Busy Radhakrishna Salai was once the address for a large number of eminent Chennaiites.
It’s 6 am on Sunday morning and there’s a cooler-than-usual breeze blowing in from the sea. But that doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 45 or so people who have gathered at the Gandhi Statue on Marina Beach to take part in a heritage walk down Radhakrishna Salai conducted by V Sriram.
Sriram is no tourist guide — he is chief operations officer of Broadgate Technical Services, a software development firm based out of Chennai, and director of the HVK Group which is into industrial marketing, packaging systems and services. Sriram is, however, best known for his writings on the heritage of Chennai and the history of Carnatic music. He shares his expertise in these areas in the walks he conducts during Madras Week in August and the music season in December. Many of the structures Sriram wrote about in his 2008 book, Historic Residencies of Chennai, lie along Radhakrishna Salai.
Now known for its endless traffic jams and “glass fronted concrete monstrosities”, Radhakrishna Salai has few reminders of Edward Elliot Road, a genteel stretch where rich Tamil Brahmins lived. Very few of the old bungalows remain, one of them the home of S Radhakrishnan, the second president of India after whom the road was re-named.
In its heyday, the road was the address of industrialists, doctors, philosophers, film producers and actors, musicians, top lawyers, judges, novelists and even a Nobel prize-winning scientist. In all there are 55 people and institutions important to the history of Chennai, and indeed India itself, who lived here at some point.
Right opposite the Gandhi Statue are two buildings with interesting histories. To the left is the Freemason’s Lodge which was handed over to the state police in the 1850s for the then handsome sum of Rs 17,000 and is now the office of the director general of police. The structure on the right is the administrative wing of Queen Mary’s College; this is where stood Capper House, the residence of Colonel Francis Capper built sometime in the 1800s, which was demolished in the 1990s. Nearby is an old bungalow once owned by Justice Subramania Iyer, a lawyer and nationalist who returned his knighthood to the British empire.
Some way down is Buckingham Canal built by the Duke of Buckingham to supply water to the Mylapore area, where several rich Tamil Brahmins lived. The canal, which took three years to construct and cost Rs 30 lakh, was criticised by residents at first, but later proved useful to transport goods, especially timber. The result — the area became a hub of the timber trade, though there’s little evidence of that now. ‘Kalluthottam’, a palm grove where toddy was made and an irritant to the genteel residents nearby, comes next. Again, little of the grove remains and the plot is now full of offices and residential apartments.
Close by is CSI Kalyani Hospital, founded by Dewan Bahadur N Subrahmanyam in 1901; a Brahmin who converted to Christianity, the hospital is named after his mother. Then come the houses of Madras Lalithangi Vasanthakumari, a renowned playback singer; and the Travancore sisters — Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, who were an integral part of south Indian films in the 1940s and 50s. Next is the house of C S Iyer, father of the Nobel laureate S Chandrashekhar, followed by “Girija”, S Radhakrishnan’s house where he spent his last years. Also on this stretch lived A V Meiyyappa Chettiar, founder of AVM Studio; Sister R S Subbulakshmi, who was active in the movement against child marriage and supported young widows; and S S Vasan, founder of Gemini Studio. Here Sriram regales us with stories of Vasan’s elaborate arrangements for the marriage of his daughter and son.
Among the other notable mansions on Radhakrishna Salai are Perunkulam House, the residence of A Madhaviah, a writer who campaigned for the liberation of widows, and his son M Krishnan; and Sudharma, home once to P S Sivaswamy Iyer, a prominent pre-Independence lawyer and nationalist, which has since been acquired by S Anantharamakrishnan, founder of the Amalgamation Group.
Another survivor from that era is the tram shed built in 1895 — only it is now the office of the electricity board.
By the time the walk ends at around 8:30 am near the Music Academy, another historical institution, the band of listeners following Sriram has swelled to more than 50. “It is difficult to remember these personalities and their history if we read it as history. People are interested in hearing stories and what I do is tell them stories,” says Sriram.
| STEP BY STEP
MADRAS HERITAGE WALKS CHENNAI PHOTO WALK |
TURTLE WALK
These walks are organised by the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network, a voluntary group comprising students mainly who have been working on the beaches near Chennai since 1987 to conserve and spread awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle. Of late, many MNCs have participated in the walks.
STORYTRAILS
These walks are conducted by Storytrails India, a professional organisation. Various types of walks are conducted regularly, on the request of companies or schools. The company conducts a Peacock Trail, Country Trail, Dancer’s Trail, Bazaar Trail, Simply South, Family Trails, Steeple Chase, Jewellery Trail and Mystic Trail. These are conducted through the year, especially in the tourist season
INTACH’S HERITAGE WALKS
Conducted every year during Madras Week in the second week of August, these walks take in various parts of the city. INTACH also conducts walks on request, especially during the tourist season in January and February. It also does the Roman Trail, in which it takes people on walks to historical monuments related to Roman culture in south Indian cities.
