Victoria Student’s Hostel: Regal, but in need of attention

Old, weathered, yet upright and serving its purpose. That is the authorities of Victoria Student’s Hostel successful Chepauk, Chennai. While it hasn’t mislaid its regal outlook, a person scrutiny reveals that clip has so taken a toll.

The hostel, coming nether the Presidency College, stands connected what was erstwhile called Chepauk Park, a triangular agelong of onshore connected the westbound slope of the canal down Presidency College. The scenery astir it has changed importantly implicit the years. The Chepauk MRTS presumption has travel up connected its bluish broadside portion the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium is situated diagonally to its west. Chepauk has lone grown busier by the day.

Inside, however, it is calm and peaceful. With the oversea enactment adjacent by, determination is nary dearth of breeze feeding the sprawling unfastened abstraction disposable wrong the bound walls. While immoderate of the hostel inmates preferred a leisurely locomotion successful the evening, galore others indulged successful their favourite athletics – volleyball, badminton, oregon gully cricket – adjusting themselves to disposable spaces.

The aged artifact was officially inaugurated connected January 29, 1900 by Arthur Elibank Havelock, Governor of Madras. Chipped walls and peeling oregon flaking overgarment astatine the aged artifact conscionable the oculus arsenic 1 steps wrong the building. Some of the smaller buildings surrounding the main structure, too, basal dilapidated. The hostel’s sanction figures successful an exhaustive database of practice buildings successful Chennai submitted to the High Court by the Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee successful 2009.

The aged hostel gathering was built successful the quadrangle design, styled aft an English college. The three-storeyed gathering has rows of rooms connected 3 sides with the gross and the room abstraction rounding disconnected the 4th side. In its 126-year history, the hostel has had galore stalwarts gracing its ramparts, including Sir C.V. Raman, Nobel Laureate Subramanyan Chandrasekhar and Field Marshall K.M. Cariappa. The 2 blocks (old and new) unneurotic location astir 800 students enrolled into antithetic undergraduate and postgraduate courses astatine the Presidency College.

Responding to a missive from the Madras Presidency the erstwhile year, Denzil Ibbetson, the past Officiating Secretary, Department of Revenue and Agriculture (Land Revenue), wrote successful March 1895 confirming the allocation of a “piece of land, of the estimated worth of ₹37,540 to the Victoria Students’ Hostel Committee”. The instauration chromatic was laid connected April 1, 1895 by Beibly Baron Wanlock, Governor of Fort St. George, successful representation of P. Ranganada Mudaliar, Professor of Mathematics successful the Presidency College. The operation was carried retired by T. Namberumal Chetty and it was reported to person outgo ₹2.25 lakh.