Indian Columbus

In Chennai, the lesser-known Club for the Seafarer's community and their family members is located on Rajaji Road, opposite the Reserve Bank of India. Towards the end of the Second World War (in 1945 CE), the Seafarer's Club was constituted with the initial grant by the Joint War Charity Committee. The Club, functioning in a rented building in The First Line Beach, shifted to the current building in 1962 CE. The Chennai Port Trust carried out the construction of this building. The Club provides rooms for accommodation along with many recreation facilities for the Seafarer's community. The hall is let out for the events, even for the outsiders. Some of the noteworthy features of this site include the statues of Seaman and Seamen's family (a mother with two kids). These statues were unveiled by Mr. G.K.Vasan in 2011 CE when he was serving as the Minister of Shipping. The Seaman's statue is named "The Unknown Sailor". To honor Sri V.O.Chidambaranar, who ...

VR Chennai - it's a new shopping mall in Chennai. It's a massive mall sprawling over around 9,88,000 sq. feet and is located in Anna Nagar locality. There are around 250+ international and national brands, which include some of the famous and familiar ones like Adidas, Allen Solly, Arrow, Bata, Calonge, Color Plus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Life Style, Max, Pantaloons, Peter England, Raymond, Reliance Trends and Westside. The parking area is vast and well-organized. The dining area is spacious on the topmost floor, with many options. In addition, there are many options for dining on the other floors, such as Amaravatihi, Domino's, KFC, Sangeetha's, and Krishna Sweets. For kids, there are entertainment options such as video games. A 10-screen multi-plex from PVR is coming up in this mall with a cultural theme. Happy travelling.

Selaiyur is called the Tirukadaiyur of Chennai. The 250+ years old Abirami-Amritakadeswarar Temple is located here. The temple has a huge tank that covers an area of around 0.25 acres. It is called Amrita Pushkarani. The tank must be as old as the temple. The images of personified rivers such as Ganga, Yamuna, Krishna, Narmada, Kaveri, Tamraparni, and others are found on the four sides of the boundary walls of the tank. It is depicted that the holy water from all these rivers flows into this tank. Unfortunately, although all these rivers flow into this tank, the tank is dry nowadays, thanks to poor maintenance. 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 possi...

A very short film about the river Cooum. It's a part of Payanam webseries.

The High Court of Madras, located in the George Town locality of Chennai, is not merely a court but an important historical and heritage structure. Ten years ago, when it was comparatively easy to get inside the court campus for an ordinary and common man like me, I briefly visited it and wrote about it. Nowadays, access to the campus is restricted. The only way to visit the site is through the heritage walk that is conducted every month by  Advocate Mr. N.L.Rajah . Through the walk he curated, I was introduced to some of the heritage structures and features that could not be accessed earlier or restored in the last decade. The historical information that I will provide in this article is referenced from the book "Madras Rediscovered" book by  Mr. S. Muthiah . Formation of the High Court When the Britishers settled in Madras, there were Choultry Courts in the beginning. They are equivalent to today's Magistrate's Courts. In 1678, the Court of Judicature, which...

There is hardly anyone in Chennai who doesn't know about the river Cooum. Geographically, the origin of the river is in a different place. However, per the Hindu tradition, the river originates from the holy tank of a Shiva temple in a village called Cooum. As per the legend, Shiva went to fight against the Asuras to help the Devas. As the Devas missed to worship Lord Ganesha, he got angry and broke the axle of the chariot of Shiva. To maintain his balance, Shiva placed his bow on the ground. Immediately, the underground water gushed out and washed his feet. It is said that this water is holier than the river Ganga. The water flees into the sacred tank, which is believed to be the origin of the Cooum. This tank stands near the Shiva temple in the village even today. Shiva is called Tiruvirkolanathar on this site. It is a colossal tank covering an area of about 2 acres. The tank is picturesque as it is surrounded by trees and shrubs. It is maintained well, and it has wa...

Kasi Viswanathar Temple is one of the oldest temples of George Town locality in Chennai. This locality is the original Madras, which was developed by the Britishers. As per a few records, the temple was built in 1806 CE. During the colonial period, many temples were constructed in this area. It is one of those temples. The temple is located on Krishnappa Naicken Tank Street in Kondithope. The vast tank covering an area of 1.5 acres is adjoining. Unfortunately, the tank has no water. Perhaps, it never had water in the past several decades. Who is this Krishnappa Naicken, after which the tank, as well as the street, was named? Did he construct this temple? We don't know. In fact, an Agraharam named after him (Krishnappa Agraharam) is located nearby. The temple is famous in this locality. Most North Indian devotees who stay nearby are daily and regular temple visitors. The east-facing temple has no gopuram. The east-facing sanctum enshrines a mid-sized Shiv Linga (Kasi Viswanath...