From the archive record
Fabulous clean sands, beaches without pollution or too many tourists. Tamil Nadu doesn't typically come to mind, but such is the reality of Velankanni Who said the French Riviera is the be all and end all? This lovely Indian coastal town doesn't get its due... A stunning view of the Vellayar river that runs into the Cauvery, and the most beautiful Velankanni Church in South India. Velankanni (V ka i), is a Special Grade Panchayat Town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, 350 km south of Chennai (Madras) and 12 km south of Nagapattinam. Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece, the tiny commercial center gradually lost its importance to the larger city of Nagapattinam. The canal built to link this town with Ved