an ancient Shiva temple, is the biggest temple in Chennai.
A masterpiece of Dravidian style and displays the architectural
elements - gopurams, mandapams and a tank. There are some
fragmentary inscriptions dating back to 1250 AD.
Parthasarathy Temple, devoted to Lord Krishna, was originally
built by the Pallavas in the 8th century and renovated in the 16th century bt the
Vijayanagars. It houses the five 'avatars' of Lord Vishnu,
and has a small temple shrine dedicated to Vishnu's consort,
Vedavalli Ammai. It's one of the oldest surviving temple
Santhome Cathedral Church built in 1504, then rebuilt
in neo-Gothic style in 1893, this Roman Catholic Church
near Kapaleeshwarar temple is said to house the remains
of St. Thomas the Apostle.
Thomas Mount situated near the Meenambakkam airport,
is the place where the apostle is said to have been killed.
Thomas is believed to have lived in Little Mount Shrine
(a tiny cave) when he came to India around 58 A.D. Known
locally as Chinnamalai, the cave is entered via the Portuguese
Church that was built in 1551.
St. George was built in the 1640 A.D., the first bastion
of British power of India, the fort has undergone much alteration.
The fort is now used by the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly
and the Secretariat office. The 46m high flagstaff at the
front is actually a mast salvaged from a 17th century shipwreck.
Mary's Church built in 1678-80, was the first English
Church in Chennai, and is the oldest surviving British Church
in India. There are reminders in the Church of Clive, who
was married here in 1753, and of Elihu Yale, the early Governor
of Chennai who later founded the famous American University bearing his name.
Fort Museum has a collection of objects from the tenure
of the East India Company in Chennai including letters from
Robert Clive. There are many contemporary paintings too.
Snake Park with its lizards, crocodiles and turtles is more
interesting. It is well maintained with generous enclosures.
The Snake Park has a wide variety of reptiles. The next
compound is the 'Children Park', which has a small collection
of animals and birds and a big play area for children.
Kalakshetra devoted to the revival of classical arts, was founded by
Rukmini Devi Arundale in 1936. Classical dance, music, traditional
textile designs and weaving are taught in natural surroundings.
Theosophical Society, is set in a tranquil spot on the
banks of the Adyar river. There is a huge banyan tree, with
its branches spreading over an area of 40,000 square ft,
where discourses are conducted.
Valluvar Kottam, on the corner of Kodambakkam High Rd
and Village Rd, honours the acclaimed Tamil Poet, Thiruvalluvar,
whose classic work - one thousand three hundred and thirty
kurals (couplets) - are reputed to be about 2000 years old.
Established in 1976, Valluvar Kottam replicates ancient
Tamil architecture with the 1330 verse Kural inscribed on
panels. The outer structure in stone is a replica of the
temple car of Thiruvarur in Tamilnadu.
Planetarium houses : Situated in Kotturpuram in Chennai,
the B. M. Birla Planetarium houses a modern, fully computerised
projector, which depicts the heavens on a hemispherical
National Art Gallery situated in Egmore were established
in 1857. There are sections on geology, archaeologym anthropology,
numismatics, botany, zoology and sculpture, besides a collection
worth visiting, the Government Museum is on Pantheon Rd,
between Egmore and Anna Salai. The buildings originally
belonged to a group of eminent British citizens, known as
the Pantheon Committee, who were charged with improving
the social life of the British in Chennai. The main building
has a fine archaeological section representing all the major
south Indian periods including Chola, Vijayanagar, Hoysala
and Chalukya. It also houses a good ethnology collection.
The bronze gallery has a superb collection of Chola art.
One of the most impressive is the bronze of Ardhanariswara,
the androgynous incarnation of Shiva.
stretch of beach known as the Marina extends for 13km. South
of the pitiful aquarium is the Ice House, once used to store
massive ice blocks transported by ship from North America.
It later became the venue from which Vivekanand preached
his ascetic philosophy
city is known as the 'city of the Cosmic Dancer'.
