Madras light house at Marina is now open to public- view from the top
Madras light house at Marina is now open to
public
The red and white banded light house, located at the
beginning of Chennai’s popular Marina beach, was only a meeting point so far.
After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, this structure was closed for tourist visit.
Just a week ago, it was made open to public again after a gap of 2 decades. We
paid a quick visit and below is my findings.
Tourist information:
Timings: Open from 10 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 5
PM
Monday- weekly holiday
Lunch break: 1PM to 3PM
Entry fee: Rs 10 per adult, Rs 5 for children below 12
years (Indian Nationals). For foreign nationals, entry fee is Rs 25 per
person
Camera fee is Rs 25 and if you wish to see the museum,
an additional Rs 10 per person.
Restrictions to carry: None. Nothing is banned as such.
Baggage checking is done for safety
The crowd wasn’t much on Sunday afternoon, mainly
because it was raining in the morning and not many would have planned to go out.
Post 10AM sky was clear and decided to quickly pay a visit to light house. The
waiting line wasn’t really long, we got in after 10-20 mins
wait.
Light house tower has both stairs and a lift. Stairs are
closed to tourists. Smell of fresh paint was evident everywhere. Tourists are
taken to 9th floor by lift. The small lift
wasn’t designed for tourists and will be crowded. From 9th floor one has to climb a few stairs to access a
small observation area. Below are the views from the observation
deck.
Above; View of Marina beach, right- a newly installed vending machine is catching people's fancy
Below- Slum dwellings on the other side of Marina
Once below, we stopped by a museum. More about that in a
separate post.
I have been to Marina beach and always wondered why the light house was always strictly off limits. I learnt the answer today and will surely try to make it during the morning to get a glimpse of the view from there.
ReplyDeleteShall surely visit when in Chennai
ReplyDeleteWhat a viewpoint ! lovely photos
ReplyDeleteI like and miss also
ReplyDeleteNice post..
ReplyDeleteTOEFl Classes In Pune
ReplyDeleteThe Opening Pictures ie The View From Top Is Awesome & My Favorite Pic.
Miss The Chance Just To Saw Such Beautiful Place.
Thanks AT, Deepak, Paresh, Benella and Nasreen
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bird's eye view of the beach..
ReplyDeleteThanks Meghana
ReplyDeleteOnly once i have visited chennai when i got seat in a university there but i did not joined there.Nice city
ReplyDelete