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 state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
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 ''Kollyw ...
, lending its name to the industry's monicker 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 to the east and West Mambalam 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 Ea ...
word ''Ghoda Bagh'' meaning "garden of horses". Another version says that "Kodambakkam" derives its name from "Karkodagan Pakkam". Karkodagan is the name of a famous snake in Hindu mythology. It is said that the snake worshiped Lord
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...
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 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 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 yea ...
s of the stable of the Nawab of the Carnatic.
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 ...
in Chingleput district 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
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
on 3 June 1938.
The first movie studio was established by
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (28 July 1907 – 12 August 1979), also known as A. V. Meiyappan, A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar or AVM, was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He ...
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.
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
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 ''Kollyw ...
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsHollywood. A. V. M. Studios established by
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (28 July 1907 – 12 August 1979), also known as A. V. Meiyappan, A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar or AVM, was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He ...
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
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...
's house and his AM Studios is located in the same street.