The metamorphosis of Indian airports into world-class gateways integrating both modern technology and local cultural elements is taking global aviation aback. The new integrated terminals of Indian airports are being designed as gateways to a new INDIA where tradition and technology are going hand in hand. Flying through the newly inaugurated Ayodhya Airport, the Garden Terminal of Bangalore Int. Airport, the new terminal of Gujarat’s Surat Airport, and T2 of Chennai MAA Airport is an absolutely immersive experience not only for NRIs but also foreigners.

Inaugurated on Day 2 of the New Year 2024, Tiruchirappalli Airport’s new terminal is as beautiful as the city, home to India’s largest architectural complex of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. Built for a whopping Rs 1100 crore, the new integrated terminal of Tamil Nadu’s second largest airport (TRZ) makes a passage to the rich cultural heritage of the state through its highly aesthetic design, outside and inside.

PC: Airports Authority of India

Trichy Airport’s New Terminal is no less than a temple museum 

Trichy Airport’s new integrated terminal aesthetically integrates various cultural elements into its contemporary design. One of the most interesting features of the terminal architecture is its gopuram-like entrance that welcomes passengers. Inspired by the iconic raja gopuram (temple tower) of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli’s Srirangam, the ornamental replica dramatically rises against the sleek geometrical roof and the multi-layered facade of the terminal building.

What grabs eyeballs is the horizontal line of wooden carvings of Lord Vishnu and His incarnations including the Narasimha avatar inside the terminal, just like the intricate engravings found at south Indian monuments. The most prominent being the carving of Vishnu in the reclining position, which is modelled after the presiding deity of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. The elaborately sculpted columns supporting the terminal roof are reflective of the 1000 pillars with centuries-old sculptures of riding horses in Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple.

PC: Tamil Hindu

From the roof to column cladding to accent walls, the terminal design pays homage to the magnificent temple architecture of the region. The 13 larger-than-life canvas acrylic paintings of the historical temples across Tamil Nadu, including Madurai Meenakshi Temple and Thanjavur Brihadisvara Temple, make the terminal feel like a museum. Traditional rangoli motifs, paintings and murals lend a splash of color and history to the terminal interiors, depicting local traditions, festivals and cultural heritage.

While the cultural aspects of the terminal take passengers on a captivating journey through the beating heart of Trichy, its eco-friendly features pave the way for a sustainable future, reflecting Indian aviation’s commitment to sustainability. The energy efficient building, which acquired 4 stars as per the GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) rating system, has arrangements in place for solar power generation, rainwater harvesting, water and sewage treatment plants among others.

Tiruchirappalli Airport New Terminal: Cost, Capacity, Facilities 

Built at an astounding cost of Rs 1112 crores, Tiruchirappalli International Airport’s new integrated terminal building sprawls across 75,000 square meters, which is six times the size of its previous terminal. The bi-level modular building has a capacity to handle 4.5 million passengers annually – 3X of Tiruchirappalli Airport’s present capacity; giving a significant boost to Tamil Nadu’s third busiest airport (after Chennai and Coimbatore).

The state-of-the-art terminal is equipped with 60 check-in counters (34 for international passengers and 26 for domestic passengers), 60 arrival immigration counters, 44 departure emigration counters, 19 baggage scanners, and 5 baggage belts to facilitate seamless passenger flow even during peak hours.

A four-lane elevated roadway connecting the departure lounge on the first floor of the terminal with the Trichy-Pudukottai National Highway serves as a direct link for travelers heading to Tiruchirappalli Airport to catch their domestic or international flights.

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India is known for many wonders and paradoxes. There is an uncommon tale of two Indian families which are progressive and unique in their own ways. One is officially recognized for its caste-and-religion less identity, and the other is ISO Certified. Based in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, both the families are the first and only to have been certified for their exemplary distinctions.

We at Travel Beats, an overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle Travel, explored what make these two families an absolute departure from a typical Indian family.

Indian Family with Official ‘No Caste, No Religion’ Certificate

In India, M. A. Sneha and her family is the first and only to have neither any religion nor any caste. Earlier this year, 35-year-old M. A. Sneha, an advocate by profession, was issued a formal ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate by the government of Tamil Nadu. Her family – parents, siblings, husband and children – has not been using any religion or caste as either a prefix or suffix to their name or identity.

