Chennai is celebrating its 382nd birthday! So to celebrate our very own Chennai’s Birthday let us have a look at few buildings, which has traveled from Madrasapatinam to Chennai:
- Fort St. George – 1644
Although Madras was born 377 years ago, it is only after the establishment of Fort St. George did the city grow and become the presidency. The Fort built 373 years ago, is almost as old as the city. Constructed for trading purposes by the East India Company, the building now hosts the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly making it one of those heritage sites that never retired.
- College of Engineering, Guindy – 1794
The 223-year-old college is India’s oldest technical institution. What started as a small School of Survey by the East India Company with eight boys grew to become one of the first institutes in India to offer degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunication, Highway Engineering and Printing Technology. In 1978, College of Engineering, Guindy became a constituent college and the principal seat of Anna University. That is right, that building you see whenever there is news about Engineering is 223 years old.
- Ripon Building – 1913
The Ripon Building is one of the costliest constructions of the British. Built for a whopping 7,50,000 by Loganatha Mudaliar around 104 years ago, the building is now the seat of the Chennai Corporation. It has been The Municipal Corporation of Madras from 1913, with P. L. Moore as the President of the Municipal Corporation at the time of the inauguration.
- General post office- 1884
Chennai General Post Office (GPO) is located at Parry’s Corner. Governor Harrison inaugurated the 133-year-old building when he started the first Company Postal Service in Madras to carry mail to Bengal by dak runner. Chennai GPO operates from 8:00 am to 8:30 pm from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, it functions from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The GPO has no other branches and has facilities like speed post, registered post, parcel, insurance, e-billing, and e-posting and a 24-hour telegraph office.
- Royapuram Railway Station- 1856
Royapuram railway station is one of the oldest railway stations currently operating in India; its counterparts in Mumbai and Thane are no longer functional. The 161-year-old station was the first ever railway station in South India.
- Police Headquarters- 1839
The Police headquarters building is a heritage building in Chennai that stands tall facing the Marina Beach. The 178-year-old houses the director general (DGP) of the Tamil Nadu police.
- Bank of Madras- 1843
The Bank of Madras was the first ever Bank started in Chennai, 174 years ago. It merged with the other Presidency banks in 1921 to form the Imperial Bank of India, which is now State Bank of India.
- Madras High Court- 1862
The Madras High Court has been serving justice for the past 155 years. The court is one of the three High Courts in India established in the three Presidency Towns of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras by Queen Victoria.
- Central- 1873
Chennai Central is one of the most important railway hubs in South India that connects to every other part of the country. The 144-year-old building of the railway station is one of the most prominent landmarks of Chennai that was designed by architect George Harding.
- Egmore Government Museum- 1851
The Government Museum of Madras is the second oldest museum in India. The 166-year-old museum is rich in archaeological and numismatic collections. It houses the largest collection of Roman antiquities outside Europe. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, the museum depicts the human history and culture.
If you are Chennaite, am pretty sure you have visited all these places, but the next time you go inside one of these buildings, remember, there is never an age to retire.