Tourist Destinations of India

Silver Beach Silver Beach Fountain  Silver Beach - Waves and People Silver Beach - Sand and People

Cuddalore is located in the South-Indian state of Tamil Nadu in India. Cuddalore is around 20 kilometres from Pondicherry. Cuddalore is generally a calm and quiet place where the tourists hustle is comparatively less. I had taken a local bus from Pondicherry to Cuddalore. It took around 30 mins to reach Cuddalore. I had to take an auto to reach the Silver Beach (about which i had heard from few of my friends) I was searching for the beach. The only issue which i had faced was the lack of knowledge of the local language, Tamil. Thanks to all the Tamil movies and songs i had been listening to, i can understand Tamil well but speaking back was a problem. Somehow i managed to speak in my best knowledge of the language and found out the beach. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon when i had reached there. I knew that there was a park close by. Thanks to Google Maps without which i would never be able to plan a trip. I wonder at times... If the great boon,'internet' never existed...

As i was leaving, i found out from a family of four that there is an India Seashell Museum and Aquarium closeby. My Navigation app just uttered that the place was just a 3 minute walk from this monument. As i had some time to spare, i thought of visiting the place. I started walking towards the museum in the scorching heat. The road seemed empty and i could see the museum as soon as i took a diversion to the right. Few cars were parked outside the museum. I went straight to the ticket counter, got the tickets for the museum and aquarium and was just relaxing in the campus. Seashell Museum At first, I went into the Seashell Museum. I was mesmerized by seeing a wonderful collection. Hats off to the hardwork by the officials who collected the seashells and preserve it without losing its beauty. I will upload the pictures in the blog in near future. It was indeed a visual treat! Seashell Aquarium and Souvenir shop The Aquarium also has a good collection of fishes. They...

I turned on the navigation in my phone and started walking towards my next destination in Mahabalipuram. On the way, i saw a few tourists wearing colourful hats and goggles, walking towards the park. Indian tourists, who had come by their own vehicles were struggling to drive as the road is narrow and there were lots of tourists as it was a time where Saturday, Sunday and Monday was a Holiday, being the Independence Day.  Pancha Rathas In my case, as i live in UT, Pondy, even Tuesday was a holiday for us being the Puducherry Independence Day. To see the monument "Panch Rathas", we needed an entry pass. When i enquired more about it with my 'ghyaan' in broken Tamil to an auto driver 'anna', i came to know that the same entry pass which i had used in the shore temple can be used here as well. I felt glad and started scanning my bag. Luckily, I had the pass and didn't show the foolish act of throwing it away! I had my lunch from a small hotel near...

From the Shore temple, I started walking towards Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram.. Each Building had a story to say.. The carvings were so beautiful that some people were even looking at the minor details and clicking photographs of the ones (carvings) which appealed to their minds. There were a group of college students too who just wanted to click selfies and roam around the place. Krishna Mandapam Carvings on the walls of Krishna Mandapam There was  Krishna Mandapam, Arjuna's Penance, Ganesha Ratha, Krishna's Butter Ball and Trimurti Cave which were actually in a well- maintained park. Each monument had it's own beauty. Street vendors who were selling food and snacks had small shacks just on the premises of the park. I was amused to notice a "Tech- vendor" whom i would like to describe. He was selling selfie-sticks, chargers, power banks and all sorts of gadgets inside the park. He made a lot of profit within an hour. If there were a group of to...