Pulicat Lake

Winter wetland thick with greater flamingos, pelicans and painted storks, one of the Coromandel coast's most important bird habitats.

The district's northernmost town and a large industrial estate on the Andhra Pradesh border, a key rail and highway node near the Pulicat lagoon.

Site of the Dutch East India Company's first Coromandel capital, its best-preserved remnant being the colonial cemetery with carved skeleton tombstones.

A historic Roman Catholic church in the old port town of Pulicat, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and dating to the early colonial era of the settlement. It stands among the Portuguese and Dutch-period heritage of Pazhaverkadu on the Coromandel coast.

A historic lagoon-side fishing town, once a major Dutch trading settlement, now blending colonial ruins, an old church, boat rides and birdwatching.

A quiet sandy shore near Pazhaverkadu where the lagoon meets the Bay of Bengal, backed by fishing hamlets and good for sunrise.

A taluk town on the Chennai-Gummidipoondi suburban line that serves as the road gateway to the Pulicat wetland and the northern coast.

A well-known Murugan temple, dedicated to Balasubramania Swamy, in Siruvapuri village in Ponneri taluk, a popular pilgrimage stop on the northern Chennai belt. It lies close to Periyapalayam and is often visited together with the Bhavani Amman temple there.

A popular goddess temple on the banks of the Arani river at Periyapalayam, roughly 45 km north of Chennai on the highway near Red Hills. The main complex is around 200 years old and is dedicated to Bhavani Amman. During the Tamil months of Aadi and Aavani it draws lakhs of pilgrims.

A northwestern taluk town near the Andhra border and the Kosasthalaiyar river, on the road toward Tirupati and the Periyapalayam Amman temple.

An operational coastal lighthouse in the Ennore-Kattupalli area of Ponneri taluk that guides vessels approaching the nearby Kamarajar (Ennore) and Kattupalli ports. It sits on the district's industrial coastline just south of the Pulicat lagoon.

An ancient Shiva temple at Vada Thirumullaivayil counted among the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams, the 22nd in the Thondai Nadu region, and sung in the Tevaram hymns. The presiding deity is Masilamaneeswarar. The temple is regarded as more than a millennium old.