Indian Columbus

This is perhaps one of the best-kept secrets of South Chennai. Located in a secluded place amidst a village atmosphere, it is not affected by the traffic or urbanization of neighborhood areas. Near the historic Madampakkam, a small hamlet called Noothencheri is found. There is this lovely lily pond located. The villagers use this pond for bathing and fishing. I don't see any Government body taking any measure to maintain this. However, it is neatly maintained by the villagers themselves. There is no specific name for this pond which occupies an area of about 1.4 acres. The villagers refer to this as Noothencheri Kulam. The street is also named Kulakkarai (the road on the pond's banks). It's a pleasant sight to find such a well-maintained, beautiful pond full of water in a typical village atmosphere in a city like Chennai. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them...

Which is more beautiful? The Chola period temple or its pond? That's a million-dollar question. I would say both are equally delightful. Madampakkam, a sub-urban area near Tambaram, on the southern outskirts of Chennai, has the Dhenupureeswarar temple. It is believed to have been built by none other than Sundara Chola, the father of Raja Raja the great, in the 10th century CE. Pandyas and Vijayanagaras have made later additions to the temple. The temple tank adjoining this ancient temple must be as old as the original one. This tank is fortunate enough to have multiple renovations done. It is one of the few well-maintained waterbodies of South Chennai. The pond, which covers about 2.25 acres, is surrounded by trees and plants. It definitely enhances the beauty of this locality. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies h...

Spread across an area of around 21 acres, Rajkilpakkam lake is an example of a poorly maintained waterbody. It was much bigger originally. Thanks to the encroachments, this is what remains as the lake today. Had the water hyacinths removed, the stagnating garbage cleared, and the encroachments eliminated, this waterbody could store a lot of rainwater, yielding optimum benefit to the southern outskirts of Chennai. Unfortunately, one of the biggest lakes in this locality is dying due to negligence. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that have water have been poorly shrunk. In Chennai, there are tank roads without tanks nearby and lake-view roads without lakes. There is a high possibility that even the few waterbodies we have today might vanish soon. I decided to visit the currently s...

Among the thousands of people who commute on the busy Tambaram-Velachery Road daily, not even a single person might know about this ancient and massive tank full of water located within 100 meters of the main road. It is incredible to find such a large waterbody in a serene and secluded location, which is not disturbed by the traffic chaos of the nearby high road. This tank in Selaiyur village bears no name as such. It is referred to as Perumal Kovil Tank, the tank that belongs to the temple of Vishnu. It is a huge water body that occupies around 1.65 acres. On its banks, a few small temples for various deities, such as Ganesha and Gangai Amman, are seen.   If you wonder where Vishnu temple is, it is located about 200 meters from the tank. To know more about this later-period temple of Adi Kesava Perumal, visit this  page . The tank is well maintained. A walker's pathway and a compound wall are built around the tank. People are not allowed to bathe. However, as ...

Wherever there is a temple, big or small, there would be one or more tanks. Interestingly, here I don't find any temple, only a very big tank. The tank is named Palayathan Tank. It is located in a narrow street called Palayathan street in Selaiyur village near Tambaram, the southern outskirts of Chennai. Who is this Palayathan? Why and when did he construct this tank? Else, was this tank named after him and was made by someone else? No traces of history could be found. But it is amazing to find such a huge tank occupying an area of about 1.25 acres in the middle of a narrow street. All I could gather was that this was a very old tank. Apparently, some work was carried out, and a park was laid around the tank in 2015. The tank and the park were maintained well for some time. Now, again it's in a very bad state. No one literally bothers. This is a forgotten waterbody with untraceable history. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies...

On 17th Nov 2018, I curated a heritage walk and took a few of the heritage enthusiasts to a few temples and other places in Sowcarpet, Chennai. My speech while explaining some of the sites was captured by them as Facebook Live Videos. The links to those videos are given below: Bairagi Mutt Temple , General Muthiah Mudali Street, Sowcarpet, Chennai Pattinam Temples , Sowcarpet, Chennai Radhakrishna Temple , NSC Bose Road, Sowcarpet, Chennai Vara Siddhi Vinayaka  Temple, NSC Bose Road, Sowcarpet, Chennai Happy travelling.  Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

Third episode in Payanam travel web series - Kaattu Bangla Arani Poosimalai Kuppa is covered in this video. Happy travelling. Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.

Not many of you from Chennai city might even imagine that such small lanes of the congested Sowcarpet area would have so many massive temples as well as big tanks within the temple premises. Unfortunately, many of them are neglected and not maintained properly. The temple tank of Bairagi Mutt Temple is one such waterbody of this locality that needs to be given high focus. The tank occupies an area of about 0.2 acres. The tank is very deep. There are more than 30 steps to reach down to water level. With the beautiful steps on all four sides, it would have been a spectacular sight to have this tank full of water. Unfortunately, no one remembers when the tank had water in the past. To learn about the Bairagi Temple, visit this  page . Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that h...

Chennai city is expanding multi-fold day by day. The migration population also increases steadily. Most of today's "bloated" Chennai citizens would not know the Original City. When the British built Fort St. George in the 1640s, they called the settlement outside the Fort as the Black Town. This is the original city of Madras or Chennai. All the expansions happened later. The original city lost its pride long back. The Black Town and the New Black Town were together named George Town. Although the name of the locality still remains George Town as per the records, I wonder if anyone knows this place by this name. The different parts of the area are known as Parrys Corner, Sowcarpet, Pookkadai, Kondithope, Seven Wells, Broadway, Muthialpet, Elephant Gate, Moolakothalam, and so on. But no one calls it George Town. And only a few people know about the statue of King George V, after whom this whole area was named. Even those who see this statue recognize this place merely...

It is the unknown tank of the lesser-known twin temples of Chennai. These temples might be lesser known today. But, as per a theory, the city was perhaps named after this temple. The twin temples, Chenna Kesava Perumal and Chenna Malleeswarar, were built in the 1760s. This tank is as old as this temple. Interestingly, it is unique to find both these Shiva and Vishnu temples share this same tank. Even those who are from this area (Sowcarpet) do not know about this tank, as till two years ago, all the sides of the tank were covered with so many flower shops. To learn more about the history of the temples, please visit this  link . The huge tank, which occupies an area of about 0.25 acres, has so many steps on all four sides. If the tank was full of water, it would have been a splendid sight. Unfortunately, no one who is alive seems to have seen this tank with water ever. I could only hope that some magic would bring back the life of the tank again. Happy travelling. No...

We would have observed Saraswati, Lakshmi and Ganesha being depicted together in so many calendar images and pictures. But, it is rare to find such a depiction in the temple. In Chennai, a temple depicts all of them together as the presiding deities. This small temple is located in the Selaiyur Indira Nagar East area, around 5 km from Tambaram Railway Station. Like any other locality in Tamil Nadu, this locality has many small Ganesha temples. But this temple is unique as Ganesha in the sanctum has Saraswati to his right side and Lakshmi to his left side. This temple was built 10-15 years ago. The location is serene, and it gives a positive vibration. In the prakara, the sub-shrine of Kartikeya-Valli-Devasena is found. Navagraha is also found in the temple. Dakshinamurti and Vishnu Durga are depicted as niche images. A big holy peepal tree is in front of the temple entrance, where a few Nagas' images are placed. Happy travelling. Visit my site,  krishnakumartk.com , to...