It is 245 Kms away from Madras. The image of Nataraja (the
dancing Shiva) represented
by the bronze image known throughout the world as the most
perfect synthesis in metal of art. The best time to
visit the place is during April/ May and December / February.
Temple : Open from 4am to noon and 16.30 to 21.00.
temple is situated in the middle of the town. The complex
of the temple covers an area of 40 acres and It is said
to be the oldest complex in southern India. It surrounded
by four broad "chariot" streets. The tower designed
in canonical texts and built of granite upto the ceiling
with the structure of seven storeys in brick and mortar.
There is a 1000-pillared hall, the Nritta Sabha court carved
out like a gigantic chariot.
main image of Nataraja is within a rectangular shrine, covered
with copper tiles and gold and it is called the "The
Golden Hall". The 108 poses of Bharathanatyam classical
dance are carved on the walls of eastern tower. The
annual festival held in December/January. In February/March,
leading dancers from all parts of India congregate and dance
in the temple as an offering to Nataraja.
Chitrakootam : The Chitrakootam is another shrine,
situated adjacent to the Nataraja temple is dedicated to
Lord Govindraja. It has five halls. The Nritta sabha,
the hall of immortal dance has 56 pillars depicting dance
figures. The Deva Sabha was the hall of festivals and meeting
place of the administrators. The Chit sabha (Hall) houses
the Akasa Lingam and Kanaka sabha houses the Nataraja image.
is the second largest town of the three Nilgiri hill stations.
This place is very pleasant to relax. It has an interesting
PARK : It is the heart of Coonoor. It has been developed
into a botanical garden partly in Japanese style. About 330 varieties of roses can be
seen here. After the Flower Show in Ooty the fruit
and vegetable show is held in May. The Pasteur Institute
opposite the main entrance to Sim's Park researches into
rabies and manufactures polio vaccine.
ROCK : This rock is situated 6 km away on high precipice.
From here one can view the tea and coffee estates
and plains of coimbatore.
(OOTY) : It is the 'Queen of the Blue Mountains'(nilgiri). Ooty
is famous for its rolling hills which covered with
pine and eucalyptus forests. It was discovered and developed
as a summer retreat by British Collector John Sullivan.
The British life style were developed with cottages and
clubs - tennis, golf and riding.
GARDENS : It is 2km east of the railway station. Opens
from 0800 to 1800. 1,000 varieties of plants, trees,
orchids, ferns, shrubs, medicinal plants and alpines are
planted here. It has an area of 20 hectors.
The small lake here which contains a fossil of a tree trunk,
calculated as 20 million years old. The Annual
flower show held here in the third week of May.
This show is the main attraction of Ooty. The rose garden
contains over 1,500 varieties of roses. It opens from
0800 to 1800.
LAKE : This was constructed between 1823 to 1825 by
Collector John Sullivan as an irrigation tank. The Boats
are available at the Boat House for riding on the lake.
HOUSE This house was built by John Sullivan. It
was occupied by the Principal of the Govt. Art College.
The tribals called its name as Kalu Bangla (stone bungalow).
STEPHEN'S CHURCH It is the first church built
in Ooty,1820. It is said that the wood for this church
brought from Tipu Sultan's Lal Bagh Palace in Srirangapatnam
after his final defeat. These wood had to be hauled
up by the elephants from the plains. It has a clock
tower, nine tubular bells and a gallery.
is a center of rich agriculture area and is noted for its
agricultural university. This university is now internationally
known for its agricultural research. The seed breeding
experiments center is opened here. The cotton textile
mills are boomed here on the development of hydroelectricity
from the Pykara Falls in 1930.
