Chennai

A Southern Sojourn Vol-II: Chennai-Trichy-Tanjore

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We hired two 9 seaters and first went to the Kapaleeshwara temple, which is at the centre of the culture in Mylapore. Go through Karthik’s another brilliant post about Mylapore. Had the darshan of Shiva and Uma and the rest of the family, without any hassles, came out and fed those cave-mouthed fish in the gigantic Mylapore pond.

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Chennaiyil Margazhi

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Wondering what the title means ? Well, it’s a Tamil term meaning “Margazhi in Chennai”. Margazhi (pronounced Maar-ga-zhi . the last part (zhi) is…

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Mylai – Some things dont change (thankfully)

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The place is not a fancy one, as in , does not have the looks of modern restaurants. It looks like a house-converted-to-an-hotel and the ambience is ‘homely’ and food is hygenic. The (south indian) dishes are served on a plantain leaf (cant use spoon for eating Dosa:-) ).

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NH7 – Bangalore to Chennai Road Review (and back)

NH7 – Bangalore to Chennai Road Review (and back)

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The distance between Chennai and Bangalore is approx. 340 km (GPO to GPO, that’s how distances are measured, right?). There are 2 prominent routes between these 2 cities.
1.Via Hosur and
2.Via Chittoor
The stretch that I love the most is Hosur to Krishnagiri, which is a ghat section (not in the true sense, but relative). Its scenic and the best time to be driving on this stretch is in the early morning when the sun comes up in the horizon.

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Our Six Days Southern Sojourn

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Coimbatore also known as Kovai is a major developing smart city in the Tamil Nadu located on the banks of the Noyyal River amidst Western Ghats. It is often referred to as the ‘Manchester of South India’ due to its cotton production, garment and textile industries. Coimbatore is also called as the “Pump City” as it supplies country’s large requirements of motors and pumps.

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‘Rock’On Mahabalipuram!

‘Rock’On Mahabalipuram!

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The streets of Mahabalipuram are a photographer’s delight. The city is famous for stone sculptures. You can get your sculpture done within 3 months and get it delivered to your place just by giving your photograph and your measurements. The murals of deities, elephants, bhuddha’s are a very common sight. It is an eye feast to look at the workmen at work, carving intricate designs on the stones. I got to speak to one such person, Surya , who was diligently making a Ganesh idol. It took him 3 months so far to make the below idol and it would fetch him 35,000 INR. These idols are made  using the machinery as well as traditional hammer and chisel. It gives altogether a different experience to stand among numerous idols which are going to make it temples where we are not allowed to go even 5 steps nearer. After a brief visit to the workshops we headed to the Arjuna’s penance.

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Chennai Beaches

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Marina beach is a major tourist attraction of the city. This sea is rough and the waves here are strong. People visiting Chennai make a point to visit the beach. It is also the main place for the local people to escape from the summer heat. This beach is always crowded attracting about 30,000 – 50,000 visitors everyday. The beach has around 450-500 shops and stalls run by local vendors. It is an ideal hangout place for people of all ages. There are two swimming pools along the stretch maintained by Chennai Corporation.

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Picture perfect beaches on Jolly Buoy

The Emerald Islands of Andaman and Nicobar

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The view from underwater is breathtaking. Corals, oysters, sea weeds, colored fish  and the surrounding blue water is mesmerizing. Touching endangered species such as corals are  not allowed. The best part of the sea walk actually came when we fed pieces of bread to the  fish. As soon as you hold up the bread pieces, fish of different colors gather around you and it does get a bit ticklish but it is definitely a wonderful experience.  After 20 minutes of  “seawalking”, the divers  escorted us back up to the pontoon. When you climb up, one is likely to experience  the pressure factor again . At the end of it, the whole experience leaves you spellbound and the sparkling blue water always tantalizes you to go back underwater.

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