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Archive for the ‘Chennai Beaches’ Category

The resort is essentially an amusement park located close to Chennai’s city center. The resort comprises of some lush green parks that are lined up with some wonderful trees. VGP Golden Beach Resort offers a nice place as egress from the techno life. Well paved side walks, parks and the shades of the trees provide a natural climate that is quite refreshing. The resort hosts a number of activities for fun and frolic. The popular rides and games at the resort include go-kart, dashing car, water chute, super trooper, giant wheel, aero-ship, jumping frog, children’s merry go round, super jet, break dance, dragons belly, jungle safari, roller coaster and many other.

The rides like go-kart, dashing car and water chute form the speciality of the resort. One can see the jubilant faces of people of all ages in these rides. For children super trooper and giant wheel is one thing not to be missed.

The resort also provides for various contemporary, cultural and folk shows. The discotheque at the Ecstasy Land, which forms an integrated complex, can be seen rolling and rumbling with youth. Other features of the Ecstasy Land include an open air seating stage, banquet and conference halls, bar and a private beach.

The resort houses a number of food courts. The Rain Forest restaurant is very popular restaurant within the resort premises. The restaurant and other food courts serve a variety of continental and popular food dishes.

History

Chennai (Madras) is the capital city of the state of Tamil Nadu. The district is located in the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal and is one of the four largest metropolitan cities in India. The city was originally known as Madras Patnam and was located in the Tondaimandalam Province. We at Toursitplacesinindia.com provide you with all that you want to known about the Indian city of Chennai (Madras).

The city of Chennai covers a total area of about 174 square km with a total population of about 4343645. The city has a large number of tourist destinations which includes temples and other places of interest in and around the city. Important temples in the city include the Kapaleeswarer Temple at Mylapore, Parthasarathy temple at Triplicane, Vadapalini Andavar Temple at Vadapalini, Shrine Velankanni and Shri Devi Astha lakshmi temple. The festivals are mainly based on the agricultural activities and according to the position of the stars and planets. Pongal, celebrated in the month of January, is the most important festival of Chennai. Being a cosmopolitan city, almost all the religious festivals are celebrated here.

Best Season, Climate, and Clothing

The mighty Bay of Bengal borders Chennai has bordering to the east, whereas the state of Andhra Pradesh is on its northwestern part. Since it is located at the tropical zone, Chennai usually has a very hot and humid climate. Winter season would be the best time to visit this city owing to pleasant climatic conditions. Due to the frequent rains, there is no much variation in the temperature all the year round. Cotton clothing is best for a tropical city like Chennai.

Places to Visit

Chennai city is fully loaded with some interesting and amusing places. The metropolitan city houses all sorts of attractions, be it famous South Indian Temples, museums, monuments, parks, beaches or picnic spots. There is no dearth of attractions as such. The accredited mega city does not give any chance for a complaint to a globe trotter. And to add some spice, as is South known for, the place has a number of industrial and commercial hubs.

The popular places of interest in Chennai are the much crafted temples. These famous South Indian temples witness a great number of visitors every year. Next in line are the monuments, most of them built during the British occupancy. The monuments withhold the beauty of the past and some rich memories associated with them. The diverse wildlife of Chennai is featured by several parks and breeding centres. Beaches, likewise, pour in some more life in the city.

Marina Beach

Lining the east of the city is the famous Marina beach, at Kamarajar Road, 3 Km away from Madras. This is supposed to be the second longest beach in the World and runs to a length of 12 Km. On the beach there is the Anna Park, named after the founder of D.M.K (Dravida Munnetta Kazhakam) Anna durai and the tomb of M.G. Ramachandran who was a film star and the charismatic Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Sri Kapaleswarar Temple

Known as a panacea from many troubles, Sri Kapaleswarar Temple is situated near Kutchery Road, Mylapore. Built in the13th century, this ancient Siva temple is a delightful introduction to Dravidian temple sculpture and architecture. The magnificent 37 meter tall gopuram is one of the main attractions of this temple. The crowded cosmogony of Stucco gods, goddesses and saints depict important Puranic legends. The ‘Punnai’ tree in the temple courtyard is one of the oldest trees in Chennai and shades a small shrine depicting the legend that gave Mylapore its name. The goddess Parvati, in the form of a peacock, is shown worshipping Shiva, represented by the traditional Lingam. Parvati is worshipped in this temple as ‘Karpagambal’.

Snake Park

It is located at Sardar Vallabbai Patel Road within the area of the Guindy National Park. Visit : Wednesday to Monday from 0830 to 1730. Tuesday holiday. There are more than 40 species of common snakes of India ranging from the dark deadly ‘King Cobra’, ‘Banded’ Krait’ to Puff adders’, vipers, pythons and alligators. The crocodiles, chameleons, monitor lizards and tortoises can also be seen in their natural setting.

