Saturday, August 24, 2013

Heritages from heart of Chennai

The Chennai has number of historical building built during British administration still standing as landmarks of Chennai - the then Madras. The Chennai celebrated its 374 birthday on August 22, which commemorates the founding of the modern city by establishing Fort St George on a small piece of land acquired from the last King of Chandragiri in 1639 by the British East India Company. Here are few important landmarks from the heart of Chennai:

The heart of Chennai
The Chennai Central Railway Station, the main railway terminus in the city is a renowned landmark of Chennai and home to the Southern Railways - the most important rail hub in South India beside other major stations (Chennai Egmore and Tambaram). Trains from here connects almost major cities of India including the capital New Delhi, is also the main hub for the Chennai suburban railway system.

The railway station designed by Henry Irwin was built in 1873 at Parkown Chennai and it is a Gothic Revival style of building. The original station was designed by George Hardinge and consisted of just four platforms. The station was later modified with the addition of the central clock tower and other changes by Robert Fellowes Chisholm. The redesign was eventually completed in 1900 was further strengthened after the construction of the headquarters of the Madras and Southern Mahratta railways which is now known as the Southern railways of India adjacent to it in 1922.

Ribbon building
The Ribbon Building is an all-white structure, stands tall proudly on the west of the Chennai Central Station is the house of office of Chennai Corporation. The building is a fine example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, a combination of Gothic, Lonic and Corinthian is one of the landmarks left by British. Built in the early 1900s has been aptly named after Lord Ribbon, who can be considered as the father of local self government.

The building took a massive renovation in 2012; to preserve the original grandeur of: the walls were constructed with stock bricks, plastered with lime mortar and roof supported with teak wood joists. One of the main attractions of the building is the Westminster Quarter chiming clock which was installed by Oakes and Co.  in 1913. The clock has a mechanical key system, which were cast by Gillet and Johnston  has four bells.

Victoria Public Hall
Victoria Public Hall or the Town Hall is another historical building in Chennai, named after Queen Victoria. The hall, an example of the Indo-Saracenic architecture was designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm in the Romanesque style is built by Namperumal Chetty between 1888 and 1890. The hall located on the current EVR Periyar Salai, between the Central station and Ribbon building was opened to public by Lord Connemara in 1887.

The hall was built to accommodate 600 persons, while a wooden gallery in the eastern end has seating arrangement for more than 200 persons. The structure consists of arcaded verandas, a square tower that is three storeys high and a carved pyramidal roof. There is also an intricately carved terracotta cornice, which resembles Islamic calligraphy atop the tower.

An unknown heritage building on Mt. Road, Chennai
An unknown heritage building on Mt. Road, Chennai
PS. Sorry for the quality of photos, because they were shot from the moving car amid the interruption of Metro Rail Project across the view. (Source of info: Wikipedia)

19 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

wow! really gorgeous architecture!

Pooja Mittal said...

I never knew chinni has such beautiful arctiture , ribbon building is so amazing.. And railway station looks more like a historical monument..,
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Indrani said...

I haven't been to Chennai for long. Great captures.

deeps said...

haaa
at last one familiar place...among places you have been taking us, at last i have found one place where i have visited, The Chennai Central Railway Station

Destination Infinity said...

The quality of photos are good, actually. I wonder what they are using the Victoria Public hall for, now?

Destination Infinity

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Chennai is a gorgeous city... Love the architecture in those buildings. The Railway Station is gorgeous.. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Betsy

George said...

These are all very impressive buildings. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Karen Lakis said...

Very nice photos, Jeevan! The architecture is beautiful!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

The architecture here is absolutely amazing...I can't imagine the work that must go into building these structures!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Absolute classics!

Rajesh said...

Amazing structures. I hope people value them and take good care.

Ramakrishnan said...

Marvelous landmarks from Chennai.

Anonymous said...

Wow - those buildings are beautiful. Love that first shot.

Preetilata【ツ】 said...

On what a wonderful tour you took me to Jeevan.

Superb. And your photography is exquisite.

Rahul Bhatia said...

Lovely pictures of this historic edifice!

venuss66 said...

Beautiful! Architecture is awesome.

Twilight Man said...

The buildings are really nice and full of characters! I love them.
I often spent lots of time admiring old buildings in China, Japan, US and UK. I must visit India someday.

Ponniyinselvan/karthikeyan(1981-2005 ) said...

Chennai is Chennai.Queen always.

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