[the_bat]

Greetings TeamBHPians, I have spent much of my free time reading travelogues here and felt like writing one too.

So my father lives abroad and had his flight on Wednesday at 1:00 am to his work location. Now we own a VW Vento Diesel, which my mom doesn't allow me to take out on roads since she is not confident that I am a good driver. Who's gonna tell her I drive 2-3 times a week inside my college premises.
I always wanted to have a father-son moment and wanted to go on a long drive with him, I considered Pondicherry, but things turned to the opposite. My mom and sister showed their eagerness to resulting in a Family Trip after all

You can scold my adamant nature, but I still wanted to go on a drive alone with my father. I looked at my Google maps want-to-go bookmarks where I finalized the Matsya Narayan Temple (Google Baba Recommendation). Finalized it immediately and told my dad I wanted to take him out somewhere. He kept continuously asking me the location, but I told him it was a surprise.

I was planning to leave my home at 5:30 a.m, but as aligning to the tradition of every Indian Household, the departure was delayed by an hour, missing the sunrise moment . The temple is an hour's ride from my house (Chromepet).

When we reached there, I honestly didn't expect it to be in such a serene and blissful environment. While entering the temple, you are blessed by the view of the Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu. It was his first avatar. The temple was opened 6-7 years ago, in 2015. There was no one present there except us. The priest guided us to Ganesha Temple, where he did us a small puja. He was very kind was friendly. I had a small chat with him, during which he revealed he and the other priest present were from Kasi. We took a stroll around the temple; it was very holy, adding to the sound of calm beach waves crashing on the beach. It had temples of all the Gods surrounding the Main Matsya Avatar. There is also a walk area made of rock with 100s of granite pillars with inscriptions and teachings of Lord Vishnu. The priest suggested we meditate in the vast area presented exclusively for dhyaan in front of the Matsya statue. We meditated for some time which was very peaceful and appealing. While taking some pictures, the priest informed us not to take them since it is a no-photograph zone (Maaf kijiye swami).

After finishing our meditation, we decided to head back home, thanking the priests. There is a beach right behind the temple, and although we missed the sunrise, we mutually agreed to take a stroll. Spent around 30 mins, followed by my mom's scoldings since we had already spent 2 hours during this. Returned to the car, and since it was already around 9:00 am, we found it wise to stop at a cafe nearby. Just a km or so ahead, we found an A2B outlet (Every Tamilian's Favourite Outlet for breakfast). We stopped for a coffee.

Then we started heading home, but who knew destiny had other plans? I failed to consider the IT offices' opening time and the amount of traffic IT employees amount to. (No hard feelings, people) It took almost an additional hour to reach the 200 feet radial road. While I thought this was stressful enough, I observed the traffic on the other side, leading to Sholinganallur IT Park. Man, it was more than 5kms long. We reached home at around 10:30 a.m and had our homely breakfast, followed by mom's scoldings

That's all people, I am sorry if this bored you
Treating you with some pictures, I took before the priest told me not to

The entrance of the temple:




The Main Idol:


The wide angle view showing the multiple pillars inscribed with Lord Krishna's teachings:



The beach behind the temple:




Inside shots:




My dad meditating:


Your fellow BHPian:




Till next time, Ciao

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[aargee]

Sharing the route map for the better community


Typically the temple is located ~2 Km before Uthandi Toll Plaza & need to take a left from Thiruvanmiyur to Toll Plaza.

Thanks for sharing & I'm happy for you to have had a good memorable Father-Son moment to cherish for a lifetime (y)

[CNMaLin]

I believe the temple closes by 10:30 AM. The last time I visited India in Jan 2020, I didn't know this and it was closed by the time we arrived.

[the_bat]

Originally Posted by CNMaLin

I believe the temple closes by 10:30 AM. The last time I visited India in Jan 2020, I didn't know this and it was closed by the time we arrived.

Hi

Yes, it is closed by 10:30 but I suppose it opens again in the evening at 4 like many other temples.

Please mind giving it a visit during your next visit to India in the early morning times

Cheers

[vshankarhere]

Yes, a very calm and peaceful temple, which should be avoided during weekend evenings. I have gone to this temple half a dozen times and the location is splendid. The sense of calmness you get when you sit, close your eyes and hear the sound the waves make in the beach is unbeatable.

[vjbox]

My wife and I used to visit this temple before it got too famous. I fondly call this a 5 star temple for it's unique architecture and location. Nothing beats a temple by the beach. Only in recent times especially in weekends the temple is thronged by more people that can take away the calm setting. Lovely temple otherwise.

[the_bat]

Originally Posted by vjbox

My wife and I used to visit this temple before it got too famous. I fondly call this a 5 star temple for it's unique architecture and location. Nothing beats a temple by the beach. Only in recent times especially in weekends the temple is thronged by more people that can take away the calm setting. Lovely temple otherwise.

True, We had a little chat with the security present there to know more about the temple. He conveyed that it's fully crowded in the evenings and that we made a smart move by coming to the temple at sunrise.

To all the people planning to visit here, please prefer going in the early mornings so you can have a calm experience while hearing the beach wave sound (and also escaping from the traffic from Thoraipakkam )