Page 570 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

568  SOUTH INDIA

Egmore Railway Station, one of the city’s major landmarks
4 Egmore constructed in Indo-Saracenic 5 Government
style, with unconventional Museum Complex
Bounded by Periyar EVR High Rd &
Pantheon Rd. n Egmore Railway flattish domes and pointed Pantheon Rd. Tel (044) 2819 3778.
Station, (044) 2819 4579. arches. The station, opera tional Open Sat–Thu. Closed public hols.
since the early 20th century,
The entire area south of Periyar connects Chennai with the & 8 Connemara Public Library:
EVR High Road (earlier known rest of Tamil Nadu Tel (044) 2819 3751. Open daily.
Closed public hols.
as Poonam allee High Road) and and the south.
the curve of the Cooum river Today Egmore This complex of cultural
is known as Egmore. This was is the up-market institutions used to
originally a small village that the commercial heart of house the Public
East India Company acquired Chennai, a concrete Assembly Rooms in
in the late 17th century, as it jungle of offices, the 18th century.
began to expand its territories. department stores, At the time, its spacious
Egmore was also one of the boutiques and hotels. tree-lined grounds
earliest residential localities, On Pantheon Road were the venue for all
where wealthy Company are the largest public entertainment
merchants built palatial homes showrooms of in the city. The Indo-
surrounded by luxuriant Co-Optex (see p578), Standing Buddhas Saracenic Government
gardens – the so-called “garden a unit of the Tamil from Amravati Museum, with its
houses” that were extremely Nadu Handloom faded red walls and
popular in colonial Chennai. Textiles Cooperative, which labyrinth of staircases and
The Government College sells handwoven silk and cotton interconnecting galleries,
of Arts and Crafts, founded in saris and fabrics from the state. spreads over five sections, each
1850, stands on EVK Sampath
Salai. This striking Gothic
building and its art gallery
were built by Robert Fellowes
Chisholm (see p573), who
was also appointed its
superintendent (principal) in
1877. Its first Indian principal, 1 2 MUSEUM
THEATRE
Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhary,
was a renowned painter and H A L L S R O A D
sculptor in the 1950s. The
artists’ village at Cholamandal 3 4
(see p582) was established
by his successor, Dr KCS PA N T H E O N R O A D
Panicker. Today the presti gious 5
Government College is one Plan of the Government
of India’s foremost art schools. Museum Complex
Its gallery puts on regular 1 Main Building 6
exhibitions of contemporary 2 Front Building
painting and sculpture by 3 Bronze Gallery
artists and students. 4 Connemara Public Library
To its west is the Egmore 5 Children’s Museum 7
Railway Station, another of 6 National Art Gallery
Chisholm’s architectural gems. 7 Contemporary Art Gallery
This is a handsome building,
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p702 and p717

568-569_EW_India.indd 568 26/04/17 11:48 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm