Etymology

The neighbourhood gets its name from the Adyar River, which flows through its northern limits. The term Adyar is the anglicized form of the Tamil word aḍai-ārŭ (lit. clogged-river),^[2] which is colloquially just pronounced as aḍayār.

British India

Adyar and the neighbouring Guindy had been used as hunting grounds by British officials of Fort St. George from the 1680s onwards though Adyar is first mentioned as a suburb of Madras only in a map from the year 1740 when the British purchased the village and integrated it with the Madras Presidency.^[3]

Adyar started to grow rapidly at the turn of the 20th century following the founding of the headquarters of the Theosophical Society by Mrs. Helena Blavatsky here in 1883. Following the establishment of the Theosophical Society headquarters, the Kalakshetra, a cultural organisation to promote traditional arts and culture was established by Rukmini Devi Arundale at Adyar in 1936. The 1931 census records Adyar as a zamindari village in Kancheepuram district. Adyar was included within the Chennai Corporation limits in 1948.

Roads

• The Sardar Patel Road also called the Durgabai Deshmukh Road in its eastern end runs in an East–West fashion and connects Guindy and Raja Annamalaipuram respectively.
• The Lattice Bridge Road (LB Road) that runs in a North–South fashion, starting from Adyar signal at Sardar Patel road up to East Coast Road junction (Thiruvanmiyur Signal) at Thiruvanmiyur is an important arterial road of Adyar.

Educational and Research Institutions

Adyar is also home to Adyar Cancer Institute and Central Leather Research Institute, the world's largest leather research institute. Fortis Malar, one of the best speciality hospitals in Chennai, is also located in Adyar. IIT Madras, Anna University, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kumar Rani Meena Muthiah Arts and Science College, Asian College of Journalism and the Technical Teachers Training Institute are all located in adjacent neighbourhoods. The Environmentalist Foundation of India is headquartered in the Besant Nagar neighborhood of Adyar. The lake/pond restoration efforts across the country are managed from this set up.^[8]

Schools

Schools in the neighbourhood include the oldest and a very big campus school in Adyar St. Patrick's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, which was started in 1875, St. Michael's Academy, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bala Vidya Mandir, The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Bharath Senior Secondary School, Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School, Sishya, St Johns English School & Junior College, The School K.F.I., Maple Bear Canadian Preschool, and Indus Early Learning Centre, Vidya Ratna PTS Matric Higher Secondary School, The Chennai School (International Baccalaureate).

The École Franco-Indienne Sishya is co-located with Sishya.

Localities

Sub-localities of Adyar include Gandhi Nagar, Kasturibai Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Indira Nagar, Venkatarathnam Nagar, Padmanabha Nagar, Bhaktavatsalam Nagar, Parameshwari Nagar, Jeevaratnam Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Karpagam Gardens, and Arunachalapuram.