Sripuram Golden Mahalaxmi Temple

Golden Temple - when uttered this word, immediately people thinks of Amritsar and the Highest Body of the Sikh's pride Golden Temple.

Thirmalai naiker mahal-MADURAI

The palace is situated 2kms south east of Meenakshi Temple. The palace was built in 1636 by Thirumalai Nayakar.

The Meenakshi temple complex

Madurai or "the city of nectar" is the oldest and second largest city of Tamil Nadu..

The big Waterfalls at Hogenakal

You get the feel of the river running nearby when you enter the sanctuary enclosing Hogenakal waterfall. Suddenly.

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabhudin Adbul Kalam

Adbul Kalam, was born on the 15th October, 1931, at Rameshwaram in TamilNadu. He did his B.Sc..

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Santhome Cathedral, Chennai


Each religion goes to a particular place of worship. For example-: the Hindus visit the temple, the Muslims visit the mosque and the Christians to the church. But usually the non-Hindus or non-Muslims, or even non-Christians will have a peculiar type of curiosity towards the holy place of the other religion, as they don't visit them often. They are not quite acquainted to the atmosphere of that holy place. And if it has some historical facts buried in it then the curiosity doubles up.

Here we are going to speak about such a kind of holy place. The Santhome Cathedral Basilica Church in Chennai is a sacred place especially for the Catholic Christians. Touring to this Madras Santhome Cathedral Basilica church is pretty easy, as you will get auto rickshaws, 'call taxis' and even luxurious cabs. Auto rickshaws are the cheapest ones but bargain carefully before you get into one. The standard charge is Rs.8 for every kilometer. The call taxis are the cabs that you get on your doorstep at any time whenever you call them. They charge higher but they are very active in their service.

The name of Santhome Cathedral Basilica was derived from the name St. Thomas who is an archbishop of the Catholic Christians. St. Thomas who is a hard-core devotee of Jesus Christ was buried in this place and as a tribute to his soul a church has been built up in this southern part of Marina beach.

This church in Madras is been erected in accordance to the Gothic style of architecture. Also you can read the stained glass were the divine moment of St. Thomas's meeting with the resurrected Christ is been depicted. Some remains of the corpse and also a part of the St. Thomas's bone are been preserved in the crypt.

Dhyanalinga Temple, Coimbatore


The dome that encloses the Dhyanalinga is a section of an ellipse - like a section of the globe. The technical aspects involved in the making of the dome are very interesting and its construction, an epic by itself.

It was Sadhguru's wish that all the visitors to the temple be allowed directly into the garbhagriha or the sanctum sanctorum. As a result, the garbhagriha had to have a very large free spanning structure. Conventional buildings built of cement, steel and concrete were ruled out, as the life span of such structures is not expected to be beyond a hundred years. Eventually, it was decided to build a dome using only traditional materials like burnt bricks, mud mortar stabilized with lime, sand, alum and some herbal additives. Huge blocks of granite were extensively used, eliminating steel and concrete.

The dome, weighing about 700 tons, measures 33 ft from the ground level and has a diameter of 76 ft at the bottom. Approximately 250,000 bricks were used in making this dome, each of which had to be measured to the millimeter. The first course of brick starts at 13 degrees to the horizontal and the last course ends at an almost vertical angle of 82 degrees to the horizontal. The base of the dome is 20" thick and tapers off to 8" - the thickness of a single brick at the top.

The dome rests on a circular stone masonry wall 6 ft high including a ring of stone lintels 2 feet tall. This entire structure is built upon a foundation that is 10 ft wide and 10 ft deep. The main entrance to the dome is in the form of a stone vault 9 ft 6 inches wide and 8 ft tall. Twenty-eight ventilators are placed on the top of the lintel beams with stone slabs arranged in the shape of the triangle. These triangular stone ventilators at the base of the Dome provide light and ventilation. The central opening is covered by a gold plated Linga-shaped copper dome, which blocks direct light and acts as a ventilator at the top. The copper Linga above the dome vents out hot air from the dome so that the cool air passes in through the vault and ventilators.

Below the lintel beam, twenty-eight energy cubicles called the 'aura cells' are embedded in the inner wall. Each 'aura cell' is approximately 4' x 4' and provides an intimate space for a person to sit and meditate facing the Dhyanalinga.

