ChennaiClassifiedAds.com - Places Around Chennai City

For the first time visitor to Chennai, the city offers a lot of interesting tourist sopts. We present here some of such interesting spots.

Fort St. George : Fort St. George is another important sight seeing spot. This fort was built by the East India Company and it served as a base for british colonies. This Fort marked the beginning of the modern Cheenai.

Marina Beach : The Marina Beach, one of the logest beaches in the world, is around 5 km. long. A refreshing walk along the beach is worth the visit. Marina Beach is one of the most important sight seeing spots. The famous Chennai University which cherishes a 150 years tradition is located on the beachside. Along the beach, there are the memorials for Tamil Nadu's former chief ministers - Arignar Anna and M G Ramachandran are also located on the Marina Beach side. The Santhome Church, All India Radio are also situated on the beach side.

Sri Parthasarathy Temple : This temple dates back to the eighth centurey, built by the Pallava Kings. This temple brings a pictorial representation of Lord Krishna reciting Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Also called as Gitacharyan, Sri Parthasarathy Swami temple also has Sannidis (shrines) for Vedavalli Thayar. The temple is one of the 108 Vaishnava Divya Desa Tirupati and is worth the visit.

Kapaaleeswarar Temple : Kapaleeshwar temple is another oldest temple at Chennai. It was built probably during the 13th Century and and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The carvings of the temple dates back to the Chalukya and Pallava Dynasties. They bring out the architectural skills of that saga.

Theosophical Society : Chennai is the Headquarters for the Theosophical Society. A 100+ year old huge Banyan tree spanning a vast area of 40,000 sq. ft is in this society on the banks of River Adyar. A 100 year old library with rare books and manuscripts written on palm leaves hard to find is also housed in the Society.

St. Thomas Mount : This is a small hill on top of which the Church where St. Thomas was assassinated by an unknown killer.

Little Mount Shrine : This is where St. Thomas lived. A place of religious interest.


The Guindy Snake Park : The snake park situated at Guindy, is one of the largest snake parks of India. A variety of snakes can be found in the snake park where even rare species can be found.

Gandhi Mandapam : This is a large hall where Mahatma Gandhi sat and prayed. The hall has been built in memory the Mahatma.

The Children's Park : The Guindy children park is an amusing park for Children.

Kalakshetra : Kalakshetra, The place of performing arts, was founded in 1936 by Rukmani Devi Arundale for providing training in the traditional Indian Dance Bharatanatyam.

Birla Planetorium : The only planetorium at Chennai is Birla Planetorium. This is a very modern planetorium with Audio Visual Presentations regularly, presenting about the planets. On special occasions like planetary movements, eclipse, public are given special lectures, demonstrations about the planet activity that is happening.

Valluvar Kottam : Valluvar kottam is dedicated to Thiruvalluvar, who composed Thirukkural. A chariot in which Tiruvalluvar statue is installed around which all the Kural were written. It houses an auditorium which can accomodate around 4000-5000 audiance.

National Art Gallery and Government Museum : This is situated at Egmore. A rare collection of art and antiqutiy can be found preserved in the Gallery and Museum. The Chennai Government Museum is the first and the largest Museum founded by the Government.

The Connemara Library : One of the oldest and largest libraries in India, the Connemara library houses lakhs of books on almost all topics.

Vandaloor Zoological Park : About 20 kms. from Chennai, the Arignar Anna Zoological Park is situated. There is a small hill where, the various zoological species are protected and displayed to public. Surrounded by natural environment and trees, plants, this provides a very natural habitat for the animals.

Other places around Chennai :

Mamallapuram : Also called Mahabalipuram, represents ancient sculptures. Many sculptures adn carvings, temples built by the Pallavas can be found. Mamallapuram served as the harbour of the Pallava dynasty. Most of the temples are constructed without using bricks and mortarThe Pallavas had mastered the art of construction without using bricks or mortar. The Panch Ratha, sculpture is the best of the sculptures found at Mamallapuram.

Crocodile Bank : The crorodile bank is located at 45 Kms from Chennai, very near to Mamallapuram. The crocodiles in the bank can be viewed from a distance as they are kept in captivity. There is a research farm housed in the Crocodile Bank, which breeds various species from other countries.

Muttukkadu : Muttukkadu about 10 Kms from Tiruvanmiyur, is is a boat yard. This is a backwater, and has boats for boating around. This is a nice picnic spot.

Thirukkalukundram : Kalugu, in Tamil refers Eagle. In Thirukkalukundram, two eagles, regularly come during the lunch time to the Lord Shiva Temple situated atop a small hill, and eat the prasadam. The legend goes such that, these two eagles represent the two saints who passes by on their way to Rameswaram from Kasi, stops at the temple, to ahve the prasadam..

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary : Vedanthangal, is a place around 30 Kms. from Chennai. Every year during the rainy season (November to March), birds from all over the world migrate to this sanctuary. One of the biggest bird sanctuaries on India, Vedanthangal is a place worth its visit.

Kancheepuram : Also called as the Silk City, Kanchipuram is a temple town with many temples around the city. The city is famous for woven silk. Kanchi Silk sarees and dhoties are world famous. There is a Kanchi Mutt, where Aadi Sankarar performed his divinely duties at Kanchipuram. Kanchi is around 75 Kms from Chennai and has two towns namely Siva Kanchi and Vishnu Kanchi.

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