is one of the UNESCO World heritage site and has got some of best sculptures of Pallava Kingdom. The Shore Temple, Krishna’s butter ball, 1000 pillar hall are some of the famous sculptures one should not miss on their trip to Mahabalipuram. The drive on the east coast road runs parallel to the Bay of Bengal is bliss especially the morning drive.

Chennai also gives one a unique shopping experience which houses some big shopping malls like Express Avenue, Spencers Plaza, Chennai City Center and also the more famous and crowded Ranganthan Street at T.Nagar and Pondy Bazar.

Chennai being a cosmopolitan city hosts a variety of cuisines. South Indian, North Indian, Chinese, Western, Italian are widely available in Chennai.

How to get going:

Chennai has got one of the best public transports in India. All the places said above are very well connected through the local Bus and Train services. Koyambedu Bus Terminus is the central bus terminus which houses all the moffusil busses and buses to most part of the city.

Autos: Chennai Autos are widely available at any part of the city and at any time. However, they are the most notorious and demand huge amount of money even for a distance of 1 to 2 KMs.

Call Taxis are also widely available across the city and is said to be safe given the amount of traffic in Chennai.

Chennai is best visited in the month of December to February as there will not be any rains and the weather will be relatively less hot. Also in December one can witness the Margazhi Music festival and dance festival.