The old port town of Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, has a coastline spanning a distance of over 20 km with beautiful beaches. Located 58km from Chennai on the Mahabalipuram road, the golden sandy beach is a picturesque place bounded by the shimmering sea and rolling hills. Identified as the most pristine beaches of Tamil Nadu, the beach attracts thousands of tourists throughout the year. The beach is an idle place for sunbathing and lazing around. The sea is rough and swimming is not recommended.

Mahabalipuram beach also has some ancient historical monuments in its close proximity and this is the main reason of attraction of this beach. There is one of the oldest shore temples in South India built by the Pallava King Rajasimha in the early 8th century and the world’s largest bas-relief, the ‘Penance of Arjuna’, which is 96ft long and 43 ft high, the five rathas and the tiger’s cave along the beach. On the way to Mahabalipuram Beach is Dakshinachitra, 28 km from Chennai, a heritage space with exhibitions and workshops of the arts and crafts including traditional home architecture and performing artists of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Other places worth a visit while on a tour to the beach include the crocodile farm where about 5000 crocodiles of 6 different species, alligators and other reptiles are bred in captivity, kept in open, marshy enclosures, snake venom extracting centre and a school of art and sculpture.

It is 59km south of Madras. It was an old port city and capital of the Pallava kings. It consists of 4 kinds of rock structures, cut-out monolithic rock temples (rathas), cut-in cave temples (mandapams), temples constructed from bas-relief sculptures carved on large rocks. multiple pieces and materials, and The combination of old 7th and 8th century Pallava carvings, temples and wonderful beaches make the place a beautiful tourist destination.

The Shore Temple is situated near the Ocean. This was built by the Pallava King Rajasimha in the early 8th century. The courtyard is surrounded by a massive wall. The entrances are guarded by sculptures of mythical deities. Inside one of the shrines, there is an image of Vishnu lying with a snake at his side in cosmic sleep on the sea.

The Krishna Mandapam This is a 12 column cave temple. It has a natural figure of a cow being milked. There is a sculpture of Krishana holding up the Govardhan mountain to protect his people from Indra’s flood, on the black wall, in side the Mandapam.

The Adivaraha cave is famous for its two portraits of royal Pallava kings with two goddesses.

The light house built by the British gives a good view and serves as a landmark in navigation.

The Mahishamardini Cave is near to the light house, on top of the hill. It is the most outstanding mandapam. The wall on the right side, is carved with the Durga, riding on the lion and defeating the Mahisha, the buffalo demon. In the opposite side there was a carving of Vishnu reclining on the great serpent Sesha. At the back of the Mahishamardini Cave there are three cells containing Shiva, Uma (Consort of Shiva) and their son Skanda.

The Tiger Cave is 5Km away from Mamallapuram, at Saluvankuppam, This place is a favorite picnic spot. The cave is distinguished by the crown of carved tiger heads around the temple, dedicated to Goddess Durga.

Tirukkalukundram (Sacred hill of Kites) is 15 Km west of Mamallapuram. The pilgrims are come here to climb 500 steps to reach on top of the hill to witness the Brahmin priests, who fed the two kites (birds).

Marina Beach
The Marina Beach is the second largest beach in a city after the Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California, the world’s longest city beach. If you want to escape the heat, hurry to Marina Beach, one of the longest beaches in the world. And also the most crowded all year through. What makes it special is a promenade created by Governor Grant-Duff, who gave Marina its name in 1884. A series of statues line the promenade. Marina beach is a major tourist attraction. People visiting Chennai make it a point to visit the beach. The beach is popular for its shopsand food stalls. The memorials and statues, morning walk, joggers’ track, lovers’ spot, aquarium, etc., make it a hangout for people of all ages.The sea is rough and waves are strong. There are fishermen colonies present at both ends of the beach. Summer brings extra life to the Marina. The waters look appealingly blue and inviting. The kite season, the raw and ripe mango sellers, masala papads- it is a hub of activity. A trip to the beach would be incomplete if you don’t dig into the yummy typical Madrasy Sundal. You do not have to go looking for them. They come searching for you. The street hawkers, usually a young chap, may run up to you and tug at your shirt and say ’saar, sundal’. Indulge, it is a taste that sure will linger in your memory.

Elliot’s Beach
Elliot’s Beach is one of the cleanest beaches in the city of Chennai. It is located towards the south of Marina Beach and is an extremely calm and tranquil place. The beach is known as ‘Bessei’ amongst the locals. Elliot’s Beach is a popular hangout for the young and the old alike. There are rows of trendy casual clothes shops and fast food joints along the shoreline where you can stop for a snack. It is also the favorite destination of foreign tourists for enjoying sun bath. Elliot’s Beach offers very subtle activity, with only few food joints and restaurants. You can relish the mouth watering South Indian snacks and pamper your taste buds, here. Apart from this, there are some religious and historical monuments, to be explored, to add to your adventure. Ashtalakshmi Temple and Velanganni Church are some worth visiting places in the vicinity.