Виругамбаккам: История и современность района Ченнаи

Neighborhood of Chennai, India

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 oldest film studios. Virugambakkam is one of the important localities of Chennai and owes its growth to the expansion of the city in the post independence period. Prior to the establishment of residential colonies, Virugambakkam was a village covered by paddy fields, mango orchards and casuarina trees. Virugambakkam was first included within the Chennai city limits in 1977 along with other villages like Saligramam. Virugambakkam is well connected with the heart of Chennai city through roads. Buses running through Arcot Road link Virugambakkam with the more inner suburbs of Chennai city.

Virugambakkam is situated at a distance of 14.6 kilometres from Fort St George and 12.5 kilometres from Poonamallee. It is bound by Saligramam in the east, Koyambedu to the north and Alwarthirunagar to the west and south west and K. K. Nagar and Ramavaram, Tamil Nadu to the south east. Its frontier with Alwarthirunagar forms the western limits of the Corporation of Chennai.

The growth of Virugambakkam accompanied the expansion of Madras city during the years preceding independence. Virugambakkam was one of the many localities which cropped up during the Second World War. At that time, it was a part of the Kodambakkam Saligramam Puliyur residential district of Greater Madras. During the 1940s, Arcot Road was constructed connecting Nungambakkam with the Mount Poonamallee Road. In 1948, the first movie studios made their appearance when Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar shifted his base from Karaikudi. The locality has since become a haven for movie producers and cine artists. Virugambakkam was one of the important places connected with the Anti Hindi agitations of 1965. Aranganathan, a 32 year old employee with the Indian Postal Service immolated himself in protest against the imposition of Hindi. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam vigorously campaigned in the Virugambakkam region during the 1967 elections. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has done a first state level meeting it has been organised by V. P Akilan. the meeting has been held in front of Arignar Anna, Karunanithi, M. G Ramachandran and some leaders in Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Until the 1970s, Virugambakkam was little more than an insignificant village. It formed a part of Saidapet taluk of Chengleput district. Apart from a few movie studios, there were only a few sparsely populated settlements. The interior area which makes up the middle class residential colonies were covered by paddy fields. The town had a population of 8,013 in 1971. During those times, the outlying suburbs of the city alongside Arcot Road had a reputation for insecurity and as the haunt of sex. Until the early 1970s, the suburb of Kodambakkam formed the western frontier of Madras city. Virugambakkam was included in Madras city in 1973 along with Saligrammam. Since then, growth has accelerated, peaking in the 1980s and 1990s. To date, Virugambakkam is the only known source of natural gas in Chennai city apart from Avadi. The canal runs for about 6 kilometres through the suburbs of Choolaimedu, Arumbakkam and Vadapalani before entering Virugambakkam. This canal originally served the purpose of irrigating farm lands.

Chandra Metro Mall is a shopping mall located in Virugambakkam. The mall has a built up area of and was opened on 9 April 2011. The mall has a five screen multiplex with a capacity of 1,300 seats called INOX National operated by INOX Leisure. It has Food Bazaar, E Zone, Pantaloons as its major anchors. The food court is spread over an area of 10,000 sq. ft. The mall was built after demolishing the National Theatre. The mall's ground floor to floor below the theatre, D mart is situated.

Virugambakkam is well connected with the heart of Chennai city as it lies on the Arcot Road, which is considered to be one of Chennai's arterial roads. Virugambakkam lies on the Poonamallee Vadapalani Broadway bus route. The nearest bus terminuses are Saligrammam, Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus (CMBT) and Vadapalani. The nearest suburban railway station is at Kodambakkam, 4 kilometres from Virugambakkam. The nearest metro station is at Vadapalani.