Perambur

Etymology

In Tamil, pirambu (பிரம்பு) means bamboo, and oor (ஊர்) means city or place. Before British rule, this place was widely regarded as a place that was a bamboo forest, around the Huzur Gardens area, which currently houses the Simpsons Pvt. Ltd. This area was annexed to Chennai in 1742 CE.

Location

Perambur is located at an altitude of 10 m above mean sea level.

Streets

Some of the major connecting roads and streets include: Paper Mills Road, Perambur High Road, Madhavaram High Road, Paddy Field Road, Patel Road, School Road, Bharathi Road, Siruvallur High Road, Raghava Street, B.B. Road, and Bunder Garden Street. Apart from these, Perambur also has a road named after Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. The road is well known as BP Road.

Transportation

Road transport

This neighbourhood is connected to Chennai via bus services operated by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Its proximity to the Chennai Central railway station makes it a central transport hub.

Railway transport

Main article: Perambur railway station

Perambur has a notable railway town in the Indian Railways network. It is home to the Integral Coach Factory, where the Vande Bharat Express trains are produced, and also houses the Chennai Rail Museum. The Perambur railway station helps reduce congestion at Chennai Central station by serving as a major alighting point for long-distance trains arriving in or passing through the city from the northwestern corridor. It is considered the oldest railway station in the city after Royapuram.

Perambur is among the earliest British settlements in Chennai, established primarily due to the development of railway facilities in the 1850s. The area has long been associated with a significant Anglo-Indian community—one of the largest in Chennai and possibly in South India—stemming from the British presence during the construction and operation of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF). The ICF, located in Perambur with an ancillary unit in Kolkata, manufactures the Vande Bharat Express (also known as Train 18), India’s first indigenously built semi-high-speed train. Perambur is also home to the Chennai Rail Museum, which features a collection of vintage locomotives, coaches, and a railway-themed restaurant. Additionally, two of the three major railway workshops under the Southern Railway zone—the Carriage Works and Loco Works—are situated in Perambur.

Perambur is served by three railway stations: Perambur railway station, Perambur Carriage Works railway station and Perambur Loco Works railway station. Perambur railway station is one of the major railway hubs in Chennai because of ICF and because express and superfast trains stop there. It is the fifth largest station in Chennai in passenger volume after Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore railway station, Tambaram and Mambalam.

Education

Schools

Smt Chandabai Pagariya Jain Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kaligi Ranganathan Montford Matriculation Higher Secondary School, St. Mary's Matriculation Girls higher secondary school, St. Mary's Matriculation Boys higher secondary school, Chennai Corporation Higher Secondary School, Dharmamurthi Rao Bahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's (DRBCCC) Higher Secondary School, Veera Savarkar Netaji Matriculation School, Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Don Bosco Nursery and Primary School which with Savio Primary School is on the premises of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Gnanodhaya Vidhyalayam, Lourdes Girls Higher Secondary School, Railway Mixed Higher Secondary School, Begum Latheefunnisa Islamic Nursery and Primary School, Sacred Heart's Nursery and Primary School, St. Joseph's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, St. John's Nursery and Primary School, St. Thomas Primary School, SKNS PMC Vivekananda Vidyalaya, V.O.C. Vidiyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Periyar matriculation higher secondary school, Sri Bala Vidyalaya (CBSE), KRM Public School (CBSE), etc.

Healthcare

Medical facilities such as Sen Hospital, Cure Advanced Dental Care, Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital, Jupiter Surgical Specialty Centre, Abhijay Hospital, A. C. Aruldoss Hospital, Srinivas Priya Hospital, Aishwarya Hospital (child care), Iyappa Diabetes Hospital, Vigneshwara Eye Hospital, Apple Hospital are available here.

Entertainment

Perambur has a wide range of entertainment venues such as cinemas and parks. Perambur has the first shopping mall of the north Chennai: Spectrum Mall.

It has a five-screen multiplex named S2 Cinemas which is controlled by theatre franchise PVR INOX. Sri Brinda Theatre is popular among cinema lovers. Perambur has many other cinema theatres such as Ganga Cinemas in Kolathur, which is just 5 km away.

