Chennai; The Capital of Tamil Nadu is expanded
along Sea shore of Bay of Bengal, dotted with dozens of romantic beaches. It is
worth to see the rising Sun at beaches of Chennai and amazing to start the day
at Beaches. Each sun rise is unique and beautiful, and the best
part may be that the beach is calm and quiet at that early hour. This blog is
all dedicated to a Romantic walk along Beaches of Chennai, where I experienced
the calmness and purity of nature at beaches of Chennai. The beaches are always
a great place to relax and unwind, look at the wild ocean and feel the sand
under your feet.
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| A View of Marina Beach-Chennai
Marina Beach
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Marina Beach: Border of Bay of Bengal. The Eastern
Coast of India is the longest beach of India and the second longest beach of the
world. It stretches to a length of 13 km.
The average width of the beach is 300 m and the width at the widest
stretch is 437 m.Marina
is a bordering the Bay of Bengal. The beach path is
known as Kamarajar Salai. The entire stretch of Marina Beach features numerous
statues and monuments.
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| Marina Beach-Chennai |
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| Coastal Horse Riding Guards -At Marina Beach-Chennai |
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| Visitors at Marina Beach-Chennai
Marina Beach is one
of the most crowded beaches in the country and attracts about 30,000 visitors a
day during weekdays and 50,000 visitors a day during the weekends
and on holidays.
Enjoying the calmness at Marina Beach-Chennai
Most of the Heritage buildings, government
Institutions, historic and stately buildings like University of Madras,
Vivekananda House, and Police Headquarters etc are along the road of his beach.
There are statues like Triumph of labor statue, Gandhi statue, Kannagi
statue and many others. The Light house is another attraction which was
recently opened for public.
Marina Beach
Various stalls of food items including murukku, sundal, ice-cream and
other South-Indian snacks are located in its vicinity to curb the cravings
of the foodies. Eating bhajjis by the beach in
Chennai is not a food experience, but rather a ritual that is not to be missed!
Night Food Stalls at Marina Bech
History of Marina Beach
Before the 16th century, the changing landscape of
the coast was too premature to transform itself into the sandy beach that is
seen today. In
1640, when Fort St. George was built, the sea lay very
close to its walls, lapping waves onto its ramparts. It was later, with the
setting-up of the harbor, that the shore starts accumulating sand thereby
distancing itself from the sea.
It is said that Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, a British official, was
captivated by the serene coast during his
visit in 1870s. Later, upon his return as Governor General of Madras in 1881, he built a promenade along the
beach with extensive layering, thereby modifying the landscape. The beach was
thus given a face lift and an Italian
Madras Marina name meaning harbor
Elliot's Beach
Elliot’s Beach is
located in Besant Nagar. It
forms the end-point of the Marina Beach shore. It is named after
Edward Elliot, Governor of Madras. This beach is one of the neatest
beaches of Chennai city, is also called as Besant
Nagar Beach. Besant Nagar beach is less
polluted and one can see a decent crowd when compared to other beaches of
Chennai. This beach is also famous as the night beach
as it is the most preferred spot for the youths to gather and enjoy in the
evening.
It
is a nice, calm and clean beach. One should not walk a lot to reach shore or to
touch water. The parapet wall that separates the beach area and road is a good
place to sit if you do not want to walk in sand and to see water. Besant Nagar (Elliot’s Beach) is less polluted and one can see a decent crowd
when compared to other beaches of Chennai.
Elliot's Beach-Chennai
Another point of attraction of Elliot’s Beach is the Ashtalakshmi temple near the beach, built on the
sand. Besides this, the Church of our Lady of Health, Madonna, is also
positioned on the beach to welcome people of all faiths.
A Fisher Man with his Nets--At Elliot's Beach-Chennai
The
beach is a prominent hang-out zone for most of the college-going crowd in
Chennai. On weekends, it becomes quite an experience to find parking space on
the beach roads. The beach also has found importance with families, who now no
longer travel to the famous Marina Beach.
Fisher Man busy in repairing his fishing Net-Elliot's Beach
The
best part of this beach is that there are number of Eat out places near to the
beach right from Murugan Idli shop
offering south Indian Idli dosa to Barista offering café, papa john’s pizza,
cascade restaurant serving continental food.
Covelong Beach
This
Beach was my third beach of Chennai, which I visited. Covelong Beach is
a fishing town situated at a
distance of 40 km from Chennai city, en
route to Mahabalipuram. It is stretching along the Coromandal coast. Covelong Beach is
one of the few places in the East Coast where wind surfing takes
place. There is a surf school with resort in the beach.
Covelong has glorious
history. Once upon a time it was a busy port
town, developed by Saadat Ali Nawab of
Carnatic region. Later in 1746, it was occupied by French General. But a
few years later the town faced decay and destruction when Robert Clive occupied it in 1752. Now Covelong has awakened up from
its ruins, and today this place is well-known for its fishing
activities. Another major attraction of this place is the fine beaches.
Food Shops at Elliot's Beach
The soft gentle breeze, the beautiful sandy beaches, the calm
and soothing atmosphere, and the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal has turned
this sleeping place into a paradise at Eastern Coast of India.
This ends my Romantic Walk with Nature at Beaches of Chennai. Romance is certainly in the air at beaches. Apart from the scenic
sunrises and sunsets, the beach has a complete package of eateries, shopping
stalls, bars and a quaint walking stretch. Take your love to the beach, spend
some time with the waves by the shore, sip some coffee together and enrich the
special bond.
Written
(with help of Wikipedia and materials available on net). Photographed and
posted by Engr Maqbool Akram.
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