Forlorn museum

When one think of museums in Chennai, the first one to come to mind has to be the Government Museum at Egmore, with its fabled bronze gallery. And then, you might recall that there is a museum within Fort St George. If you are a fan of the railways, then you would probably put the Rail Museum at the top of your list. And you may somewhere, in the back of your mind, imagine that there might be some specialised museums, such as those for Ramanujan, or Vivekananda. 

A museum for the Public Works Department may not even make your list. But there is one such, inside the PWD Estate in Chepauk. It is a library-and-museum rolled into one, and commemorates the 150th anniversary of the PWD. That dates the museum to 2008, for it was in 1858 that Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General, consolidated various departments into a single PWD in each of the Presidencies. In Madras, it meant the coming together of three major departments: the Maramath department (works relating to irrigation, buildings, waterways, smaller roads and bridges), the Trunk Roads department and the Engineering department. The remit of the Madras Presidency's PWD spread over Tamil Nadu, Malabar, Andhra and into today's Odisha.

Considering that extent, it is surprising that the PWD has been able to fit in 150 years of its history into this rather small, hexagonal building; maybe they haven't been able to get all that organized enough, which may be the reason why this library-museum is almost unknown. There is little indication of the museum hours; that bundled up figure at the top of the steps may be able to guide us, but for the moment, it is unconcerned with our presence!

Waiting to open

In a couple of weeks from today, the gates of the MA Chidambaram Stadium will open for the fifth test of the India-England series. In that time, India could have either won the series already, or it could be that England is looking to square the series, having won the fourth test at Mumbai. 

Either way, there will be a lot of excitement around the test. Chennai has not hosted an international test match in a long time. The last one such played here was almost four years ago, when India played Australia in February 2013; it is about time the next one takes place. 

So, are you going to be watching this match live?

Old books

Looked at one way, he had a long reign. But in 1825, when Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse Khan came to the title of the Nawab of the Carnatic, he was barely a year old and it was his father's brother, Azeem Jah who served as the regent until the young Ghouse came of age, taking over the responsibility in 1842. It could have been a much longer reign, given his youth when he ascended the masnad, but fate cut it short: Ghulam Muhammad Ghouse died in 1855, and having died childless, allowed the British to take over the Carnatic, ending the reign of the nawabs.

It was during Ghouse's reign that Dr. Edward Balfour, a multi-talented surgeon landed in Madras. Dr. Balfour had thrown himself into India; he had translated the Guldasta-e-sukhan, a 14th century work into English and was generally all for progress and integration. At his insistence that the Muslims of Madras needed a library for themselves, the Muhammadan Public Library was set up in 1850. The Nawab made a grant of Rs.700 to the corpus, and a monthly grant of Rs.35 for the library's upkeep. And with Dr. Balfour coaxing people all over the Madras Presidency and beyond, the library opened with nearly a thousand books. Of these, the majority was gifted by well wishers across the country, and shortly after it opened, the library received a gift of 240 books in Arabic from Abbas Pasha, the King of Egypt.

The library faded out in the 1990s, because the building it was housed in went to seed. Thankfully, the secretary of the library, Saba Mustafa, kept the faith and in 2005, the library was re-opened in its current location. So that explains why the building does looks very dapper for its 175 year old occupant!

Back gate

This was once the rear entrance to the students hostel of the Presidency College. The main entrance was on the Buckingham Canal, across the canal from the College itself. Of course, at the time this was constructed, the main entrance would have very scenic; open space, with the canal coursing through it. Across the water, the red-brick buildings of the College, with a hint of the beach, and the sea, beyond. 

These days, the Canal is more like a ditch. The MRTS blocks the clear view to the east of the hostel. I haven't tried the access to the hostel from the college, but chances are it is easier for the students to walk around and get in to their rooms through this gate!

Learning dome

One of the buildings of the University of Madras, right on the Marina. Can't help wondering if its architecture has been influenced by the Navaratna style from Bengal - the nine turrets / domes of the building seem to point to such!

Special medicine

Another view of the super-multi-speciality hospital - the building which was originally supposed to be the new home of the Tamil Nadu state assembly. 

Would have expected to see more crowds. Is it because people don't get sick enough to go to hospital on a Sunday morning? 

Cricket, lovely cricket

Today, India start their 5-test series in England. In keeping with that, here is a glimpse into the M.A.Chidambaram stadium at Chepauk, seen as the MRTS train passes it. 

Keeping fingers crossed on the Indian team wresting the Pataudi Trophy back from England!

Watching factories

There was a time when one was expected to know how many Inspectors of Factories there were in the state, apart from their bosses, the Deputy Chiefs, on to Joint Chiefs, and thence to the Chief himself.  Considering that the Chief wielded the power to dictate how a factory should be run, he (it has always been he, I don't think Tamil Nadu ever had a woman chief so far) was a shoo-in to have his office in what was once a palace.

