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Photo: L.vivian.richard at English Wikipedia, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Pantheon Rd, Egmore. Established in 1857, the Government Museum of Chennai is one of the popular tourist destinations in the city. It is a multi-purpose State Government Museum in Egmore, which is in the heart of the city, spreading over an area of 16.25 acres (7 ha) of land. Six independent buildings in this Museum campus has 46 galleries. There is an Archaeology Section, Zoology Section, Botany Section, Geology Section, Numismatics Section, Bronze Gallery, Children’s museum, art gallery and various other interesting sections and galleries. It is considered to be one of the oldest museums of India, since its inception dates back to the Colonial rule. There is history behind the origin of this museum. In 1846, the Madras Literary Society debated the proposal of establishing a museum in the then Madras. The proposal was approved by the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London. The Chennai Government Museum was given this sprawling complex which is maintained by the State Government. There are six independent buildings in the Museum campus, which compose of 46 galleries. The museum was inaugurated on December 5, 1896 by the Sir Arthur Eli bank Havelock, the then Governor. He named it after the former Governor, Lord Connenmara. The museum was designed by H. Irvin, the consulting architect of the Government of Madras. The Government Museum has a splendid hall, marvellous reading room and striking Teak wood shelf and stands divided into a number of sections. Parts of the museum are often closed.
The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. It has among the largest collections of Roman currency outside Europe. The Museum Theatre is a central landmark of the museum. The National Art Gallery is also present in the museum premises. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, it houses rare European and Asian paintings by renowned artists, including Raja Ravi Varma. It had 600,000 visitors in 2018. It has a large collection of bronze idols, 500 of them dating to 1000 BCE, in Asia.
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The building of National Arts Gallery was built in the year 1907. This magnificent red sandstone building was designed by Henry Irwin and built by T. Namberumal Chetty. The building represents a typical Indo-Saracenic structure and was initially famous as Victoria Memorial Hall. Built with sandstone and adorned with motifs, the building bears impressions of Mughal architecture. The structure as well as the gallery collections are key factors responsible for the much credited tourist place. The gallery exhibits medieval handicrafts, sculptures, metal ware and paintings belonging to various schools of art, all from the past. The gallery displays paintings belonging to different schools and eras. The gallery's collections are displayed in four different sections that are: Tanjore Painting Gallery, Decorative Art Gallery, Indian Traditional Art Gallery and Ravi Varma Painting Gallery. The Tanjore paintings on glass are wonderful. The miniature paintings from Rajput and Mughal eras are fascinating too. The handicrafts that are displayed in National Arts Gallery belong to the 11th and 12th century, Indian handicrafts, period.
It has a repository of exhibits marking the passage of the state's law enforcement agency from colonial India to present. The building is a two-storied Indo-Saracenic structure, consisting of high parapet walls, wooden spiral stairway, Madras terrace roofing and traditional lime-plastered walls. The grand portico at the entrance features Doric columns.
புனித அந்திரேயா கோவில் Punida Antirēyā Kōvil; The Queen of Scottish Churches in the East;
Neoclassical church. Built-in 1821. The St. Andrews Church has finely etched white Doric columns, a black and white tiled marble roof, and a high, sky-blue dome of enviable beauty. On the inner surface of the dome, constellations of stars, as they can be viewed in Scotland, are painted realistically. The body of the church is a circle, with rectangular compartments to the east and west. The circular part 24.5 m in diameter, is crowned by a shallow masonry dome colored a deep blue. This is painted with golden stars and supported by 16 fluted pillars with Corinthian capitals.
புனித மத்தியாஸ் தேவாலயம் Punida Mattiyās Tēvālayam
One of the oldest churches in Chennai which were built by the British. It also has a higher secondary school in the campus which has boys and girls studying in the school.
லூதரன் அடைக்கலநாதர் தேவாலயம் Ludaran Aḍaikkalnādar Tēvālayam
Protestant Church which is more than 100 years old.
The rectangular building built in Neoclassical style houses the office of the Corporation of Chennai, the civic body that governs the city of Chennai. The building was designed by G. T. S. Harris and was constructed between 1909 and 1913. Heritage tour of Ripon Building: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) organizes a free heritage tour of Ripon Building on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 8 AM to 9 AM. Registration is mandatory and can be done online through the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) website.