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| Ripon building, Chennai, India.deccanchronicle.com/ |
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| Ripon building, Chennai, India..indiatimes.com |
Lord Curzon once said with reference to erecting a public memorial for Sir Seshadri Aiyar, Dewan of Mysore in erstwhile princely state of Mysore (now in Karnataka): ''The deeds and services of great men should be honored by erecting public memorial ......''. In the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu there is a beautiful, historical building in the heart of the city called Ripon building in honor of Lord Ripon (1827 - 9 July 1909), a popular Viceroy of British India, who in a short period, earned the love and respect of native Indians
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| Ripon Building, Chennai,TN .thehindu.com |
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| Lord Ripon by George Frederic Watts,en.wikipedia.org |
Ripon building was built by contractor Loganatha Mudaliyar and he took more than three years and Rs 7.5 lakh to complete the project. It was declared open by the then Viceroy and Governor General of India, Charles Hardinge. The early corporation building was constructed during
the period of Governor Elihu Yale, Madras Presidency. Perhaps many
people may not be aware the Madras Corporation is the oldest in India
and, it is said, that it is the oldest one in ant part of the
Commonwealth outside the Great Britain. Another interesting fact is the
Yale university in the USA ,was named after Yale, who made a large
donation to that institution. The idea of corporation was put forward
by one Sir Josiah Child, Chairman of the East India company as there
was a necessity to have a proper, formal civic administration to tackle
the needs of growing population of fort and town in mid 1650s.
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Lime and sand are to be mixed in a 1:1.125 ratio, with gal-nut (kadukkai) water and jaggery, for plastering. This method was comm0nly used in the by-gone days.
The corporation was inaugurated on September 29, 1688, when the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses took their solemn oaths and it was attended by 3000 people - mostly city's elite. Duration of the Mayor was one year. and he had to be elected by the Aldermen, who were nominated for life Burgesses, whose number were never to exceed 120, were to elect one of their number to fill any vacancy that might arise among the Aldermen. Subsequently in 1919 designations in the Mayoral office changed. The Aldermen who had, in course of time, become Commissioners were re-designated as Councillors, term Mayor was changed to head of the corporation and to President. Since 1933 the term Mayor has been in use. Kumararajah M.A. Muthiah Chettiar (Iater Pro Chancellor of Annamalai University, Chidambaram,T.N became the first Mayor in the new set-up. First woman Mayor was charismatic Mrs.Tara Cherian, wife of former Governor of Madras Dr. Cherian.
An annex building with a built-up area of 150,000 sq. ft., parking space, etc was built in August 2014 to take care of the needs of various departments
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripon_Building
The Fist Corporation - The Hindu, Apr 02, 2003
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