Chennai (Madras) Tip
by chanakya
Madras has some of the finest examples of 17th century architecture in India. The oldest Protestant church & the oldest surviving British construction in India, St.Mary's Church; the red Indo- Saracenic High Court building constructed in 1792, the world's second largest judicial building. And the Fort St.George which now houses the Secretariat and Legislature.
BY ROAD
by undisputed
Road networks of Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation make it easy to access the tiniest village by comfortable and deluxe buses. Interstate buses operate at regular intervals from Chennai. Many private operators are available for domestic and interstate transportation.
kapaleeswar temple,mylapore
by 6aruna
this is a controversial temple thought to be belonging to the pallava era.Dedicated to siva and parvathy.
typical dravidian style with gopurams and temple tanks.
mentioned by ptolemy and Camoens.Controversial because ptolemy has written about a shore temple and this is far away.This temple was thought to be systematically demolished by the portughese and santhome church built over it. The new temple was supposedly rebuilt 300 to 400 yrs back.The outer sanctum has bronze statues of saivite saints called nayanmars who are taken out for procession during march -april period
Sri Parthasarathy Temple
by abi_maha
A king by name Sumati, showered his love toward the Balaji of Thirumala. But he wished to worship Balaji as Krishna. For the sake of him, Balaji Appeared in front of the king as Krishna, at this place in the pose which he stood in the Mahabharath war. At the end of that war he decided not to hold any weapons, so he appeared here only with a conche in his hand. hence this temple is known as Parthasarathi(Arjuna's charioteer) temple. This temple is special to peopple of my caste- Iyengar's. Infact you will find a lot of men of my caste who are named after this deity. This temple is surrounded by houses in which Iyengar's dwell. They visit the temple twice a day for the 'darshanam'- glimpse of the deity and to offer their prayers to him. It is a huge temple and the hustle bustle outside the temple is amazing.
Foreigner in Madras
by HeartInIndia
I'm a Canadian who worked in Chennai/Madras for one year, and my heart is still there! When in Madras your 'things to do' are limited - but people are wonderful and food is great. You must shop at Spencer's Plaza for amazing deals in souvenirs and hand made crafts - as well as VTI Victoria Tech. Inst - for hand made crafts. You must rent car and driver and go down to Mamammlapuram for ancient stone carvings and works in progress - great town! Stay at a beach resort along the way - recommend MGM Best Western - or Fisherman's Cove for the bigger wallet. Eat as much South Indian veg cooking as you can!! Bring your Cipro for the unavoidable stomachaches. Then, employ car and driver further yet to Pondicherry with amazing French influence. Eat at French bistro as saris and autorickshaws drive by. Check out ashrams in town and Auroville nearby. Bring bottled water, bug repellent, and always carry your own soap and toilet paper. ENJOY!!