M.G.R Memorial Complex is a memorial complex built on the Marina beach in

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 India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Spread over 8.25 acres, the memorial is located adjacent to the

Anna Memorial Anna Memorial, locally known as Anna Samadhi or as Anna Square, is a memorial structure built on the Marina beach in Chennai, India. It was built in memory of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, C. N. Annadurai (1967–69), who was cremat ...

. It was built in memory of former chief ministers of

who died in office,

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

and his protégé J. Jayalalithaa, whose bodies were buried at the site on 25 December 1987 and 6 December 2016, respectively.

History

The memorial was built in 1988 and inaugurated by

V. N. Janaki Ramachandran Vaikom Narayani Janaki (30 November 192319 May 1996), also known as Janaki Ramachandran, was an Indian politician, actress and activist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for 23 days after the death of her husband M. G. Ramachandra ...

, wife of M. G. Ramachandran, in May 1990. The memorial was remodelled and the complex was laid with marble and opened in 1992 by J. Jayalalithaa who had become the chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu in the previous year. When J. Jayalalithaa died on 5 December 2016, she was buried next to MGR. This structure was designed by architect K. Ramachandran, retired chief architect of PWD. Between 1996 and 1998, the mausoleum was again renovated at a cost of about 27.5 million. When the

Indian Ocean tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

struck the seafront in December 2004, the memorial was damaged. Repair works cost approximately 13.3 million. Dr MGR Memorial in Kamarajar Promenade

In 2012, the memorial was again renovated at a cost of 43 million, including 34 million for remodelling the facade and the surrounding wall. This renovation included a new entrance with the AIADMK party's two-leaves symbol and

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, the horse from

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, landscaping of the open area around the memorial using Korean grass, and the planting of exotic, decorative plants such as palmyra alpha,

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

spider lily Spider lily is the common name for a number of different plant species within the family Amaryllidaceae which belong to the following genera: * ''Crinum ''Crinum'' is a genus of about 180 species of perennial plants that have large showy fl ...

and adenium. Also included were a granite pathway shaped like a guitar, stainless steel handles around the memorial, a fountain in the middle, waterfall at the rear, decorative lamps, and an overhead tower with lights both at the entrance and on the arch. Two pergolas 18 metres wide were also constructed, in addition to ramps for the physically challenged. The erection of the two-leaves insignia was opposed by the opposition DMK party. A public interest petition was filed in the Madras High Court in October 2012 against the erection of the two-leaves insignia, but was dismissed by the court. Jayalalitha Memorial

In 2016, when his protégé J. Jayalalithaa died, she was buried behind her mentor, opposite to the memorial to her archrival, M. Karunanidhi. A new memorial was built for her at a cost of ₹500 million

rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

. The Jayalalithaa Memorial or the Amma Memorial is shaped like a

phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. The Construction Works of

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

's memorial started on 7 May 2018. On 27 January 2021, The memorial of

was inaugurated by then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

Edappadi K. Palaniswami Edappadi K. Palaniswami (born 12 May 1954), also known as E.P.S., is an Indian politician and the leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He served as the 7th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, from 2017 to 2021. He has been th ...

Entrance

Until 2012, the facade of the memorial was a tall entry arch with folded hands which was replaced with a concrete replica of the two-leaves emblem, the symbol of the AIADMK party founded by M. G. Ramachandran. The facade was also given a Grecian touch with the erection of a 12-foot-high bronze sculpture of

, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The 3.75-

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

sculpture, by architect R. Ravindran, a sthapathi from

Mamallapuram Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It is o ...

, is set on a 4.5-metre-high pedestal. Two 15.9-metre-high columns serving as the entrance were built with reinforced concrete. The elevated "two-leaves" structure is supported by a 6-metre-high beam serving as the stem. The leaf structure, with a span of 10.2 metres for each leaf, is a metre higher than the towering columns. The leaves have a slight resemblance to a honey comb and are visible from both the front and the rear.

Museum

A museum on M. G. Ramachandran's life is located within the memorial at the northern side of the campus.

Image gallery

File:A general view of the MGR Memorial.jpg, A view of the MGR Memorial File:MGR Statue at the MGR Memorial.jpg, Bust of MGR File:The ever-burning lamp at the MGR Memorial.jpg, The

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which can ...

at the memorial

References

{{Chennai Topics Tourist attractions in Chennai Buildings and structures in Chennai Monuments and memorials in Chennai Memorials to M G Ramachandran 1988 establishments in Tamil Nadu Buildings and structures completed in 1988

History

Entrance

Museum

Image gallery

See also

References