Adyar of the 60s: in photos.

The banks of the Adyar was like a picture shot in rural Tamil Nadu. 

The bungalows built in Gandhi Nagar copied the art deco style and defined the lifestyle of residents here.

The members of the Gandhi Nagar (Ladies) Womens Club may have had only a thatched roof but they looked a happy community. As did the kids who studied at the founding avatar of Besant Theosophical High School.

And Kalakshetra Colony was just a sandy casuarina thope ( grove).

All this and more of Adyar of the 50s and 60s can be seen at a unique photo exhibition that is up at Spaces, at the far north end of Elliots Beach, Besant Nagar.  Titled 'Adyar Social History Project in Photos' it is part of the annual Madras Week celebrations on now.

All the photos, of which a select few are on display have been contributed by people and institutions.

Brothers Sukumar and Ravikumar of Gandhi Nagar have shared pictures of the area as has Dhanasekaran of the Mudaliar family. Businessman Srivatsan from Bhaktavatsalam Nagar who is also a professional photographer has shared some stunning black and white pictures from his collection while Theosophical Society Publications shared pictures taken on the TS campus.

There are pictures copied from the Natchiappan Collection while Kamakshi Subramaniam's contribution gives us an idea of how Sardar Patel Road-Kasturba Nagar area looked like when the first houses were built here. Sekar Raghavan also made contributions.

There is a rare picture of the public clock tower which stands at the mouth of East Coast Road, near the Valmiki Temple ( it still stands here today) and one picture taken from considerable height from the area opposite what was once Satya Studios shows a wide view of Adyar river, the old bridge and areas off Besant Avenue.

The show has been put together by photographer C. P. Dhanasekar while Sadanand Menon at Spaces provided the venue.

It is open throughout Sunday, August 26.

Adyarites who wish to contribute pictures of life, places, people and sites of the area to the project can call 9444642491.