New amenities at Katpadi railway station

Katpadi railway junction is one of the major junctions in India connecting to four different directions (Bangalore & Trivandrum, Pondicherry, Mumbai and Chennai), having more than 75 stopping trains connecting all four major metro cities in India.      

Which is the best time in the year to visit Vellore?

Vellore is emerging as a medical and education hub.  People come to Vellore for various reasons from all over the world.  This blogpost is to talk about the time of the year that is best suited to visit Vellore.

How to reach CMC's Chittoor campus?

CMC, Vellore - Chittoor Campus is the newest campuses that they are developing and it is located 27 KM north of Vellore.  It has 130 bed facility with four state of the art operating rooms.

Vellore is starting air services soon....(actually there are going to be two airports in Vellore)

Vellore is a city with glorious history and strong future. It is the place where the sepoy mutiny (struggle for the freedom of India) took place almost 200 years ago and the future lies in the institutions that it has built over a period of time providing employment and education in thousands.

New CMC campus (with photos)

Road traffic accidents have become the norm of the day in India.  Tamilnadu state stands as the worst state in India for road traffic accidents and Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore has responded to the challenge.  They are starting a state of the art tertiary level trauma care center with 1500 beds.

Vellore ranks 8th among top polluted zones

I knew that Vellore is a polluted region but this is an absolute shocker. Read this articke to know more about why is it a polluted region.

Click here to read the article

Second CMC campus in Andhra Pradesh

Christian Medical College (CMC) is planning to start a second campus in Chitoor, Andhra Pradesh. Aapproximately 600 acres of land transaction for this proposed campus near Chittoor between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and CMC is supposedly completed and operations are expected to start soon.

Women & Child trafficking from Vellore

Many of us have heard of child and women trafficking but when have we heard of it taking place in Vellore? A Teluge daily “Eenadu” published a news article on March 4th (in their Tamilnadu edition) quoting police records. Six bus stands are quoted namely Koyambedu, Vellore, Trichy, Salem, Coimbator and Madurai from where more than 1000 women and children are abducted each year.

Why I think that Vellore will become the next auto hub of India??

If you’re as old as I am (44 to be precise), you know how much Indian automobile sector has changed. As kids, we were used seeing white ambassadors and next came Maruti 800. Gone are those days, there appears to be a new automobile coming out almost on a daily basis.

New direct train for Bengali patients coming to CMC from West Bengal

In the last Railway budget, Railway Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee had announced a new train service called “Aurobindo Express” between Howrah Junction and Pondichery (Puduchery) via Katpadi junction and Vellore Cantonment. This will come as a huge relief to many patients that are coming to Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore for treatment.

Trains at Katpadi station - North bound

Here is a list of trains at Katpadi railway station that are going in the northward direction. There's a large gap between this text and the table containing the train timings which I am unable to close. Simply scroll all the way down and you should see the table of train timings.

Main road of Vellore

A divided road with a four feet high median wall that represents hustle and bustle of Vellore during the day extends from Sepoy Mutiny statue on the north side and to the Vhooreese college campus on the south side.

Pictures of moat around the Vellore Fort

Brand new pictures of the moat around the vellore fort are added here.

Click on the images below to enlarge to view the details.

Star of Vellore

I love using Google earth. Recently when I was it to view the city of Vellore, I saw this place which looked like a perfect star. Here it is

Click on the image to enlarge to view the details

Vellore cantonment railway station

Most people only know Katpadi railway station as the destination to come to Vellore. Many don’t know that there’s a railway station in Vellore too. For a long time Vellore railway station was served by meter gauge trains but recently gauge conversion and electrification took place and now any broad gauge train can go there. Citizens of in Vellore need not come to Katpadi junction to catch a train.

Now there’s direct train (Electric Multiple Unit of EMU) between Vellore Cantonment to Chennai Beach and Tirupathy . Those that are coming from Chennai/ Arakkonam/ Tirupathy direction to visit the Golden Temple, need not disembark at Katpai junction but continue to travel up to Vellore cantonment whereby they can avoid major traffic congestion of the city and from cantonment one can take an auto rickshaw to go the temple. From cantonment station, Golden temple is about 7 KM and.

Glaring feature of the Vellore cantonment railway station is its parking space. Between cantonment station and Katpadi junction, there’s one station called “Vellore Town” just behind the vellore fort.

