Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. The neighbourhood is served by

Kodambakkam railway station Kodambakkam Railway Station is a railway station on the Chennai Beach–Chengalpattu section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. It serves the neighbourhood of Kodambakkam, Vadapalani, and Ashok Nagar. The railway station was already in ex ...

of the

Chennai Suburban Railway Network The Chennai Suburban Railway is a commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, operated by the Southern Railways branch of Indian Railways. It is the second largest suburban rail network in terms of route length and the th ...

. Kodambakkam has a high concentration of film studios and has been known for its status as the hub of the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...

, lending its name to the industry's monicker

Kollywood Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...

Location

Kodambakkam is situated at 13.0481 N latitude and 80.2214 E longitude. It is one of the westerly located neighbourhoods of Chennai city. It is bounded by the neighbourhoods of

Nungambakkam Nungambakkam is a locality in downtown Chennai, India. The neighborhood abounds with multi-national commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, to ...

to the east and

West Mambalam West Mambalam is a residential and commercial area in Chennai, India. It is known for its shops, bazaars and Hindu temples. It is bounded by Kodambakkam to the north and Saidapet to the south. T. Nagar and Nandanam stretch all along its easte ...

and

T. Nagar Thyagaraya Nagar, commonly known as T. Nagar, and historically known as East Mambalam, is a very affluent commercial and residential neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is surrounded by Nungambakkam in the North, Teynampet in the ...

to the south. It is bounded by

Vadapalani Vadapalani is a neighbourhood in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for its film studios and the Vadapalani Andavar Temple, which is an important pilgrimage centre. Situated in the western part of Chennai, Vadapalani is an i ...

to the west and K. K. Nagar and Ashok Nagar to the south-west. Kodambakkam is located at a distance of 8 kilometres from

Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...

Etymology

It is believed that the name "Kodambakkam" itself might have been derived from the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

here. There is still a temple for Lord Shiva by the name Vengeeshwarar in Kodambakkam. Several sculptures and images of the snake Karkodagan can be seen in the temple, even today. There is another etymology for this name from

Soundarya Lahari The Saundarya Lahari ( sa, सौन्दर्यलहरी) meaning "The waves of Beauty" is a famous literary work in Sanskrit attributed to Adi Shankara. Some believe the first part "Ananda Lahari" was etched on mount Meru by Ganesha hims ...

according to Sudha Seshayyan. "Kodu-am-bakkam" Kodu means hill, am - denotes arrow. The place is associated with lord Shiva using the meru mountain as bow for destroying Tripura.

History

The neighbourhood of Kodambakkam has a history going back to about 2,000 years. During the period of the

Pallavas The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as f ...

and the

Later Cholas The Later Chola dynasty ruled the Chola Empire from 1070 C.E. until the demise of the empire in 1279 C. E. This dynasty was the product of decades of alliances based on marriages between the Cholas and the Eastern Chalukyas based in Vengi, and ...

, the western part of Kodambakkam formed a portion of the historically important temple town of Vadapalani. One of the oldest temples in Kodambakkam is the Bharthukesavar temple which is over 500 years old. Present-day Kodambakkam originated in the 17th and 18th centuries CE, when it supposedly served as source for the

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s of the stable of the

Nawab of the Carnatic The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil N ...

. Under the British, Kodambakkam was administered as a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Chingleput district Kancheepuram district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The area comprising the present day Kancheepuram district was earlier a part of Chingleput district. The original Chingleput district was split in 1997 into ...

till the draining of the Long Tank in 1921, when Kodambakkam was incorporated into the Madras city and formed the Kodambakkam-Saligrammam-Puliyur district of Greater Madras along with other localities to the west of the now extinct Long Tank, with a population of 497 people in 1939. Kodambakkam also played an important role in the Anti-Hindi agitations of 1938 when

Maraimalai Adigal Maraimalai Adigal (15 July 1876 – 15 September 1950) was a Tamil orator and writer and father of Pure Tamil movement. He was a fervent Tamizh Saivite. He wrote more than 100 books, including works on original poems and dramas, but most famous ...

presided over a conference denouncing the imposition of Hindi in the Madras Presidency on 3 June 1938. The first movie studio was established by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar in 1948. Since then, a number of other movie studios have been established, notable among them being

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

Studios and Vijaya Vauhini studios. Liberty theater which was the oldest movie theater in Chennai was based here too, it was the place to be seen in the 1950s for movie premieres. However, the theater been demolished in the year 2010 and been replaced by a hotel and condos.

Infrastructure

The neighbourhood got one of the city's first flyovers in 1967. It is 623 m long and 12.8 m wide and connects the localities of K. K. Nagar,

, and Ashok Nagar. The district is also home to the Meenakshi Sundararajan Engineering College, which is affiliated to

Anna University Anna University is a public state university located in Tamil Nadu, India. The main campus is in Chennai. It was originally established on 4 September 1978 and was named after C. N. Annadurai, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. History & ...

Religion

There are old temples dedicated to Lord Shiva namely Vengeeswarar Temple and Bharadvajeswarar (Valeswarar) Temple belonging to 13th Century built during Chola Period.

Film industry

Kodambakkam is the centre of the

known as

, a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsHollywood. A. V. M. Studios established by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar was the first movie studio to be established in Vadapalani-Kodambakkam. The Vijaya Vauhini Studios was established a little later followed by Prasad Labs in 1974. Today, many Tamil movie studios are located in and around Kodambakkam. Residences of many film and television stars are located in and around Kodambakkam due to proximity to the movie studios. A film directors' colony situated in Kodambakkam is the home of many Tamil film directors and producers. Indian music director A.R.Rahman's house and his AM Studios is located in the same street.

Localities

Some of the important localities of Kodambakkam include: * Rangarajapuram *

Trustpuram Trustpuram ( ta, டிரஸ்ட்புரம்) is a residential area in Kodambakkam, in the city of Chennai, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country ...

United India Colony Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served by Kodambakkam railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam h ...

* Vishwanthapuram * Ganga Nagar * Dhanakodiammal Street

Photo gallery

File:ChennaiSuburbanRailway Kodambakkam.jpg, Kodambakkam Railway Station Image:Sunset_Chennai.jpg, Sunset at Kodambakkam

References

External links

* Neighbourhood Newspaper in kodambakkam http://arcotroadtalk.in * Entertainment for kids in kodambakkam http://riyatoyslibrary.com {{Chennai Topics Neighbourhoods in Chennai Suburbs of Chennai Cities and towns in Chennai district