Her 9-year-long fight to obtain an official ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate was finally rewarded with recognition to the way he was brought up in a secular environment. Her parents never mentioned any caste or religion in her birth and academic certificates. Even her wedding was solemnized in a non-religious manner devoid of age-old traditions and customs.

Following the ideals of her parents, M. A. Sneha has named her three daughters showing no attachment or affiliation to any caste or religion. She even never fills in the caste and religion blanks in her daughters’ application forms for school and extracurricular activities. Like her parents, she continues to fight casteism and communalism in India.

“When the government can issue community certificates, why not I get a ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate,” was the revolutionary thought that pushed this progressive Indian to continue her efforts to be officially known only for her individuality and nationality after the initial rejection of her letters to the government authorities in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Her family and she believe in supporting the communities oppressed in the name of caste and religion.

Indian Family with ISO 9000 Certification

The Surana family in Chennai is the first and only Indian household to have received an ISO certification and held it for the past 18 years. If you ever happen to visit the ISO 9000 Certified Surana household in Chennai, you will be treated as more than a guest to not only have a cup of tea with snacks but rate your experience of their hospitality, based on a set of parameters including quality of food served to you, in a feedback form.

Actually, every visitor or guest to India’s first and only ISO Certified Surana family is a ‘temporary customer.’ Not only outsiders, but also each member of Chennai’s Surana family has a designation and a definite role to play in the day-to-day household affairs, in compliance with the ISO guidelines. 68-year-old Surana is the Household Head, and his 63-year-old wife Leela is the Household Representative. Their daughter-in-law Rashmi is the Management Representative, while their son is a loyal customer of the family. Interestingly, each of them has been given an individual manual of work instructions in keeping with their designations.

Like ISO certified companies or organizations in manufacturing and services industries, the Surana & Surana Household in Chennai is committed to deliver on quality management and quality assurance of international standards in personal hygiene, housekeeping, food catering, guest management and facility management. India’s ISO Certified Surana family makes on-demand purchases at equal intervals. They buy perishable things like fruits and vegetables every other day from certified vendors having a good rating on quality and hygiene. Their three domestic helps strictly follow a checklist of daily cleaning and maintenance tasks.

A typical Indian household spends over 160 hours a year on discussing the daily menu, as per the stats available. But the Surana family revises the menu once in a month to save time. Every item from the kitchen to the storeroom is properly labeled leaving no chance for ambiguity and kept in an order, as per the ISO guidelines. The pictorial labels on the periodically cleaned containers serve the motto, “Everything in its place and a place for everything.” Any food containing preservatives or having a chemical coating is banned in Chennai’s ISO Certified Surana household. Even the meals are served with inimitable clockwork precision.

In addition to periodic internal audits, two BIS audits are annually conducted to make sure that the Surana family abides by the ISO guidelines on quality and management to continue to hold the prestigious ISO Certification. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the nodal agency for the certification. Notably, the audits cost India’s first ISO Certified Surana household Rs 90,000 a year.

Travel Beats, a subsidiary of Indian Eagle, publishes latest visa, immigration, passport, aviation and Indian diaspora news stories. A leading travel booking partner of Indians in USA, Indian Eagle not only guarantees lowest airfares for flights to India but also strives to promote achievements of overseas Indian communities. 

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Tamil Nadu’s regulations for international travelers flying into Chennai are aligned with Indian Government’s current guidelines for international arrivals. Traveling to Chennai is now as normal as the pre-pandemic times. Neither vaccination nor pre-arrival RT-PCR testing is mandatory, except for travelers from five countries: China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Recently, India has taken some precautionary measures including post-arrival random testing in view of the new Omicron subvariant causing a COVID-19 wave in China and other neighboring countries.

I am traveling to Chennai. Do I need to fill out an Air Suvidha form?

Currently, Air Suvidha is mandatory only for travelers from China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. If you’re taking flights to Chennai from USA, Canada, the UK, the UAE and other countries, you don’t need to fill out an Air Suvidha form. Actually, the government of India removed Air Suvidha, effective from November 21, for inbound travelers from most of the countries.

