Anna Memorial, locally known as Anna Samadhi or as Anna Square, is a memorial structure 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It was built in memory of former Chief Minister of

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 ...

, C. N. Annadurai (1967–69), who was cremated here in 1969. The memorial is also the burial place of his protégé

M. Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

. The memorial lies on the northern end of the Marina abutting the MGR Memorial, the burial place of Karunanidhi's archrivals, M. G. Ramachandran and

J. 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 ...

History

In 1996–1998, during the reign of the DMK party, the memorial was remodelled at a cost of 27.5 million and the entrance arch carried the design of the 'Rising Sun', the symbol of the DMK party. However, the design was removed after the opponent AIADMK party returned to power in May 2001. The renovation resulted in the original tusk-shaped entrance arch giving way to a highly polished marble tiled structure, widened pathways, and building of ornamental octagonal ''mantapams''. After 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 coastal parts of the state in December 2004, the memorial, along with other structures on the seashore, was affected. Subsequently, repair works were undertaken at a cost of 13.3 million. In 2012, the memorial was renovated at a cost of 12 million. In 2018, when his protégé

, died, he was buried behind his mentor. A new memorial for Karunanidhi is being planned at a cost of ₹390 million rupees.

Museum

The memorial also houses a museum on Annadurai, which is located at the northern side.

References

{{Chennai topics Tourist attractions in Chennai Buildings and structures in Chennai Monuments and memorials in Chennai Memorials to C. N. Annadurai

History

Museum

See also

References