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One such is the drive across the Adyar Bridge, a replacement for the old Elphinstone Bridge. The road winds into the scenic Besant Avenue, where avenue trees meet across the street, their leaves rustling in sibillant resonance, and then on to the biggest eco retreat of all - the Theosophical Society. With its grand old headquarters building, the shrines of all faiths and the Garden of Remembrance, the balmy air and the serene surroundings of the wooded property spread over 270 acres serve as a palliative to the frazzled nerves of the city dweller. Olcott Gardens and Blavatsky Gardens, named after the founding couple Henry S Olcott and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, have been joined by Besant Gardens, Damodar Gardens - for others who followed “the founders in their search for truth, to study religion, philosophy and Man and his place in the universe.”
The imposing headquarters building, with its large portico and Great Hall is a splendid sight. Bas reliefs of Gauthama, Zarathustra, Jesus and Krishna, a verse from the Koran as well as symbols of Moses, Confucius, Guru Nanak, Mahavir, Orpheus and Osis decorate the hall. On the campus is the famous banyan tree, estimated to be over 400 years old and believed to be the second biggest in India. Visitors throng the Society just to see this marvel. Sad to say, the 40-foot tall, 30-ton trunk was uprooted in a gale in 1989 and attempts to replant the trunk have been only partially successful.
As we bask in Chennai’s pride, the Society has grown internationally, with branches in more than 60 countries. But what would its visionary founders have to say if they could take a look at the Madras as they knew it? The modern concrete jungle encroaching into every available space and choking the ecosystem! Sethulakshmy Nayar
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Copyright
2008, Chennai Interactive
Business Services (P) Ltd. |
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, no doubt. And there are places in Adyar that have retained their charm in the midst of all the change. Spots that stand as silent spectators to the changing scenes around them!
Among the shrines is the Hindu temple sans an idol and having an oil lamp as the object of worship, the Buddhist vihara in a coconut grove with an 800-year-old statue of Buddha, a mosque modelled on the Pearl Mosque of Agra, a chapel of St Michael and All Angels, a Zoroastrian temple and a
gurdwara.
Olcott set up the Society’s library in 1886. He began what he called “the child of my brain, that hope of my heart” with about 200 books in 24 languages. The first book Olcott placed in it on December 28, 1886, was Isis Unveiled by Mme Blavatsky. Today, the Adyar Library and Research Centre has over 200,000 books and 20,000 palm leaf parchment manuscripts.
