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Chennai |
Mamallapuram
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Kanchipuram
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Tiruvanamalai
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Chidambaram
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Kumbakonam |
Thanjavor |
Tiruchinapalli
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Madurai |
Rameshwaram
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Kanyakumari
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Ooty |
Kodaikanal |
Coimbatore |
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Chennai, the first city
of the south, and capital of Tamil Nadu, called the "Gateway to the
South", it represents the unforgotten legacy of the Dravidian era
and also a culture that is unique to the region. Often called the
cultural capital of India for its deep-rooted traditions and
heritage, Chennai is a city younger than its image. What was once a
small fishing hamlet called Madraspatnam was destined to rule the
entire country when Francis Day set up his office for the East India
Company in 1639. Ideal for trading with the sea on one side and
rivers Cooum and Elambore on the other, the coastal plain has
reigned supreme ever since. Many still call it Madras, but
officially it’s now Chennai.
It owes its origins as India’s fourth largest city to the colonial
period. Established by Francis Day in 1639, the East India company’s
post known until 1996, as Madras, became the political and economic
capital of British territory in south India clusters of earlier
hamlets were incorporated into the growing city, which despite its
rapid growth since independence in 1947 has retained something of
its distinctive character.
It was here that many who went on to build the empire first learnt
their trade. As a consequence, the city is replete with much that is
of significance in British Indian history. But the much older
settlements here has stories to tell too, and so the city is an
amalgam of ancient and modern history. Everywhere one goes in
Chennai, one can find history written in every name.
The particularly charming features of Chennai are its allegiance to
ancient traditions, no matter how modernized it has become and its
willingness to spread out further rather than develop into a
multi-storey concrete jungle. The result is a widespread city still
open to the skies; a green, airy city with several vestiges of its
rural past; a city that adheres to the leisurely tempo of the life
of a world of yesterday; a city whose values of the other day still
survive amidst the humdrum bustle of today; a city that still
retains the charm, culture, hospitality and courtesies of the ages.
Today,Chennai is an upwardly mobile cosmopolitan city with down to
earth traditional values . Many of the Indian languages are spoken
in Chennai, though the main language is Tamil. For
travelers with an interest in the colonial history of India, Chennai
has much to explore and abundant transport options make other parts
of the country readily accessible. It has regained its pride of
place in automobile industry as the ‘Detroit of the South’.
Places of attraction :-
Fort St. George:
It is the fort that grew into a metropolis. The building of the
nucleus of the fort was first in 1640 and was the first step towards
the founding of Chennai and an Empire. Built around 1653 by the
British East India Company the fort has undergone many alterations.
It presently houses the Secretariat and legislative Assembly. The 46
mts. High flagstaff at the front is actually a mast salvaged from a
17th century shipwreck.
The fort itself kept growing over the years and is one of the finest
examples in India of British military construction. Within its solid
walls and sturdy gates is much that is historic. Clive’s Corner is
the house where Robert Clive lived and commemorates the
Empire-builder who first learnt his trade here St .Mary’s Church
consecrated in 1680 and the tombstones in its courtyard are the
oldest British tombstones in India.The oldest Protestant church in
the East contains several antiquities not the least being the oldest
British tombstones in India and memories of weddings in which Clive
and Elihu Yale (benefactor of America’s famed Yale University)
Arthur Wellesly (who became Wellington) and Warren Hastings
Participated.
Wellesley House is where Wellesley lived on his first active
military duty. This occupies a place of pride and prominence in
Chennai. This bastion achieved its name form St.George the patron
saint of England. The Legislative and Secretariat of the Tamil Nadu
government are built around a core that was Fort House the home of
the first governors of Chennai. This Hall has fine woodwork and
black and white stone paving. The present structure a fine example
of 17th century British military architecture was mostly built in
1666. The British reclaimed the 24 black Charnokite pillars in 1762
after the French has carried them off to Pondicherry in 1746.
The Fort Museum was once a building that housed Chennai’s first
lighthouse first commercial bank and first ‘club’. It has a
fascinating collection of memorabila from theBritish and French East
India Companies as well as the Raj and Muslim administrations.It is
now a well-kept repository of tangible memories of early Madras Fort
Museum.
Timings: 9am to 5pm. Friday holiday.
