Badrian Garden Street in Chennai
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Walking (or rather stumbling) about in George Town the other day, I saw the signboard shown alongside Badrian Garden Street. And that set me off on a trip to the past when this name cropped up several times in my research. But the first of these concerned historian S. Muthiah, and not me.
It was sometime in the late 1980s when he was informed that an obelisk had been discovered at the intersection of this street and N.S.C. Bose Road. A private house was being demolished, and a 15-foot obelisk had appeared among the ruins. All excited, the chief, as I always referred to him, rushed there only to find the obelisk demolished as well. The owner was unapologetic. He feared that if the government got to know of the existence of the pillar, his property would be taken over.
The obelisk was one of six erected in the 1770s, to mark the southern boundary of George Town. Their location is given precisely in a census survey of Madras dating to 1961, which says they were at China Bazaar, Parry’s Corner, Kondi Chetty Street, Stringer Street, Broadway, and Badriah Street (the name has changed considerably over time; it was Budreeah, Badraiya, Badriah, and Badrian). The census says four were still standing in 1961, though as to which they were, it does not detail. Today, as we know, only one survives, in the shadow of Dare House, protected by the Murugappa Group.
The Badriah Street I refer to above is, however, not Badrian’s Garden. From Love’s Vestiges of Old Madras, we know that as early as 1718, there were six guardhouses meant for the protection of Madras, of which four were on the northern side, facing Royapuram. The fifth, facing the sea, was unnamed. The sixth alone was on the west, by the river, by which meant the Elambore that is now part of Buckingham Canal. In later years, these guardhouses came to be known as block houses and still later, batteries. Barring the one facing the sea, the others were named after dubashes – Sunkurama, Gangarama, Balu, Kalasti, and Badriah. With peace, his battery probably became a garden named after him.
Who was he?
In 1717, he became recognised as the leader of Left Hand Castes in the city, along with Gangarama. Their predecessors, namely Kalavai and Kalasti Chettis, had been fomenting caste riots, which seems to have been the favourite dubashi occupation when not making money, and had been dismissed. Not much is known of Badriah otherwise.
In the 1830s, Badriah Garden became a residential locality, and a prominent house owner there was Vambakkam Raghavachariar, the first Indian to be appointed Police Magistrate in Madras. He was also a graduate of Pachaiyappa’s school and so became one of the first managing trustees. Badrian’s Garden came to be known informally as Police Raghavachariar (PR) Square. The family lived in a massive house known as Vani Vilas and the upper storey was a curiosity, being shaped like a ship. This was because someone in the family made a fortune as a ship dubash. Raghavachariar’s grandson was V.V. Srinivasa Aiyangar, a prominent advocate of the High Court of Madras, and a member of Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar’s Suguna Vilasa Sabha, where he played lead roles in theatrical productions.
Walking down Badrian’s Garden is something of an adventure today, putting life and limbs at risk. But from what little I managed, I could find no trace of Vani Vilas, or its neighbour Terrace Mahal, once a hostel for Pachaiyappa’s College students. Like the obelisk, they have gone. History fades fast in George Town.
(Sriram V. is a writer and historian.)
Published – November 19, 2025 06:00 am IST