I booked my travel to Chennai from USA. Do I need to take an RT-PCR test?

Starting from 21 November 2022, neither full-vaccination nor RT-PCR testing is mandatory for traveling to India. If you’re fully-vaccinated, make sure to carry your vaccination certificate. Indian government strongly recommends, “All travelers should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination in their country of citizenship or residence.” Whether you are vaccinated or not, pre-departure RT-PCR testing is not mandatory, except for travelers from China, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Can I travel to India via Europe or the Middle East without an RT-PCR test?

You can. Neither European nations nor the Middle East countries require negative COVID-19 certificates for the transit of travelers from the United States. You must be asymptomatic. On top of that, your full-vaccination certificate will make international transit hassle-free. We will keep you posted through this article if India, the UK, EU nations, or the Middle East countries make RT-PCR testing mandatory for international transit travelers.

Picture Credit: Travelandleisureindia.in

What’s the post-arrival procedure at Chennai MAA Airport for inbound travelers?

The post-arrival procedure at Chennai International Airport is complaint with the government of India’s guidelines for international arrivals. All international travelers from abroad undergo thermal screening and pulse oximeter reading on arrival in Chennai. If any of them is found symptomatic of COVID-19, she/he will be isolated and tested. If you test positive, you will be shifted to a designated medical facility.

Only 2% of the total passengers of an inbound flight are subject to post-arrival random testing at Chennai MAA and other airports. Chennai-bound international airlines identify 2% of the total passengers on each flight for post-arrival random testing. If you are in the 2%, your swab samples will be collected before you exit the airport or catch a connecting domestic flight for onward travel. If your samples are found positive, it will be further sent for genomic testing. Only children under 12 years, among international arrivals, are exempt from random testing.

All travelers to Tamil Nadu from USA and other countries are advised to self-monitor their health. They should contact the nearest medical facility or call the National helpline number 1075/the state helpline number if they experience symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

COVID-19 testing at Chennai MAA Airport

Chennai International Airport’s COVID-testing lab charges Rs 700 per person for a regular RT-PCR test and delivers the report in 5-6 hours. The cost of a rapid RT-PCR test is Rs 3400 per traveler and the report is available within one hour of the sample collection.

This guide on the current guidelines for international travelers to Tamil Nadu is part of our continued effort, at Indian Eagle – a most trusted air-ticketing partner of Indian Diaspora, towards making your travel easier and hassle-free. Indian Eagle is committed to booking cheap flight tickets to/from India and providing all the information related to your itinerary as well as flight.

You can send us your new booking or travel-related queries at share@indianeagle.com. We are booking cost-to-cost flight tickets to Chennai from USA in current times of rising airfares. 

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The lockdown imposed across the state of Tamil Nadu, in a bid to counter the second wave of the pandemic, does impact the rural and urban poor the most. Billionaire Sridhar Vembu, who returned from the Bay Area to rural India, started serving the poor with over 6000 meals a day for free in April. The capacity of serving the needy whose livelihood is at the mercy of lockdown has increased up to 30,000 free meals a day this month. ‘We’re trying to ramp up to 100,000 meals a day because the demand is high,” he tweeted this morning.

54-year-old Sridhar Vembu, who returned from the US to India aiming to make a difference to his native village in Tamil Nadu, was awarded a Padma Shri, on the eve of the Republic Day 2021, for his distinguished service in trade and industry. Known for his ‘simple living and high thinking’ philosophy, he is a software tycoon with a net worth of USD 2.5 billion and the 59^th richest Indian in the world.

Picture Credit: Twitter

Tech billionaire Sridhar Vembu, who moved from Silicon Valley of the US to empower rural youths in Tamil Nadu and beyond, starts his day with breaths of fresh air, an unhurried walk, and greetings to whoever he comes across in the morning in his village named Mathalamparai, about 600 kms away from Chennai. While enjoying the blessings of rural life far from the ‘madding crowd’, he – the founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation with headquarters in Chennai and California – runs a global IT conglomerate with an annual turnover estimated at a whopping $1 billion.