GARDEN This garden is situated at the west edge
of Coimbatore. It has an area of 300 hectors. It is surrounded
by fields. The formal gardens includes the topiary
section with casuarina groves and rose gardens, the
informal area covers with wide variety of trees, including
VOC Park and Zoo near the stadium has a toy train circuit.
is situated 76 Kms southwest of Madras. It was successively
the former capital of the ancient Pallavas, Cholas and Vijayanagar
empire. This old city is known as 'the Golden city
of 1,000 temples'. It is one of the seven sacred cities
of India and is famous for hand-woven silk fabrics.
kings from Pallava and Vijayanagar period built various
temples. They also patronised all the arts making Kanchipuram,
a great center of learning not only for Hindus but also
for Jains and Buddhists. The Tamil religious and literary
works flourished during this period. The teachings
of Sankaracharya (spiritual teacher) is carried at the Sankaracharya
Matt. The Headquarters of the 'Math' is
situated at Kanchipuram.
Ekambareswara Temple is at north western part of the
town. It was constructed in the mid of 9th century
by the Pallavas. It has a 200 ft gopuram with more
than 10 stories of intricate sculpture. The temple
is dedicated to Shiva. There is a mango tree, thought
to be 3,500 years old, inside the courtyard. The four main
branches is said to bear fruit with a different taste
depicting the four Hindu Vedas (oldest known Hindu religious
Kailasanatha (Shiva) Temple The temple is situated
at Putleri street, 1.5 Km west of town centre. It was build
by Pallava king Rayasimha in late 7th century. The foundation
of this temple is made of granite, the superstructure
was built from carved sandstones. There are sculptures of
Shiva in various poses, to give a picture of different
aspects of mythology.
Vaikunthaperumal Temple (Vishnu's Paradise). This
temple was built in the 8th century. It has 4-storey vimana
in square with three shrines, each with a different pose
of Vishnu. Its colonnade lion pillars and extensive sculptures
bears historical pallava inscriptions.
Varadaraja Temple (bestower of boons), also known
as Devarajaswamy Temple is 3 Km south east of town.
This temple is a place of pilgrim and is dedicated
to Vishnu. Its beautifully carved 100 pillar mandapam
is one of the attractions. The 100 ft high gopuram
was originally built in 11th century. It was renovated
by the Vijyanagar Kings after 500 years.
Cave this shady and beautiful place is four km
north of Mamallapuram and signposted off to the right of
the road. It's more a clump of boulders than a cave-- it's
name comes from the shrine at the entrance which features
a crown of carved tiger heads. It's a popular picnic spot
just 14 km from Mamallapuram, this popular pilgrimage centre
is also known as Tirukazhukundram, which means Hill of the
Holy Eagle. Its hilltop temple is famous as the place where
two eagles come each day, just before noon to be fed by
the priest .
Bank this successful breeding farm was set up
to augment the crocodile populations of India's wildlife
sanctuaries. Visitors are welcome and you can see crocs
of all sizes.
Mamallpuram, situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal is an ancient
sea-side town. The Pallava art at this place emphasises
robust earthy beauty, imbibed with life. The Pallavas have
created many marvelous monuments sculptural panels, caves,
monolithic rathas and sculptural temple Mythological episodes,
epic battles, demons, gods, animal, all vividly depicted
on the wall sculptures are breathtaking real and artistic.
These monumental splensours and the sunny beach attract
tourists from all over the world.
Bird Sanctuary : About 35 km of Chengalpattu,
this is one of the most spectacular water-bird breeding
grounds in India. Cormarants, egrets, herons, storks, ibies,
spoonbills, grebes and pelicans come here to breed and nest
for about six months from October/November to March, depending
on the monsoons. At the height of the breeding season ,
there can be up to 30,000 birds at once. The best times
to visit are early morning and late afternoon.
The only place to stay is the three-roomed Forest Department
Rest House at Vedantangal vellage.
is one of India's holiest site. It got it's name from
the deity of the place, Goddess Kanya Kumari; the virgin.
The memorial to Swami Vivekananda, on a rocky promontory
just over 400 meters off shore. The Bay of Bengal,
the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet here together.
