Indian Columbus

Chennai , the erstwhile Madras, which was founded by British and located in South India, is full of travel sites. However, most of the travel sites in Chennai city are religious sites. Although many of the religious sites belong to Hindus, there are many churches which are historically important as well as ancient, located in Chennai city. St. Mary Co-Cathedral located at Armenian street in George Town area of Chennai is one of the most popular and important churches of Chennai. It was built in 1658 and was rebuilt in 1692. The church was damaged during the French occupation of Madras, and was again rebuilt in 1775 on a modest scale. At last, the church was enlarged in 1785. This famous Catholic church of Chennai has a lot of attractive paintings and statues of Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, and apostles of Jesus Christ. Devotion to St. Anthony is very popular in this church. The main prayer hall of the church has decorative pillars and attractive ceiling with the idol of Mother Mary i...

Namakkal , an ancient town, located near Salem city of South India, has the splendid 8th century rock cut temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha, the Lion God and the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. If you go to Namakkal Narasimha temple, you will find it difficult to believe that it was built around 1300 years back. It's difficult to imagine how the king Mahendravarma Pallava could have built this temple full of beautiful life size sculptures carved out of rocks in the period when the science and technology were not so improved. Similar to other rock cut temples, Namakkal Narasimha temple can also be considered as one of the master pieces by Pallava kings. The rock cut temple of Narasimha is located on the hill named Namagiri. The main shrine has the sculpture carved out of rock. The main sculpture is the gigantic image of Lord Narasimha with four arms. The rock cut idol is really magnificent and look real. You can even find the nails of the Lord as slightly in the red color. J...

Namakkal is an ancient city located near Salem city in South India. The small town has the beautiful rock cut temples of Pallava period (8th century CE) dedicated for Ranganath and Narsimha. However, the most famous temple of Namakka is Hanuman temple. Even though it is claimed that Hanuman temple is as old as the 8th century rock cut temple of Narasimha, it appears to have been built in the later period. Till one or two decades back, the Hanuman temple didn't have roof. The eighteen feet tall gigantic idol of Hanuman in the temple, which became world famous mainly due to its height, was standing without any roof. It was only during recent time, the roof was constructed for this temple. The Hanuman idol is facing Lord Narasimha. It is said that from the holes behind the shrine of Garud in Narasimha temple, one can see the Hanuman idol. Hanuman temple doesn't have any other shrines or idols. The magnificent image of Hanuman is good enough to attract thousands of devotees...

Namakkal - is this an historical city? I find a big fort on the hill. Nope! Namakkal must be a city with architectural marvel. It has cave temples with splendid sculptures. Not exactly! It's a religious city. Namakkal Hanuman is powerful. What kind of city is Namakkal? It's a religious city with rich historical and cultural background having artistically beautiful cave temples. If you happen to go to the cave temples of Namakkal, you won't believe that these temples are around 1500 years old. We should be ashamed as we are not competent enough today to construct such artistically beautiful cave temples. It is beyond our imagination to know how these temples were constructed in the hill in those days when the science and technology were not improved. Namakkal, which was called as Namagiri in the olden days, has four important temples. Hanuman temple even though is very small, is the most popular temple nowadays. People call this temple as Namakkal Hanuman temple...

Tiruchengode is an ancient town located near Salem city of Tamil Nadu, South India. The most famous temple of Triuchengode is the temple of Ardhanareeswarar, where the God is present in the form of half-man and half-woman. The second most popular temple of Tiruchengode is Kailasanathar temple which is located at the center of the city. The former temple is located at the top of the hill whereas the later one is located at the bottom of the hill. Kailasanathar temple of Tiruchengode is a huge temple with gigantic tower and magnificent walls. The presiding deity of the temple is Kailasanathar which is present in the form of a Shiv Linga in the main shrine. There is a separate shrine for the Goddess of the temple, Sugunda Kundalambikai. There is another shrine which is very important in this temple, dedicated to Lord Murugan. Apart from that, this temple also houses the usual idols such as Ganesha, Murugan with Valli and Devasena, Nandi in front of main shrine, etc. similar to any oth...

