Some Unknown Facts About Chennai AKA Madras
Chennai formerly known as Madras is the capital city of Tamil Nadu. Its surroundings were part of the Chola, Pandya, Pallava, and Vijayanagara kingdoms for many centuries. Madras city was officially renamed Chennai in 1996.
Today we are going to take a look at some of the unknown facts about Chennai.
1. The name Chennai is of Telugu language origin. The name Chennai was derived from the name of Damarla Mudirasa Chennappa Nayakudu, father of Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak, a Nayak ruler who served as a general under Venkata III of the Vijayanagara Empire from whom the British acquired the town in 1639.
2. The Vandalur Zoo sited in Chennai was set up in 1855 and it is the first public zoo in India and also the largest one in the country.
3. The earlier name of the city, Madras is believed to be originated from Madrasapattinam, a fishing village located north of St. George Fort.
4. Mount road which is 400 years old was the first few things the British people built in Chennai. This 14 km long road was mainly built for European employees to travel from Fort St George to St.Thomas Mount near Guindy during the time of Charles Macartney between 1781 to 1785.
5. Safire Theatre was India’s first multiplex cinema hall. It was demolished in 2003.
6. Chennai is home to the world’s second-largest beach, Marina Beach.
7. Chennai is the only city in India that was attacked during World War I.
8. After London, Chennai is the second oldest corporation in the world, dating as far back as 1687.
The first village to be added to Chennai was Triplicane which was obtained in 1676 on rent from the Sultan of Golkonda.
9. India’s first Cancer Hospital was established in 1920 in Chennai.
10. LIC was the tallest building in India when it was inaugurated in 1959.
11. The Madras High Court building is the second biggest judicial structure in the world. The number one slot is occupied by the building in London.
12. Chennai has the second-largest number of theatres in India is second only to Mumbai.
13. The first village to be added to Chennai was Triplicane which was obtained in 1676 on rent from the Sultan of Golkonda.
14. The first manufacturing plant of BMW was set up in Chennai. It started operations in January 2007.
