Velachery

Velachery
—  suburb  —
Velachery Railway Station
Velachery Location of Velachery in Chennai and India
Coordinates	12°58′33″N 80°13′14″E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District(s)	Chennai
Parliamentary constituency	Chennai South
Assembly constituency	Velachery
Zone	Adyar
Ward	153
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)

Velachery (Tamil: வேளச்சேரி), originally known as Vedasreni (Tamil: வேதஸ்ரேணி) meaning Abode of Vedas, is a residential area in South Chennai, a metropolitan city in Tamil Nadu, India. The growth of Velachery during the last decade can be cited due to the growth of the IT sector in south chennai. It acts as a important hub for suburbs of south chennai as well as for IT sector.

Etymology

Velachery was known as Vedashreni (meaning "Abode of Vedas") and Vedanarayanapuram during the Chola period. Eventually, the Tamil word வேள் that represents King or the Leader that also denotes Lord Sri Narasimha Swami (Ref: சிங்கவேள்குன்றம், Ahobilam), was used to denote this place along with the Tamil word சேரி which literally means a place where people gather and hence Velachery (the people who gathered to worship Lord Sri Yoga Narasimha Swamy).

Location

Velachery is surrounded by IIT Madras in the north-east, Taramani in the east, Adambakkam in the northwest and Pallikaranai Marshland in the south; other neighbouring areas include Madippakkam, Guindy, Adyar and Thiruvanmiyur. Most of the neighbourhood is populated with houses.

Geography

Velachery mostly has areas of hard rock. Many areas of Velachery are below sea level and originally these areas were lakes. It is said that Velachery had a marshland that was once a natural bird sanctuary. Due to encroachment and rapid real estate development, the sanctuary has disappeared. There is a big marshland in Pallikaranai, south of Velachery.

Transportation

Road

There are three arterial roads: Velachery Main Road, Tharamani Link Road, and Velacheri Bypass Road. The Vijay Nagar junction is one of the most important junction in the heart of the city.

A 15-acre bus bay, set to become the biggest in south Chennai, is coming up in front of the Velachery MRTS station. Work on the Rs 10 crore project is being jointly executed by Southern Railway and the state government. The facility will become a major depot of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

Rail

Velachery MRTS Station

The second phase of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) between Tirumailai and Velachery became operational from November 2007.

The project would have been completed two years ago but for a technical problem, which almost threatened the project. The railways' original plan was to have an elevated track from Tirumailai to Taramani and surface line from there to Velachery. But as the soil was soft in around Taramani and Perungudi, the railways had to go for the elevated track right up to Velachery, which took two more years for the project to complete. The MRTS extension work from velachery to St. Thomas mount Would be completed in 2012.

Tamil Nadu Government has proposed a plan for Monorail connecting Velachery with Vandalur, via Pallikaranai, Medavakkam, Tambaram, making the connectivity with the still suburban developing areas.

Infrastructure and environmental concerns

A major concern is that the recent rapid developments has also resulted in a few drawbacks, such as water scarcity, congestion of roads and the damage to the marshland. It is feared that in a few years unless something substantial is done, the marshlands would all be converted into residential and commercial properties.

Every November, Velachery is flooded by cyclonic rains. The major areas that were usually flooded are the low-lying areas near Velachery Lake, Ram Nagar extension and the Madipakkam Road and bridge. A flood water drainage canal was constructed along the Velachery 100-feet (30 m) road. Due to encroachment and other unknown problems, some part of the canal in the Velachery-Tambaram high road is not constructed completely. Generally it is felt that, after the canal was built to a major extent, the flooding problem in many areas along the 100-feet road has decreased substantially. All the residential colonies that are lying south of Taramani link road got submerged in rain water during the floods in 2008 which was of moderate intensity.

There are also two big open to air dumping grounds. These spoil the underground water and are breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other flies and the frequent burning of the waste also creates lot of pollution problems to the people esp. those travelling past it. It is a favourite shooting location among film makers and has been filmed in as far as 3 movies.

Now Velachery has become a separate assembly constituency.

Economy

Several IT/ITES companies have set up their offices in Velachery. Some major ones include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), ZOHO Corp, AllSec Technologies Ltd., TeleData and Sutherland Global Services. As more IT parks emerge on the Old Mahabalipuram road, IT & working-class people prefer to settle in Velachery. This part of Chennai was considered to be socio-economically backwards a decade ago, but the area has changed rapidly after a string of key residential projects. The standard of living in and around velachery has increased considerably.

Velachery is also home to several famous restaurants like Milan, Karaikudi, Anjappar, Kebab court, Snow park, Wang's kitchen, Ratna cafe, Hot chips, Parfait, Cafe Coffeday, Flamingo, Krishna Sweets, Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Cakes and Bakes, Sangeeta, Dindigul Thalapakatti Briyani, Simran's Appakadai, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). It also has a drive in-restaurant of McDonald's which is not elsewhere in the city. There are many popular shopping malls situated here like PS Srijan Grand Mall and Pheonix market City. Indian bank, LIC of India, SBI, Axis bank, ICICI bank, HDFC Bank, IOB, Bank of India, KVB, Bank of Baroda, Canara Banks have branches in Velachery.

Localities

The highest socio-economic areas in Velachery are Dr. Seethapathy Nagar, Dhandeeswaram, Tansi Nagar, AG's colony, Annai Indira Nagar and Vijaya Nagar. Some other areas are Chelliamman Nagar, Ramagiri Nagar, VGP Selva Nagar, Baby Nagar, Seva Nagar, Seshadripuram, Sri Devi Karumari Amman Nagar, Srinivasa nagar, , Anna Nagar, Sarathy Nagar, Udhayam Nagar, Ram Nagar, Devi Karumariamman Nagar, Gangai Nagar, Venkateshwara Nagar, M.G.R Nagar, Lakshmi Nagar TNHB colony,Sasi Nagar, Ashtalakshmi Nagar, Jaganathapuram, Seva Nagar, Telugu Brahmin Street Rajalakshmi Nagar and Balamurugan Nagar.

