Visitors to Chennai can't miss one of the finest colonial heritage buildings, a three-story in all-white inspiring Indo-Saracenic structure located close to the Central railway station (now MGR central station). Called Ripon building in honor of Lord Ripon (1827 - 9 July 1909), a well-known Viceroy of British India, who in a short period, earned the affection of native Indians.
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| Ripon building, Chennai, India dreamstime.com |
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| Ripon building, Chennai, India.deccanchronicle.com/ |
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Ripon building, Chennai, India. economictimes.indiatimes.com
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| Statue of Ripon, Ripon campus, Chennai alamy.com |
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| A caricature of Lord Ripon (left) and The Ripon Building (right)w.dtnext.in |
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| viceroy Lord Ripon upload.wikimedia.org |
Above image: George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, simply
Lord Ripon, a British politician and Viceroy and Governor General of India who served in every Liberal cabinet between 1861 and 1908. He was the Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. Born at 10 Downing Street, London, the second son of Prime Minister F. J. Robinson he was educated privately and had no school or college education. PM Gladstone in 1880 appointed Ripon as Viceroy of Indi which he held t until 1884. Being a man with liberal bent of mind Ripon introduced special legislation that would have granted native Indians more legal rights, including the right of Indian judges to hear Europeans in court. Unfortunately, it had wide opposition as Europeans living in India did not want to be tried by a native judge. He introduced many reforms in favor of natives, one being the
Bengal Tenancy Act to improve the economic condition of the peasants. In a short period, he earned the love and respect of native Indians. He was often called the
Father of Self-government. The Ripon building that houses Chennai Corporation, the town of Riponpet in the Shivamogga district of state of Karnataka and the Rippon street of Kolkata stand as memorial to this gentleman. Back in England, he was active in politics and won the laurels from the public. Lord Ripon who became a liberal Catholic, was the Chancellor of the University of Leeds from its creation in 1904 until his death in July 1909. Aged 81, he was buried at St Mary's, Studley Royal, England. (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Robinson,_1st_Marquess_of_Ripon)..................
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| Ripon Building, Chennai,TN.thehindu.com |
A large building in the prime area of Chennai city on the Poonamallee road , it is a special masonry structure, using age-old plastering technique that requires one to one and half months to set. The ground-lime sand mortar is blended with gal-nut (
kadukkai) water and jaggery for extra strength, water-proofing, etc. Carrying many Indo-Saracenic features, the building measuring 279 ft X 105 ft has an impressive tall clock tower - 141 ht at the center. The clock tower adds another 28 meters to it. It further enhances the grandeur of this historical, colonial structure. The imported clock installed by Oakes and Co. in 1913 has a huge dial - 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in diameter; Initially the flooring was laid with Cuddappah slate, but was replaced by marble.
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| Ripon bldg. renovation 2012-13, Chennaihehindu.com |
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| Damaged Ripon bldg prior to 2012 blogi.kukushka.eu |
Above image: Massive renovation was undertaken between 2012 to 2013 save this colonial building as many parts of the structure developed damages on account of age and poor upkeep. The statue of Lord Ripon, Viceroy (1880 to 1884) after whom the building has been named, stands at the entrance. Ripon Building was built at a cost of `7.5 lakh.........
Renovation was done using traditional techniques and using construction materials matching those in the past. Skilled Panruti construction workers were engaged to put in extra work to finish the work on time.. The cost of restoration work was Rs.7.7 cr has been taken up by the civic body at a cost of `7.7 crore, involving replacement of plastering and the restoration of both hard and wooden flooring where necessary. No structural changes needed as the building was in sound condition. The restoration work has been taken up by the civic body at a cost of `7.7 crore. It involves the replacement of plastering and the restoration of both hard and wooden flooring where necessary. Officials say the building is in sound shape and does not require structural change. The project was done in cooperation with conservation and restoration experts from the Archaeological Survey of India, the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology and the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)
.The Ripon Building, designed by G.S.T. Harris, was Commissioned in 1913 and earlier Earl of Minto, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India, laid the foundation on 12 December 1909. Built at a cost of Rs 7.5 lakh, it took three years to complete the project. The contractor was Loganatha Mudaliyar, then well-known construction contractor and builder. It was declared open by the then Viceroy and Governor General of India, Charles Hardinge. The Chennai Corporation ( Madras Corporation) that has been functioning in the Rippon building was t the oldest in India, perhaps it is the oldest one in any part of the Commonwealth outside the Great Britain. The first corporation building came up when Elihu Yale was the Governor of Madras Presidency. To run civic administration effectively with growing population the concept of corporation was promoted by one Sir Josiah Child, Chairman of the East India company. The corporation was inaugurated on September 29, 1688, when the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses took their solemn oaths before an elite audience, numbering less than 3000 and it was attended by 3000 people - mostly city's elite. The first woman Mayor was charismatic Mrs.Tara Cherian (November, 1957), wife of former Governor of Madras Dr. Cherian.
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