Face of Adyar

It’s time to remember chennaities, the season to celebrate the discovery of a city belong to 369 year-old. Calls it Madras Day or Week, at least to keep remain on this time calling in the origin name still exist worldwide, even though we rename it as Chennai. So many programs are carried on celebrating the event for the last 4years, ‘The Madras Week’ helps displaying the history and heritage specialty about our city in raising awareness among people, there are much facts going through online and newspapers with a separate column with old pictures. And I thought to do something different, and then came this idea of writing my own inhabitant location Adyar. This is one important area in Chennai to remain, if not for any historical, I think it has something special to mention and to its name to have a share in the city’s development.

Adyar is an elegant area in Chennai, which begins its development in early 70s and the recent development witness the ever raise of apartment complexes and high rental rates, what makes feel burden the people after IT’s caught up. And getting a home in this area is dream for many and opulent could only make it possible. Adyar is the gateway to the southern suburbs and IT corridor which bears the top most IT parks and ECR, the travelers enthusiastic. Adyar is the remaining locality of greenery in Chennai borders with Adyar River and Buckingham Canal. The world headquarters of Theosophical Society located here on the bank of Adyar Estuary and forest, which shelters for many species of birds and trees is a gifted environment for nature lovers and what it provides a tranquil is unique to a noisy and spread pollute city. And people come here particularly to sight the very-old Banyan tree, and later people spell it as adyar big tree. The two main roads that essential part of people is the Lattice Bridge Road (LB Road) and Sardar Patel Road, which holds the country top institutions like IIT-Madras, Anna University of technology, Adyar Cancer Institute and the world largest leather research institute. And these two roads are worth in recent period for heavy Passage of vehicles; remain connecting with its neighborhood areas and its central place or meeting point of roads known as Adyar signal, which had a face-lift by the construction of two way flyover.

The larger area of the Adyar signal put names for some forefront and long lasting in this location. To refer few are the Ganesh temple to its north, existing for more that 50 years or so remembered by people and being renowned general among locals. Being a son of one regular visitor to this temple, the memories spread every nook of this temple, served to be one place to visit at every particular time with family. The Anantha Padmanabhaswami temple in 2nd main road of Gandhi Nagar is one often checked by people, and it remains serene for a pleasant stable, and being a child, visiting this temple is kept unknown spirit. These days I wonder where lost the calmness, looking at the stretching queues outside the temple. To mark next is the Adyar Park in northeast, well-known by locals as Aavin Park, which have an aavin ice-cream parlor, and once been a pasture garden and children play area still remains with lack of renovation, but in the development of roads its existence wonders.

Thus located in corner of the signal, it may name Hotel Coronet, but decades back it was originally called as Hotel Besant, famous for its vegetarian cuisine but still serves as a non-veg in compete with other stylish cuisine restaurants and is one oldest landmark in Adyar. In 1950s there was this Karkathamman Hindu Military Hotel run by Mr.P.Venu is the only non-veg hotel in this location and famous for its spice turkey biriyani prepared at every Sunday. Adyar have the quality when it comes to taste, whatever u buy from sweets to snacks ‘Adyar Ananda Bhavan’ is the leading store in the city completes with savory. It developed into 31 branches throughout Tamil Nadu and neighborhood states including New Delhi taking the name along with serving sweet. There is another flavor place and more special about it is home made sweets and snacks prepared in gee, ‘The Grand Sweets’ in Gandhi Nagar Adyar is only place let you. Adyar is also famous for its candy and cakes, brought from Adyar bakery places at birthday celebrations at homes, and parties, again the quality and hygienic brings people from far ever places or near by its branches to get the best.

The Pizza Corner in LB Road is a place easily attracted by young people to taste something new. The construction itself seems different as if some flight crashed into the building. There were two movie theaters in Adyar; one was very famous called by Eras which was turned into a marriage hall later and into Mitsubishi showroom a decade back and the other one is Ganapathiram Theatre still exist. The Periyapalayathu Amman Temple in LB Road is most popular goddess temple in Adyar, and its major celebration is Aadi festival which comes in month of July-August. The mosque oppose to the temple is very older which is frequently followed by Muslims and regular prayers are conducted every day, in silence one could hear the breath of people calling alla hu akbar. The nearby bus depot is one big stand for city busses to park and service with latest machineries, to stop along receives busses for all places in Chennai and outer.

To add one more is the old Adyar Bridge constructed in British period which was in transportation and in working condition till the arrival of a new one. Today it carries the burden of advertisement banners and involved in corrosive by salt wind and small plants. The new ThiruViKa Bridge build in 1973 help people for enough travel and in recent times its worth witnessing the trail of heavy traffic flow throughout morning and evening in its half-km stretch. And there is another bridge near the mouth of Adyar River which is more that a km length helped people to come across the river in two wheelers then, thus it was broken into half because of the hurricane; it gives way to shooting films these days and sometimes its damn insecure being there. In education, residents of adyar holds some best schools like St.Johns, Bharath, Bala Vidya Mandir… and am really happy to do from one of these schools and I could proudly tell am an old student of Bharath Senior Secondary School. Somehow I feel you may get some idea about my area (enga area ulla vanga :) Last but not least. There are so many changes happening from time to time and something come flowing in mind about my location, let me update something frequently and whatever it may; more or less I love my place Chennai!