page_title: Marina Beach
section_title: Structures along the beach
hierarchical_section_title: Marina Beach / Structures along the beach
caption_attribution_description: English: Marina Swimming Pool at Marina Beach, taken on 2-Feb-2013, at 4:00 pm
context_page_description: Marina Beach is a natural urban beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, along the Bay of Bengal. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Foreshore Estate in the south, a distance of 6.0 km, making it the longest natural urban beach in the country. 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 and the width at the widest stretch is 437 m. Bathing and swimming at the Marina Beach are legally prohibited because of the dangers, as the undercurrent is very turbulent. It is one of the most crowded beaches in the country and attracts about 30,000 visitors a day during weekdays and 50,000 visitors a day during the weekends and on holidays. During summer months, about 15,000 to 20,000 people visit the beach daily.
context_section_description: Being the city's primary area for recreation, the entire stretch features numerous statues and monuments that have come up over the years along the beach promenade, called Kamaraj Salai. While the beach stretches along the eastern side of the road, the western side is dotted with various governmental institutions and historic and stately buildings from the British rule all along its length. Victory War Memorial, a memorial for the warriors who lost their lives in the World Wars, marks the northern end of the beach. Memorials for C. N. Annadurai, M. G. Ramachandran, J. Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi, former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, are present on the northern end of the promenade known as the Anna Square. As of May 2018, a Lilliputian Children's Traffic Park was under construction near the Anna Memorial adjacent to the Anna Swimming Pool at a cost of ₹20.7 million. The traffic park measures 4,140 square meters, with facilities such as a viewing gallery, walking track, children's play area, traffic sign boards, and a riding track.
  All along the length of the promenade, stone statues adorn the roadside area of the beach starting from the Triumph of Labour statue, the first statue erected in the beach, near the memorials at the Anna Square to Mahatma Gandhi statue near the lighthouse. Most statues are of national or local legends while others have symbolic significance like the Triumph of Labour statue. The statues along the promenade are (from north to south):
  Robert Caldwell (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Kambar (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Ilango Adigal (erected on 7 November 1971)
  Triumph of Labour (erected on 25 January 1959)
  Bharathiar (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Kannagi (erected on 2 January 1968/re-erected on 3 June 2006)
  Subhas Chandra Bose (erected on 15 December 1997)
  Thiruvalluvar (erected on 2 January 1968)
  G.U.Pope (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Annie Besant
  Bharathidasan (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Swami Vivekananda (erected on 12 July 1964)
  Avvaiyar (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Mahatma Gandhi (erected on 14 April 1959)
  Veerama Munivar (erected on 2 January 1968)
  Kamaraj
  Periyar
  Earlier present near Gandhi statue traffic island was a statue for Sivaji Ganesan, which was erected on 21 July 2006. Following a court order, it was shifted on 3 August 2017 to a newly built memorial at Adyar.
  The other side of the road houses several historical buildings and institutions including the Chepauk Cricket Stadium, the University of Madras, the Presidency College, Vivekananda House, Queen Mary's College, Inspector General of Police Headquarters, All India Radio—Chennai, Dr. Annie Besant Park.
caption: Marina Swimming Pool
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