You can see the spectacular sight of Sunrise,
Sun Set and moonrise from here. The full moon in the month
of April is especially unusual when you should be able to
see the sun and the moon on the same horizon. The black
monazite and red garnet sand deposited by water gives a
different colour on sand at the beach.
Temple. The temple overlooks the shoreline.
The deity, Devi Kanniyakumari is' the protector of India's
shores' has an exceptionally brilliant diamond on her nose
ring which is supposed to shine out to sea. The temple
opens from 0430 to 1130 and from 1730 to 2030. Non-Hindus
are not allowed into the sanctuary.
Mandapam. Mahatma Gandhi's (Father of Nation)
ashes were placed in 'public view', before immersion in
the sea and the memorial was built in a way that the sun
shine on the spot where the ashes were placed, on his birthday,
the 2nd October at midday.
Memorial. It is about 500 meters away from mainland.
This memorial stands on one of two rocks separated by about
70 meters. It opens from Wednesday to Monday.
Tuesday is holiday. It opens from 0700 to 1100 and
from 1400 to 1700. The Bengali religious leader and philosopher
Swami Vivekananda who came here as a devotee of the
Devi and found the Ramakrishna Mission in Madras. The
rock over here was renamed on his name as 'Vivekananda Rock
and memorial'. It was built in 1970. The design of the mandapa
incorporates different styles of temple architecture from
all over India. Now it houses a statue of Vivekananda.
The divine foot print 'Pada Parai' of Devi is also seen
Tiger Sanctuary : Mundanthurai is in the mountains near
the border with Kerla. The closest railway station is at
ambasamundram, about 25 km to the north-east, and buses
run from here to Papanasam, the nearest village, from where
you can catch another bus to the Forest Department rest
As the name implies, this is principally a tiger sanctuary
though it's also noted for chital, sambar and the rare lion-tailed
macaque. The best time to visit is between January and March,
though it is open any time of the year. The main rainy season
is between October and December. Tiger sightings are extremely
infrequent and in addition the Forest Rest House is very
( Courtallam) : About 135 km north-west of Kanyakumari
at the base of the Western Ghats, the village of Kuttralam
is a popular 'health retreat' for Indian families who come
to stand and wash under waterfalls believed to be rich in
minerals and capable of curing almost anything. Of the nine
waterfalls, the only one in the village itself is the 60
m high Main Falls, a sheer rock face is carved with old
Hindu insignia that is visible only during the dry months
of January and February. Other falls, mostly accessed by
shuttle buses, are up to eight km away.
: 20 km away from Kanyakumari has the famous Nagaraja
temple, Nagaraja is the presiding deity and the images of
Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are also enshrined here. The
entrance to the temple resembles Chinese architecture of
Budha Viharas and the temple contains images of Mahavir
and Paraswanatha, the Jain Tirthnkaras.
city is 191 Km south west of Thanjavur. It is the
second largest city of Tamil Nadu. The name of this
city is derived from the Tamil word for Honey.
Meenakshi Temple is near by to the Chithirai street.
Visit : Daily from 0430 to 1230 and 1600 to 2130.
For photography permission is required from the main office,
when the temple is open. Time from 1230 to 1600
only. There are two sanctuaries in the temple,
one is to Meenakshi (the fish eyed Goddess, consort of
Shiva) and the other is to Shiva in the form of Sundareswar.
The gopurams have been repainted in bright colours.
The high point of the temple is the 'Hall of a Thousand
Pillars', was built around 1560. This hall adorned
with 985 elaborately carved pillars. The Temple art museum
is in the hall of a Thousand Pillars. This pillars have
beautiful images. Among the mandapams, the Kambattadi
Mandapam is outstanding for its excellent sculptured representations
of the manifestations of Shiva on the pillars.
Nayak Mahal is 1.5km north of Meenakshi temple.
Visit to Palace: Daily from 0900 to 1300 and 1400 to 1700.