Born in a family of farmers in Mathalamparai, Tamil Nadu, the ‘Barefoot Billionaire’ (as he is nicknamed for preferring not to wear sandals/shoes) pursued MS and PhD at Princeton University, New Jersey after having graduated from IIT Madras in 1989. He started his IT career as a wireless engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego. He went on to chase his ‘American Dreams’ in the San Francisco Bay Area until he discovered his passion for entrepreneurship and rural community welfare back home (India).

One of the Padma Shri honorees in 2021, Sridhar Vembu founded Zoho Corporation in California (which was known as AdventNet from 1996 till 2009). From its global headquarters in Chennai, Zoho Corporation branched out to his native village and some suburban areas including Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh before expanding to the IT corridors of urban India. With offices also in the UAE, Japan, Singapore, Australia and China, Zoho Corporation has over 60 million users for its suite of cloud-based business solutions deployed by Amazon, Zomato, Xiaomi, Ola, Whirlpool, Phillips, among others in its worldwide clientele.

20% of Zoho Corporation’s employee strength of over 7000 is pooled from India’s rural backwaters. 16 years ago, Sridhar Vembu founded Zoho Schools of Learning with a vision of making rural youths and city-bred jobseekers employable with practical skills. Zoho School of Learning strives to transform the landscape wherein the focus is on grades and bookish knowledge.

At Zoho Schools of Learning, students in the 17-20 age groups, who have completed Class 12 or hold a diploma in vocational training, get hands-on training in web design, programming, networking and marketing, among others for free. Rather, a monthly stipend starting at Rs 10,000 is given to each of the students throughout the training period that spans up to 24 months. They are also taught English communication skills. Those who successfully complete the course are absorbed into Sridhar Vembu’s Zoho Corporation.

One of the lesser-known things about Sridhar Vembu is that he had bagged the post of a lecturer at the Australian National University, Canberra upon completion of his PhD in the US. He quit it soon after he found his call – a pursuit of career in technology. He was only 26 back then. “Don’t think hard about what you could have done differently. Keep looking forward to what the future has in store for you”, is one of the lessons he gives to his students.

He is so committed to giving back to his village that he started offering free tuition to the children of farm laborers and daily wagers, whose access to classroom-learning was cut off due to the closure of village schools during the pandemic-induced lockdown across the country. What started out of a pressing need of the hour for a few children has brought nearly 100 kids within its ambit. It inspired the USA-returned billionaire to build a rural school startup that will provide quality education and food for free to underprivileged rural children.

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The months-long lockdown imposed across India in the wake of the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for the few, though it crippled life and economy along the length and breadth of the nation. This phase of inertia saw the undisturbed pursuit of interests and hobbies in many households.

Picture Credit: ANI | Twitter

SN Lakshmi Sai Sri, a teenager from Tamil Nadu, is one of the young Indians who made an impact during the pandemic. She broke all the records in cooking on Tuesday, December 15. She got her name etched as the fastest cook in the UNICO Book of World Records for cooking 46 dishes in 58 minutes. The moment her remarkable achievement hit headlines, she became an internet sensation. A picture of the dishes she cooked only in 58 minutes has gone viral.

Lakshmi Sai Sri even broke the record that 10-year-old Saanvi M Prajit set by cooking 33 dishes in one hour in October 2020. Notably, it was Saanvi’s talent and achievement that inspired Lakshmi to make such an impossible feat. Lakshmi’s journey to earning a name for herself in the UNICO Book of World Records began during the countrywide lockdown. It was only then she developed a passion for cooking and her mother got ample time to help her master the art of fast cooking.

Being motivated by her father to break Saanvi M Prajit’s culinary record, SN Lakshmi Sai Sri made the most of her quick-learning ability. She would spend time helping her mother and following her instructions in the kitchen. Thus she learned the nitty-gritty of cooking various dishes from the cuisine of Tamil Nadu. She was eyeing on setting a new world record in cooking, while other kids of her age were trying to adjust to online learning during the lockdown.

Recently, Arun Rajadurai, a chef from Tamil Nadu in the United States, made international headlines for offering rasam as a complimentary immunity booster to Americans. Rasam, a South Indian staple, became the most sought after food in some parts of the US and Canada during the pandemic.

