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Chennai (Madras)
If you have time to explore Chennai (formerly Madras), this 284-sq-mi (400-sq-km) conglomerate of urban villages and diverse neighborhoods making up Tamil Nadu's capital will pleasantly surprise you. Its role is as keeper of South Indian artistic, religious and culinary traditions.
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　　This 1976 memorial honours the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and his classic work, the 133-chapter Thirukural. Its most striking element is a 31m-high stone replica of Tamil Nadu's largest temple chariot (from Thiruvarur), pulled by two stone elephants and with giant wheels. In the adjacent auditorium, the Thirukural's 1330 couplets are...
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Must-see attractions
Theosophical Society
Chennai (Madras)
　　Between the Adyar River and the coast, the 100-hectare grounds of the Theosophical Society provide a peaceful, green, vehicle-free retreat from the city. Despite restricted opening hours, it's a lovely spot to wander, containing a church, mosque, Buddhist shrine, Zoroastrian temple and Hindu temple as well as a huge variety...
Marina Beach
Chennai (Madras)
　　Take an early morning or evening stroll (you don’t want to roast here at any other time) along the 3km-long main stretch of Marina Beach and you’ll pass cricket matches, flying kites, fortune-tellers, fish markets, corn-roasters and families enjoying the sea breeze. But don’t swim: strong rips make it dangerous....
Madras Lighthouse
Chennai (Madras)
　　At the southern end of Marina Beach, the fourth-incarnation Madras Lighthouse is India's only one with a lift; it's ridiculously popular, but the wraparound city and beach views are wonderful. ...
Fort Museum
Chennai (Madras)
　　The Fort Museum has exhibitions on Chennai's origins and the fort itself, and displays interesting military memorabilia and artwork from colonial times. The 1st-floor portrait gallery of colonial-era VIPs includes a very assured-looking Robert Clive (Clive of India). Also here is the first flag hoisted in Chennai upon Indian Independence...
Madras High Court
Chennai (Madras)
　　Completed in 1892, this imposing red Indo-Saracenic structure is said to be the world's largest judicial building after the Courts of London. The central tower was added in 1912. At research time, visitors were not permitted to wander the grounds, but if you fancy trying, take your passport. ...
Express Avenue
Chennai (Madras)
　　This is one of Chennai's best and most central shopping malls, full of major international and Indian apparel chains. The top-floor food court is good for a quick bite. ...
St Thomas Mount
Chennai (Madras)
　　The reputed site of St Thomas’ martyrdom in AD 72 rises in the southwest of Chennai, 2.5km north of St Thomas Mount train station. The Church of Our Lady of Expectation, built atop the 'mount' by the Portuguese in 1523, contains what are supposedly a fragment of Thomas’ finger bone...
Sri Ramakrishna Math
Chennai (Madras)
　　The tranquil, flowery grounds of the Ramakrishna Math are a world away from Mylapore's chaos. Orange-robed monks glide around and there’s a reverential feel. The Math is a monastic order following the teachings of the 19th-century sage Sri Ramakrishna, who preached the essential unity of all religions. Its Universal Temple...
Book Building
Chennai (Madras)
　　Within this mural-covered space, Tara Books stages free exhibitions, author talks and workshops with visiting artists, and displays its own highly original handmade books. With prior notice, you can visit the workshop where the books are created (20 minutes' drive away). 　　The Book Building is conveniently visited together with the...
Vivekananda House
Chennai (Madras)
　　The marshmallow-pink Vivekananda House is interesting not only for its displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, Swami Vivekananda, but also for its semicircular form, built in 1842 to store ice imported from the USA. Vivekananda stayed here briefly in 1897, preaching his ascetic Hindu philosophy to adoring crowds. Displays include...
Tara Books
Chennai (Madras)
　　Producers of beautiful hand-printed books, this publishing company is based in southern Chennai. Visit its Book Building showroom, where you can browse, buy and maybe catch a talk by an author or artist. You can also check out the printing shop, AMM Screens, and watch pages being silk-screened and hand-bound...
San Thome Cathedral
Chennai (Madras)
　　This soaring Roman Catholic cathedral, a stone's throw from the beach, was founded by the Portuguese in 1523, then rebuilt by the British in neo-Gothic style in 1896, and is said to mark the final resting place of St Thomas the Apostle. It's believed 'Doubting Thomas' brought Christianity to the...
Kapaleeshwarar Temple
Chennai (Madras)
　　Mylapore is one of Chennai's most characterful and traditional neighbourhoods; it predated colonial Madras by several centuries. Its Kapaleeshwarar Temple is Chennai's most active and impressive, and is believed to have been built after the Portuguese destroyed the seaside original in 1566. It displays the main architectural elements of many...
Government Museum
Chennai (Madras)
　　Housed across from the striking British-built Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum is Chennai’s best. The big highlight is building 3, the Bronze Gallery, with a superb collection of South Indian bronzes from the 7th-century Pallava era through to modern times (and English-language explanatory material). 　　It was from the 9th to...
Latest stories from Chennai (Madras)
May 19, 2024
　　Completed in 1680, yellow-washed St Mary's Church was the first English church in Madras and is India's oldest surviving British-built church. Both Robert Clive (Clive of India) and Elihu Yale (of Yale University) were married here. Outside lie ancient gravestones, many removed from an even earlier cemetery. The neoclassical tower...
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