Interesting Stories behind names of areas in Chennai

[Padmanabhan.J]

What are some interesting stories behind names of areas in Chennai?

• Asharkana - Horse corner at the time of the British rule, which happened to be reverse anglicized as how it is called now. (Courtesy: Prithiv Raj)
• Avadi - Armoured Vehicles and Ammunition Depot of India

• Adyar - Banks of Adaiyaaru
• Ambattur - Aimbathi ondram oor (51st Region) in the list of 108 Shakti temples
• Amjikarai aka Amaindhakarai - Bank of Cooum
• Anakaputhur - Aanai Kaatha Pudhu Oor, a place where Elephants were stationed according to Ram Prasad.
• Anna Nagar - After Annadurai and was developed during his reign by TNHB. (Edit: Originally called Naduvakkarai, thanks to the snippet from Jagannath Krishnamurthy)
• Ashok Nagar - After the famous Ashoka Pillar
• Ayanavaram - Ayan means "The one", accounting to a shiva temple situated in the area
• Besant Nagar - After Annie Besant
• Chetput - Named after a Chetty Zameen who ruled here, originally known as Chettiyar Pettai which was shortened by the British (Credits: Sridhar Radhakrishnan)
• Chindadripet - Chinna Thari Pettai, due to the weavers population in the locality has evlolved its name into its present form.
• Chinna Malai (Little Mount) - After Dheeran Chinnamalai, the valiant tamilian. (Courtesy: Subramaniam DV)
• Chromepet - After the old Chrome factory
• Egmore - The land of the rising sun. (Anglicized from Ezhumboor) Higher Mean sea level than the other places in Old Madras. There is a Shiva temple here commemorating the same fact
• Guindy - After the Guindy (Rammer) which Bringi Maharishi planted in this place to begin a great Yaha (Sacrifice) against Goddess Parvati
• JJ Nagar - After ADMK party chief J.Jayalalitha.
• Kodambakkam - After Karkodagan, the mythical snake which worshipped Shiva, who has a temple here as well
• Kothavalchavadi - Tax collectors are known as Kothaval. Chavadi is the tamil term for Kiosk/ Booth. This was the frontiers of the old city where taxes were levied.
• Koyambedu - After the Ashwa medha yagam done by Lord Rama, his sons Luv and Kush tied the horse in Koyambedu. Koyam means horse in Sanskrit. (Contributor: Pavithra Sathiyanarayanan)
• KK Nagar - After Kalaignar Karunanidhi and was developed during his reign
• Mambalam - Maha Vilva Trees.
• Mandhaveli - Mandhai means herd and Veli means space. Must have been herdland previously.
• MMDA Colony - Madras Metropolitan Development Authority (Now CMDA) based housing board colony.
• Mylapore - Mayil means peacock. The goddess Parvati is said to worshipped Lord Shiva in the form of a peacock here, to get absolved of a sin. So, Mayilapuram (puram meaning city) - became Mylapore. (User Edit)
• Nandhanam - Previously Gambier's gardens, was renamed by Rajaji as a part of creating Greener Chennai. Nandhanam means Garden. And apparently the name of the Tamil year "Nandana" it was chistined. (Additional information: Meenalochani Srinivasan)
• Nanganallur - Nangai Nallur/ Thillai Ganga Nagar, coined by Kanchi Shankaracharya
• Parrys - Named after a merchant Thomas Parrys who estabished it as a trade center.
• Perambur - After Pirambu trees in the locality
• Pondy Bazaar - After Soundarapandian.
• Poonamalee - Poo Irundha Alli, abundance of Jasmine.
• Porur - Por means war. Believed to be a battlefield since ancient times. Contans the Arcot road which connects the Arcot Nawab with the capital. Home to a chola temple, etc. Long explanation because its my area!
• Purasaiwakkam - Due to the Purasai trees
• Royapettah - Nawab of Arcot were there Rayars of this district. They were relocated to Amir Mahal at the edge of the area and the place has been known as Raayarpettai since then. (Contributor: Sriram Sitharaman) Intriguingly the only pettai in Chennai to be called Pettah. Posh!
• Saidapet - Named after Sayyid Shah, the loyal general of the Nawab of Arcot who gifted this area.
• Sowkarpet- after the Sahukars who settled there (Contributor: User-10994603784403022552)
• Sunguvar Chattram - Again, Sungam means tax. Chattram is a Inn/ Resting Spot. This is presumably the other end of the city to attract taxes.
• Teynampet - Due to abundance of the Cocnut trees in the region
• T.Nagar - After Sir PT Thyagaraya Chetty
• Thiruvanmiyur - Named after Valmiki
• Thiru.Vi.Ka Nagar - Named after Thiru. Vi.Kalyanasundaranar, the prolific tamil writer.
• Thirisoolam - Home to Thirisoolanathar temple on the hill.
• Thondaiyarpet - Coined by Masthan Sahib after his birthplace Thondi.
• Thousand Lights - Derives its name from the thousand lights that were lit when an Indian National Congress Annual Session was held for the first time in Madras (Source: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/04/..., Contributor: Bhoopesh Kumaar)
• Triplicane - Thiru Alli Keni, Pond with the Alli flowers: Parthasarathy temple tank.
• Vadapalani - Palani in the North, after the famous Murugan temple
• Vandalur - Derives its name from Vandal, which is the sediments from a river.
• Velacherry - Evolved from Vedasreni, the place of worship of the four vedas. (Courtesy: Jagannath Krishnamurthy)
• Villivakkam - Real name - Vilvaaranyam. A very old Shiva temple is situated here. Built by sage Agasthiyar. A lot of Vilvam trees were found there. Hence it got the name Vilva Aaranyam. As days pass by the name got changed into Villivakkam. (Contributor: Ganapathy Raman)

Thanks for this vital addition by Jagannath Krishnamurthy. According to him, the Justice Party - Root of Dravidar Kazhagam, which in turn lead to the DMK & ADMK, has a big role in T Nagar area. The area T Nagar gets its name from - Sir Pitty Theyagaraya Chetty. Subsequently,
Pondy Bazaar - named after WPA Soundarapandiyan Nadar
Dr Nair Road- TM Nair founding member of Justice Party
Panagal Park - Raja of Panagal
Natesan Park - Natesa Mudaliyar - Founding member
Usman Road - Sir Mohammed Usman
Sivagnyanam Road - Sivagnyanam Pillai
Thanikachalam Salai - O Thanikachalam Chetti

Source: quora

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