Things to Do in Tamil Nadu

Spread across six structures with 46 galleries, the Government Museum houses Chennai’s best collection of scientific and artistic artifacts. It also houses the most impressive collection of Pallava and Chola bronze sculptures (dating back to the 10th and 13th centuries) anywhere in the world.

Founded in 1936, the Kalakshetra Foundation is the leading academy of the arts in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a focus on the traditional dances and music styles of the region. Rukmini Devi Arundale, the school’s founder, studied dance under Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. The word “kalakshetra” means “holy place of the arts.”

Popular with families, VGP Universal Kingdom is India’s first and largest theme park, featuring a mix of water adventures, theme rides, and quirky attractions. Here you’ll find all sorts of slides, rafting adventures, and pools, along with shows, a beach area, and plenty of rides for toddlers and older visitors alike.

The heart of cultural life in Chennai, Mylapore is a charming neighborhood characterized by broad, tree-lined streets coupled with narrow roads and myriad temples, churches, and restaurants. Its star attraction is the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, though it's also home to the San Thome Basilica, which houses the tomb of Thomas the Apostle.

According to legend, St. Thomas, a disciple of Christ, lived out the remainder of his days in a rocky cave, known as Little Mount (Chinnamalai). Today, Little Mount is home to a Portuguese church dating back to 1551, as well as a small altar to St. Thomas and a palm print believed by some to be left by Thomas himself as he fled.

Established in 1885, the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo) is the oldest public zoo in India. It’s been transformed and relocated over the years, and today the zoo can be found in Vandalu, just over 30 kilometers from Chennai. It’s home to hundreds of species of wild animals, many of which are considered endangered, and serves as a wildlife sanctuary and center for rehabilitating rescued animals.

The Arignar Anna Zoological Park is a large and well-maintained space with plenty of plant and wildlife out in the open. Visitors can tour the expansive grounds on bicycles or by using one of the zoo’s electric vehicles to zip around. Most of the main attractions are located along the park’s inner pathways, where the large animals such as tigers, panthers, and elephants live. There are a whole host of other mammals, reptiles, birdlife, fish, and butterflies to visit throughout the rest of the park too.

Known alternatively as Besant Nagar Beach, or “Bessie” for short, Elliot's Beach sits at the south end of the Marina Beach shore. A former expatriate enclave during Chennai’s colonial era, today the beach attracts throngs of twentysomethings, as well as families looking to avoid the crowds at the more popular Marina Beach.

VGP Snow Kingdom is an indoor, snow-themed entertainment park, where visitors can experience the thrill of playing in the snow any day of the year. In addition to snowball fights and watching snowflakes fall, activities include “mountain” summiting, toboggan rides, and even photo sessions with props such as igloos and polar animals.

Built in the Indo-Saracenic architectural style, the Ripon Building serves as the headquarters of the Corporation of Chennai, the oldest municipal body of the Commonwealth outside Great Britain. The highlight of the structure is the 8-foot (2.5-meter) clock, known as the Westminster Chiming Clock, on the building’s central tower.

Valluvar Kottam was constructed in 1976 as a shrine in memory of poet Thiruvalluvar, author of Thirukkural, a collection of more than a thousand rhyming Tamil couplets that expound simplicity of life and set a moral code for his followers. Thiruvalluvar lived and wrote during the first century BC in what is now Chennai.

Auroville was birthed in the late 1960s by Mirra Alfassa, known to her followers as “The Mother,” as a global township in which people from across the world could live in harmony. Today, the UNESCO-recognized project has a population of over 2,000 people from dozens of countries, including many second- and third-generation Aurovillians.

Built for Armenian traders in India in 1712, the Armenian Church, also known as the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary, is among the oldest churches in the country. Though it no longer functions as a house of worship, the church is still maintained as a historical attraction and is funded by the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Occupying 10 acres (4 hectares) in a quiet wooded area outside Chennai, Cholamandal Artists’ Village is the largest self-supporting artists’ village in India. Home to two dozen painters and sculptors, the commune is an excellent place to feel the pulse of Chennai’s contemporary arts scene.

The National Art Gallery, one of six individual museums comprising the Chennai Government Museum, is one of the oldest art galleries in the country. The red sandstone Indo-Sarasenic building was designed by architect Henry Irwin and completed in 1906 as part of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The gallery was closed in 2002 when its deteriorating state threatened both visitor safety and the art, but after an extensive renovation in 2013, the gallery re-opened to the public.

The National Art Gallery is subdivided into four smaller galleries: the Tanjore Painting Gallery, Decorative Art Gallery, Indian Traditional Art Gallery and the Ravi Varma Painting Gallery. Besides paintings in various mediums, the gallery also showcases a small collection of sandalwood sculptures.