Chennai
 If South India is, as some suggest, a different country, Chennai is its undisputed capital.
The city is still often called Madras (it was officially renamed Chennai in 1997). Chennai lacks the cosmopolitan, prosperous air of Mumbai or the historical highlights of Delhi – instead it’s an earthy, working-class conglomeration of districts expanding at an exponential rate. Culturally, the city has a long tradition of attracting and nurturing the region’s finest thinkers, artists and artisans with its many esteemed educational institutes and a strong, sometimes volatile, tradition of journalism and publishing.
For over 2000 years the Chennai area has attracted seafarers, spice traders and cloth merchants. The Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch. In 1639, the British East India Company established a settlement in the fishing village of Madraspatnam.
Fort St George took 15 years to build and was completed in 1653. George Town grew in the area around the fort and was granted municipal charter in 1688 by James II, thus making it the oldest municipality in India today.
In the 19th century, the city became the seat of the Madras presidency, one of the four divisions of British Imperial India. After Independence, it continued to grow into what is now a significant southern gateway.
Other Useful Information
Orientation
Bordered to the east by the Bay of Bengal, Chennai is a combination of small districts with no real centre. Located in the north, near the harbour, is George Town, a jumble of narrow streets, bazaars and the court buildings.
To the southeast of George Town, Anna Salai is a major central thoroughfare, and just north are the two main train stations; Egmore, the departure point for most destinations in Tamil Nadu and a budget hotel district, and Central, for interstate trains. Southeast of Egmore, the Triplicane area has more budget hotels and the long Marina Beach.
Sights
Fort St George
Built around 1653 by the British East India Company, the fort (opens 5am-10pm) has undergone many alterations over the years. Don’t expect to see a classic historic military fort here – inside the vast perimeter walls is now a precinct housing the Secretariat and Legislative Assembly, so there’s plenty of daily activity here but not much of historical interest. The 46m-high flagstaff at the front is a mast salvaged from a 17th-century shipwreck. The main entrance to the fort is on Kamarajar Salai (near the flagstaff), but it’s possible to walk through on the west side from Fort train station.
The Fort Museum (admission Indian/foreigner/child Rs 2/100/free, video Rs 25 opens 10am-5pm Sat-Thu), in the old Exchange Building to the right of the fort entrance, has an interesting collection of military memorabilia from the British and French East India Companies, as well as the Raj and Muslim administrations. There’s a scale model of the fort in Gallery 2 and some fine prints depicting early colonial Madras in the upstairs Gallery 10.
St Mary’s Church, which was completed in 1680, was the first English church in Madras, and is India’s oldest surviving British church.
High Court
This red Indo-Saracenic structure (1892) at Parry’s Corner is George Town’s main landmark. It’s said to be the largest judicial building in the world after the Courts of London. The court grounds bustle with lawyers, judges, defendants, and vendors selling
law books. You can wander around the court buildings, admire the architecture and sit in on sessions.
Government Museum
Housed across several British-built buildings known as the Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum (admission Indian/foreigner/student Rs 15/250/75, camera/video Rs 200/500; opens 9.30am-5pm Sat-Thu, closed public holidays) is Chennai’s best.
The main building has a fine archaeological section representing all the major South Indian periods including Chola, Vijayanagar, Hoysala and Chalukya in sculpture and temple art. Further along, is a fascinating natural history and zoology section with a motley collection of skeletons (including a blue whale and Indian elephant) and stuffed
birds and animals from around the world. Look out for the desiccated cat in a glass case!
Vivekananda Museum
This museum (Kamarajr Salai; admission adult/child Rs 2/1 opens 10am-12.30pm, 3-7pm Thu-Tue) is fascinating not only for the displays on the famous ‘wandering monk’, but also for the building in which it is housed. The semicircular seafront structure was formerly known as the Ice House and was once used to store massive ice blocks transported by ship from North America. Swami Vivekananda stayed here in 1897 on his return from the US and preached his ascetic philosophy to adoring crowds. The museum now houses a collection of photographs and memorabilia from the swami’s life, a gallery of modern Indian art and the ‘meditation room’ where Vivekananda stayed.
Kapaleeshwarar Temple
Chennai’s most active temple, the ancient Shiva Kapaleeshwarar Temple (Kutchery Road, Mylapore opens 4am-noon & 4-8pm) is constructed in the Dravidian style and displays the architectural elements – rainbow-coloured gopurams, mandapams and a huge tank – found in the famous temple cities of Tamil Nadu.
The tranquil, leafy grounds of the Ramakrishna Mutt Temple (RK Mutt Road opens 4.30-11.45am & 3-9pm) are a world away from the chaos outside. Orange-clad monks glide around and there’s a reverential feel here. The temple itself is a handsome shrine open to followers of any religion for meditation.
Cathedral
Built in 1504, then rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in 1893, San Thome Cathedral is a soaring Roman Catholic church between Kapaleeshwarar Temple and Marina Beach. It is said to house the remains of St Thomas the Apostle (Doubting Thomas).
Marina Beach
An early morning or evening stroll along the 13km sandy stretch of Marina Beach is a highlight of Chennai. Away from the
bustiling streets here you’ll pass pavement cricket matches, kids flying kites, fortune tellers, fish markets and young couples enjoying the sea breeze.
Do not swim here – strong rips make it dangerous. About 2km further south in Besant Nagar, Elliot’s Beach is a more affluent place, popular with young couples.
Other Sites
Situated on a green wedge between the Adyar River and the coast, the 250 acres of the Theosophical Society (Adyar Bridge Road: opens 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-4pm Mon-Sat) provides a peaceful retreat from the city. The grounds contain a huge variety of native and introduced trees, including a 400-year-old banyan tree that was once thought to be the largest in the world (the mother trunk has since decayed). There’s a church, mosque, Buddhist shrine and Hindu temple on the grounds. The Adyar Library (opens 9am-5pm) here contains a huge collection of books on religion and philosophy.
Further south in Adyar are three adjacent wildlife parks that make an easy though not terribly inspiring diversion from the city. Guindy National Park admission adult/child Rs 2/1; opens 9am-5.30pm Wed-Mon) is indeed a small national park within the city and while it contains some varied wildlife, it’s a scraggy place and you’re unlikely to see much. There’s also a snake park and children’s park nearby.
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