PURASAWALKAM

Purasai or Purasawalkam as it is otherwise known, roughly stretches from Doveton up to Kellys, though there are conflicting theories over where or how Purasawalkam begins and ends.

History

Purasawalkam was nothing but huge paddy fields, which gradually developed over the years as a residential area. The creation of Purasawalkam as a residential area was gradual and the early families who settled here built their houses surrounded only by palmyrah and neem trees. Over the years many locals chose to move to this area from Black Town, which was getting congested and slowly it developed as a residential area before a sudden boom in the mid - 80's transformed it into the shopping area that it is today. It owes its development as a residential locality mainly to the 18th century Europeans who built 'garden houses'.

Places of worship

The Gangadeeswarar Temple on Gangadeeswarar Koil Street is a celebrated place of worship, which attracts devotees from all over the city. The 'theppakulam' or theTemple tank, helps residents of Purasawalkam enjoy copious supply of groundwater, thanks to its catchment capacity. The temple tank lent its name to the area, which is known as the Purasawalkam Tank. Apart from this, the inner streets of Purasawalkam boast of at least a dozen medium-sized temples mostly dedicated to Goddess Mariamman (Hindu Goddess). Lord Ganesha also enjoys his pride of place and there are at least two small temples on every major street dedicated to him. The main festivals to watch out for are Vinayaka Chaturthi, Tirupathi Kodai, Thi Midhippu Vizha (fire walking festival) and 'Aadi Thiruvizha' (July-August).

Purasawalkam has a sizeable number of Christians; the chapels that dot the streets and the more than a dozen churches stand testimony for this. The more prominent among them are St Andrew's Church (Catholic), St Andrew's Church (Church of South India)and the Lutheran and Methodist churches. St Andrew's Catholic Church is probably the biggest parish in the arch-dioceses of Madras-Mylapore after Lourdes Shrine, Perambur, with more than 15,000 parishioners.

Education

Education is an important highlight of Purasawalkam, the area plays host to more than half a dozen schools, which boast of many an eminent alumni. The Doveton Corrie School, on Ritherdon Road was the first school for Anglo-Indians was established in 1784. The name 'Doveton' comes from the name of a Captain John Doveton, who bequested money for the school. The name 'Corrie' is from the name of Bishop Daniel Corrie. The names came together when the high school of The Parental Academy, set up by Bishop Corrie was amalgamated with the Doveton school in 1860. The Doveton Corrie schools still exist with separate schools for Boys and Girls on the same campus. Recently the school branched out as a third school on the same road to another campus as the Doveton Corrie Matriculation school.

The present day E L M Fabricius School is named after E L M Fabricius, a missionary who served in Madras from 1742 till 1791 when he died. It was established in 1849 and was named after him in 1898. Almost hundred and fifty years after being built, it was demolished very recently to make way for a new building. The St Andrew's Corporation School, which is in the same campus as St Andrew's Catholic Church is over a 100 years old and a few years back celebrated its centenary year. This school was founded by Catholic missionaries. Apart from these historically important schools there is at least one school on every street with classes up to the 5th standard. The CSI Ewarts School for girls is yet another important school and it very recently added a Arts and Sciences College for women on its premises.

Shopping

Purasawalkam has become synonymous with shopping and is rated by shoppers probably next only to T Nagar and scores with them because it is relatively less crowded with almost equal number of options. Readymade stores are the ones that dominate the giant shopping malls that have sprung up in recent years. The very first shopping complex to be established was the Waikiki Complex, which is still going strong. After Waikiki came the others like, Prince Towers, City Centre and few other smaller ones. And can one forget Madhar Sha the name that has become synonymous with clothes and textiles for shoppers at Purasawalkam. The crowd that throngs their multi-storeyed outlet at Purasawalkam Tank is simply awesome.

Entertainment

Entertainment options in Purasawakkam are few and far between. For the cinemagoers, there is the Abirami Theatre Complex, with the Abirami, Bala Abirami, Sakthi Abirami and Annai Abirami theatres. There are a few scattered snooker and billiards parlour and then there is the only indoor skating rink in the city, Youngster's Roller Skate - all recent additions. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) has indoor and outdoor sports facilities, which are open to members.

Eating Out

When it comes to Food and Beverage, for the veggies there is the ubiquitous Hotel Saravana Bhavan, the recently redone Hotel Silver Stars (open till midnight), Hot Chips, Welcome Hotel and the Doveton Café, which has become a landmark by itself. For the non-vegetarians there is Shansi, restaurants like Hotel Deccan, Ahmed Restaurant and the numerous 'fast food' outlets, which dish out tasty 'Chilly Beef' and Indianised versions of Chinese cuisine.

Health and Fitness

As far as healthcare goes, there are clinics run by general physicians as well as specialists like ENT, Paedaetricians almost on every major street, with one pharmacy at least for every street. There are quite a few nursing homes providing quality healthcare facilities, Ayesha Hospital and Rex Hospital are among them. Scanning facilities and clinical laboratories are dime a dozen. Fitness freaks have a range of options when it comes to gyms across different budgets from the free corporation gym, which by the way is pretty well equipped and frequented; to the more up end ones promising exclusivity and privacy.

Some Important Streets and places

Thana Street is the hotspot for any vegetable purchases and resembles a mini Koyambedu early in the morning. It also probably holds the record for having the most number of jewellery stores, pharmacies and general stores on a street, it has more than a dozen of each. It also has one lending library, which is more than a few decades old and has probably seen three generations of a family as its members, it is the Manikandan Lending Library. The Kumaran lending library is the only other lending library on the Perambur Barracks Road. Both libraries enjoy a large number of memberships thanks to their low rates.

Also, Perambur Barracks Road is the place to go for all your optical needs with more than a dozen optical shops. The Doveton Clock Tower, was languishing before the advent of the new Doveton flyover gave it a new lease of life. The new flyover, which has eased traffic congestion in the area and cost Rs12 crore to be built, has changed the entire landscape of the area. The Roxy Theatre has survived the onslaught against old theatres in the city. It is said to be built after the New York Roxy. This quaint little theatre was closed for a couple of years till sometime back before it was converted into an 'exhibition cum sale point' for readymade clothes.

Communication

And for those net addicts, Purasawalkam surely holds a attraction, there is an an Internet Parlour on almost every street, boasting of amazingly low rates as low as Rs10/- or Rs15/- per hour with some of them having even satellite connections. While most are privately run, there are also the branded Internet parlours like the Dishnet DSL, Satyam i-way and Junction 96 outlets.

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