God is portrayed as male in some religions, or as female in some other religions. There are religions who worship nature as the God. According to some religions, the God has no shape and name. As per Hinduism, God doesn't have shape, God has shape, God is in the form of self, animal, bird, male and female. To explain this, I might have to write hundreds of blog posts. Keeping that aside, there is a temple in South India where God is portrayed as half-man and half-woman. That rare temple is located in a place called Tiruchengode (Thiruchengodu) in Tamil Nadu state of South India. Lord Shiva is one of the main Gods of Hinduism. Ardhanareeswar, one of 64 manifestations of Lord Shiva, has half-man and half-female to represent the unity of Shakti and Shiva. Even though Ardhanareeswara is a well known manifestation of Shiva, you cannot find a temple or shrine for Ardhanareeswara. As far as I know, the only temple dedicated for Ardhanareeswara in the form of half man and half woman ...

Why people call Yercaud as poor man's Ooty? May be, it is because it's less expensive hill station. For me, it makes more sense to call it as smart man's Ooty, as Yercaud is much calm, serene, less crowded and rich in natural beauties. Yercaud, which can be reached after passing through around 20 hairpen bends at about one hour drive from Salem city in South India, is definitely one of the cheapest hill station destinations in India. It is located at Shevaroy hills in Eastern Ghats mountain range. There are not many places to roam around in Yercaud. If you just want to stay calm, enjoy the nature, and do not want to roam around much, Yercaud is definitely the best choice for you. What to see in Yercaud? Rose Garden: If you visit Yercaud during the season, you will find enormous amount of roses in various colors in Rose Garden. Even though Rose Garden in Yercaud is not as big and attractive as Ooty Rose Garden, it has its own charm. You can find well maintained nu...

Chennai , one of the important South India cities, has a lot of historically important sites and ancient temples. The city which was formed by the Britishers has many heritage buildings of British period. The current Sowcarpet/Parry corner area was the first settlement of British in Chennai (the erstwhile Madras) city. Due to this reason, you can find a lot of important heritage sites in this area. Let me talk about few heritage sites located in NSC Bose Road of Parrys/Sowcarpet area. The area is called as Parrys or Parrys corner due to Parry's building located at the intersection of NSC Bose Road and North Beach Road. Parry's building is one of the major landmarks of Chennai city for the past 250+ years. The building is the corporate headquarters of the EID Parry Company, which was named after Thomas Parry. He was the Welsh merchant who set up the EID Parry Company in 1787. Even today Parry's building is considered as one of the main land marks of the city and also the h...

Chennai city, one of the important cities of India, is called as the Gateway to South India. The actual credit should go to Central Railway Station located in the Park Town area of Chennai city. The Central Railway Station is one of the oldest railway stations of South India, which has connections almost all over the country. Central Railway Station was built in 1873 to decongest the Royapuram Railway Station. It was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style and was designed by Henry Irwin. The building of Central Railway Station is undoutedbly a landmark of the city. The structure of Central Railway station and the adjoining building of Southern Railway Headquarters are important heritage buildings of Chennai city, which belong to British period. Happy travelling. Fast Facts: Site Name:  Central Railway Station Site Type:  Heritage Building Location:    Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India   Highlights:   British heritage building; one of ...

Ripon Building is one of the important landmarks and heritage buildings of Chennai . It is located near Central Railway station on Poonamallee High Road in Chennai city. The Ripon Building can be considered as a fine example for Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. The white colored massive building was built in 1913 during the British period. It houses the Corporation of Chennai city today. The building is named after Lord Ripon, the late Governor General of British India. This gigantic building has a huge lawn in the front side. You can also find the statue of Lord Ripon in the lawn. Sir Thiyagaraya Chetty's statue is found right at the center in front of the Ripon building. Happy travelling. Fast Facts: Site Name:  Ripon Building Site Type:  British heritage building Location:   Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India   Highlights:   20th century British architecture Nearest Railway Station:   Chennai - well connected from the cities/tow...