Colleges

• Gurunanak College is a famous college situated in velachery.
• Jerusalem College of Engineering, Chennai is situated at the Velachery - Tambaram main road, Narayanapuram, Pallikaranai. The College is 3 km from Velachery railway station.
• The Perumal Engineering College is 2.1 km to the south-east of the National Highway 45 (India) and the Madras Flying Club.
• Balaji Dental College & Hospital - Located adjacent to Jerusalem College of Engineering.

Schools

Schools in & around Velachery:

• Bethel Matric Higher Secondary school, Sarathy Nagar.
• Velachery Government Hr. Sec School (Popularly known as Periyasami School).
• Sivasakthi Matriculation School, 100Feet Road]
• Advent Christian High School.
• DAV Public school (educomp. enabled)
• Raja Lakshmi Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
• Shri A.Ganesan matric higher secondary school (educomp enabled).
• Guru nanak matric higher secondary school.
• Akshayah matric higher secondary school (educomp enabled).
• Vishwa Barathi matric higher secondary school.
• Pon Vidyashram.
• St. Savio Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
• St. Britto's academy.
• Corporation School, Raja Lakshmi Nagar.
• Navadisha Montessori School.
• St Antonys Middle School.
• Sunshine Chennai Senior Secondary school.
• Sri sankara vidyalya
• Arsha Vidya Mandir

Places of Worship

Temples

Sri Yoga Narasimha Swamy, Velachery

Sri Yoga Narasimha Swamy Temple is one of the ancient temples in Velachery that is of Lord Sri Yoga Narasimha Swami which historians have rated to be of more than 1300 year old. This temple is presently being renovated completely. The temple is surrounded by streets with traditional names (Brahmanan Street, Telugu Brahmanan Street etc.) denoting the presence of an Agraharam (residence of Sri Vaishnavites typically around the temple). One could also see innumerous houses that still are hosting the ancient construction styles, but the agraharam as such does not exist anymore around the temple as the houses have been taken over by vote banks. There is a Sri Rama Bhajana Koil in Brahmin street. Every year Rama Navami is celebrated with lot of devotion by Bhaagavathaas. Bhajans are held for few days and the immediate Sunday, after Rama Navami, Sita Kalayanam is celebrated with grand vigour. Velachery was supposed to be abode of four Vaishnava gods. They are Sri Narasimha, Sri Vasudeva, Sri Soundara Narayana and Sri Anirudha. Sri Narasimha temple is the Yoga Narasimha temple. Sri Vasudeva Temple is located in Telugu Brahmin Street in Velachery. Sri Vedanarayana Perumal is one of the deities of the Sanctum Sanctoram of The Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple. He has a wonderful form with a Prayoga Chakram on His right hand aimed at destroying the evils haunting the devotees. The original temple has been in dilapidated condition for a long period of time and is not suitable for being an abode for Gods. The presiding deity along with consorts has been installed in a newly constructed temple just in front of the old one. Sri Soundara Narayana temple is located near the Sri Vasudeva temple. The main idols were in poor condition. A new temple was constructed with the idols installed. Consecration was conducted with bhakthi vigor recently. Sri Anirudha idol is still not traceable. It is believed that Sri Anirudha's idol would have been buried in some part of Velachery.

The Dhandeeswaram Temple in Velachery is a historical site of note, which has inscriptions believed to be made by a great king from the Chola Dynasty in the 11th century. Velachery was known as Vedashreni (meaning "Abode of Vedas") during the Chola period. This information is available in many of the tablets in Dhandesswaram temple. {http://dharsanam.blogspot.com/2007/12/vedasreni-sri-dhandeeswarar.html}

Dhandeeswaram Temple:- Story of the temple, Dhandam refers to the weapon used by the lord Yamah. When Lord Yamah, threw the rope on Markandeyah to take his life, Markendeyah held on to a shivalingam (Lord Shiva). So the rope actually fell on Lord Shiva himself, which angered the God and He destroyed the weapon (Dhandam). Later on, Lord Yamah, did penance and got back his Dhandam, from the tank(Kulam) in the Dhandeeswaram Temple. As the "Dhandam" was given back by Lord Shiva, He is called as "Dhandeeswarar".

Thiruveedhi Amman Temple located in Seethapathy Nagar is quite famous. The sanctum sanctorum is believed to be in existence for nearly a century, while the outer structure was built two decades ago. The presiding deity is "Thiruveethi Amman". It also resides a Shiva temple within. Lotus shaped Ashtalakshmi sanctorum is exquisitely designed.

The sidhi vinayagar temple located near Guru Nanak college is very famous for the past 20 years.

In the recent years quite a few other temples have come up in the vicinity. Some of the popular temples apart from Dhandesswaram temple are the "Siva Vishnu Temple" located in Vijaya Nagar.

Churches

Annai Matha Church located at Dhandeeswaram Nagar known to be a largest Church in Velachery Advent Church located in Gandhi Salai it is oldest church in Velachery and completed 125 years. CSI Church located at Gandhi road also famous and oldest one.

Masjids

• Masjid-e-Allah, near TCS
• Masjid Hawwa, near velachery lake.
• Masjid Elaahi, Gandhi Road Junction.

See also

Nangamangalam Reserve Forest

External links

• Velachery Plus
• 600042
• Navadisha Montessori School
• Velacheryplus.com

Velachery
Next station north: Perungudi	Chennai suburban railway : MRTS		Next station south: n/a
	Stop Number:18	KM from start:19.41