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“In India, the calendar of every state is full of only religious events and festivals.” If you think so, you are not absolutely right. Indian states boast of culturally rich dance and music festivals, held in different times of the year. The most celebrated music and dance festivals of India are held at seaside temples, historical sites of architecture ruins and shrines in the cave. The interface between art and history, these festivals are cultural celebrations, ceremonious galas and spectacular events, in the open air atmosphere. Indian Eagle offers an ode to the most famous dance festivals of India.

Soorya Dance Festival, Kerala

Interwoven with the cultural fabric of Kerala, the Soorya Classical Dance Festival is held in the capital city, Thiruvananthapuram, for 10 days every year. The festival is accompanied by some other cultural programs including theatre, photography, painting and seminars. Kathak, Manipuri, Odissi, Kathakali, Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi are some of the celebrated forms of Indian classical dance which are staged by eminent artists, during the festival. Organized by Soorya Stage and Film Society, this dance festival of India continues from October 1 to 10.

Elephanta Dane Festival, Maharashtra

Among the dance and music festivals of India, Elephanta Festival is a cultural pride of Maharashtra. The festival is held in the cave shrine of Lord Shiva on Elephanta Island, a 10 km boat drive from the Gateway of India in Mumbai Harbor. Illumined with the interplay of various lights, the Lord Shiva temple in the caves of Elephanta Island comes alive as a seat of art and culture, in the month of March every year. Since its inception in 1989 by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, Elephanta Dance Festival celebrates the folk dance form of each Indian state.

Khajuraho Dance Festival, Madhya Pradesh

Khajuraho, situated in Madhya Pradesh, holds the cultural traditions of Central India. A small village in Bundalkhand, Khajuraho is famous for its legendary temples where the dance festival is held ceremoniously, in the month of February every year. The festival is a gripping celebration of Indian classical dances, performed in the backdrop of flamboyantly illumined temples – the Chitragupta Temple and the Vishwanatha Temple under the evening sky. Once upon a time the capital of the Chandela Dynasty, Khajuraho is a dedicated chapter in the thousands-year old Indian history.

Konark Dance Festival, Orissa

One of the most spectacular dance and music festivals of India, Konark Dance Festival is held at an open air auditorium in the backdrop of the Sun Temple which is also known as the Black Pagoda. The marvelous architecture of the Konark Sun Temple is shaped like a chariot with wheels drawn by seven horses. On the Chandrabhaga beach of Konark, near the holy city of Puri, the Konark Temple offers a wonderful ambience when lit colorfully during the festival in the month of December. Odissi Dance, an age-old cultural identity of Orissa, is an exclusive highlight of the festival. Other dance performances such as Chau dance, Manipuri, Kathak and Bharathnatyam make it a lavish feast for the eyes.

READ MORE Interesting Facts of Konark Sun Temple

Ellora Ajanta Dance Festival, Maharashtra

Held in the month of January, Ellora Ajanta Dance Festival is an interface between culture and history of India. The historic Ajanta and Ellora caves of Aurangabad are in the spotlight during the festival. Organized by Aurangabad Festival Committee in collaboration with Maharashtra Tourism Development at Soneri Mahal, the festival presents the best of classical and folk dance forms in a blend. The glittering beauty of the festival and the splendid architecture of Soneri Mahal make a rare spectacle to behold with wonder. The regional art and craft of Maharashtra is also exhibited at the festival site.

Mamallapuram Dance Festival, Tamil Nadu

Mamallapuram, a seaside temple town in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu, prides itself on the popularity of the dance festival. The most important port in the Pallava Dynasty of the 7th and 8th centuries, Mamallapuram is a tourist destination known for its stone temples and monolithic rock sculptures. Arjuna’s Penance, a mammoth architecture with finely carved rock sculptures, serves as venue of the Mamallapuram Dance Festival, in the backdrop of the Bay of Bengal. Lulled by gentle breezes blowing over the sea, the atmosphere of the town is suitable for the festive mood. The festival begins in the last week of December and continues for three weeks in January every year.

