Chitrai Kulam (Waterbodies of Chennai - 28)

It is such a huge pond that covers an area of about 2.25 acres. With entrances in four directions, each having multiple steps to reach down the 30 feet-deep ground level, this centuries-old pond, with a four-pillared mandapa in the middle, looks majestic.

To add more glory, the legend states that it was formed by Lord Chandra. When Chandra committed some sin, he was asked to bring water from seven sacred rivers and create this pond. He did so, took a dip in this pond, and prayed to Lord Vishnu daily. Ultimately he got rid of his sin, and the tank was named after him, Chandra Teerth. Over time, it got transformed into Chitrai Kulam, it is believed.

Today, Chitrai Kulam, which belongs to the nearby Adi Kesava Perumal temple, stands merely as a famous landmark. It is hard to believe that this dry pond was once used to irrigate paddy fields in Mylapore. People use the lanes around the pond for parking their vehicles.

It is believed that the Goddess Mayuravalli (Lakshmi) appeared to Peyalwar in this pond and advised him to perform his services to Adi Kesava Perumal. I wish she would appear again here to recommend the authorities restore this pond to its original glory.

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 surviving waterbodies of Chennai and its suburbs and write about them in my blog as a series.

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