Senate House

In Chennai the historical place that any visitors should travel is the famous Senate House. The Senate House is situated on the Chennai University Campus near Marina. It is a popular university all-over the metro city so travelling to the Madras Senate house is not much of a problem. If you are staying nearby then you can either hire an auto rickshaw or cycle rickshaw and visit the place. The Senate house in Chennai was built under the direction of the skilled architect of 19th century Robert Fellowes Chisholm. The structure of the building is a live example of the Indo-Saracenic style with a harmonious blend of Byzantine architectural features.

The Senate House in Chennai comprises of a central hall with corridors, which is on the ground floor. These corridors stand on six firm pillars standing on either side. Also the four sky-touching towers standing at each of the corners of the building are heaped with an exquisitely shaped vibrantly -colored domes gives a dazzling look to any outsider traveling to Chennai. The Senate House in Chennai has seen for over 125 years many meetings, functions and also convocations. The convocations were held in the central hall under the bright illuminated lamps and the pedestal fan standing everywhere after every inch. These convocations were held in the central hall of the Senate house till 1965 and later on shifted to Centenary Convocation Auditorium. The senate house also had some offices of the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar and the University Departments of study and Research. Though this glorious piece of architecture is not quite used now but still it has maintained its unmatched stature.

Fascinating monument!

Fort St. George:

The British East India Company under the direct supervision of Francis Day and Andrew Cogon built it in 1640 AD. This place achieved its name from Saint George, the patron saint of England. The fort houses Saint Mary's Church and fort museum. Saint Mary's Church the oldest Anglican Church built in 1680 and the tombstones in its courtyard are the oldest British tombstones in India. It presently house the Secretariat and Legislative Assembly. The 46 m high flagstaff at the front is a mast salvaged from the 17th century shipwreck. The Fort Museum has a fascinating collection of memorabilia from the British and French East India companies as well as the Raj and Muslim period.

Chennai Airport

Chennai International Airport is located in Meenambakkam, 7 km south of Chennai, India. It is the third largest international gateway into the country and the third busiest airport in India after Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Mumbai) and Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi), and the main air hub for South India, handling over 10 million passengers (domestic and international combined) in 2007 and serving more than 50 different airlines. It is also an important cargo terminus for the country, after Mumbai. Chennai is also a hub airport for Jet Airways, Deccan and Air India.

The airport at Meenambakkam has been slated for modernisation and expansion. The works are to be carried out by the Airports Authority of India and include the creation of a parallel runway, taxiways, aprons and new passenger handling buildings.