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Originally posted 2009-07-07 00:11:28.

Old lighthouse in Pondicherry turns into a Museum

The 173-year-old lighthouse in Pondicherry, which was abandoned several decades ago and became a dump yard for broken furniture from government offices, has begun to receive due recognition

Plans are on to promote the lighthouse as a cultural hotspot by setting up a permanent museum inside it to house rare artefacts, images and photographs tracing the rich maritime tradition of ports on the Coromandel Coast and their cultural connections with the rest of the world since the first century BC

Special emphasis will be on Puducherry, elaborating its ancient connections through a series of drawing and photographs of Arikamedu that saw flourishing trade with Rome in the first century BC

The proposal, initiated by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), had been affected by administrative issues but union minister of planning, parliamentary affairs and culture V Narayanasamy, who visited the lighthouse this week along with Puducherry home minister E Valsaraj, promised that the union ministry of culture would extend all necessary support for the project

The lighthouse, with oil lamps built by the French in 1836, can be seen from a distance of 24 kmThe oil lamps were replaced with electric lights in the first half of the 20th centurySoon, a new lighthouse was constructed on the outskirts of the town and the old one remained as a technical marvel, drawing tourists from far and wideFor a while, visitors were permitted to go up the tower through a wooden staircaseEntry was closed a few decades ago

“Now we propose to establish a permanent gallery tracing the history of ancient port cities, including Puducherry, with a series of rare artefacts, photos and paintings with the assistance from the union ministry of cultureThe ancient monument will be promoted as an important tourist destination in this part of the world,” Narayanasamy said

The proposal includes setting up two see-through capsule elevators enabling the tourist to reach the top of the tower for a view of the entire territory.

“The proposed museum will be the only one of its kind in the country and it will have information about erstwhile ports, harbours, navigation and maritime activities, trade practices, tax systems, political and administrative systems, language and literature, manufacturing techniques, living styles and artistic practices of ancient communities,” said former IGNCA diaspora programme head Suresh Kumar Pillai.

Originally posted 2009-06-11 17:06:16.

Valluvar Kottam, located at the intersection of the Kodambakkam High road and the Village road, is one of the modern landmarks of Chennai, India.

Valluvar Kottam is a memorial to commemorate the greatness and glory of the famous Tamil saint and Poet Thiruvalluvar.

The architect of the memorial is South Indian traditional architect Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati.

The construction of Valluvar Kottam is like a temple chariot, and it is a replica of the temple chariot in Thiruvarur.

Some of the special features of this monument are the granite pillars surrounding it.

Inscriptions of the famous verses of Thiruvalluvar can be seen here.

All the 1330 verses written in the epic work of Thiruvalluvar have been inscribed in the granite pillars here.

The monument has over 3000 stone blocks used in its construction.

There is a temple like structure which stretches to a massive height in the monument.

A life-size statue of the Thiruvalluvar stands atop the 39 metre high chariot.

It has a massive auditorium with a mammoth capacity of 4000 people at one sitting.

The Valluvar Kottam auditorium has been built on a dry lake.
This lake earlier used o be a place for the collection of debris and waste.
However this land was later cleared up and opened to the public in the year 1976.

Valluvar Kottam is a revered structure for the Chennaites as it is closely associated with the history and culture of the city.
This memorial can be visited on all days except Fridays and National Holidays.

Originally posted 2009-07-25 10:18:28.

Tamilnadu, the land of the Tamils is the heart of Dravidian culture. It is situated in the south-east of the Indian peninsula and is bounded by the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnatka in the North, Kerala & Karnataka in the West, the Bay of Bengal is in the East. At the southern tip is Kanyakumari, where the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea & Indian Ocean meet.

Area: 1, 30, 000 sq. km  |  Capital: Chennai  |  Language: Tamil
Crops: rice, pulses and oil seeds  |  Commercial Crops: sugarcane, cotton, tea, rubber, cashew and coconut
Industries: cotton textiles, chemical fertilizers, paper and its products, printing and allied industries, diesel engines, automobiles and its ancillaries, bicycles, cement, iron & steel, railway wagons and coaches
Minerals: limestone, magnesite, mica, quartz, felspar, salt, bauxite, lignite and gypsum

The land mass of the State can be divided into two natural divisions, the eastern coastal plain & the hilly region along the north and the west. The coastal plain is usually sub-divided into the Coromandel plain, the alluvial plain of the Cauvery delta & the dry southern plains. The western ghats runs along the whole western side with the Palghat gap forming the one major gap in the mountain stretch. The mountain range to the south of the Palghat gap is known as the Anamlai Hills. These slopes with thick evergreen forests is the source of the rivers Cauvery, Vaigai and Tamaraparani. The perennial rivers are palar, Cheyyar, Ponnaiyar, Cauvery, Meyar, Bhavani, Amaravati, Vaigai, Chittar & Tamaraparani. The non-perennial rivers are the Vellar, Noyal, Suruli, Gundar, Vaipar, Valparai & Varshali. .

Under the Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava & Nayak rulers art, architecture, literature and culture flourished. Since this region of Indoia was less affected by the foreign invaders, this peaceful land has retained much of its original culture.

Places of tourist interest in Tamil Nadu