Marmalong_Bridge

Maraimalai Adigal Bridge

Maraimalai Adigal Bridge

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The Maraimalai Adigal Bridge (previously the Marmalong Bridge) is a road bridge on Anna Salai connecting the northern and southern banks of the Adyar River.[1]

The Marmalong Bridge, with a Sepoy and Natives in the Foreground, 1783, William Hodges, Yale Center for British Art

History

The oldest bridge across the Adyar River - the Marmalong Bridge - was originally constructed by the Armenian merchant Coja Petrus Uscan in 1728 at the cost of Rs. one lakh. He left a trilingual inscription in Armenian, Latin, and Persian.[2][3] The bridge was named after the nearby village of Mambalam which was Anglicized to Marmalan or Marmalong.[1] The dilapidated old bridge was replaced by a new one in 1966.[4] The new bridge is named after Maraimalai Adigal, a Tamil writer and proponent of the Pure Tamil movement.

Uscan's construction of the bridge is commemorated by a plaque at the northern end of the bridge adjoining the Saidapet bus stand.[1]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Diwan Bahadur S. E. Runganadhan, ed. (1939). Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee Commemoration Volume. Indian Branch, Oxford Press. p. 124.
  2. [2]
    Mathai, Kamini (6 April 2019). "300-year-old Armenian plaque restored". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Commemorative Stele of Chennai's Armenian Bridge Restored". india.mfa.am. Embassy of Armenia to India. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022.
  4. [4]
    Frederick, Prince (1 July 2009). "Memories of Madras: From Saidapet to Madras". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 August 2009.

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