kerala tourism, massage,places,pictures, tour , travel , pilgrim, ayurveda , beaches, boating

I have visited velankanni church with my friend , there by  my dream came into true.  After a five hours journey from our campus , we reached there around 2 pm.   we had found  2-3 churches there, by exploiting the knowledge of a security person, we located the exact position of the main church , where the holy mary  sitting.  we prayed there , more than 15 minutes  ,for blessings . After the prayer,  we walked  to the  small churches, located near to the main church. Before planning return journey we spent  around 15 minutes  at velankanni beach.  We got bus at 4.30 from velankanni bus stand .

I visited chennai last week, it was  totally changed my opinion about chennai. Some peoples  might think that chennai is a crowed city, with concrete buildings and  smoky industries. From my experience i can say that , you should plan a tour to this capital city , a lot of  attractive places are waiting for you.

First we guided to Chennai port , which is the second largest port in India. It is more than 125 years old. The economical growth of tamilnadu strongly depends on this port . It was so amazing and attractive.

Next we went to St.George Fort.  It gave us the remembrance of  the ancient  days. Today, the Fort  serves as the administrative headquarters for the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu state.  We visited the museum which is one of the oldest surviving buildings built within the fort. All the monuments, statues  and all the things present there was fascinating the visitors.

Our next destination was Vivekananda house. It is also known as Ice House, is a shrine and target of pilgrimage for the admirers of Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda stayed here for six weeks in 1900. This two-story house is a masterpiece of Victorian architecture with its characteristic designs of sunburst and gabled roof. The bedroom where Vivekananda stayed, is now a safe haven for meditation. We can jaunt through all the places there.                                                                                                                Then we went for shopping in city centre. It , is one of the landmarks of the modern Chennai. A lot of stores are there  with goods of all the brands major brands as well as local brands.   A major entertainment  place in city centre is the INOX theatres is Present there.

Then we visited Santhome  church which  is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Santhome.  It was built in 19^th century. It is built over the tomb of Apostle St.Thomas. There are only three basilicas built over the tomb of an apostle. So we were very excited. we also visited the underground tomb chapel below the Basilica and the museum associated  with it.  Then we went to Santhome beach  which is the southern part of the Marina beach. We spent our evening there.  Light houe present there is the major attraction of the beach.

Then we returned to our  resting place. On the way we visited  Kapaleeshwarar temple which  is one of the most important temples in the world and it is very close to Sea.  It was the time of arthi when we reached there. It was built in 19^th century and it has statues of all the Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu Religion. It is said Shiva with the bowl of skull [Kapalam] during the time of creation of present ‘Yuga’ ,hence the name Kapaleeswarar.

Next day   we went to Government Museum, which is located at Egmore. It has 6 independent buildings  and 46 galleries. This museum cover a variety of objects from diverse fields including Archaeology, zoology, botany,geology,anthropology. National art gallery, contemporary art gallery,childrens museum are also present there.

Then we went for shopping  to spencer plaza which is one of the biggest shopping malls in South Asia.  After shopping we went to Valluvar Kottam.  It was built memory of Thiruvalluvar, who was a  classical Tamil poet and saint.  The auditorium present here is largest auditorium in Asia,  which can accommodate about 4000 people and it has no pillars for support. ‘Thirukkurals’ the famous writing of  Thiruvalluvar is inscribed on the granite pillars which  surround the auditorium.

Then we went to Birla planetarium. Sky shows  are there every day at different timings in different languages.  The shows include the Solar System, eclipses, Moon, Earth, comets, sky and seasons, shooting meteoroids, deep sky , and the stellar cycle.   We went for sky show and we had a virtual tour to sky. It was my first experience to see sky in a different view. And it caught the mind of all the tourists present there.

Then we went to Marina beach. Even though  bathing and swimming at this Beach are legally prohibited because of the dangers, a large crowd was there at the evening.  The statues and monuments present there gave a different appearance to the beach. We enjoyed our evening there and we returned to our rest place. That day evening we went back to our home town.  Of course it was a different experience to all people  in our group. And we enjoyed a lot.

Also there are a lot of beautiful places to visit  St.Thomas Mount, which is a small hill rock in chennai. is associated with St. Thomas, the apostle of Christ. A beautiful church is there on the top of the hill rock.

Another place is Vandalur  zoo, which is a zoological garden located in Vandalur. A different ecosystem is present there. It will be a different experience .

Mahabalipuram is a famous tourist destination  in tamil nadu . This town is situated near to sea shore.  It serves as a port city during the time of  Pallava rulers. Mahabalipuram is a world heritage site. The prime attractions here is beautiful rock structures.  Another attractions is Pancha Rathas , five temples .  it is believed that the temples were built by Narasimhavarman and Rajasimhavaraman.  Now it is a famous tourist spot with rich cultural value.  An annual festival Mamallpuaram dance festival attracts thousands of tourists.

Ooty is popularly known as Queen of  Hill stations . this hill station is a part of Nigiri , where eastern and western ghats meet. In early 1800’s , brittish people first identify the beauty of ooty.  This hill station is occupied by tribal peoples like kotas, Todas, Kurumbas , Badagas, Irulas and Panias.  Nilgiri means blue mountain. Ooty is at a height of 2240 m  . it is the headquarters of nilgiri district.

Climate

The summer temperature is in between 10 degree to 25 degree C.  in winter season temperature dip to 5 degree C.

The  settlement in ooty began in 1822 , by  john Sullivan  , with the construction of  kal bangala.   The first church in ooty was St . steephen’s church.

Tourist fair is conducted by Tamilnadu tourism promotion council at island grounds in Chennai , during January.  Folk dances and Drama’s are the main attraction of this festival, and these are conducted every day during fair season .  various government departments and public sector enterprises are take part in this fair.  Besides the cultural shows , the tourism promotion council delivers a wealth of information about the tourist places in Tamilnadu. By participating in this fair you will get a complete picture of tamilnadu . The fair last for 3 months.