First image below is the entrance to the Vellore cantonment railway station. Second one is the station itself (note the details to resemble the station like Vellore Fort). Last image is the Vellore town railway station that is just behind the Vellore fort and located in between Katpadi junction and Vellore Cantonment station. Cllick on the images to see the details.

Beautiful sunset of Vellore

Recently we were driving back from Bangalore to Vellore. It was about 6:00 PM when we entered the city limits of Vellore. When we looked to the northward, sky looked so beautiful, our friend couldn't resist but capture the image in her camera. It almost looks like the sky is on fire.

Do you like this picture? Click on it to enlarge to see the finer details. Drop me a line to let me know what you think?

Vellore Airport

I always believed that locating an airport in any community has a domino effect to affect its economy positively. Airport being on the top of the pyramid, there could be industries such as taxis, hotels, restaurants, roads, and landscaping etc could impact the local community significantly by providing employment and using local resources.

In 2006, I had learnt that there’s an airstrip in Vellore (Adbullahpuram to be exact) owned by the ‘Airports Authority of India’ (AAI) so I wrote an article in the Hindu district plus arguing the need for operationalizing the airport. Then I said that there are places like CMC and VIT to use the airport. Since then, a new attraction has come up in Vellore called “Golden Temple” bringing enormous number of tourists to Vellore.

With the political dimensions of India are completely (I mean 100%) in favor of Tamilnadu and Vellore, I personally feel that it is the time that Vellore citizens demand for an airport. There’s enough market in Vellore to use the airport.

Click on "Vellore Airport map" to open the link to see the location of Vellore Airport.  Use the zooming tools on the top left corner to see the details of the airport and the sorrounding roads.  

I took the image below of an aircraft hovering over Vellore. I read that Madras Flying Club currently uses the Vellore airport and I am presuming that this aircraft belongs to them.

How to reach 'Vellore Institute of Technology' (VIT) in Vellore?

VIT is a 25-year-old engineering college, which is ranked as the best among the private engineering colleges in the country. It had a humble beginning and now it is known for it sprawling campuses and hostel facilities. VIT conducts a nation wide competitive entrance exam and attracts many students from other states and countries.

Do you need a place to stay when you visit VIT? Why stay anywhere when you can very well stay at the number one choice place of VIT visitors? Click here for details

If you look at the Vellore map, it will help you to see exactly where VIT is located in Vellore. If you’re coming by train, after getting down at Katpadi railway station, you can take a three wheeler auto rickshaw directly to VIT or you can take a bus number 1 or 2 up to Chittoor bus stand and then you can take an auto rickshaw from there to VIT. Distance is about 2 or 3 Kilometers from the railway station.

If you’re coming by a bus, after getting down at the bus stand, you can take an auto rickshaw directly to VIT or take a bus number 1 or 2 to Chittoor bus stand and then you can take an auto rickshaw from there to VIT. Distance from the bus stand would be about 5 Kilometers.

VIT is a popular destination and almost every person in Vellore knows it. If you have any questions, just ask for the directions to go to VIT and people will guide you.

Vellore map for you

Here is a Google map I designed for you for the city of Vellore. You can use the tools to enlarge to see the details. You'll find some surprises like "Vellore Airport" on this map. Let me know what you think of this??


View Larger Map

How to reach the Golden temple in Vellore?

Golden temple is one of the newest attractions of Vellore. Almost immediately after it is opened, visitors to Vellore have increased by the thousands making the maneuvering difficult with in the city. But there is an easier way to reach the Golden temple by completely bypassing the city’s traffic.  

Do not try to drive through the city’s traffic. Reach the temple by the access road from the Chennai-Bangalore highway (Highway number 46). If you’re coming from Chennai, you must go past Vellore for about 10 KM and then the exit (to SRIPURAM) comes on the left hand side. If you exit before or at the city of Vellore, then you have exited too early.

If you’re coming from Bangalore, it comes after the Pallikonda tollgate but before reaching Vellore. The road to the temple is on the right hand side. If you reach Vellore, then you have gone past the exit.

If you’re coming from Andhra Pradesh by road, when you reach Hotel River View, you must get on to the Chennai-Bangalore higway and from there follow the directions on paragraph two above.