I started my 2012 New year with a Pulicat lake (In Tamil:Pazhaverkaadu Eri பழவேற்காடு ஏரி) trip. Few of the photos and my experiences are here for you!
We started from Chennai by 10 am by our Car to this place. It is around 60-65km to reach Pulicat lake. On the way to Pulicat first we went to Siruvapuri Murugan Temple. It is a famous and beautiful Murugan temple in the outskirts of Chennai.
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| Siruvapuri Murugan Temple |
Then we proceed to Pulicat via Ponneri and reached there by 1.00 pm. We had a nice time in the beach. At that time boating was not allowed due to recent tragedy accident in that lake.
About Pulicat Lake
Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish lagoon on the Indian subcontinent, covering a total area of 720sq.km of which 84% falls in Andhra Pradesh and 16% falls in Tamilnadu. The lake is shallow with a mean depth of only 1 – 2 meter. The lagoon is about 60km in length and its breadth varies from 0.2 to 17.5km . During the monsoon period starting in August or September, Pulicat Lake is filled by nutritious water and large numbers of both phytoplankton and zoo-plankton are present in the lake. These microscopic organisms constitute essential food for invertebrates and fish. As a result, tens of thousands of wetland birds are attracted to the lake because of large amounts of food.
Other Important Bird viewing points:
- Central part of the lake between Sriharikota and Kudiri.This area is Important between November to February, specially in drying seasons it attracts large number of birds around the culverts along the Sullurpeta—Sriharikota road.
- Another area is Moolah Kuppam on the western edge of Pernadu Island especially after the Kudiri-Sriharikota stretch dries up, where you can see the greater flamingo almost through out the year.
- Another Important area is Annamalcheri at the southern end. This is the another site in Pulicat lake where the greater flamingo can be seen almost throughout the year.
The Pulicat sanctuary is drained by Arni river while the Buckingham canal brings in the city’s drainage water. At the southern end is an opening on to Bay of Bengal through a shallow mouth of 200 m in width. The rest of the lake is closed by a sand bar running parallel to the Bay of Bengal in the form of the Sriharikota Island.
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| Pulicat Bird Santuary |
As such this place is not a famous tourist spot, you cannot find motorized boat rather, you have traditional punting or flat-bottom boats called as thoni in local language. You can hire one, for about 3-4 hours, from the local fishermen for Rs.500/ or less if you can bargain. Most of the things here are environmental friendly, which you can witness as you take a ride. You can watch various species of birds like waterfowl, notable pelicans, herons and flamingos, shorebirds, gulls and terns.
Sailing slowly across the lake you come across another beautiful landmark - the lighthouse. For more adventure, if you move on towards northwards about 5 kms, you come to the lake's mouth where you have deep bumpy waters. Just opposite to this lake-mouth you have a small village Karimanal that is a historical site. This is the place where the Dutch and the British tied their ships. If you move further north about 35 kms, you come to densely wooded island of Sriharikota.
Even here, you can watch thousands of large water-birds that stopover especially during winter. All-in-all, to get a real feel of the life at the lake, with overloaded ferry boats transporting fisher folk to the villages on the other side, boats landing fish-catches, tribal women picking prawns in the lake with their hands, bullock-carts crossing the water towards dusk to reach their destinations, visiting this place offer some of the rare and fascinating sites to be enjoyed.
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| Pulicat Bird Santuary |
How to reach Pulicat
You have to drive on NH5 Kolkatta Highway; it is a straight Road to Tada which is approximately 60-65 kilometers away from the city. Ponneri is a nearest small town. MTC and STC Buses are flying to this place frequently.
On the way return to Chennai, we went Gnayiru Temple in the middle of the Gnayiru Village near Redhills.
Gnayiru Temple
Gnayiru temple is situated near Redhills. Pushparatheswarar Temple at Gnayiru village is one of the Navagraha temples around Chennai dedicated to Suryan. The village itself gets its name from Suryan or Sun God, Gnayiru in Tamil means Sun.
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| Gnayiru Temple |
The temple is well maintained. I have found a rare tree in this temple, Thiruvodu (begging bowl of the sanyasis) is a half of the outer shell of the fruit of these trees. It is also used by them to drink or eat food from and is believed to prevent viral infections.
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| Gnayiru Temple |
There are a few interesting stories behind this temple. A Chola King was returning after successfully waging a war on a kingdom in Andhra Pradesh. He camped at Cholavaram. He was a staunch Shiva devotee and went in search of lotus to perform his daily pooja. During his search he saw a pond full of lotuses. One of the flowers was taller, bigger and more beautiful than the rest. The King wanted this flower for the pooja and tried to reach the flower. As the King neared the flower it moved away and was elusive. After several futile attempts, the King was very angry and threw his sword at the flower. The sword broke into pieces. One of the pieces fell on a Lingam which was in the pond. The pond turned red in no time because of the blood that was oozing from the Lingam. This scar can still be seen on this Shiva Lingam. The King fainted there. His horse fled from the scene before fainting. Lord Shiva then appeared before the King and blessed him. The King apologized to the Lord. Lord Shiva asked the King to build a temple for the Lingam that was found in the pond. The Shiva Lingam is a Swayambhu (self-manifested). Here, Lord Shiva is known as Pushparatheswarar. His consort here is Swarnabigai. The God is also known as Poothereeswarar. Both the names convey the same meaning; Poo or Pushpam means flower and ratham or ther means chariot. Since the Lingam was found in Lotus, He got this name. Lotus is the flower that is offered to the God here.
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| Gnayiru Temple Nandhi |
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| Thiruvodu Tree |
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| Sunset Near Gnayiru |
How to Reach Gnayiru: There are MTC buses from Redhills and Koyambedu regularly to reach this place. It is about 10kms from Redhills and 20 Kms from chennai City.
