India Guide
Tamil Nadu
The Marina
One of the longest city beaches in the world, the Marina (Kamaraj Salai) stretches 5km from the harbour at the southeastern corner of George Town to San Thome Cathedral. The impulse to transform Chennai's beach into an attractive and sociable esplanade was conceived by Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, governor of Madras from 1881 to 1886, and numerous buildings have sprung up over the years, along with surreal modern memorials to Tamil Nadu's chief political heroes and freedom fighters.
Today the beach itself is a sociable stretch, peopled by idle paddlers, picnickers and pony-riders; every afternoon crowds gather around the beach market. However, its location just a little downstream from the port, which belches out waste and smelly fumes, combined with its function as the toilet for the fishing community detract somewhat from its natural beauty. Consequently, swimming and sunbathing are not recommended. The beach also has a tragic place in recent history, as many young children playing cricket here were swept away by the 2004 tsunami.