Chennai, India

Recently in the past six months I had some additional responsibilities come to fruition at work and with this came a staff located in Chennai, India.  So off I went to meet all the team for a week.  The morning I landed in Chennai it was a holiday celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi, the Hindu Festival celebrated on the birthday (rebirth) of the god Ganesha.  Ganesha is widely worshiped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.  So with this new adventure two of my team members very nicely picked me up in the morning and took me to a few places that I wanted to see and that they also recommended.

First we headed directly to Kapaleeswarar Temple, built around the 7th century.  The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the holy/oldest temples situated in Chennai.  It is here my friend explained to me many aspects of Indian culture while I was amazed by the craftsmanship  of the Temple (so many intricacies and beautiful colors).

Next we traveled to Dakshinachitra (literally means – “a picture of the south”) which is a non-profit community service projected aimed at cultural preservation.  It was here that I was able to view the crafts and architecture of South India. 

Our third stop was an authentic Indian lunch with my two Supervisors pictured below.  The food was good as expected with great company.

Lastly we stopped on the way back to my hotel at Tiger Cave.  The Tiger Cave is a rock-cut Hindu temple complex.  It gets its name from the carvings of tiger heads on the mouth of a cave which forms a part of the complex. The Tiger Cave is considered to be one of the Mahabalipuram rock-cut temples constructed by the Pallavas in the 8th century AD. The site is located on the Bay of Bengal coast.  Had a nice walk among the formations and also took in some views of the coast. 

After a week of work the traveling to and from Nanjing is never easy.  The result was a seven hour layover in Hang Kong.  As I landed I decided to be a little adventurous and took the airport express train into downtown Hong Kong where I then caught a cab to Victoria Peak.  This was a special place for Natalie and I as we visited here many years ago.  This is a mountain on the western half of Hong Kong with an altitude of 1,811 ft, it is the highest mountain on the island.   

While only spending a day of leisure in India and doing a limited amount of sightseeing, I was able to absorb yet another fascinating culture first hand and for that I am grateful.  I look forward to bringing Natalie and the kids back to Northern India in the third quarter of next year for a wonderful vacation.