Madras Day: The hidden Adyar park where you lose yourself

I have found a new favourite place in Chennai. It does not have Instagrammable boards. Nor does it have a fancy cafe.

It’s a place that does not announce itself. And yet, it’s a place where you can probably find true love. Or a bit of yourself.

This spot is in Adyar, a neighbourhood that sits at the intersection of everything Chennai: a neighbourhood filled with commercial buildings co-existing with a heady dose of green spaces.

If the term ‘tucked away’ had a visual, it would be this. This walk-through park is located at a dead end and is hardly visible to the outside world, making it one of Chennai’s perfect date spots.

And why this park and not any others here? Because, most others have become ‘family friendly’. Somewhere, the kids are pestering their parents for one last ride on the slide. Or, the elderly are trying to get their arms and shoulders in shape by driving some sort of a fitness wheel which exists for reasons that are beyond comprehension. Or worse, the biggest park scam ever known, the ‘pebble walk’ — where you walk barefoot for the wellness of your feet. Maybe this was designed to benefit slipper thieves in the neighbourhood.

Sorry, I’m joking. More importantly, I’m digressing.

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Back to the star location of this tale: the walkway, where busy city life comes to a standstill. Take a walk among these wooded paths for hours of conversation with your partner; it’s inexpensive, can burn off a few calories and gives you the space and time for a memorable tete-a-tete. You could start walking in Adyar and exit somewhere in Kotturpuram, a stroll that could hold a lot of meaning, especially if you’re with your partner.

Early evenings are ideal here. Especially if the weather is your friend because when it rains, this walk-way is shut. Watch out for a couple of not-so-friendly dogs, a tottering guard who insists on locking up on the dot at 6pm. At times, even cops land up here to check if all is in order, lest miscreants cause trouble. All these technicalities reminds me a bit of another Chennai dating rite of passage: the Broken Bridge, where romance and municipal disapproval co-exist.

Aravind Suresh and Padmavathi Balakrishnan Meenu take a stroll in the Adyar walk-through park by the river.
| Photo Credit:
Shivaraj S

Here, you can hear the chirping of birds. Here, you can overlook a calm, still river and be lost in your thoughts for hours. Here, you can watch couple of squirrels frolic up and down the trees. Here, you can even spot rowers on the Adyar river. In between taking in all these, you can have life-changing conversations.

Either with your partner, or with yourself, or with the trees.

Here, in the middle of busy Chennai, you get the feeling of being lost and yet, feeling safe.

It is also one of those rare initiatives of the Greater Chennai Corporation that has got many things right: trees and plants along the Adyar river, while creating a green space for residents to walk. There are more plans for this place, if the recent Tamil Nadu Budget 2026 budget is anything to go by. A few years down the line, you could probably take a boat ride in the river and stroll in a recreational riverfront, modelled after Seoul and Singapore.

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And if that happens… I would be the first in queue to purchase a ticket and check out my favourite walking place from the waters. The tottering watchman would probably still be on guard, looking at me and wondering: Ada-yaaru? (Look who’s here!)