Presidency College

How often does one get to study in a 177 year old institute which is a page out of a history book in itself? It happens only in Madras or to be more precise Presidency College.

Presidency College had its beginning as a started as a preparatory school in 1840 at Edinburgh House, Egmore🚂. It became a high school on April 4, 1841, when it moved into the D’monte house, Egmore. The building also housed the first offices of the university until Presidency College was built. In April 1853, the collegiate departments were added named the Presidency College in 1855 although the college moved into its current building only in 1870-1871. Women🙅‍♀️ weren’t admitted to the college until 1889. Until 1891, the presidency college was also the law college when it moved to a separate campus.

The first Indian Governor-general C. Rajagopalachari, Sir C.V. Raman and Dr S. Chandrashekar are some of the distinguished alumni of this college. Their lecture room M-28 is dedicated to both the Nobel laureates.

Source: 📖 Madras Rediscovered | S.Muthiah

LIC, 1959

LIC building was the first skyscraper in Madras when it was built in 1959 with 15 stories at a height of 177ft. The building was built at a cost of ₹ 8.7 million in an total area of 1,26,000 sq ft. The building marked the transition from lime-and-brick construction to concrete columns in the region.

It was the tallest building in Chennai for over 35 years before being surpassed by the Hyatt Regency Building in Anna Salai and the Arihant Majestic Towers in Koyambedu, both in the mid-1990s. But LIC still happens to remain an iconic structure on chennai’s skyline and history.
M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar, the founder of Indian Overseas Bank and the United India Insurance, identified the location on Mount Road to construct an 18-storey building for his group’s headquarters and conceived the building in 1952. The building was designed by the London-based architects H. J. Brown and L. C. Moulin. The building was built on the lines of the UN Secretariat building in New York City.
The construction was completed in the year 1959 and the building was unveiled by the then Union Finance Minister Morarji Desai. The completed office building was to become the zonal and Madras divisional office of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and not that of the United India Life Insurance due to the nationalisation of the insurance service and all the assets were made over to LIC.

As tall as LIC” – a commonly used phrase emphasises how much of pride the people of madras associated with their beloved LIC building. Even today it is hard not to catch a glimpse of the building while passing through Mount Road.

SOURCE: Wikipedia.

Victoria Public Hall

In a meeting held in March 1882 at the Pachaiyappa’s Hall in George Town by some leading citizens, the decision to construct a town hall for Madras was taken. This resulted in the mobilisation of a sum of ₹ 16,425 from around 30 persons who attended the meeting.
The municipal corporation leased a 57-ground (3.14 acres) site in the People’s Park to the Victoria Public Hall Trust for 99 years effective from 1 April 1886 at a lease rent of eight annas a ground or ₹ 28 for the property. The then Maharajah of Vizianagaram, laid the foundation stone for the new building on 17 December 1883, who also led a list of 35 donors for the construction work with a contribution of ₹10,000. It took about five years to complete the construction.
The hall, an example of the Indo-Saracenic architecture, was designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840-1915) in the Romanesque style and was built by Namperumal Chetty between 1888 and 1890. It was opened to public by Lord Connemara in 1887, In January 1888, a citizens’ meeting decided to name the hall after Queen Victoria. The then Municipal Corporation President Sir A.T. Arundale took the initiative.

Source: Wikipedia.

Government House, Guindy

Another place that is always in the spotlight a lot in the recent times is the Raj Bhavan, residence of the Governor of Tamilnadu. The earliest official residence of the Governors of Madras were in Fort St. George.

Raj Bhavan or Guindy Lodge as it was once called was built by Governor William Langhorne (1672-78) in the early 1670s in garden space carved out of the Guindy Forest that had helped make St. Thomas’ mount a salubrious place for rest and recreation. It went to the hand of several indian and English private players until it was given to the government to settle a debt of 10,000 pagodas. Government also acquired a nearby property for Rs.8,750 from the Armenian merchant Joseph Nazar Shawmier. Between 1821 and 1824, Government linked the two properties with a third purchaser and the Raj Bhavan property as it existed at Independence came into being. It was in the 1820s that Governor Thomas Munro (1820-27) made Government House the official residence and what has now grown into Raj Bhavan .

Today The Raj Bhavan is a lush green escapade of about 156.14 acres. It comprises of 3.5 acre nursery, a lake and a very rich flora and fauna.The large Durbar Hall, a part of the Raj Bhavan complex has witnessed several swearing-in ceremonies. Alongside lie the plush Main Lawns where one can find deerand endangered blackbucks and many other species. Raj Bhavan is home to 500 deer, 830 blackbucks and 160 birds. About 7,000 trees border the pathway and the boundary of Raj Bhavan with the oldest being 150-year-old Neem tree.

Photo: Frederick Fiebig in 1851.
Source: S.MUTHIAH | THEHINDU

Ripon Building

Ripon building which currently houses the office of the corporation of madras is a fine example of the Indo-saracenic style with a combination of Gothic, Ionic and Corinthian styles. The building is named after Lord Ripon, Viceroy(1880-1884) who introduced several government reforms and also has a statue of him in the premises.
A magnificent white building, it was designed by G S T Harris and built by P Loganatha Mudaliar at a cost of 7.5 lakhs. The building was inaugurated on November 26, 1913 by Viceroy and Governor General Charles Baron Hardinge of Penshurst. Ripon building is 252 feet long and 126 feet wide with 132 feet tall tower. It also features a clock eight feet in diameter which was supplied by Oakes. The first floor of the building has an area of 25,000 sq ft.. However, several parts of the building had fallen into disrepair over the years, and in 2009, the Corporation began a strengthening and restoration project. The building was reopened for its centenary celebrations in 2013. While the mayor and council’s chambers remain there, the rest of the building was converted into a museum about madras.

Source:The Hindu |S.Muthiah