What is it about Theyagaroya (yes, that was the spelling) Nagar that makes it so fascinating? To me, it is certainly not the shopping. In my view, it held out a certain promise of urban planning which, after being followed faithfully in subsequent areas such as Shenoy Nagar, Adyar, Anna Nagar, K.K. Nagar and Besant Nagar, was quietly buried, leading to the present chaos. For that matter, T. Nagar too is chaos today, but you cannot fault the original plan for it.In 2013, while working on a book for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), I was able to photocopy from the archives the file on T. Nagar, and I found it fascinating. The documents bear the initials of G.T. Boag, J.R. Coats, and J.E. Hensman, all commemorated in road names in T. Nagar today. And the papers date to 1924, which makes T. Nagar 102. I am surprised that the retailers of the area did not think it fit to celebrate the centenary two years ago. Well, they can still do so, maybe in August, in conjunction with Madras Week 2026.
The original plan for T. Nagar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Originally known as the Mambalam Town Planning Scheme Eastern Section, and later just Mambalam scheme, it was not all built on the Long Tank of Mylapore. The file reveals that the area plotted was 631 acres, of which the waterbody was around 73 acres. The remaining was acquired from the Government (Puliyur Shrotriyam and Government Farm villages), the Corporation, and private owners. The last was from what was then known as the Mambalam Zamindari, though the ownership does not seem to have been with one family.
