Chennai-based Storytrails launches a fun, informative book created from its walking tours across the country
Chennai-based Storytrails launches a fun, informative book created from its walking tours across the country
The skyline of Chennai’s coast is pinned by the Arabian Knights-like bastion of the High Court on one side and the Gothic spire of San Thome Cathedral on the other. Between the two, they define the city where modern India was founded and from where the Union Jack was hoisted across Asia.
It’s a sight that StoryTrails founder-CEO Vijay Prabhat Kamalakara and his team have frequented, as they introduce travelers to the British Blueprint – the monuments of colonial India – on their walking tour.
Storytrail Walk participants | photo credit: special arrangement
It is one of the many areas that StoryTrails has pioneered since 2007, showcasing India through story-based walking tours and audio tours and local experiences, run by authors and researchers. “When I moved to Chennai 15 years ago to work in IT, we used to pack our visiting customers on a one-day trip to Mamallapuram in a cab with a guide. Storytrails was established because we found that Chennai had more stories to tell, more nooks and crannies to discover than the typical trip to the ECR. Our team loves to research, and shares that passion for places and love for history with others,” says Vijay.
Storytrail Walk participants | photo credit: special arrangement
Recently Launched StoryTrails Temple of Treasure and Other Incredible Tales of Indian Monuments(published by Hachette). The book picks out 30 sites from across India that have been part of their walking tours and explores the events around them that have shaped our culture and history.
The pendulum of time in the book swings between stories of stone coffins with relics of Buddha at the Sanchi Stupa, the story of the best building in the country – the Madras Ice House.
“We script our tours and proceed by dates and dynasties to interconnect the sites. We live in an age of too much information, so what we hope to do is to inspire the participant to read about the place and discover it for themselves.”
Over the years, Storytrails has taken its story-based learning programs to schools across India, organizing walking tours in Mumbai, Chennai, Puducherry, Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram, creating three-minute story trails for YouTube and Developed audio tours that guide you on your own time. and speed if you happen to be in a particular place.
Storytrail Walk participants | photo credit: special arrangement
“We started with a pilot project at the Government Museum Egmore and established one in Dakshinachitra, partnering with corporate organizations that encourage local engagement with culture, and with Tamil Nadu Tourism Department at major monuments and museums across the state. To install the app in. The app is free because we want every visitor to be able to access it, and since it is story-based, it gives much more than just information. We hope to go live soon with audio tours at places like Mamallapuram and Brihadeeswara Temple.”
“Our walk structure is for 15 people at a time,” says Vijay. “We have our technology-driven offerings for a large audience. The stories have been scripted and rewritten over the years, and we take care that they are scrutinized by researchers and experts such as archaeologists and archaeologists. ,
The truth about history is often on the edge today, has it become difficult to separate fact from fiction? “Oh, we get a fair share of trolls, but we hope that through our research-based stories, more people will be inspired to discover India for themselves,” Vijay laughs.