Indian Columbus

The Wild Tribe Ranch is a theme park with many fun and adventures, located off NH5, the Calcutta National Highway, near Ponneri, around 35 kilometers from  Chennai . This is the ultimate place for adventure sports, and it is a new kind of theme park for Chennai city. For the first time in the city, many adventure games such as ATVs, trampoline jumping, army-style obstacle course, paintball, swimming and a WII game arcade have been introduced in the Wild Tribe Ranch theme park. ATV a.k.a. All Terrain Vehicles - Ride the fantastic 50 cc to 150 cc All Terrain Vehicles at The Wild Tribe Ranch. Paintball is a sport in which players eliminate opponents by hitting them with pellets containing paint, usually shot from a carbon dioxide or compressed-gas (HPA or N2) powered paintball gun (or marker). A well-maintained swimming pool is an added advantage of the park. Trampoline jumping is a kind of bungee jumping. The army-style obstacle course is really adventurous and fun. It is a good pla...

Burma Bazaar, located near Beach Railway Station in North Chennai, can be considered illegal merchandise heaven. Many foreign materials, almost all brands of electronic items,  CDs and DVDs of all foreign and Indian movies, be it legal or illegal, are available here. If you pass by this area, the shopkeepers will harass you to buy something from these shops. No one can peacefully pass through this market. Burma Bazaar was established in the 1960s for refugees from Burma to sell their products for their livelihood. However, now we can find only locals in these shops, who sell foreign things seized mainly by customs. If you really want to buy things from Burma Bazaar, you should know how to bargain and should be in a position to ensure the quality of the product you buy. Or else, it is better not even to pass by this place. Happy travelling! Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

In Kanchipuram, there is a famous temple for Kachaleeswara. The word Kachaleeswara or Kachabeswara refers to Lord Shiva. As Vishnu took the form of a Kachab or Koorma (tortoise) and worshiped Shiva, the latter is called Kachaleswara. Similar to this temple, there is a Kachaleswara temple in Chennai.  Let me start with the story behind the construction of this Chennai temple. In the 18th century, there lived a staunch devotee of Shiva, named Talavai Chettiar, in Chennai. He would regularly visit Kachaleeswara temple in Kanchi. Once, he could not travel due to heavy rain. Hence, he decided to build one temple in Chennai for his favorite God, Kachaleeswara. It took almost eight years for him to complete the word. In 1720 CE, the construction of Kachabeswara temple in Armenian Street was completed. This is the history of Chennai getting its own Kachaleeswara temple.  The presiding deity of the temple, Kachaleeswarar, is portrayed with five seats – koormasanam (tortoise), ashtanaga...

Did the great Maratha King Sivaji visit Chennai? Did the Britishers demolish a temple to build Fort St. George? Is the city named after a Goddess? Let me discuss all these in this article on Kalikambal Temple. Who is Kalikambal?   Kali is a ferocious form of Goddess in Hinduism. She is also called as Kalika. Hence, Kalika Ambal refers to Kali. Similar to Delhi (Kalkaji mandir) and Kolkata, Chennai city also has an ancient temple of Kali. Where is this temple located? Kalikambal Temple is located in Thambu Chetty Street in the George Town area. It is easily reachable from Parrys Corner or Beach Railway Station. Kalika or Kamakshi? Although the Goddess of the temple is called Kalika, the iconography does not resemble any form of Kali. She is found in a seated posture similar to that of Kamakshi. She is also known as "Neithal Nila Kamakshi." Although there is no historical evidence or record, it is widely believed that the original temple of Kalikambal was located i...

Kalatheeswarar temple, located at Coral Merchant Street in Mannady/George Town area of  Chennai , is a small but old temple, which is quite popular in the locality.  The presiding deity is Shiva Linga, named Kalatheeswarar. There is a separate shrine for the goddess Gnanambikai. All the icons, including Kalatheeswarar and Gnanambikai, are tiny in this temple. However, the image of the goddess is stunningly beautiful.  There are also shrines for other gods and goddesses such as Ayyappa, Manjanamata, Chandikeshwara, Shivlinga, Subramanya with Valli-Devasena Ganesha, and Navagraha. Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga are found as niche images. Happy travelling. Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

It is indeed difficult to believe that such a big temple is located in the ever-congested  Lingi Chetti Street  of George Town in Chennai.  Mallikeswarar Temple , also known as Mallikarjuna Temple, is not confused with Chenna Malleeswarar Temple. This temple is much older. Even in  1652 CE , the British records mention this temple as an ancient temple. They call it  Mally Carjun's Old Pagoda . Hence, it is evident that the temple is older than the colonial era. There is a possibility that this temple could have been built in the 16th century CE or even before that. If we go by the available historical records in the entire Black Town area, I believe this is the oldest temple. It is said that the temple was completely buried under the ground, and only the topmost portion showed up. The entire temple was discovered by digging up the land. When did this happen? There is no historical record. However, the temple is indeed below road level. The pillared hall in f...