Central Chennai is the part of

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

city between the Coovum River and the

Adyar River The Adyar River, which originates near the Chembarambakkam Lake in the Kanchipuram district, is one of the three rivers that winds through Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and joins the Bay of Bengal at the Adyar estuary. The long river contributes ...

. While mostly grouped under South Chennai, Central Chennai is a term which has gained currency in recent times due to the rapid expansion of the city southwards. Covering the eastern neighbourhoods of

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 ...

Chepauk Chepauk is a locality in Chennai, India. The name Chepauk is popularly used to refer to the M. A. Chidambaram International Cricket Stadium, also known as the Chepauk Stadium. It is also home to the Chepauk Palace, built in the Indo-Saraceni ...

Teynampet Teynampet, also Teynampettai, is one of the busiest commercial localities in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Part of the city's central business district, it is surrounded by Gopalapuram, Chennai, Gopalapuram in the north, Mylapore in th ...

Alwarpet Alwarpet is a residential zone in central Chennai and is a part of the greater Teynampet region. It is surrounded by Teynampet in the north and west, Mylapore, Mandavelli and Abhiramapuram in the east, Raja Annamalaipuram in the south, and Na ...

Mylapore Mylapore (also spelt Mayilapur), or Thirumayilai, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the celebrated Tamil ...

Triplicane Thiruvallikeni known as Triplicane, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Chennai, India. It is situated on the Bay of Bengal coast and about from Fort St George. The average elevation of the neighbourhood is 14 metres above Mean sea leve ...

, Chindatripet and Mandaveli, western neighbourhoods of

Vadapalani Vadapalani is a neighbourhood in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for its film studios, the Vadapalani Andavar Temple, and Vengeeswarar Temples which are important pilgrimage centres for Hindus. Situated in the western par ...

Virugambakkam Virugambakkam is a residential neighbourhood of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is an important residential area of and is famous for its schools, market, residential colonies and residences of film artists. Virugambakkam had some of Chennai's o ...

Valasaravakkam Valasaravakkam is a neighbourhood in the Chennai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a residential suburb of the city of Chennai. It is located in the Maduravoyal Taluk at a distance of approximately 15 kilometres from the Kilometer ...

Alapakkam Alapakkam () is a neighbourhood in western part of Central Chennai. It belongs to Central Chennai Revenue Division of Chennai district. It is surrounded by Porur, Valasaravakkam and Maduravoyal. It is part of Chennai corporation under zone 11. ...

Maduravoyal Maduravoyal is a residential neighbourhood located in the west of Chennai, India. As of 2011, the town had a population of 86,195. Maduravoyal also has a name as "ettam kal" (8th mile), so it could be famous in British Period too, it is exac ...

Mogappair Mogappair (also known as Dr. J. J. Nagar) is a residential neighborhood in north-western Chennai, India. It is located west of the Jawaharlal Nehru Road (Inner Ring Road) and is part of the Ambattur zone (7) of the Greater Chennai Corporation. ...

and

Ambattur Ambattur is a northwestern part of Chennai, India. It is located in Ambattur taluk of the Chennai District, surrounded by Avadi, Anna Nagar, Korattur, Padi, Mogappair, Kallikuppam, Surapet, Ayappakkam, Athipet and Thiruverkadu. It c ...

, and central neighbourhoods of

Nungambakkam Nungambakkam is a locality in downtown Chennai, India. The neighborhood abounds with multinational commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, tou ...

Kodambakkam Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served by Kodambakkam railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam h ...

Mambalam West Mambalam is a residential and commercial area in Chennai, India. It is known for its shops, bazaars and Hindu temples. It is bounded by Kodambakkam to the north and Saidapet to the south. T. Nagar and Nandanam stretch along its entire eas ...

, T. Nagar,

Nandanam Nandanam is a neighborhood in Chennai, India. It is located on the northern banks of Adyar River, on the other side of Kotturpuram, and is bound by Saidapet, T. Nagar and Teynampet. In addition to a number of institutions and companies, Nanda ...

and

Saidapet Saidapet, also known as Saidai, is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India, situated in the northern banks of the Adyar River and serves as an entry point to Central Chennai. It is surrounded by West Mambalam in the North, C.I.T Nagar in the North-Ea ...

, Central Chennai is largely upper class-upper middle class. The eastern part is largely upper class with two of the costliest pieces of real estate - the Boat Club Road and Poes Garden being located here while the western part is mainly middle class. Kodambakkam is the location of the Tamil film industry or

Kollywood Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chenn ...

. Central Chennai is made of old and well-established residential areas and is mostly overlooked by IT companies due to scarcity of vacant land and high real estate prices. The Central Chennai zone, with its head office at Ambattur, was included Ayanavaram, Aminjikarai, Maduravoyal, guindy and Egmore taluks. Mambalam is commonly called as one of the oldest village near Chennai.

References

Neighbourhoods in Chennai {{Chennai-geo-stub