The Most Beautiful Parks And Green Spaces In Chennai

Chennai is just as much of an urban jungle as any other major city in India. However, for all its new malls, factories, and IT parks, the city has also managed to maintain its green spaces fairly well in the form of several new parks and protected areas. While these pockets of greenery act as a buffer against the ever-increasing menace of pollution, they also provide locals and tourists an escape into nature in the midst of all the urban chaos. Here are some of the best green spaces to discover in the city.

1. Guindy National Park

Park

Chennai is one of the few cities in India that has a National Park within its limits. Located in the heart of the city, the Guindy National Park is spread across just 2.70 square kilometres, but boasts a rich biodiversity and green cover that acts as the lungs of Chennai. Originally part of Raj Bhavan, the residential campus of the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Guindy National Park is filled with thick jungles, scrublands, lakes and several small streams. The park is also home to over 130 species of birds and 14 different species of mammals including blackbucks, deer, and jackals. The park complex is also home to the popular Guindy Snake Park. It’s open from 9am till 6pm.

IIT, CEG and MCC Campuses

Although they are not recreational spaces or parks, the campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and College of Engineering Guindy (which are located opposite each other), and the expansive campus of the Madras Christian College in Tambaram, are some of the finest repositories of greenery in Chennai. The IIT Campus is the biggest of the three covering 617 acres and is home to several species of wildlife, such as deer and hares. The Madras Christian College campus in Tambaram, on the other hand, is one of the largest artificial forests in the city, and boasts several different varieties of trees and a robust wildlife population that includes deer, mongooses, and peacocks. The campuses are open to the public during cultural programmes such as IIT Saraang and MCC’s Deepwoods, where you will see some of the biggest cultural performances in the city.

IIT Madras, Sardar Patel Road, Opposite to C.L.R.I, Beside The Adyar Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India, +91 44 2257 8101

Madras Christian College, Velachery Main Road, Tambaram, Chennai 600059, India, +91 44 2239 0675