Madras Week is here. The event will let Chennaites understand and recollect the history of the city through various heritage tours. This time, thanks to Cycling Yogi, instead of walks, it’s going to be heritage cycle rides.

Ramanujar Moulana, the organiser of Madras Week, said, “We will start the trail from Marina Beach at 5 am and cover places in Triplicane and Mylapore.

From Gandhi statue we shall ride up to the DG office, followed by Chepauk Palace and Madras University or the Senate house.

Then we will take the cycle past the MA Chidambaram Stadium to the Parthasarathy Temple. We will then visit Bharathiyar’s house and Vivekananda Illam.

Santhome Church and Kapalishwar temple are also on the itinerary. We will also stop at the Dabba Chetty shop and then cycle all the way to Sri Ramakrishna Math followed by Sanskrit College and then back to Marina Beach.”

The ride is expected to last for one-and-a-half hours. The groups will stop at each place for five minutes for Ramanujar to brief them.

“I have studied history in Loyola College and Delhi University, so I am well-versed with the culture of the place.

I am an active member of the Tamil Nadu Cycling Club and as a part of it I have visited a lot of places of historic and cultural relevance within the state and even outside. We hope that participants ask us questions and we turn it into an interactive session.”

Ramanujar believes that this could be the perfect platform to spread awareness. “From my personal experience I can say that you can enjoy and experience a place better when you slowly grasp the beauty of it. When travelling in a car, you can catch the sight of place only for a few seconds.

But when you are riding a cycle, you can take your own time to understand and enjoy the place,” Ramanujar said.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Tabloid> Chennai / by Vipasha Sinha, DC-Chennai / August 18th, 2012