Chennai

We've just had several days in Kolkata, and now flown south into Chennai (aka Madras). It is so different from Kolkata and the other places we have seen in the northern parts of India.

Sari on a scooter

While taxiing to our hotel we noticed clean streets with nice footpaths, tidy buildings, and the presence of many more women. We even saw women driving motor scooters – saris on a scooter. 

Up until now we've seen hardly any women on the street, and if on a motor scooter, they sit side-saddle on the back.

We soon arrived at our lovely hotel, the Hanu Reddy Residences Poes Garden, and spent the rest of the day relaxing on one of its leafy rooftop sitting areas.

The next morning we took a taxi to Mahabalipuram, about 1.5 hours south of Chennai.

Bay of Bengal beach

On the way, we stopped at a beautiful golden-sand beach. This gave us our first glimpse of the Bay of Bengal, the body of water that borders the whole of the eastern side of India.

Soon after, we reached Mahabalipuram, a small town on a strip of land between the Bay of Bengal and the Great Salt Lake in south-eastern India.

It’s known for its monuments built by the Pallava dynasty in the 7th and 8th centuries. It has amazing temples, shrines, sculptures and caves, many of which are somehow carved straight into the rock. Collectively, they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Shore Temple (UNESCO), Mahabalipuram

The first monument we stopped at was the Shore Temple. Built in 700-728 AD it is the oldest structure in this group of monuments and also the oldest structural stone temple in southern India. Notwithstanding the effects of erosion, you are still able to see the stunning detailed carvings and decorations in the stone. 

There is a huge number of monuments spread over many acres and our taxi dropped us at the main ones. We climbed over, in, and around almost a dozen sites, and in between, dived back into the air conditioned taxi to get relief from the high 30’s heat.

After a great day viewing these amazing monuments, we headed back to Chennai. The drive back gave us a chance to get our body temperatures back to normal.

Trimurti Cave (UNESCO) carved into a granite rock, Mahabalipuram

The next day we took a taxi tour all around Chennai city. Having been host to Portuguese, British and Dutch settlers, along with its Indian history, has left a rich cultural and architectural legacy in Chennai. It now has over 2,400 heritage buildings within its metropolitan area. The highest in any metropolitan area of India.

Most of the buildings are over 200 years old. There were some very interesting ones on our sightseeing list, such as the Ripon Building, National Art Gallery, Madras High Court, Anderson Church, Ramaswami Mudaliar Building, General Post Office, Civil Court, Church of our Lady of Light, and many others.

Left to right: Ripon Bldg, Ramaswami Mudaliar Bldg, Government Museum, National Art Gallery

Chennai’s heritage railway station, the first in southern India, and the Government Museum were particularly interesting. 

We also we drove into Chennai's historic Mylapore neighbourhood, that is often referred to as the 'soul of the city'. It is home to the neo-Gothic San Thome Cathedral, and several temples and heritage churches.

We especially liked the 17th-century Kapaleeshwarar Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was built by the Pallava kings in the 7th century. 

The Kapaleeshwarar Temple

We visited several neighbourhoods, and saw many interesting buildings, most in good repair. Chennai is a very attractive city. 

Later we stopped at the George Town bazaars; the narrow and busy streets, buzzing with colourful stalls.

Then we went on to St George Fort. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go into the Fort. We had this same issue with the fort in Kolkata. It seems that many of the ancient forts are still military bases, and since the issues between India and Pakistan have escalated in the past 3 weeks, many of the forts have been closed to the general public due to increased military activity.

Tired tuktuk driver at beautiful Marina Beach

At the end the day, we drove to the lovely Marina Beach – the longest urban beach in India. We saw a resting tuktuk driver there, and couldn't resist taking a photo that showed him relaxing from the frenetic Indian traffic. 

Chennai is a busy bustling city with a large array of transport. Fortunately, it doesn't have the huge amount of beeping that we have experienced in other cities.

Busy Chennai street

It felt so nice after Kolkata. It is so much cleaner, in good repair, and has lots of street trees. There are obvious signs of poverty but also many signs of prosperity.

Chennai is touted as the ‘Gateway to the South’. We think that if Chennai is setting the standard, the rest of our trip around the south of India will be quite different to our trip in the north.

We have enjoyed the short stay here. We now have an overnight sleeper train to Kerala to look forward to.

The above blog is part of our 2 month tour of India. The first blog on this tour is called “Off to Delhi".