Government Museum Complex:
The museum was established in 1857 and has the country’s best
collection of South Indian bronzes both ancient and modern among
which beautiful bronze icons of Nataraja , Rama, Sita , Lakshmana
and Hanuman are worth mentioning.The museum also has geology and
anthropology sections.The sculptures were unearthed from the
Buddhist ruins at Amaravathi. This is on Pantheon Road between
Egmore station and Anna Salai. The buildings forming the complex
originally belonged to a group to eminent British citizens Known as
the Pantheon Committee who were charged with improving the social
life of the British in Madras.
The British Society in Chennai used to meet in the Pantheon. Its
18th century buildings and grounds have over the years been
developed into the Connemara Library -one of the country’s three
National Libraries the National Art Galllery –a beautiful building
of Jaipur –Mughal architecture the Government Museum with its
fabulous collection of bronzes and the Museum Theatre a quaint
theatre out of the gaslight era are a few attractions in this
complex.
The main building has a fine archaeological section representing all
the major South Indian Periods including periods including Chola,
Vijayanagara Hoysala and Chalukya .It also houses a good ethnology
collection. The bronze gallery has a superb collection Chola art and
modern among which beautiful bronze icons of Nataraja , Rama, Sita,
Lakshmana and Hanuman are worth mentioning. One of the most
impressive is the bronze of Ardhanariswara the androgynous
incarnation of Shiva. The museum also has geology and anthropology
sections. The Amaravathy Gallery contains rare second century marble
sculptures which depict important events in the life of Gautama
Buddha.
The National Art Gallery exhibits several beautiful paintings which
include 16th and 18th century ones from Rajasthan the Mughal Period
and 17th century Deccani art. There are bronzes from the 11th and
13th centuries and handicrafts from the 11th and 12th centuries.
Valluvar Kottam:
A unique bit of modernity in the city is this huge auditorium that
draws its inspiration from the great temple builders of Tamilnadu’s
past. A towering temple car in stone dominates this huge memorial
hall to the poet-saint Thiruvalluvar whose classic work the Kural is
reputed to be about 2000 years old. The standing memorial to
immortal Tamil Saint Philosopher is shaped like a temple chariot in
Thiruvarur. The imposing stone chariot here is seen on the cover of
this folder. Timing: 8am to 5pm. Closed on Friday and national
holidays.
MGR Film City:
Set up by Government of Tamilnadu MGR Film City is a specially
designed place near Taramani Adyar to serve the film industry. It
houses several sets of artificial scenarios like of forest waterfall
market place etc. are built by serve as background for the shooting
of films besides dubbing and re-recording theatres. In Chennai MGR
Film City is one of the biggest studios and it is the only one that
is routinely open to public.
Birla Planetarium:
Built in the memory of B.M. Birla the well known industrialist and
visionary the planetarium in considered to be the most modern in the
country. The Birla Planetarium at Kotturpuram situated between Adyar
and Guindy is the most modern Planetarium in the country. It houses
a fully computerized projector which depicts the heavens on a
hemispherical dome. The Planetarium presents to the visiting public
and students audio-visual programmes on various themes in astronomy.
Adjoining the planetarium is the Periyar Science and Technology
Museum which is of interest to the students and other science
enthusiasts Programme Timing: 10.45 am, 1.15 pm and 3.45 pm English
12.00 Noon and 2.30 pm Tamil.
Krishkintha:
Novadaya Mass Entertainments Ltd. Have opened the first theme
amusement park “KISHKINTHA” in Chennai. Situated 28 kms south of
Chennai near Tambaram and spread over 110 acres; this park offers
various exciting rides and attractions.
Timings:
Weekdays 11.00am to 7.00pm
Sunday and holidays: 10.00 am to 8pm
Kapaleeshwarar Temple:
This ancient Shiva Temple off Kutchery Road in Mylapore is
constructed in Dravidian style and displays the architectural
elements-are found in the famous temple cities of Tamil Nadu. The
temples were damaged in 1566 when the Portuguese took over Mylapore.
The Vijayanagar Kings rebuilt the present temple in the 16th
century. The magnificent 37 metre high Gopuram depicts many a
legends with beautiful carvings. The ‘Aruvathumoovai’ festival is
celebrated in March/April. It has some beautiful sculptures among
which the bronze idols of 63 Saivite Saints ( Nayanmars ) which
adorn the outer courtyard are rare speciments. The temple is open
for puja (worship) 4 am to noon and 4 to 8 pm daily.
Crocodile Bank:
42 kms south of Chennai is the Crocodile Bank where several species
of Indian and African crocodile and alligators bred in captivity in
additions to native species of turtle are kept 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. |
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