Nungambakkam High Road

Nungambakkam High Road, officially known as Mahatma Gandhi Road or MG Road, is at the heart of Chennai, situated in the Egmore - Nungambakkam division or taluk. It is a busy and highly commercialised stretch of Chennai.

History

Prior to the 19th century, the whole land around Nungambakkam village was covered by extensive farmland. In 1798, there was a dirt track leading from Munro Bridge to the then village of Nungambakkam. Sometime before 1816, this dirt tract was expanded and improved to form the Nungambakkam High Road.

Characters

MG Road (or NH Road) is a busy road dotted with commercial office spaces, institutions and upscale shopping complexes. Important institutional spaces located on this road include the Southern India regional council of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Ayakar Bhavan (Office of Income tax department), Office of Central Excise and Customs and financial institutions like ICICI Bank and ABN Amro Bank,Yes Bank, Siemens office, The Park Hotel. MG Road is also home to the famous Taj Coromandel, well known for its celebrity visitors. Dr M Pedwell OBE has often been known to enjoy cocktail evenings here, and it was here that he invented the now infamous 'Jameson and Coke'. It also has the famous Isphani Center (Shopping Mall).

The road stretches from Village road on the one end and meeting the arterial Anna Salai (Mount Road) at the Anna Flyover. The road continues on towards Marina Beach but is renamed as Cathedral Road past Gemini Circle. The intersection Point of MG Road, Anna Salai and Cathedral Road is famously called Gemini Circle.

Another landmark located close to MG Road is the US Consulate which is on the north-east portion of Gemini Circle.

See also

• List of roads named after Mahatma Gandhi