Places to visit
Details about places to visit,
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Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th century, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a beautiful beach spanning a distance of over 20 km. An erstwhile port of the Pallava dynasty the place abounds with stone carvings, caves, rock cut temples also attract tourists. A crocodile farm, snake. Venom extracting centre, schools of art and sculpture and a wide choice of resorts along the beach draw holiday-seekers all round the year. -
Kovalam Beach
Kovalam or Covelong as it was known earlier is a small fishing village located 40 kms from Chennai on the way to Mahabalipuram. Now it is a luxury beach resort. This beach has a fort built by the Nawab of Carnatic, Saadat Ali. Covelong beach is one of the few places in the East Coast where wind surfing takes place. -
Guindy National Park
Guindy National Park, The Deer Park, comprising 595 acres, is situated adjacent to Raj Bhavan. It was originally a part of the Governor’s Estate. This is the only National Park in the world to be situated within a Metropolis. It is botanically the only one of its kind to carry even today, vegetation that is truly representative of the natural thorny scrub jungle of southern dry zone. Interspersed with more than 30 trees species that include a number of centuries-old gigantic banyan trees. This park with a network of roads, footpaths, nature trails, lakes and ponds, offers good opportunities for viewing wild life The main attraction of this park is fauna such as the rare Indian Antelope popularly known as the Black Buck found nowhere else in the world. This is also a sanctuary for the endangered animals like the Spotted Deer, White Buck, Bonnet Monkey, Small Indian Civet Cat, Jungle Cat, Jackal, Common Mongoose and the Common Palm Civet Cat. The bird life is also equally interesting. You can see the King Fisher, Blue Jay, Golden Backed Woodpecker, Crow Pheasant, Yellow Wattled Lapwing, Red wattle Lapwing, Blue Faced Malkoha, Shrikes, Koels, Doves, Munias, Parakeets, Grey Partridge, Tailor birds, Robins, Drongos, Quails, Bird of Paradise Flycatcher and the Stone Curlew can be seen here. -
Vedanthangal
Vedanthangal is the oldest bird sanctuary in the country. This sanctuary has been in existence for more than 200 years. The villagers have documented their right to protect the winged visitors to this sanctuary. The East India Company recognized and renewed their rights in the year 1858. A grove of Barringtonia Acacia nilotica trees in a tank form part of the sanctuary. In addition to this, the dry evergreen scrub and thorn forests can also be seen in the area. Both these sanctuaries are situated in the Kanchipuram district and each occupies sprawling areas of 30 hectares and 61 hectares respectively. Breeding birds like the Cormorant, Egrets, Grey Heron, Open-billed Stork, Darter, Spoonbill, White Ibis, Night Herons, Grebes, and Grey Pelican visit the sanctuary each year. The population of migratory birds included Teals, Shovellers, Pintails, and Sandpipers etc. Some of the resident birds listed are Coots, Terns and Moorhen. In all 115 species of birds have been recorded in this sanctuary.
A comprehensive list can be obtained from the Tamil Nadu Tourism Website.
Visit the Tourism website of Government of India to know more.