Incredible India thru my Lens

An Early Morning Visit to Kolavai Lake, Chengalpattu (Jul ’11)

This was rather a quick trip to the lake, which is around some 60km from Chennai. I have been hearing about this place quite a while and planned to pay a visit this weekend. Spoke with couple of friends and finally 5 of us from different parts of city decided to assemble just after Tambaram. It rained last night and I am bit worried about making it to the place and also worried about sunrise as the condition seemed overcast. When inquired about the condition in Porur, my friend confirmed it’s not raining in Porur and decided to start as planned.

This place lies on Chennai – Trichy highway and can be reached easily in an hour from Chennai. If you are interested to see sunrise from different places around Chennai, then this is just another perfect place. We all assembled at the place just after Tambaram around 4.40 and from there we reached the lake around 5.20. Parked our vehicles and went to the spot around 5.30, perfect time for shooting.

While my friends were checking out different vantage points around the lake, I tried to venture out another point, which is just opposite the lake. But you need to climb a rocky hill. I told my friends about this and started to climb the hill. When climbing, I got a very good view of the entire lake and a shot which will show the ‘S’ curve and the lake together, where morning trains will pass through quite frequently. A passing train on the ‘S’ curve will be a nice shot. But as expected, we couldn’t witness the perfect sunrise but it played cat and mouse with the clouds and we got some superb sun rays shot. Also, got one of my favorite shot of a train passing the ‘S’ curve.

Overall, a very satisfying outing with my friends….

Now enjoy the pictures and post your valuable comments 🙂

Quick Visit to Dakshina Chitra (May ’11)

This was a quick trip to Dakshina Chitra without any plans. It’s hard to ride on this scorching Chennai heat and an additional layer to protect my tees doesn’t help the cause. Started off around 10 AM and tanked up the bike and quickly off the road. The traffic from CMBT till Guindy was pretty hectic due to the Metro Rail construction and after that the ride was as good as anything. Stopped over for a breakfast at Hotchips around Palavakkam and quickly filled my tummy and reached Dakshina Chitra at 11.15 AM.

In a nutsheell, this is an attempt to showcase the bygone era of some southindian living by setting up traditional homes of South India (Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala & Andhra Pradesh). Tamilnadu section possess Chettinad House, Ambur House, Potter’s House etc., & Ilkal, Weaver’s House in Karnataka Section, ILkat Weaker’s House, Coastal Andhra Thatch House in Andhra Section & Hindhu House, Syrian Christian House from Kerala Section. You can easily spend couple of house visiting the various houses and try your hands on the activities (pottery, painting, weaving etc.,) setup in various points.

After visiting these sections, finally visited Mask Exhibition where famous sound indian masks were on display. Had a quick visit at the exhibition and moved on.

There are few shops setup in the premises for the people who are interested in purchasing handicrafts & souveniers. There is a craft shop as well and unfortunately it was closed for lunch when I reached there. After you done all these activities, I am sure you will be hungry enough and there is an restaurant right inside Dakshina Chitra and they serve Veg/Non-Veg.

After spending quiet few hours in Dakshina Chitra, left the place with no heart. This is a must visit place if you are looking for some quite and calm place to spend your weekend.