Indian Columbus

Chennai , the city considered the gateway to South India, has arguably  the second longest beach . It also has a few other beaches. However, it is unfortunate that it is tough to find a clean beach in the city. The beach near Tiger's Cave is an exception, though. Tiger's Cave is located at about 52 kms from Chennai and at 5 kms from Mamallapuram. It has a beautiful and ancient cave-like architectural marvel and an old  rock-cut Shiva temple . Nearby stands the 2000-years-old remains of a  brick temple  discovered recently by the Tsunami. The beach is situated next to the ancient brick temple. The beach is clean, calm, and serene. You can hardly find anybody here. This is a rare sight in Chennai as almost all the places are crowded. The surrounding area, dotted with many palm and casuarina trees, is also calm and neat. It's really a relaxing experience to visit this excellent weekend picnic spot. Happy traveling. Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know mor...

The Tsunami hit Asia on 26th December 2004 and claimed around 220,000 lives, which was an unfortunate event in the history of Asia. Perhaps the only good thing due to that Tsunami was the discovery of 2000 years old brick temple near Tiger's cave, located at a distance of around 5 kms from Mamallapuram. When Tsunami hit Mamallapuram and surrounding areas in December 2004, it unearthed the remains of an ancient brick temple. This temple of Murugan is believed to have been built during the first century BCE or 2nd century CE, possibly the Tamil Sangam Age. The period of the temple was perhaps the Tamil Sangam Age. An inscription in Tamil on a rock near the excavated site led to the discovery of the temple. The rock, lodged in sand, was exposed fully by the Tsunami that struck this area. It is believed that the original temple was built using bricks. It should be noted that the temples were built using bricks 2000 years ago. It is also believed that this temple was subsequently conver...

Atiranachanda Mandapa is located in the  Tiger's Cave  complex near  Chennai , India. Tiger's Cave is situated in a village named Saluvankuppam on East Coast Road ( ECR ) between Chennai and Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, India. The distance of Tiger's Cave is 5 km from Mamallapuram and around 52 km from Chennai. There are three cells carved in the mandapa. The central cell alone is complete; the remaining two cells just have the wall portions. The main cell has a polished black multi-faced Shiva Linga and Somaskanda panel on the back wall. Somaskanda is a form of Shiva, Parvati, and the baby Skanda flanked by Vishnu and Brahma. Two dwarapalas are carved in the niches at the entrance of the cell. The remaining two cells, too, have similar Somaskanda panels carved on the back wall. Scholars believe that this monument was built either by Mamalla or Rajasimha Pallava. The front facade of the east-facing mandapa is supported by two pillars and two pilasters. The pillars...

Tiger’s Cave is a place where you can find rock-cut temples and sculptures but not tigers. :-) Tiger’s Cave is located in a village named Saluvankuppam, which is about 5 kms from Mamallapuram towards the direction to  Chennai .  Tiger’s Cave is a unique cave shrine that is different in style from the other monuments of Mamallapuram.  The southeast-facing structure is cut at the height of 6 feet from the ground level. The pavilion is closed on all three sides, and a 4 feet deep and 6 feet high cavity is excavated in the front. There are stairs to reach the high-raised platform. Lion parapets on either sides support them. The two lion pilasters with a female rider on the rearing lion are important features of the site.  Around the central cell, a surrounding garland-like arrangement of eleven yazhis (a mythological animal) is found. Interestingly, some scholars believe that this pavilion might have been used as a festival pavilion during Indira Vizha (festival of Indra...

Chennai city, the gateway to South India, has a lot of temples. Many of them are ancient temples, and few of them are well known even outside Chennai. Nitya Kalyana Perumal Temple is not very popular but an important temple located in the outskirts of Chennai. It is located in a village called Tiruvidandai on the famous East Coast Road (ECR) between Chennai and Mamallapuram. The distance is 42 kms from Chennai and 16 kms from Mamallapuram. Let us discuss about this peaceful temple in this article.  Highlights: Tirumangai Alwar  has sung 13 Pasurams about this temple in his verses. Manavala Mamunigal has also sung hymns about this deity. It is considered as the  62nd Divya Desham temple . It is located in Tondai region. In the olden days, it was also called as Sripuri and Varaha Puri There are 360 consorts for Vishnu in this site. God  -  Aadi Varaha Perumal or Lakshmi Varaha Perumal  ; Utsava deity -  Nitya Kalyana Perumal Goddess  -  Komalav...