Indian Columbus

After returning from the USA, I showed the pictures of the sea lion show at  Mystic  Aquarium in CT to my family. My daughter started nagging me to take her to the sea lion show. As I couldn’t afford to take my family to the USA, I wondered if there would be a place in India where I can find American sea lions. It was unbelievable to me when I was able to find out such a place right in the city where I live. It is at Dolphin City, located on the East Coast Road ( ECR ) at around 46 kms from  Chennai . Dolphin city is an amusement park. It was started in the late 1990s with the objective of entertaining the public with Dolphins. The authorities brought four dolphins in the beginning. It was a huge success as it was the first amusement park to get dolphins to India. Unfortunately, the dolphins could not adapt themselves to Chennai’s climate, and all of them died within six months. The management of the amusement park thought of an alternative plan, and they brought sea lio...

Chennai  has some interesting places which cannot be found anywhere else in India. The Crocodile Bank is one such place.  Located at around 42 kms from the city center, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust was founded in 1976 CE, and a public trust manages it. The Bank was established for the conservation and study of endangered crocodiles. When it was started, it hardly had 30 crocodiles. Now, there are around 2,400 crocodiles belonging to 14 different species. Over the years, the crocodile bank has supplied a lot of crocodiles to various zoos in India.  Besides crocodiles, the Bank also has 12 endangered species of turtles and tortoises, five species of snakes, two pythons, and some water monitor lizards.  You can get a close view of crocodiles live in the wild as they are housed in enclosures very similar to their natural habitat. I am not sure if you can find many such crocodiles belonging to different species anywhere else in India.   If you are lucky, you c...

Kovalam  village, located on the East Coast Road ( ECR ) between  Chennai  and Mamallapuram, is famous for its beach. A lot of people who travel to Chennai would have visited this beach. However, most people, including the locals, are not aware of the ancient temple located in the same village. If you travel around 300 meters from Kovalam beach towards East Coast Road, you can find the small ancient temple of Lord Kailasanathar (Shiva). It is slightly difficult to locate this temple as even the locals do not seem to have much idea about this temple.  Lord Kailasanathar, in the form of Shiv Linga, is the presiding deity of this temple. The Goddess Kamalavalli is found in a separate shrine. There are other idols such as Ganesha and Subramanya with his consorts Valli-Devasena found in this temple. In the prakara, some of the 13th century CE period icons of Surya, Kali, Bhairava and Vishnu with Bhooma Devi (Earth Goddess) are kept. They were excavated in the site nea...

Kovalam is a famous beach in Kerala in India, which is popular among international tourists. There is a beach near Chennai city in Tamil Nadu, which is also called Kovalam. However, this Kovalam beach is not very popular like the other one. It is just a famous beach among people in and around Chennai. Kovalam village is located on the famous East Coast Road (ECR) between Chennai and Mamallapuram. Even though Kovalam beach is locally renowned, there is nothing much to feel good about. It is not clean and is always crowded.  It is a fishing settlement. If you want to wear life jackets and throw yourself into the sea for fun and thrill, you can approach some fishers in Kovalam, who arrange boats and life jackets for you. The place has a little historical background too. The Nawab of Carnatic, Saadat Ali, built a port where the French General Laboudonnais landed his troops in 1746 CE. British Viceroy Clive took over the port in 1752 CE and destroyed the same. There is a small architec...

Muttukadu is a small village located at around 36 kms from  Chennai  on the most popular East Coast Road (ECR). It is an ideal backwater location and excellent picnic spot for a lazy weekend for Chennai people. Even travelers from outside Chennai too visit Muttukadu. Muttukadu is the best boating option available in and around Chennai. The backwaters of Muttukadu have been developed as a picturesque picnic spot and a center for water sports. Every year, many watersports lovers gather at this village in February to watch a windsurfing regatta. Some of the attractions that are available here are windsurfing, boating, kayaking, and canoeing. Water scooters are a recent attraction. Speed boats have always been favorite for families. Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation maintains the site and takes care of boathouses. Happy Travelling. Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

Singaperumal Koil is a village located around 48 kms from  Chennai . The village is named after the famous Singa Perumal Temple located here. Singa Perumal is the Tamil name for Lord Narasimha. Lord Narasimha is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He has a lion head and a human body. He killed the Asura Hiranyakasipu. According to "Brahmanda Purana", a sage named Jabali was performing severe penance in this site, which was a forest in those days. On his request, soon after killing Hiranyakasipu, Lord Narasimha appeared to him in the same furious form (Ugra Narasimha).  The Singaperumal Koil temple is around 1300 years old. It might have been built during the period of Mahendravarma Pallavan's reign. However, it isn't very certain if it is Pallava architecture. There is no information about which king built this temple and exactly when. The temple, as well as the presiding deity, have been carved out on the hillock. The temple is also called Pataladri (meaning Red Hill)...

Chettipunyam is a small village with just 5-6 streets. However, this small village has become a center of attraction nowadays, thanks to the Yoga Hayagreevar temple. For the benefit of starters, let me start with a brief introduction. Hayagreeva is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. When two Asuras, namely Madhu and Kaidabha, stole Vedas from Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu took the form of Hayagreeva (horse face and human body), killed the Asuras, and handed over the Vedas to Lord Brahma. Hence, Lord Hayagreeva is considered as the God of Knowledge.  Yoga Hayagreeva temple in Chettipunyam is around 500 years old. Actually, the presiding deity of the temple is Varadaraja Perumal. How did it become Hayagreeva temple? It has an exciting story. In 1868 CE, fearing invasion and loot, the images of Devanatha Swamy and Yoga Hayagreeva were brought from Tiruvahindipuram temple near Cuddalore to this site. Since then, this temple was referred to as Yoga Hayagreeva temple. In recent time, the popular...

Kattangulathur is a small village on GST Road (the highway connecting  Chennai  and Trichy) located near  Neyveli  (outskirts of Chennai). The village has a small but ancient unknown temple named Kalatheeswarar temple. It is considered equivalent to the Kalahasti temple, and the belief is that it can cure problems caused due to serpents (sarpa dosham). Kalatheeswar (in the form of Shiva Linga) is the principal deity of the temple. The Goddess is named Gnanambikai. Also, there are icons of other deities such as Ganesha, Subramanya with Valli and Devasena, Bhairava and Chandikeshwara.  One of the temple's unusual features is that only Rahu and Ketu are found instead of Navagraha. It should be noted that these two Grahas are associated with serpents. Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are found as the Koshta (niche) images. Happy travelling. Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have wri...