Parry’s Corner
is a well known junction in Chennai, named after the EID Parry’s building that
stands at the corner of the intersection of North Beach Road and NSC Bose Road
near Madras High Court. Paris or Parrys is a household name among Chennaites,
which is an important place for commercial banking and trading and also very
famous for bazaars, is one of the most congested areas in Chennai. The NSC Bose
Road has many historic buildings and EID Parry’s was the second oldest business
house in India exists for more than 200 years.
The EID Parry’s (India)
Ltd., date back to 1788 when Thomas Parry arrived in Madras and registered as a
free merchant and setup a model business of piece goods and banking. Acquiring
the plot and garden house across the way from the High Court, Thomas Parry
developed it as the office of Parry and Lane and remodelled the house in
Palladian architecture. Followed by several partnerships the firm became Parry
& Co in 1839, made it the premier house of business in the South and one of
the leading businesses in the country.
The EID Parry’s
building, also known as the Dare House is named after John William Dare’s
contribution to Parry & Co, as the most significant partner. He was
recognised in the name of the Art Deco building that opened its doors on the
Parry’s site in 1940, is now houses the headquarters of Murugappa Group. Next
to the Parry’s building (on the NSC Bose Road) is the head office of the TNSC Bank.
The six-storied
Art Deco building/home was built in 1970 on the pulled down of Ramalingam
Building, owned by the Madras Provincial Cooperative Bank. By 1974, when the
Bank moved into the new home it become Tamil Nadu State Cooperative Bank come
head office.
Between the
Anderson Church (see the steeple in left) and TNSC Bank on the NSC Bose Road
are the buildings of State Bank of Mysore and LIC Bombay Mutual Insurance. Both the
building sits on the site where the Anderson Hall and College exists once. The
organisations also used the old buildings till their new once opened in 1957
and 1955 respectively. Interestingly both the buildings are constructed in Art
Deco style and the Bank of Mysore (center) is architect by B.R. Manicam who was the
architect of Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore.
Source of Reference : Hindu Metro Plus, The house that Parry built
15 comments:
i visited channai long back and fell so stupid that I didn't visited all these places
keep in touch
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CHENNAI IS SANGAM OF THE MODERN AND THE TRADITIONAL.IT HAS IMPOSING ARCHITECTURE. THE IMAGES OF PARRY'S CORNER AND OTHER COMMERCIAL STRUCTURES REFLECT THE GROWING ECONOMY OF TAMIL NADU!
i am certain a lot of commerce has gone on there throughout the years.
Oh, I didn't know the connection between Vidhan Soudha and the two buildings on NSC Bose road! Vidhan Soudha is a stunning masterpiece - good to know the architect behind the effort. Let me check what else he has built.
Destination Infinity
good info Jeevan
Hi Jeevan,
Beautiful photos of one of the important locations in Madras. I enjoyed the walk down the memory lane.
BTW - was the Chase Manhattan bank building near the Parry's building too? I can't remember...but somehow I remember the bicycle dealers were in the back streets of Parry's corner.
Peace :)
The bank is a handsome building!
Chandra - I have no idea about that bank and haven't heard of it before. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and thanksgiving :)
Photos are very good Jeevan. The information along with them are interesting. Though we visit this place often, never gave a second thought to look at these buildings keenly. Thank you!
Great pics, I have faint memory of these buildings. Great info shared.
Impressive buildings.
I like this area...I hope they maintain it and it doesnt rot..
These are tall monoliths which have become important landmarks in Chennai !
Really this is a great post,Thanks for sharing the information.
The bank is a handsome building!
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