Parks

Perambur Flyover Park, Mahatma Gandhi Park and Venus Park are few important parks. Perambur has Chennai's first disco waterpark — Murasoli Maran Park — which is crowded on weekends and special occasions.

Stadium

Perambur Railway Stadium is frequented for athletic events, annual sports meets and training sessions.

Facility

Murasoli Maran Flyover

The rail over bridge connecting Perambur railway station with that Perambur Carriage Works had been a source of transportation discomfort because of its narrow pass and low road which used to flood during rain. In 1999 the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government decided to build a flyover along with nine others.

The work reached a halt when one of the columns started sinking. This led to the cost of the proposed flyover shoot from Rs.21 crore (210 million) to Rs 34 crore (340 million). Furthermore, DMK lost in the consecutive 2001 elections (although its ally Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) retained Perambur constituency) which led to a further stalemate for the project. The flyovers became the centre of political debacle for the next five years. After DMK came back to power in 2006, it started working on the project once again, but this time with an even more shooting up of the proposed cost.

The flyover serves the people living in Perambur, Kolathur, T.V.K. Nagar, Periyar Nagar, Kumaran Nagar, Ayanavaram, Vinayagapuram, Madhavaram, Mathur and Kodungaiyur.

The flyover was constructed with different plan and was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Mr. Karunanidhi and the then Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Stalin on 28 March 2010. The flyover serves to reduce the traffic congestion in and around North Chennai. It is 1.3 km in length and 13 meters high from the ground, and is one of the tallest bridges in Chennai after Kathipara, Guindy. The bridge consist of three levels, road below, rail in the middle and road again at the top.

Religion

There are Hindu temples (Venkatesa Perumal Temple and Venugopalaswamy temple) and Buddhist temple (South India Buddha Vihar), mosques and churches in the area. One such Hindu temple is the Ayyappan temple in Perambur. Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, a Catholic church, 123 years old, is located near Perambur railway station and Perambur Flyover Park.

Gallery

| File:Perambur Bus Stand.jpg|Perambur bus stand

| File:Perambur Railway Station.jpg|Perambur Railway Station (view) Perambur Flyover

| File:Perambur Our Lady of Lourdes church enterance.jpg|The Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Perambur

| File:Railway Stadium, Southern Railways, Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.jpg|Railway Stadium, Southern Railways, Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| File:Shri Venugopalaswamy temple.jpg|Shri. Venugopalaswamy Temple, Bunder Garden, in Perambur, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| File:Buddhist temple Chennai Tamil Nadu India.jpg|Statue of Buddha, Buddhist temple, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| File:120 year old 'Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine', Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in India.jpg|During the annual feast celebrations, flooded with lights ; 'Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine', Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| File:Perambur (Murasoli Maran) Flyover Park.jpg|Beauty at Murasoli Maran Park, Perambur

| File:Annual feast celebrations; 'Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine', Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in India.jpg|'Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine', Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| File:Murasoli Maran Flyover Park, Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.jpg|Enchanting Murasoli Maran Park, Perambur

| File:During the annual feast celebrations, flooded with lights ; 'Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine', Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in India.jpg|120 year old 'Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine', Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| File:Blessed Sacrament chapel, Perambur.jpg|at Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, Perambur

| File:Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, Tamil Nadu.jpg|Annual Feast celebrations at Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine Chennai Tamil Nadu

Neighbouring areas

Notes

References

References

1. (2020-11-10). "History, Chennai District, India". National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India.
2. "Lord Baden Powell biography -".
3. Madhavan, D.. (3 April 2013). "Perambur railway station to get more entrances, shelters, lights".
4. "Integral Coach Factory".
5. "Stalin's appointment fuels hope on Perambur flyover".
6. "South India Buddha Vihar - Buddhist temple - Chennai - Tamil Nadu".
7. "Ayyappa Temple – Hindu Temple Timings, History, Location, Deity, shlokas".
8. "Sri Ayyappa Temple - Hindu temple - Chennai - Tamil Nadu".