Madras light house at Marina is now open to public- view from the top

Madras light house at Marina is now open to public

 

The red and white banded light house, located at the beginning of Chennai’s popular Marina beach, was only a meeting point so far. After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, this structure was closed for tourist visit. Just a week ago, it was made open to public again after a gap of 2 decades. We paid a quick visit and below is my findings. 

Tourist information:

Timings: Open from 10 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 5 PM

Monday- weekly holiday

Lunch break: 1PM to 3PM

Entry fee: Rs 10 per adult, Rs 5 for children below 12 years (Indian Nationals). For foreign nationals, entry fee is Rs 25 per person

Camera fee is Rs 25 and if you wish to see the museum, an additional Rs 10 per person.

Restrictions to carry: None. Nothing is banned as such. Baggage checking is done for safety

 

The crowd wasn’t much on Sunday afternoon, mainly because it was raining in the morning and not many would have planned to go out. Post 10AM sky was clear and decided to quickly pay a visit to light house. The waiting line wasn’t really long, we got in after 10-20 mins wait.

 

Light house tower has both stairs and a lift. Stairs are closed to tourists. Smell of fresh paint was evident everywhere. Tourists are taken to 9^th floor by lift. The small lift wasn’t designed for tourists and will be crowded. From 9^th floor one has to climb a few stairs to access a small observation area. Below are the views from the observation deck.

Above; View of Marina beach, right- a newly installed vending machine is catching people's fancy

Below- Slum dwellings on the other side of Marina

Once below, we stopped by a museum. More about that in a separate post.