Modhera Dance Festival, Gujarat

Gujarat does not lag behind other states of India when it comes to claiming fame for art, culture and history. Modhera Dance Festival, an annual cultural phenomenon in Mehsana district of the state, is held at the Sun Temple, an architectural excellence that belongs to the regime of the Solanki King Bhimdev I. Though lying in ruins, the temple exudes its historical charms when the surrounding is illumined for the festival. Dance and music performances by traditionally clad artists add to the spell of the atmosphere. Modhera Dance Festival is held in the month of January.

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Most of us know that India is home to the world’s largest golden temple. What some of us don’t know is that the largest golden temple in India is not the Temple of Amritsar, but the temple of Sripuram in Tamil Nadu. Popularly known as Sri Lakshmi Narayani Golden Temple of Sripuram, it is a divine seat of the goddess of wealth, surrounded by the blissful landscape of lush greenery at the foot of hills in Thirumalaikodi near Vellore.

Built across 100 acres of land at some 100 km from Tirupati, the Sripuram Golden Temple complex is a marvel of gold and an oasis of spirituality. The temple is covered with 1500 kg of pure gold foil in fifteen layers, double the 750 kg used for gilding the dome of the Amritsar Golden Temple in Punjab. Inaugurated in 2007, the temple is thronged by more than one lakh devotees during Hindu festivals.

Picture Credit: Sripuram.org

The layers of pure gold were made and mounted on copper plates by a group of artisans having excellence in the art of using gold. Both the inside and the outside of the vimanam (dome) and the ardha mandapam of Mahalakshmi Temple, in the middle of the Sripuram spiritual park, are covered with pure gold. Each single intricate detail of the gold work was manually created. The entire complex is lit is such a way that the temple glitters even in the dead of night.

Located at 145 kms from Chennai, the Golden Temple of Sripuram is built in the Vedic style of architecture. The stellar attraction of the Sripuram Temple complex is a star-shaped pathway (modeled on Lord Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra) sprawling over 1.8 km. The main shrine of Goddess Lakshmi Narayani is located at the center of the star-shaped path. While traversing the starpath, devotees come across various Vedic verses, spiritual messages and lessons on human virtues along the way.

Walking the starpath to the Mahalakshmi Shrine at the Sripuram Golden Temple is experiencing an altogether different world of peace and bliss, far away from the worries and cares of mundane life.

In harmony with the gold work, a 70-kg idol of Mahalakshmi in pure gold has been consecrated at the Golden Temple of Sripuram, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is addressed and worshiped as Sri Swarna Lakshmi here. Devotees are allowed to perform abhishekam to the idol here. The temple complex is meticulously adorned with man-made, beautiful sculptures which evoke wonder in visitors. The pillars and ceiling are ornately decorated.

Sripuram Golden Temple Facilities

The facilities include guesthouses, dormitory, dining hall, helipads, waiting areas, prasadam counter, parking, medical aid, cloakroom, restrooms and souvenir showroom. The guesthouses, both A/c and non A/c, provide decent accommodation. The dormitory with toilet facilities is available for free. There is also a paid dormitory. The parking lot is spacious enough to accommodate over 500 cars, 100 buses and more than 1500 two wheelers.

The Annapoorani Mandapam or dining hall is where about 10,000 devotees are served delicious vegetarian meals on fresh banana leaves at the Golden Temple of Sripuram. The holy kitchen adjoined to the dining hall is equipped with state-of-the-art cooking facilities. There are multiple rows of dining tables for comfortable seating. Outside the temple premises is Sri Narayani Bhavan, a multi-cuisine restaurant serving vegetarian delicacies at nominal prices. Adequate drinking water is available throughout the premises.

Unique to the Sripuram Golden Temple facilities is the Queue Complex or waiting area with adequate ventilation and comfortable seating arrangement. There are stalls in the Queue Complex where milk, fruit juices, snacks and other refreshments are available for devotees. The best thing is that the temple complex is disabled-friendly. Wheelchairs are available for the convenience of senior citizens with difficult movement and the physically disabled people, facilitating their access to the deity. Alongside wheelchairs, escort service is available at a very nominal fee.

