Chennai is not a city that makes a fuss about its museums. Take it from the Fort St George museum where the Tamil Nadu Secretatiat stands. On International Museum Day (May 18), there were no banners of celebration or queues snaking around the entrance on the weekend.What there is, however, is a collection of institutions: some ancient, some obscure, one tucked inside a working film studio, that together cover about four centuries of the city’s life. The museum becomes a time-warp, allowing children and adults alike to take a look at the history of colonial administration, Chola-era bronzes, vintage locomotives, the mechanics of law enforcement, the cars of Tamil cinema royalty, and the domestic architecture of four southern states.This list is not new but is a reminder of why you should consider a museum trail in Chennai on a bored searing summer afternoon.This list is not new but is a reminder of why you should consider a museum trail in Chennai on a bored searing summer afternoon.Fort St George Museum
Fort St. George Museum in Chennai.
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If you really think about it, the fort in itself is the exhibit. Completed in 1644, the first English fortress in India still functions as the Tamil Nadu Secretariat, which means soldiers at the gate might have once given off the same bureaucratic energy some 300 years ago. The museum inside is small but good: Raj-era coins, regimental portraits, Persian manuscripts, and the original land deed of Chennapatna signed over to the East India Company. St Mary’s Church located next door, consecrated in 1680, is the oldest Anglican church East of the Suez and worth the walk. There is also military commander and former British Prime Minister Sir Arthur Wellesley’s Madras residence on the premises, and a number of gates: St George’s Gate, Wallajah Gate, and the Sea Gates (once the passage way for boats to enter the fort premises. People would once fish in the moats). Do not miss Lord Cornwallis’ cupola, his statue with an insensitive frieze around the base of Tipu Sultan’s sons being handed over as hostages till reparation was paid. There are several cannons on the premises. Do not expect a polished visitor experience — the labels are sparse and the lighting is old. But for anyone trying to understand how this city started, there is no better place to stand.
