Egmore is a neighbourhood 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 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Situated on the northern banks of the
Coovum River, Egmore is an important residential area as well as a commercial and transportation hub. The
Egmore Railway Station was the main terminus of the
Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway.
Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in ...
and later, the
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
section of the
Southern division of the
Indian Railways
Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...
. It continues to be an important railway junction. The
Government Museum, Chennai
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 a ...
is also situated in Egmore. Other important institutions based in Egmore include the Government Women and Children's Hospital (currently a part of
Madras Medical College), the Tamil Nadu State Archives and the
Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department. The
Wesley Church, Egmore is the oldest church of the region.
History
The earliest references to Egmore occur in the inscriptions of the Chola king
Kulothunga I
Kulottunga Chola I ('; Middle Tamil: Kulōttuṅka Cōḻaṉ; Classical Sanskrit: Kulottuṅgā Cōḷa; 1025–1122) also spelt Kulothunga (), born Rajendra Chalukya (Telugu language, Telugu: Rājēndra Cāḷukyuḍu), was a Chola empire, C ...
.
Under the Chola Empire, Egmore was the headquarters of an administrative division or ''Nadu'' called Elumbur Nadu.
An inscription of the Nellore Chola king Vijaya Kanda Gopal dated 2 September 1264 speaks of a village in Elumur-Tudarmuni Nadu in Pulal Kottam. A
Vijayanagar period inscription of Sriranganatha Yadavaraya records an endowment to a monastery in
Thiruvottriyur by a resident of Serruppedu (identified with the present day
Chetpet) in Elumur-Tudarmuni Nadu.
Egmore is the Anglicised form of "Ezhumbur", the name of a pre-British era village situated on the northern banks of the River.
Despite the fact that Egmore had been a part of the East India Company's possessions since 1720, it was not until the "Golden age of British rule" stretching from 1858 to 1947 that Egmore witnessed some real growth. The Egmore Museum was one of the first notable monuments to be constructed here. The construction of this famous landmark was undertaken immediately after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The Connemara Library was created as an annex housing the museum's vast book collection and became operational in 1896.
Egmore, in 1796, was the site of the Military Male Orphan Asylum near Madras. This asylum was headed by
Andrew Bell, who invented the
Madras System for schooling there.
Various buildings

*
Chennai Egmore railway station
* Office of the commissioner of
Greater Chennai Police department.
*
Spencer Plaza
* Prince Plaza
* Hotel Chennai Gate
*
Hotel Taj Connemara
* Hotel Ambassador Pallava
* Hotel Westin Park
* Hotel Ashoka
* Parsn Towers
* Madras Studio
*
Rajarathinam Stadium
*
Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium
*
Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Centre
;Churches
*
St Andrew's Church, Chennai (an old Scottish
Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...
commonly referred to as the 'Kirk')
* Good Shepherd's Convent
*
Wesley Church, a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
church on the Poonamallee High Road. The church was established and consecrated in 1905 on the site of a garden house purchased by the Mission in 1892.
;Education
*
Connemara Public Library, one of the biggest libraries in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
*
The National Art Gallery (Chennai)
*
Government Museum, Chennai
* Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI)
*
Women's Christian College
*
Ethiraj College for Women
*
Don Bosco Higher Secondary School
*
Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai
The Government College of Fine Arts (initially known as the Madras School of Art) in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India. The institution was established in 1850 by surgeon Alexander Hunter as a private art school. In 1852, after be ...
* Madras School of Social Work
* Digital Scholar
Digital Marketing Institute
Politics
State assembly politics
Egmore has been a stronghold for
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
(DMK), ever since the party's creation. Other than barely losing to Congress in
1962 election, it has consistently voted for DMK, even during times of low popularity for the DMK. However, recently the
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory ...
(ADMK), have made significant in-grounds, like they have in many localities around
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 ...
, which used to be DMK strongholds. Egmore is also 1 of the two total constituents won by DMK in
1991 election. This constituent is reserved for
scheduled caste. This is also the first MLA seat held by
K Anbazhagan, when he won it in
1957 election.
* Note: In 1989, ADMK was split between
Janaki faction and
Jayalalithaa faction, and only the Jayalalithaa faction is reported in the ADMK column since they were the highest vote getter from the divided faction. The Janaki faction got 4,293, which is about 5.6% of the voters.
Lok Sabha politics
Egmore assembly constituency is part of
Chennai Central (Lok Sabha constituency)
The Lok Sabha constituency Chennai Central is one of three constituencies in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 4 of 39. Formerly it was known as Madras Central.It is also one of the smallest constituencies ...
.
Transport
Egmore Railway Station is the second most important in the state of Tamil Nadu after the Chennai Central Railway Station. It was constructed in 1908 and functioned as the headquarters of the now defunct
Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway.
Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in ...
till 1951.
Egmore is well connected to other parts of the city. Many of the state-run Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses run through Egmore. Egmore has its own suburban train station on the Chennai Beach - Tambaram Line, which connects it to other parts of the city.
Geolocation
References
External links
GeoHack - EgmoreChennai
{{Chennai Topics
Neighbourhoods in Chennai