The Khalsa Mahal is the southern block of the Chepauk Palace, which was the residence of the Nawabs of Arcot. It was built in 1768 and was acquired by the government in 1850. It is likely that the initial designs were drawn up by Paul Benfield, but in the 1870s, they were expanded by Robert Chisholm. Khalsa Mahal survived quite intact through those efforts, but in recent years, the building has been sorely threatened by fires, and parts have actually been consumed by flames, as well.

The Chief Inspector of Factories may have shifted out of here by now. In fact, there is no more a position called Chief Inspector of Factories. The nomenclature has changed and it is now called Director of Industrial Health and Safety - and the (currently) 48 Inspectors have had their titles changed as Deputy Directors. Wonder if the factories are running ship-shape now!

Morning match

So what if we can't get 11 players a side? So what if there is no grass on the playing field? So what if we can't really loft that ball over extra cover? So what if we don't have enough stumps to make wickets at both ends of the pitch?

Cricket on the streets continues to thrive because there is no answer to those questions. Rules are adapted, and sometimes just made up, to account for the nature of the pitch and maybe even the weather. So when there is a 'water hazard' just around where a deep mid-off would be, the rule may be that a shot into that hazard would get just one run. Or maybe half-a-life. It all depends on what the teams agree to.

But this game here is not happening at any old place. This is right beside the Chepauk Palace, kind of within the shadow of the MA Chidambaram Stadium's floodlights. It has been a long time since I've played any kind of cricket - or even watched it seriously - but couldn't help stopping and watching this match for a few minutes!

Details, details

The Khalas Mahal was once the palace of the Nawab of Arcot, and it has now been taken over by the government to house some of its offices. With that, many parts of the Mahal are now out of bounds, with even the employees not accessing them at all.

This balcony is one such. It was originally built with a lot of flourish, with a fair amount of detail in the wood-work, as well as in the three marble mosaics immediately below it. Unfortunately, not many people who visit these offices have time to look at these details, for they would be dreading other kinds of details the officers might demand of them!

It is the theme day at City Daily Photo and the theme for today is 'Details'. More details at the CDPB Theme Day page

Connecting tower

How could a palace be split into two? Maybe that was troubling Robert Chisholm, as he viewed the two blocks of the Chepauk Palace, built over a century before Chisholm set his eyes on it. But even with the separation, it would have been a grand sight, two large, low buildings set in a vast area of almost 120 acres, bordered on the east by the beach. On the west, it was stretched to what is today's Bell's Road; the Cooum on the north limited its spread and to the south, Pycroft's Road marked its boundary. 


The Chepauk Palace was built in the 1760s, as a residence for the Nawab of the Carnatic. At that time, it was Mohammed Ali Khan Wallajah, a favourite of the British, who was therefore given the privilege of being housed close to Fort St George. The two buildings that the palace was divided into were the Humayun Mahal and the Khalsa Mahal. To the north, the Humayun Mahal was abutted by the Diwan-e-Khana hall. Until 1855, the Nawabs of the Carnatic lived in the Chepauk Palace; that year, it was taken over by the government, citing the Doctrine of Lapse, when the last Nawab of the Carnatic, Ghulam Mohammed Ghouse, died heirless. In the 1870s, when Chisholm got his hands on these buildings, they were being used as government offices. Chisholm's additions included some rooms and verandahs to Humayun Mahal and a grand entrance with a tall tower rising over it.


That tower is the most visible part of Chepauk Palace these days. When the Ezhilagam and other assorted buildings came up along Rajaji Salai, they blocked the magnificent view of the palace from the beach. Even the tower comes into view only from some angles: with the Chepauk Palace now completely taken over by government offices, the visitors are more concerned about getting their work done than about the heritage of this tower!

Chennai Super Kings!

Oh, well, it is just a photo-of-a-photo. The photo was on the wall at the office of ShowSpace, who were managing Chennai Super Kings. It is a picture that dates back almost two years, to the first season of IPL, but hey, I'm off to watch today's match, so enjoy the colours here - if you aren't at the stadium already!

A faithful subject

Goday Narayana Gajapathi Rao has good reason to be thankful to Queen Victoria. It was she who, in 1881, elevated him from being a zamindar (holder of land) to being a Raja (King). The newly annointed Raja looked around for a fitting gesture of gratitude and decided on a statue in honour of the Queen Empress. And he timed it well; the statue took a while to be completed, but was ready in time for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

And so the statue was unveiled on June 20, 1887. It was placed near the main entrance to the Senate House (of the University of Madras), on its southern side, looking across the road to the Chepauk Palace. Initially, the gates were right next to the statue and everyone coming in to the Senate House had to pass her scrutiny. Over time, the entrance gates shifted westwards. The statue moved out of immediate line-of-sight and now, it takes an effort for the preoccupied passer-by on Wallajah Road to look up and see the Queen.

Raja Goday's gratitude thankfully did not end with putting up this statue. He also founded the Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medical School in Vizagapatnam. It is quite likely he would be very upset with the way things are today - his Queen's statue ignored and the medical school renamed as Andhra Medical College. I wonder what the faithful subject would say!