Location and Travel
About Chennai
Chennai
(formerly known as Madras, hence the name "IIT Madras") is the
capital city of Tamil Nadu, the state that constitutes the
south-eastern extremity of the Indian peninsula. According to
Wikipedia, the Greater Chennai Corporation is the oldest municipal
corporation in India and the second oldest in the world after
London. It has emerged as a cosmopolitan city playing an important
role in the historical, cultural, and intellectual development of
India, while preserving the distinctive features of the purest
form of Dravidian civilisation. It presents an interesting fare of
South Indian architecture, music, dance, drama, sculpture and
other arts and crafts. It is also an important centre for
education, industries (automotive in particular), trade, and
medical research.
Location of IIT
Madras
The main campus of IIT Madras is located on the Sardar Patel Road, half-way between the Raj Bhavan (the residence of His Excellency the Governor of Tamil Nadu) and Adayar bus terminus. It is right next to the Guindy Snake Park. On the other side of Sardar Patel Road is the Anna University and the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI).
Reaching IIT
Madras
The campus is
situated at about 14 km from the Chennai International Airport.
The best way for a first-time visitor to reach the campus is to
hire a taxi. Many operators provide round-the-clock service at the
airport, including OLA and Uber. It takes 25-45 minutes to reach
the campus from the airport, depending on traffic conditions. The
fare varies quite a bit based on the operator, type of vehicle,
traffic condition etc., but may be expected to be within the range
of Rs. 400 to Rs. 1000.
From the main
railway station of Chennai, the "MGR Chennai Central" the campus
is about 12 km away. It takes 35-40 minutes to reach the campus
from the rail station. Apart from taxis, auto rickshaws are also
available at the station.
In addition,
Chennai has well-developed bus and metro networks,
too. More information on these will be added to this page later.
Commuting
inside IIT Madras
The campus is
quite large in size, as can be seen in the map below. The conference venue is the IC&SR
Building, which is situated in the Academic Zone. There are some
buses running through the campus from about 6 am till 10 pm on
weekdays. They provide free transport to everyone within the
campus. During the conference buses will be available to ferry the
participants to and fro the main gate/guest house and the venue at
fixed times.
The campus is a paradise for nature
lovers. It has a beautiful green cover, with hundreds of different
species of plants, animals, and birds living in it. A very special
resident of the campus is the iconic black-buck, an antelope,
which had gone almost extinct in several parts of India in the
past decades. The campus has many scenic walking paths, a
full-sized swimming pool, and a stadium with a synthetic running
track.
Chennai tourism
There are many
places of interest in and around Chennai, form museums to
religious places. Chennai
Government Museum, Fort
St. George, Santhome (Saint Thomas) Cathedral Basilica,
The Marina
Beach, Kottam
Ramakrishna Mutt, Kapaleeswarar
Temple, Marundheeswarar Temple, Kalakshetra Foundation, Dakshinachitra
are a few places within the city limits. If one is willing to
travel a little further the suggested places are
Vedanthangal (85 km), Kancheepuram (72 km), and Mahabalipuram
(60 km). A complete guide to tourism opportunity can be found at
the official
tourism site of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
We have
included a half-day tour to Mahabalipuram
as a part of the social programme, where one can enjoy the
lovely beaches, excellent seafood, and visit the Shore
Temple Complex, which is a more than 1200 years old
UNESCO Heritage site.
Visa information
Delegates from
abroad will require letters of invitation to apply for their
Indian visa. This, in turn, requires us, the organisers, to obtain
clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of
Education, Government of India. Considering the processing time
for obtaining clearance from the ministry(ies), all
participants requiring visa should request for the letter of
invitation via email as soon as possible, and preferably no
later than June 30th.
More information
on this may be found at the official
site of Govt. of India. Further details in this regard will
be posted here in the coming months.