Our wanderings and perceptions

On one weekend we decided to visit the Chennai Museum which had been visited during school days. On entering the campus, we park the car and head to the Victoria building which is famous for its appearance in the movie - Thiruda Thiruda. The magnificient building entrance immediately makes you look up. One has to work come up to move towards the ticket counter. They charge Rs.50 per head. The ticket price differs for Foreign nationals and its less for kids. In the ticket we have boxes for 6 buildings like in a tambola ticket. As you enter each building the respective box is punctured.  In the main building we saw sculptures. This consists of sculptures belonging to the whole country - South Indian, North Indian, Indus valley and sculptures from various explorations across India. Each sculpture was given lable and details were in wall hangings. Lightings were done well to showcase each of the sculpture. One could also see the specimens here related to plants, animals and geology. Th...

When you want to worship Kamakshi Amman in Chennai, just drive for around 15kms to Mangadu and get her blessings. We went on a Friday evening, the general darshan queue was quiet long so we took the Rs.50 special ticket and able to get  her Darshan in around 20 mins. This is where the Goddess did her Tapas to the Lord under the Mango tree. The temple has a big Gopuram which can be seen as soon we enter the Mangadu municipality. As soon as we enter, the Lord Ganapathi is on the left hand side. After worshipping him we had the privilege to witness the Golden Chariot that day.  "Tapas Kamakshi"  here is said have been installed by the Kanchi Seer. Once we were inside the sanctum, in spite of the crowd we were awed by the Goddess. She was in full-floral decoration and one just couldn't take the eyes away from her. 

Last weekend, got to watch Puthiya Thalaimurai - Tamilan Awards function live at Chennai Trade centre's Convention Centre. There have been numerous times such events had happened at Chennai Trade centre - Nandambakkam. So have always wanted to witness an event there for a very long time and got fulfilled over this weekend. Chennai Trade centre has undergone changes since our last visit for an exhibition. The parking lot has moved to a separate building at the back with multi-levels and lift facility. Food pro exhibition was happening in the building adjacent to the parking one that day. We had to walk all the way from the parking to the Convention centre. There was no hassle as we were let go into the hall. The setup was majestic. Red carpet goes up to the stage. Round tables with chairs around for the visitors while the second half were filled with chairs for the audience. The stage was magnificent. Lightings were well set with podium for the anchors and the centre stage for the a...

 Nadu Palani Murugan Temple - Achirupakkam  On a Saturday we decided to go out on a short trip and zeroed-in on Nadu Palani Murugan Temple. Less than 100 kms from Chennai, this was a long time item in the bucket list.  Achirupakkam town is where this temple is located. Achirupakkam is near Melmaruvathur. We took the Chengalpet route via Tambaram. Driving through Chromepet, Tambaram and Perungalathur was a mayhem on the Saturday afternoon traffic. We took a break at Manoj Bhavan at Mamandur. Hotel has lost the earlier charm and so was the food. As guided by a person near the hotel, just in 15 kms you can see an arch at the left side on the highway itself for Nadu Palani Murugan temple. From the arch, one has to drive into the village for 6-7 kms to reach the temple, at Perukkarani village. We had to take a ticket of Rs.50 to drive in the car to the small hillock. Around 100 steps, its a easy climb too. At the foot hill are Lord Anjaneyar and Lord Idumban on either sides fo...

Born in the coastal area one realises the beauty of the beach only in instances where you have to stay away from your place for a long time or a person from non-coastal area appreciates the beach and call you lucky for coastal nativity. When Tsunami occurred, we are sure no one wanted to live in a coastal region. Having said that, over the weekend we went on a drive while resulted in experiencing the beach, back waters and the canal in Marakanam, roughly 120 kms from Chennai and 20 kms from Puducherry. Suddenly on a Saturday morning we decided to make a short trip to Marakanam where our friend has a farm house and called us in for a visit. After completing the weekend chores and a quick lunch, we started the drive towards Marakanam. We took the Chennai by-pass route to Vandaloor and then to ECR, crossing Mahabalipuram to reach the small town of Marakanam within 2 hrs. Numerous prawn Hatcheries in this place occupy the seashore. There seems to be around 53  Hatcheries in this stretc...