Tamil Nadu’s Sripuram Golden Temple runs several projects for social welfare, including zero-waste management program, free public distribution of drinking water, blood donation camps, free coaching classes to the poor students, scholarship program, tribal community education, Sri Narayani Vidyalaya, and Sri Narayani Hospital and Research Center. Among the projects, Sri Narayani Kala Peedam provides the platform to promote different cultural forms including art, music and dance. Various cultural programs and spiritual concerts are organized here on a regular basis, aiming to encourage performers and entertain devotees.

How to Reach Sripuram Golden Temple

Chennai and Bengaluru are the nearest international airports, from where the temple can be reached through roadways. The temple is only 6 kms away from Vellore (Katpadi), which is the nearest railway station having trains from Chennai, Bengaluru and other parts of India.

This story is brought to you as part of the initiative, “Explore India with Indian Eagle”, aiming to promote what is the best and least-known about India through our overseas Indian community portal, Travel Beats. Travel Beats is a subsidiary of Indian Eagle Travel, a most sought after travel booking organization for cheap flights to and from India.

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Currently, India is going through economic slowdown and employment crisis, with the automobile manufacturing sector having hit a rough patch over the waning of the GDP growth rate to 5% in the first quarter of FY20. With the stock market bull making way for a bear market, investors are walking a tightrope. Even at this juncture, few social entrepreneurs including 80-year-old Kamalathal of Tamil Nadu are unaffected by the growth slowdown in the country.

While most of us ponder over what we can buy with 1 rupee in India, Kamalathal is happy selling fluffy, hot, yummy idlis with sambar and chutney for an incredible Rs 1. The octogenarian with boundless enthusiasm has been following the same routine and filling thousands of stomachs at an unbelievable price for the past 30 years, which will put to shame cheaper than the cheapest breakfast joints across India.

Image Credit: PTI

Though Kamalathal’s idli for one rupee has become a social media sensation, many of us don’t know what sort of toil and moil she goes through daily to continue her ‘holy’ mission to mitigate the hunger pangs of those who can’t afford a meal at market prices.

Kamalathal wakes up before the sun rises in Vadivelampalayam near Perur, Tamil Nadu, offers her prayers to the almighty, collects fresh vegetables for sambar from the farm and makes chutney using a grinding stone to crush coconut and other ingredients. In the same laborious manner, she prepares the idli batter daily in the evening for the next morning.

On being asked how she manages to continue the arduous job of grinding 6-8 kilos of rice and urad dal daily, she says that having grown up in a joint family, she is used to cooking for a large number of people. Grinding the ingredients for idli batter and cooking for a few hundreds daily is a spiritual pursuit to her.

Unlike the community and temple kitchens with modern cooking equipment, Kamalathal’s idli shop in Vadivelampalayam, which her home doubles up as, is equipped with a firewood stove, a grinding stone, and traditional vessels. At 6 o’clock in the morning, she opens the doors to a lineup of her loyal patrons from the same neighborhood and the neighboring areas.

Also Check: Chennai’s Auto-rickshaw Driver Makes 2000 Idli Varieties 

Kamalathal’s idli was priced 50 paisa per piece ten years ago. One rupee for one piece of idli has remained unchanged for the past few years. She refuses to hike the prices for her satisfaction of serving platefuls of idli to the needy, the poor and the hungry who can’t afford a filling breakfast for Rs. 15-20 anywhere else. Daily wage laborers account for a majority of her customers from the economically backwater class.

“Striving to satisfy the hunger, not filling my coffer with monetary gains is my mission,” Kamalathal says without mincing words. Kamalathal’s idli comes at a very nominal price, so that daily wage laborers can save some bucks for their family.

Her grandchildren do not like her to continue the work, as she needs to take care of her health. But, the tempo of her daily life shows no sign of abatement as she believes that her work keeps her active physically and mentally.

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Neither of the rigorous immigration norms, strict border restrictions and extreme vetting policy in the current political regime of the United States can be a barricade for talent from any part of the world. The inflow of talent from India to the US, which has been continuing for decades, bears testimony. In 2018, Jaykumar Vaidya from a slum in Mumbai made it to the University of Virginia as a research scientist.

A tea seller’s daughter from India is all set to leave for a 9-day visit to NASA in the US. 15-year-old J. Dhaanya Thasnem, the winner of the National Space Science Contest 2019, has made it to the global selection of students for the most coveted educational NASA tour in the US state of Florida. She is a native of Madurai, a temple town in Tamil Nadu.

