It has seen history being built around it — standing in all its grandeur and glory as the city flourished. We take a sneak peak at the majestic Victoria Edward Hall.
As Marine drive is for Mumbai and Mount road is for Chennai, Madurai has it's famous Town hall road. Victoria Edward Hall, the town hall of Madurai was established in 1902. Situated near the Madurai railway junction, this was the first closed auditorium for Maduraiites. Named after Queen Victoria who made a visit to this city, this architectural splendour has been standing tall and strong over the years.
A reading den
In those times, Victoria Edward Hall was the one and only auditorium for top politicians, theatre afficionados and for the British government to conduct various programmes. Tamukkam ground and Thilakar Thidal were functioning as the open air auditorium for the common public at the same time. Ishmail, the secretary of Victoria Edward Hall is more than excited to share the importance of the Madurai Town Hall. He says, "We have a public library that functions only in the morning. Our shelves are crammed with all kinds of magazines and dailies, that are read by bookworms here. We have a precious ancient library that houses above one lakh books. We have an amazing collection of old books, government gazettes and a rare bunch of old novels. It is by far our most prized possession".
Entertainers' arena
The adjacent closed auditorium that was initially used by the British for government meetings. They were then on rent to the dramatists and political parties. "Popular dramas were staged in this auditorium, particularly MR Radha and Ramadass were some of the regular celebrities who staged their dramas here. Our members are mostly retired people who come here in the evening to spend some quiet time in our lawns. Being in the centre of the city and the most busiest area, these lawns are a blessing to the localites" he adds.
Theatrical shift
The Town Hall was leased to a private party seventy years ago and then converted into a cinema theatre called 'Regal Talkies'. Ramasamy, a business person functioning in the Town Hall road for many years says, "This theatre earned its fame for releasing Hollywood movies. Youngsters from south Tamil Nadu used to visit Madurai to watch their favourite English movies. World famous James Bond movies were released here as well." In the courtyard, old people sit and chat, spending their time catching up with their friends. In the next building, few are engrossed in a game of chess while other are busy with a big carrom board, occupying the brightly lit spots in the room. The secretary Ishmail continues, "We are here to give an educational lift to the entire hall so that people appreciate books and the history behind this majestic building. We have philanthropically based programs too. Apart from the indoor games, we have two tennis courts as well. "This hall echoes voices from the pre-independence era, which is why Town Hall is the pride of Madurai!
Source - TOI
As Marine drive is for Mumbai and Mount road is for Chennai, Madurai has it's famous Town hall road. Victoria Edward Hall, the town hall of Madurai was established in 1902. Situated near the Madurai railway junction, this was the first closed auditorium for Maduraiites. Named after Queen Victoria who made a visit to this city, this architectural splendour has been standing tall and strong over the years.
A reading den
In those times, Victoria Edward Hall was the one and only auditorium for top politicians, theatre afficionados and for the British government to conduct various programmes. Tamukkam ground and Thilakar Thidal were functioning as the open air auditorium for the common public at the same time. Ishmail, the secretary of Victoria Edward Hall is more than excited to share the importance of the Madurai Town Hall. He says, "We have a public library that functions only in the morning. Our shelves are crammed with all kinds of magazines and dailies, that are read by bookworms here. We have a precious ancient library that houses above one lakh books. We have an amazing collection of old books, government gazettes and a rare bunch of old novels. It is by far our most prized possession".
Entertainers' arena
The adjacent closed auditorium that was initially used by the British for government meetings. They were then on rent to the dramatists and political parties. "Popular dramas were staged in this auditorium, particularly MR Radha and Ramadass were some of the regular celebrities who staged their dramas here. Our members are mostly retired people who come here in the evening to spend some quiet time in our lawns. Being in the centre of the city and the most busiest area, these lawns are a blessing to the localites" he adds.
Theatrical shift
The Town Hall was leased to a private party seventy years ago and then converted into a cinema theatre called 'Regal Talkies'. Ramasamy, a business person functioning in the Town Hall road for many years says, "This theatre earned its fame for releasing Hollywood movies. Youngsters from south Tamil Nadu used to visit Madurai to watch their favourite English movies. World famous James Bond movies were released here as well." In the courtyard, old people sit and chat, spending their time catching up with their friends. In the next building, few are engrossed in a game of chess while other are busy with a big carrom board, occupying the brightly lit spots in the room. The secretary Ishmail continues, "We are here to give an educational lift to the entire hall so that people appreciate books and the history behind this majestic building. We have philanthropically based programs too. Apart from the indoor games, we have two tennis courts as well. "This hall echoes voices from the pre-independence era, which is why Town Hall is the pride of Madurai!
Source - TOI
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