What to do in Chennai, India ?

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dipta_j

2 weeks in Chennai... hmmm... you can do a lot, but you have to do it the way Chennai likes it to do.

Firstly, if you are travelling by June.... it's too hot and humid.. that will restrict you indoor during the day time.

After your 7 hours of work, you are left with only few hours in the evening, as Chennai shuts down at 10.30. Usually the restaurants don't serve food, the very few Pubs don't serve drinks after 10.30. after having your dinner, while coming back at 11.30 at night, you can count how many people are there on the streets. Some good place to chill out is "Bikes and Barrels" and "Sparkz".

Chennai is safe!! If you want to buy lots of Gold stuff in traditional design and then sport it out... Chennai is the place.

Chennai is with full of mystery......forget your logical reasoning and visit a "Nadi Reader" who will tell you past by reading some old palm leave scriptures. I can bet, you will experience something to remember for ever.

Chennai is the place of Dravidian culture and heritage, visit the temples in and around the city.... there are soooo many...

Chennai is good for Sea Food.....you get good Crabs and Lobsters

Drive down to Mahabalipuram (60KM) and Pondicherry (another 110KM) over the weekend. Mahab has stunning sea beaches and monolithic rock sculptures and temples, where as Pondi is a reminisant of a French Colony. Drive down further to the Pitchavaram Mangrove forest.

On your way, stop over to Crocodile Park, if that interests you.

Do shopping..... at Pondi Bazar (for Gold and Silk) and at Spencerâ€™s and Chennai City Center for any other thing....you might need to pick up some books as well, check out "Landmark" at the Spencers..... it's a well stocked book store

Isn't it enough for 2 weeks?

Enjoy Chennai

Rumplestiltskin.

http://www.chennai.org.uk/index.html

Ramesh B

Check out your hotel front desk for chennai city tours including Beach and Mamallapuram (a UNESCO heritage site). Goto Mount Road,Malls for Shopping. Ask your co-workers in chennai for ideas. Have Fun

vry3

Hey ...I am coming to chennai after a long time too...nearly 4 years. I was also wondering what are the things we can do there. I will be in Chennai from the 20th June to the 30th of June 07

anir_rajisqh

There are many places to see and visit in Chennai. Few are listed below :-

High Court: This imposing Indo-Saracenic style building, built in 1892, has beautiful domes, a grand central cupola and many stained glass windows. The building houses the High Court, the Small Cause's Court and the City Civil Court.

Fort St. George: Built in 1654 and remodeled in 1749, Fort St. George is the first bastion of British power in India. The fort has a six-meter tall wall that withstood many sieges by Mughals in 1701, Marathas in 1741 and Hyder Ali during the late 18th century. The fort now houses the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

St. Mary's Church built in1678-80 was the first English church in Chennai. There are reminders in the church of Robert Clive who married here in 1753.

Glimpses of old Chennai and memorabilia of British and French East India Companies, British and Muslim Administrations etc can be seen at Fort Museum, Wellesly House and Clive Corner.

Govt. Museum, Chennai Government Museum: One of the finest museums in India, the Government Museum has sections devoted to geology, anthropology, botany, zoology, sculpture and numismatics. The relics from the 2nd century AD Buddhist site 'Amaravati' and the prehistoric South India are the most prized possessions of the museum. The museum has a vast collection of carvings of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. Collection of South Indian musical instruments and jewelry is worth seeing. The bronze gallery that has a superb collection of ancient icons and modern bronzes that should not be missed at any cost.

St. Andrews Church, Chennai St. Andrew's Church: Known as the queen of Scottish churches in the East, St. Andrew's Church was built by the British East India Company around 1821. With ornate white Doric columns, tiled marble floors and a high sky blue dome decorated with gold stars, indeed, this is the most beautiful church in Chennai.

Development Center for Musical Instruments: The center has a collection of ancient and modern Indian musical instruments. It is a must see for music lovers.

Valluvarkottam, Chennai Valluvar Kottam: A befitting memorial for the poet-sage Thiruvalluvar, a replica of the famed temple chariot of 'Thiruvaroor', was built in 1976. The life size statue of the sage sits in the 33m chariot with 1330 couplets of Thirukkural inscribed on the panels.

Sri Parthasarathy Temple: Built by the Pallavas in the 8th century, the temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna. The Vijayanagar rulers renovated it in the 16th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, this temple was the scene of many battles and Golconda, Dutch and French occupied the temple at various times. This is one of the oldest surviving temples in Chennai.

Anna Memorial, Chennai Marina Beach: The beach runs for 13km and it is the second longest beach in the world. The beach drive runs between magnificent stately buildings like the Chetpauk Palace, University of Madras, Icehouse etc. on one side and a very wide sandy beach on the other. The aquarium is situated at the beginning of the beach.

