MGR Memorial, Triplicane, Chennai
MGR memorial is a
memorial structure built on the Marina beach in Chennai City of
Tamilnadu. It was built in memory of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran. Spread over 8.25 acres, the
memorial is located adjacent to the Anna Memorial and has the highest footfall on the seafront. The
body of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and MGR's protégé J. Jayalalithaa is also buried at this site.
History
The memorial was built in 1988
and was inaugurated by Janaki Ramachandran, wife of M. G. Ramachandran, in May
1990. The memorial was remodeled and the whole complex was laid with
marbles and opened in 1992 by J. Jayalalitha when she became the chief minister
of the state of Tamil Nadu the previous year. When J. Jayalalitha died on 5 December
2016, she was buried next to MGR. This structure was designed by Architect Mr.
K. Ramachandran, retired chief architect of PWD, Tamil Nadu. Between 1996 and
1998, the mausoleum was again renovated at a cost of about Rs 27.5 million.
After the Indian
Ocean tsunami struck
the seafront in December 2004, the memorial was affected. Repair works were
taken up at the cost of about Rs 13.3 million. In 2012, the
memorial was again renovated at a cost of Rs 43 million, including Rs 34 million for remodeling the
facade and the wall around the memorial.
The renovation included a new
entrance sporting AIADMK party's two-leaves symbol and Pegasus, the horse from Greek mythology, landscaping the open area around the memorial
using Korean grass, and planting exotic decorative plants such as palmyra
alpha, date palm, spider lily and actinium, a granite pathway shaped
like a massive guitar in the middle of the memorial, stainless steel handles
around the memorial, a fountain in the middle, waterfall at the rear,
decorative lamps, and an overhead tower with lights both at the entrance and on
the arch.
Two pergolas having 18-metre
width have also been constructed, in addition to ramps for the physically
challenged. The erection of the two-leaves insignia was opposed by the
opposition DMK party. A public interest writ petition was filed in the
Madras High Court in October 2012 against the erection of the two-leaves
insignia, but was dismissed by the court.
The
Memorial
The MGR Memorial on Chennai’s
famous Marina Beach was erected in memory of the legendary and much-loved actor
cum politician MG Ramachandran. Until 2012, the facade of the memorial was a
tall entry arch with folded hands when it was replaced with a concrete replica
of two-leaves emblem, the symbol of AIADMK party founded by M. G. Ramachandran.
The facade was also given a Grecian touch with the erection of a 12-foot-high
bronze sculpture of Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The
3.75-tonne sculpture, worked by architect R. Ravindran, a sthapathy from Mamallapuram, is set on a 4.5-metre-high pedestal.
Two 15.9-metre-high columns
serving as the entrance are built with reinforced cement concrete. The elevated
"two-leaves" structure is supported by a 6-metre-high beam serving as
the stem. The leaf structure, with a span of 10.2 meter for each leaf,
will be a meter higher than the nearby towering columns. The leaves have a
slight resemblance of a honey comb and is visible from both the front and the
rear. A museum on M. G. R. is located within the memorial at the northern side
of the campus. MGR Memorial cannot be missed if you are in Marina Beach. The
distinctive memorial is close to the Anna Samadhi. Both Anna and MGR are much
revered in Tamil Nadu so both these monuments attract many visitors.
Connectivity
For brief details, please refer below link;
