Marina Beach (Tamil:மரீனா) is a natural urban beach in the city of Chennai, India, along the Bay of Bengal, part of the Indian Ocean.[1] The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of 13 km (8.1 mi),[2] making it the longest natural urban beach in the country[3] and the world's second longest.[4][5][6] The Marina is primarily sandy, unlike the short, rocky formations that make up the Juhu Beach in Mumbai. The average width of the beach is 300 m (980 ft)[7] and the width at the widest stretch is 437 m (1,434 ft). Bathing and swimming at the Marina Beach are legally prohibited because of the dangers, as the undercurrent is very turbulent. It is the most crowded beach in the country and attracts about 30,000 visitors a day during weekdays[8] and 50,000 visitors a day during the weekends and on holidays.[9][10][11] During summer months, about 15,000 to 20,000 people visit the beach daily.[12] In 2010, 18 percent of 5,000 respondents interviewed by a Tripadvisor Survey voted this beach as a dirty beach, way behind Juhu beach in Maharashtra which was voted India's dirtiest by 65% of the respondents.[13] Before the 16th century, there were frequent incidents of inundation of lands near the coast due to rise in sea level. When the sea withdrew, several ridges and lagoons were left behind. On the southern side of Fort St. George, one such sand ridge ran from the mouth of the Cooum to the present site of the Presidency College. On the rear side of the ridge was a huge depression on which the college grounds were later developed. The ridge is the site of the present-day beach.[14] When Fort St. George was built in 1640, the sea was too close to the fort. The building of the harbour near the fort resulted in sand accretion to the south of the fort and the harbour and the sea, which was washing the ramparts of the fort, moved afar at about 2.5 km away from the fort creating a wide beach between the land and the sea.[14] Before the Madras harbour was built, the beach was just a strip of mud, teeming with mudskippers. The beach washed up close to the present day road for a long time until the harbour was built in 1881. Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, the governor of Madras from 1881 to 1886, who was captivated by the beach on an earlier visit to the city in the late 1870s,[15][16] conceived and built the promenade along the beach in 1884 by extensively modifying and layering with soft sand. He also christened it the Madras Marina in the same year.[15][16] Since the early 19th century, a number of public buildings were constructed fronting the beach.[14] Ever since the harbour was built, the area south of the port has accreted significantly, forming the present day's beach mainly due to the presence of wave breakers laid for the construction of the harbour, although the coast in the northern region has undergone severe erosion.[17] Eventually, the north-drifting current widened the beach to its present extent. The beach was formed as a result of arresting the littoral drift by the port's breakwater.[18][19] The area of the beach is increasing 40 sq m every year due to progradation.[4] Since the creation of the promenade in 1884, there were several additions along the stretch. The country's first aquarium was established as one of the first additions in 1909. Shortly after the Independence, the Triumph of Labour statue (reminiscent of the famous World War II photograph of the American Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima) and the Gandhi statue in 'march to Dandi' stride, which has been duplicated on the lawns of the Parliament House, were erected on the beach. Both the statues were sculpted by Debi Roy Chowdhury, an artist who at the age of 30 became the first Indian Principal of the Madras School of Arts and Crafts. In 1968, a number of statues of icons of Tamil Literature was erected to mark the first World Tamil Conference, including Avvaiyar, Tiruvalluvar, Kambar, Subramania Bharathiyar, Bharathidasan and the Europeans Bishop Caldwell, G.U. Pope and Fr. Beschi (Veeramunivar). Anna Samadhi (memorial) was built in 1970 and the MGR Samadhi in 1988, shortening the stretch at its northern end. More recent additions include the statues of Kamaraj and Shivaji Ganesan.[15][20] Marina beach is a major tourist attraction of the city. People visiting Chennai make a point to visit the beach. It is also the main place for the local people to escape from the summer heat.[11] The beach is popular for its shops and food stalls run by about 500 shops run by about 1,212 vendors.[31][32] The memorials and statues, morning walk, joggers' track, lovers' spot, aquarium, and the like make it a hangout for people of all ages. Kite flying and beach cricket are common sports at the beach, and there are also facilities for pony rides. Beach cricket at the Marina dates back several decades.

• published: 04 Jan 2014
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