Anna & MGR Samadhis: The evergreen garden memorials of Late C. N. Annadurai and M. G. Ramachandran (former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu) are located at the beginning of Marina.

Elliot's Beach: A calmer and quieter beach, pleasant and ideal for lazy lounging and picnicking. The beach is situated near Adayar and the sea is safe for swimming.

Santhome Cathedral, Chennai Santhome Cathedral: Built in 1504 and rebuilt in 1608 and 1893, the cathedral is said to house the remains of Apostle St. Thomas. The basilica has an enormous stained glass window and a beautiful one-meter statue of Virgin Mary that was brought from Portugal in 1543.

Luz Church: Dedicated to Our Lady of Light, this church is the oldest church in Chennai. An Inscription in the church attributes its construction to a Franciscan monk in 1516 AD.

Kapaleswar Temple: This ancient Siva Temple's fragmented inscriptions dates back to 1250 AD. But the present temple was rebuilt by Vijayanagar Kings in the 16th century. The magnificent 37m carved 'Gopuram' of gods, goddesses and saints depict important 'Puranic' legends. The temple is situated in Mylapore.

Little Mount: It was where St. Thomas chose a small cave to lead his Spartan life often praying on top of the hill and preach to the crowd. Today the cave has an Alter with the image of St. Thomas. Little Mount has an ancient Portuguese church built in 1551. By this church there is a perennial spring reputed to possess curative powers.

St. Thomas Mount: It is on this mount where the pursuers caught St. Thomas when he fled Little Mount. It is where they killed him. At the summit of the mount there is an old, relic filled church built around 1523 by the Portuguese. One of the relics is a stone cross that is said to be bleeding periodically. The last occasion it bled was in 1704.

Thousand Lights Mosque: A beautiful cream colored multi-domed mosque that was originally built in 1800 by Nawab Umdat-ul-Umrah for assemblage of Shias during Muharrum mourning.

Wallaja Mosque, Chennai Big Mosque: built in 1789, this architecturally splendid Wallajah Mosque is located on Queiad-e-Milleth high road. It is believed that the family of Nawab Wallajah was instrumental in building of the mosque.

Shantinath Jain Temple: This is a gleaming two storied white Jain Temple built in the modern line of temple art. There are many beautifully sculptured marble idols including that of Mahavira, the Jain teacher of 6th century BC.

Theosophical Society: In 1886 Adayar was chosen as the headquarters of the spiritual society originally founded in USA by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Col. Olcott. There are shrines of all faiths in its grounds. It has a 90 years old library with valuable collections of oriental manuscripts both in palm-leave and parchment.

Children's Park, Guindy Guindy National Park: Perhaps this is the world's only game reserve within the city limits. This national park's population includes spotted deer, black buck, civet cat, jackal, monkeys and reptiles. The park also has a snake park and an amusement park for the children. The snake-park has a collection that includes king cobras, pythons, vipers etc.

National Art Gallery: The Art Gallery has a fine collection of paintings, handicrafts and bronze. The collection is housed in a Mughal style building. Bronzes from 10th and 13th century, Rajasthan and Mughal paintings from 16th and 17th century and Indian handicrafts from 11th and 12th century are displayed here.
Other Places of Interest in Chennai are

* The Corporation Campus: The campus has the Victoria Public Hall, the Corporation Stadium and My Lady's garden.
* Horticultural Gardens (Cathedral road)
* Kalaskeshtra: founded in 1936 by Rukmini Davi Arundale. It is one of the country's finest dance schools.
* Birla Planetarium
* MGR Film City
* Annamalai Hall: A mini-museum of South Indian musical instruments.
* Many Chola Temples, from 8th century onwards, like Adhispurishvarar Temple (Thiruvotriyur), Thiruvalliswarar Temple (Padi), Marundiswarar Temple (Thiruvanmiyur) etc.

â™¥ Miss. S â™¥

Hello,

Well I am not sure when you are going, but if it's anytime soon you are going to be sweltering! :(

However, Chennai is a pretty cool place once you get over the awkward smell. If I were you I'd definitely go to St. Thomas Church---it's a pretty intense, turning uphill climb, each step detailing a different part in the Crucifixion of Christ, also a great view of the city.

For fun I'd check out the post tsunami beach, go to an upscale cinema and probably one of the many trendy western type coffee bars. Haha if you're daring you could go to some western type dance club---but all those places are pretty sketch and like much of India, if you're foreign expect to be followed and harassed a bit.

Hope this helps :)

Jewel

It looks great - here is the web search link

http://www.google.com/search?q=Chennai,+India&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SKPB

Can I come too ;O)

samman

you could bring us all back a stick of rock i mean is there anything more important

Cain D

get yourself a hooker on the companys money

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