T. Nagar

Theagaraya Nagar, popularly known by its abbreviated form T. Nagar, and historically as East Mambalam, is a busy shopping district of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated at a minimum distance of about 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) from kilometre zero of Chennai city and forms part of the Mambalam taluk of Chennai district. Largely comprising retail chains selling jewellery, readymade clothes, undergarments, footwear, utensils, toys and stationery on Ranganathan Street, Usman Road and Pondy Bazaar with Panagal Park at its centre, it is one of the busiest of its kind in Asia. Originally covered by the Long Tank, a vast reservoir to the west of Madras city and part of the zamindari of Mambalam, T. Nagar had its origins in the Mambalam Town Planning Scheme conceived by the Madras Presidency government of the Raja of Panagal (1921-1925) for the draining out of the Long Tank and creation of a planned residential neighbourhood in the eastern part of the zamindari. Some of the iconic landmarks of T. Nagar including Panagal Park and the radial streets that were named after prominent city officials and politicians were laid out during this period. Named Theagaraya Nagar after Justice Party ideologue Sir P. Theagaraya Chetty and also commonly referred to as East Mambalam in its early days, T. Nagar became part of the Corporation of Madras in 1933. The neighbourhood underwent a change of character starting from the 1950s onwards when shops and commercial establishments began to rapidly outnumber houses and residential colonies that eventually led to T. Nagar's transformation into a shopping district. Currently, residential blocks are few and far between and command high real estate prices. T. Nagar has a bus terminus on South Usman Road while the nearest railway station serving T. Nagar is the Mambalam railway station. T. Nagar's shopping...