ThalanKuppam

26Dec08

Navigating through a series of Kuppams on the Ennore High Road, I and sathish reached this beautiful beach at the far end of madras. I had seen the pictures of this beach in the flickr album of Ravages n’ enquired him about its location. We started off from the paper mills road at peravallur,  and got to the Basin Bridge Road ,then Mint Road and caught up the Tiruvottiyur high road. The right turn at the middle of the tiruvottiyur high road — and thats Ennore High Road. The beach is located at the end of the road, which terminates at a small amman temple ( called the Chinna Amman Koil).A right from here through a few narrow streets took us to a deserted Petrol Bunk and a huge pile of Sand.  Looked like a typical selvaraghavan – Vetrimaran movie location .. an isolated north madras suburb, infested with small time rowdies chewing matchsticks or smoking beedis,sporting a thick beard , the trademark Lungi and the familiar scar on the face!!

 

A Typical location to severe the head of the heroine!!

Pipes

But Just beyond the huge sand mountain was the spectacle !! A few steps of walking and there, The Pier is visible. We initially  found a few huge pipes pouring turbid water  back into the sea, it was actually continuously desilting the other part of the sea- the passage for boats and other fishing equipments I guess.

Walking towards the left from these pipes,we headed to the Pier. It was some sort of a “L” shaped structure, we jumped beneath it and had a few snaps.The waves were pretty high and we couldnt  judge the depth at the location.Staying close to the shore , we walked a little under the bridge and then decided to climb up.Honestly I expected a low tide and thought we could have a good time jumping into the sand from the pier.Anyways , almost half drenched we got to the pier. Initially,it did look a little scary and I thought it was a long distance to walk without any sort of balance to hold. It would be like a rope walking for a kilometer.

The Long Broken Pier

I was reluctant to walk on the pier, considering the fact that I do not know to swim.When I convinced myself to walk on the pier gathering some courage, I held sathish for a few steps , shaking him badly and pushing him off balance as well!! Realising this wouldnt work out, we decided to walk separately.The Right hand side looked pretty broad for a few steps,but as we walked it got narrower and was too broken to put our steps on.I never wanted to look around while on the pier, I somehow thought if I lifted my head to look around,I would  scared like hell and loose balance!! Just a few minutes and things got a little comfortable and we got to the end of the Pier. Actually this is the pier where the Climax of Kaakha Kaakha was shot. I guess a few alterations were done to the pier for shooting the movie.I vividly remember surya running for a longer distance on the central pathway which was hardly to be seen. The place was serene and calm , we did find a few romantic couples of the fishermen community hanging around there. Looking Back from the end of the Pier, it was an amazing view – a mile long broken pathway into the sea!

From the end of the Pier!

Snapping a few pictures there ( a few in “Vaada.. TamilNadu Police” style ) we walked back to the shore.It was a strange feeling down the stomach.Everytime a wave hits the pier,you feel like a force pushing you from behind.We stopped for a second everytime we heard the roaring tide colliding the walls of the pier and bubbled out  !! But walking back was pretty easy. We roamed around the place for a few more minutes , taking pictures of abandoned boats and the pier from a distance.

Satish sitting on some abandoned Boat! I dont think it has been abandoned..but looks it has not been put to use for sometime.

 

The view of the entire length of the Pier .

 It was almost 7 by then.We started to drive back stopping at another completely deserted  place inbetween.We jumped the wall and it was some old officers colony .. had a feel of a  Ghost town and there we found another broken Pier.But this one was way too broken to walk over.It had a few meters missing here and there!! Wanting to no more be in such a secluded place, we got out of there quickly .. rode through the port trust , rajaji salai and reached Park station! This is definitely not a family getaway or a huge entertainer, but I had a fair share of enjoyment visiting this place

PS: If you think the place is interesting, you could check out this  article written by the popular blogger Madras -Ravages. Its cool,professional and more descriptive.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages/2300724339/ 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages/2300723675/ 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages/2300723917/

Filed under: Madras   |  1 Comment
Tags: broken pier, ennore, Kaakha kaakha, Madras, tamilnadu police, thalankuppam, thazhankuppam