It is an Indo-Saracen Palace, built by Tirumala Nayak in
1636. The Sound and Light show, shown here is excellent.
Show start at 1845. This show dramatizes the Madurai's past
city is 55 km east of Tiruchirappalli. It is the highly
fertile delta of the Cavery River and the capital of the
Cholas during their supremacy.
Brihadiswara Temple is at W.Main Road at S.Rampart street.
Visit: 0600 to noon and 1600 to 2030. This temple
is dedicated to Shiva, but the sculptures on the gopuram
is dedicated to Vishnu and inside there are Buddhist sculptures.
The gaint Nandi bull, within a single courtyard is the second largest
in India. There are 80 ton block of granite capped in the
pyramidal tower, pulled to the top along an inclined plane
that began in a village 6 Km away. The carefully planned
and executed architecture make the temple a fine example
of Dravidian artisanship.
Raja Museum and Art Gallery is at the Nayak Durbar Hall.
Visit : Thursday to Tuesday from 1000 to 1300 and 1400 to
1700. It has the magnificent collection of
Chola bronzes with different interpretations of the same
figure from early to late chola dynasty. The
Saraswati Mahal Library has 8,000 rare palm leaf and
paper manuscripts in many languages
of the smaller towns in the Thanjavur area are well known
for their impressive Chola temples. The distances of each
from Thanjavur are in brackets
(10 km) the temple here, Brahma Sirakandeshwara
and Harsaba Vimochana Perumal, are noted for their fine
(13 km) the famous temple here is dedicated
to Siva and is known as Panchanatheshwara. Accommodation
is completely booked out every January, when an eight day
music festival is held in honour of the saint, Thiagaraja.
(55 km) the Thyagarajaswami Temple ar Turuvarur,
between Thanjavur and Nagapattinam, boasts an 807-pillared
hall and the largest temple chariot in Tamil Nadu. It's
dragged through the streets during the 10 days car festival
in March. There are numerous cheap places to stay around
the bus stand.
(94 km) this is the famous Christian pilgrim centre,
the site of the famous Catholic Roman Church of our Lady
of Good Health, people from all religions flock to the Church,
many donating gold and silver models of cured body parts.
A major festival is held at the beginning of September.
is 325 km south west of Madras. Tiruchirappalli was
the heart of Tamil Nadu, situated at the head of the Kaveri
delta. The Pallavas, Pandyas and Cholas chose this city
for their feudal wars. The city is known for its temple
Rock Fort : Open from 06.00 to 20.00
is 272ft above the city on the banks of the river Cauvery. The rock cut into 437 steps, leads
to the temple. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vinayaka
(the mythical half-man, half-bird Garuda who is Vishnu's
Vehicle, famous in the Epic Mahabharata). Along the way
to temple there are landings and shrines. There are cave
temples cut into the rocks, dedicated to Ganesh (the elephant
God) and Shiva. There is an excellent view of the
city from the top of this fort.
the base of the Rock Fort, there are two temple bazaars
which sell all items especially items for worship.
Wood and clay toys are the traditional products of the region.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple This temple is at Sri
Rangam Island, in the middle of the Cauvery river. This
temple was built by various dynasties including the cheras,
Pandyas,Cholas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagar Empire between
13th and 18th centuries. It covers an area of 2.5
sq.km and the main temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This
temple with seven concentric walls and 22 gopurams has a
north to south orientation. Sri Rangam island is also known
as a centre for religious philosophy and learning. The great
Vaishnava acharya Ramanuja taught and wrote in the Srirangam
School during the 11th century.
Jambukeswara Temple. This temple is situated
about 2.5 km east of the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple. It
has an interior with a large central court, an excellent
example of the Dravidian architecture of A D 1600.
The rampant dragons, elaborate foliated brackets and royal
Nayak portraits are incorporated to its courtyards pillars.
Thiruvanaikkaval It is the another shrine to Shiva, 6 Km east of Srirangam,
named for a legendary elephant that worshipped the linga.
It has five walls and seven gopurams with a finest Dravidian