Since it was the first time ever that such a large structure was being raised without any form-work, ring-beams, steel or concrete, each aspect of the building had to be worked out afresh, researching and experimenting to derive a safe, viable and feasible methodology for each of the aspects. This often amounted to an interesting blend of ancient and locally available material and techniques.

Burnt bricks were placed in the elliptical shaped dome in positions determined precisely by modern mathematics and verified by computer calculations, granite slabs from traditional quarries went through modern gang saws for precise fitting. For the eighteen months it took to complete the temple from the foundation, the usually quiet and serene surroundings had been transformed into, among other things, a brick kiln and a granite quarry. For the eight weeks it took to construct the dome as such, it resembled a large anthill - hundreds of people going up and down, gradually accomplishing a mission much larger in size and importance than themselves.

The entire structure is a vision of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The entire design was conceived by Sadhguru and executed by Bhramhachari engineers with the help of about 300 local unskilled laborers. Throughout the duration of the construction, a steady stream of dedicated volunteers participated in the construction in large numbers, taking time off from their work and family to participate in the making of this offering.

Mahishasuramardini cave temple


Mahabalipuram contains 14 cave temples and several of these unique structures contain significant works of ancient art. One of them - Mahishasura Mardini Cave - contains several beautiful reliefs well demonstrating the artistic abilities of sculptors in Pallava times.

Temple is not finished and does not contain any inscriptions. It is located at the base of diorite hillock, with another ancient structure - Olakneswara Temple on top of this hill.
Front part of the cave temple is adorned with four columns and two pilasters, floor and ceiling are not completed. Columns have different design - the two central columns are different. Most likely this is explained by the attempt of Vaisnavites to remove them. One was really removed and was recently replaced by low quality replica.
Both beautiful sculpted panels are placed at opposite side walls of shrine. One relief depicts eight-armed Goddess Durga defeating the demon-king Mahishasura - it is possible that the temple got its name from this demon. Goddess is accompanied by eight ganas, Mahishasura with his army of seven demons is retreating.
Another panel depicts Anantasayana - e.g. Vishnu reclining on snake-like king of nagas - Ananta Shesha. This serpent has thousand heads - relief shows five. Below Vishnu there is Bhu-devi, Mother Earth. Above the God and below him there are shown four flying ayudh-purushas - divine weapons of Vishnu. This panel is considered to be one of the highest achievement in Indian ancient art.
Rear wall contains three shrines. Central shrine is larger and is adorned with a porch. Porch in turn has a pair of beautiful pillars with horned lions - vyalas - at the base. All shrines are symbolically duarded by dvarapalas. Side shrines are not adorned but the central shrine is adorned with large Somaskanda panel showing Shiva himself, his consort, Uma, divine child Skanda and Nandi at their feet and other gods in the background.


Choice of two unrelated religious motives on sidewalls is not clear today. It is also not completely clear why there were developed two shrines for Shiva and one for Vishnu.

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust - Nemmeli


This Crocodile Bank has been established with an aim to protected and conserve the endangered reptiles such as crocodiles, Alligators etc. Situated 14 kms from Mamallapuram, this Trust now houses more than six species of crocodiles.arrangements; 7.Located 42-km from Chennai (Madras) is a farm where several species of Indian and African crocodiles and alligators are bred in captivity. This crocodile bank is on the way to Mahabalipuram and is run by Romulve Whittaker. About 5,000 species are kept in their natural surroundings in open pools. They can be viewed from a safe distance.

The Crocodile Bank occupies an area of 3.2 hectares and has been established with an aim to protect and conserve the endangered reptile s such as Crocodiles, Alligators, etc. Tourists in large numbers visit the crocodile bank to see a variety of reptiles, all in one place.

HOW TO GET THERE:
» Air : Chennai (42-km) is the nearest airport with both domestic and international terminus. Chennai is connected with all the major places in India through the numerous domestic flights. International flights operate from various parts of the world to Chennai. » Rail : The nearest railway stations are Chengalpattu (29-km) and Chennai (42-km).
» Road : There are buses available from Pondicherry, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Chennai to Mahabalipuram daily. The Crocodile Bank is on the way to Mahabalipuram. Tourists can also hire a taxi from Chennai (Madras) or Mahabalipuram

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