The New Woodlands Hotel is an
Udupi-style vegetarian restaurant in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Established in 1938 by Kadandale Krishna Rao, it is considered to be a pioneer in popularizing Udupi cuisine in the city. Since then, a large number of imitations and namesake Woodlands hotels have been established in various parts of Chennai.
History
The New Woodlands Hotel was founded by K. Krishna Rao, who was born to a Hindu priest in
Kadandale near
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...
on 21 October 1898. Poverty in the family forced Krishna Rao to seek a job at an early age. He worked for some time in one of the ''
matha
A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism. ''s in
Udupi
Udupi (alternate spelling Udipi; also known as Odipu) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Udupi is situated about north of the educational, commercial and industrial hub of Mangalore and about west of state capital Bangalore by road.
...
and for some time as a "helper" in a hotel near Kadandale. In the early 1920s, he moved to
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
at the advice of his brother-in-law. In Chennai, he worked in a hotel in various positions as cleaner, helper, server and finally, as junior cook. The owner of the restaurant was impressed by his hard work and dedication and made him manager of one of his hotels in Acharappan Street in Georgetown.
In 1926, Krishna Rao moved to
Anna Salai
Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and e ...
where he set up his own hotel, Udupi Sri Krishna Vilas, in partnership with the owner of another Udupi restaurant, the Udupi Hotel nearby. When the two ended their partnership in 1933, Krishna Rao inherited the Udupi Hotel as his share. Later, he also purchased Udupi Sri Krishna Vilas from the then-owner.
In 1938, the Raja of
Ramnad estate
The Kingdom of Ramnad or Ramnad estate was a permanently settled kingdom and later ''zamindari'' estate that existed in the Ramnad subdivision of the Madurai district and later Ramnad district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency in British Indi ...
sold one of his posh residences in
Royapettah
Royapettah is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India.
Location
Royapettah is located at the central part of the city of Chennai, with an elevation of 9 m (29 ft.) above mean sea level. The neighbourhood comes under Teynampet Zone (numbe ...
,
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, to a building contractor named
Bangalore Munivenkatappa, who started the
Woodlands Hotel (a.k.a. Old Woodlands or Royapettah Woodlands). Krishna Rao, then a successful
restaurateur, took the hotel on lease in early 1940s from
Bangalore Munivenkatappa and made it into one of the leading hotels in Chennai at that time. After the lease expired, Krishna Rao was denied renewal by its owners, which prompted him to purchase land at Dr. Radhakrishna Road,
Mylapore
Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...
, to set up the "New Woodlands Hotel". Kadandale Krishna Rao can be considered as the inventor of
masala dosa
Masala Dosa, also called Masale dosey ( ಮಸಾಲೆ ದೋಸೆ ), is a South Indian dish. It is a type of dosa and has its origin in Udupi cuisine of Karnataka. It is made from rice, lentils, Urad dal, Chana dal, fenugreek, puffed ric ...
.
Like many other Udupi restaurants, the New Woodlands maintained a separate section for Brahmins until the 1960s.
See also
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List of vegetarian restaurants
This is a list of vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Vegetarian cuisine refers to food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products. For lacto-ovo vegetarianism (the most common type of vegetarianism in the Wes ...
*
List of hotels in Chennai
The article below lists top hotels in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Background
Chennai is the third most visited city in India by foreigners, after New Delhi and Mumbai. In 2013, Chennai attracted 3,581,200 foreign tourists. The city was visited by ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{coord, 13.045365, 80.262248, display=title
Restaurants in Chennai
Vegetarian restaurants in India
1938 establishments in India