Ripon Building is the seat of the Chennai
Corporation (Madras Corporation) in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu. This
is a fine example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, a combination
of three types of architectural styles – Gothic, Ionic and Corinthian.
The Ripon Building is white in colour and
is located near the Central station in Chennai. Commissioned in 1913,
it was built by Loganatha Mudaliar.
It took 4 years to build at a cost of
750,000. Ripon building was named after Lord Ripon, Governor-General of
British India and the Father of local self-government.
Earl of Minto, the then Viceroy and
Governor General of India laid the foundation on 12 December 1909. The
Municipal Corporation of Madras, after functioning from several other
places, settled at Ripon building in 1913, with P.L. Moore as the
President of the Municipal Corporation at the time of the inauguration.
Building Information
The building is rectangular and is 85 meters long and 32 metres wide.
The first of its three floors offers about 2,800 square metres of space.
Its central tower is 43 metres tall and has a clock 2.5 metres in diameter.
The walls were constructed with stock bricks, set and plastered with lime mortar.
The roofs are supported with teak wood
joists. The original flooring of the ground floor was Cuddapah Slate.
This has now been replaced with marble.
One of the main attractions Yof the
building is the Westminster Quarter chiming clock. This was installed by
Oakes and Co. in 1913. The clock has a mechanical key system, which is
wound every day. There are a total of 4 bells, which were cast by Gillet
and Johnston in 1913.