J. Dhaanya Thasnem is one of the three Indian winners of the National Space Science Contest 2019. Sai Pujitha from Andhra Pradesh and Abhishek Sharma from Maharashtra are the other two who have been selected for the tour of Kennedy Space Center near Miami, Florida. They have already got their flight tickets to USA from India.

An exclusive opportunity to meet and interact with NASA scientists and astronauts at Kennedy Space Center is what makes the US trip interesting to Dhaanya Thasnem and others. During the 9-day tour, the National Space Science Contest 2019 winners from across the globe will write an exam. Only five students will be selected. They will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship each and an opportunity to study at the Florida Institute of Technology.

The essay titled “Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam – My Hero”, which J. Dhaanya Thasnem had written in the National Space Science Contest 2019, got her selected for the NASA tour. A 10^th standard student, Dhaanya has always aspired to make it big in space sciences. Though her school life has been full of hardship, she has not yet found her unprivileged, humble background a threat to her dreams. Rather, she is proud of her parents.

An admirer of Kalpana Chawla and a believer of Dr. Kalam, J. Dhaanya Thasnem is all thanks to Go4Guru, an online tutoring and educational tour services company operating from the US. In 2017, Go4Guru launched the National Space Science Contest to facilitate Indian students’ exposure to NASA and other international space science organizations, regardless of the students’ socio-economic backgrounds.

Dr. Don Thomas, a former NASA astronaut and an associate of Go4Guru, is currently on a tour across India delivering motivational talks at colleges and institutes in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

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Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2019, Indians got a mild relief from the overdose of political cacophony round the clock. The pleasant relief is the shortlisting of a short film on Kamali Moorthy, a 9-year-old girl, and her mother in rural India, for Oscars 2020. Directed by Sasha Rainbow from New Zealand, the 24-minute short film is named Kamali after the girl, who is the youngest girl surfer in not only Tamil Nadu, but the entire country. A couple of years ago, Kamali Moorthy emerged as a promising skateboarding sensation on the national spotlight.

The sole surfer in her village in Tamil Nadu, Kamali inspired the story of the short film shortlisted for the Academy Awards 2020. The film sensitively depicts the strengths and weaknesses of Kamali Moorthy’s single mother named Suganthi. Her difficult journey to raising her only daughter in a conservative rural setting and her struggle to make Kamali a skateboarding champion does also form the crux of the film.

New Zealand-based filmmaker Sasha Rainbow’s Kamali is currently doing rounds at the world’s leading international film festivals and winning accolades from film critics. The short film bagged the “Best Documentary” award at the Atlanta Film Festival in April this year. Among the most popular film festivals in the United States, Atlanta Film Festival is an Academy Award-qualifying festival in Atlanta, Georgia.

Shortlisted for Oscars 2020, the film unfolds the story of Kamali’s single mother who sells fish to make their ends meet, without sensationalizing her humble background to earn public sympathy for Kamali.

The film also depicts how Kamali’s mother became an embodiment of woman power in the process of raising her, earning a living for the family, defying societal odds, and educating her to  be  skateboarding champion. How she has been an infallible support system for Kamali, is subtly woven with the story of the film. When Suganthi walks down the memory lane of her childhood, she recollects how the society did not let her do the things she wanted to do.

The story of Kamali Moorthy and her single mother went global after Kamali’s unprecedented passion for skateboarding came to the notice of Tony Hawk, a celebrated skateboarder. Tony Hawk shared a moment of her barefoot skateboarding in a humble frock. Clicked by Jamie Thomas, a photographer on his visit to Mahabalipuram near Chennai, the picture went viral from Instagram and spread like a wildfire. Kamali redefined the passion for skateboarding without a traditional skater gear.

Shot over a period of six weeks, the short film Kamali won the Best Director award at the Mumbai International Film Festival in 2018.

Though not India’s official entry to Oscars 2020, Kamali has become a reason for Indians worldwide to rejoice because of its Indian protagonist and milieu, just as the documentary “Period. End of Sentence” from the United States made Indians go gaga over its Oscan win.

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