Manimangalam Lake (Water bodies of Chennai - 69)

Manimangalam Lake is one of the largest lakes in the suburbs of Chennai. It has witnessed many historical events, such as the Battle of Manimangala. Many saints and seers traveling to Kanchipuram or Sriperumbudur have passed through this lake in ancient times. Plenty of hamlets around Manimangalam used this lake water for agricultural purposes till ten years ago. The lake turns into a photo spot during the rainy season and an ideal place for bird watching.

The lake spreads over 750 acres currently, although the original size is much bigger.  It has shrunk over the period due to poor maintenance. 

The surplus water of the lake reaches the Adyar river through a channel near Mannivakkam.

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. Most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that have water had been poorly shrunk. In Chennai, there are tank roads without tanks nearby and lake-view roads without any lake in the vicinity. There is a high possibility that even the few water bodies we have today might vanish soon. I thought of visiting the currently surviving waterbodies of Chennai and its suburbs and write about them in my blog as a series.