|
The Egmore Museum
The
main artery of Egmore, Pantheon Road, has quite a few sites of
historical significance. The road’s name derives from the British
Raj’s Pantheon that once stood there in the 18th
century, one that played host to different kinds of entertainment
shows for the British in the then Madras.
Today, art galleries and museums occupy the
space where the Pantheon once stood. The thickly wooded enclave
contains the Government Museum, National Art Gallery, Contemporary
Art Gallery, the famous Connemara Library, and the more recent
addition, the Children's Museum.
Founded
in 1851, the Government Museum’s art, archeology and bronze
galleries are its best sections. Most of the bronze sculptures there
date back to the late Pallava and Chola periods, i.e., between the 9th
and 12th centuries. The archeology section too has
interesting sculptures from the Chola, Vijaynagar, Chalukya and
Hoysala periods in addition to exhibits of the Indus Valley
civilisation. The museum has anthropology, zoology, geology and
botany sections as well.
Also
in the Pantheon complex is the majestic pink sandstone building, the
National Art Gallery, built in the stunning Jaipuri-Jaina style. Art
lovers especially enjoy the gallery’s exhibits that highlight the
glorious tradition of Indian painting including the Rajput and
Moghul schools.
The
red, circular, Museum Theatre - flanked by Tippu Sultan's cannons
from Sringapatnam – and the Henry Irwin-designed Connemara
Library, built in 1896, round out the complex. The library, which
was recently renovated, contains a treasure trove of books, though
many rare editions are in a bad state due to neglect and decay.
The Pantheon Road stretches from the north
east to the south west, and just a stone’s throw from the former
end is the Egmore Railway Station, with its main building done up in
the striking Indo Saracenic style made famous by Robert Chisholm.
At the
other end is the area’s other main thoroughfare, College Road, so
named because the erstwhile College of St. George used to on that
road. It was to this college that officials of the East India
Company came to take lessons in language and governance. And with
the then madras being the capital of the huge madras presidency,
this college was the fountainhead of a number of Raj’s most
faithful servants.
|
Today,
the enormous campus that hosted this college has been taken over by
a government institution under the Department of Education, viz.,
the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI). Also in the DPI campus
is the Madras Literary Society, situated in a beautiful building
done up in the Indo- Saracenic architectural style.
Next door
to the DPI is the Women’s Christian College, or WCC as it is
locally known, and further down the Good Shepherd’s Convent, both
very famous educational institutions for girls. Quite a few
Chennaivasis wrongly believe that WCC’s presence is the reason for
the road’s name.
The
Ethiraj Salai, formerly Commander-in-Chief Road, branches off
easterly from Pantheon Road southern extreme. This road hosts the
popular Wellington Club, a couple of mid-range hotels and the
Ethiraj College for Women. The last few hundred metres of this road
undergoes a change in name and becomes the Binny Road, in honour of
the Binnys, which name also represents one of South India’s oldest
business houses. The house of one of this family’s members, John
Binny, today is the site of the deluxe hotel Taj Connemara and the
shopping complex Spencers, yet another long-standing commercial
establishment of South India.
Another
of Egmore’s arteries is the Marshalls Road, which is perpendicular
to the Ethiraj Salai and starts just where the latter becomes Binny
Road. It is in this Marshalls Road that the Madras Eye Hospital
stands and in yet another example of Indo-Saracenic architecture.
The Rajarathinam Stadium, home to many an athletic contest among the
city’s schools, colleges and other teams, and the Air India
complex are two of the other must-see sites in this road.
Today
There
has been a dramatic change in the very essence of Egmore. From being
the area where the white and brown sahibs built their houses, Egmore
today is a bustling centre of commerce. Shopping malls and hotels
are continuously springing up, and the various malls especially draw
in the city’s youth in flocks and hordes.
The
presence of three sports complexes, the University Union,
Corporation Stadium and Rajarathinam, and three hospitals – the
Children’s, Maternity and Eye – has also resulted in hundreds of
outstation visitors thronging this area daily. This in turn has
brought in travel operators, especially the bus operators, and the
presence of the city’s second most important railway station only
underlines this fact. Quite naturally there are quite a few boarding
houses, or lodges in local parlance, where one can stay without
creating too much of a dent on the ever-important wallet.
Anupama
Shekar, ark Commercials
|
|