Revisiting times gone by through Chennai’s clock towers

As obsolete as clock towers may seem in the current day, where we have the most advanced smartwatches and phones to tell us the time, they stand as remnants of the time gone by. Chennai, which is said to have had at least 14 clock towers until a few decades ago, now has only seven left, with some in a crumbling state. Through his cycling trails, historian and heritage enthusiast Ramanujar Moulana aims to throw light on these clock towers and make people care for a piece of history and art deco architecture. Clock towers, like the one in Ennore, which he recently rediscovered after it was hidden behind overgrown trees for years, need people’s attention, he says. 

The founder of Cycling Yogis, a group of people who ride bicycles to trace heritage sites, Ramanujar says of the seven clock towers in the city — Mint (George Town), Tondiarpet, Pattalam, Doveton (Vepery), Royapettah, Thiruvanmiyur and Kathivakkam (Ennore) — most stopped ticking. “While the clock tower structures in Mint, Tondiarpet, Pattalam, Doveton and Royapettah are in good condition, most of the clocks seem to be dysfunctional. The Thiruvanmiyur Clock Tower and Kathivakkam Standalone Clock Tower require urgent renovation and restoration,” he asserts.

Doveton Clock Tower, the first standalone clock tower in the city, was built in the early 1900s, while the one in Mint Junction came a few years later. The total number of clock towers remaining in the city would have been eight, if the Thiruvottiyur Clock Tower wasn’t taken down a few years ago, Ramanujar adds. During days of yore, public offices, markets and institutions scattered around the clock towers, thus making them markers for directions, popularly referred to as mani koondu in Tamil, he recollects.

“To collect information for our upcoming book, North Chennai Bicycle Trails, I have been exploring places in North Chennai for the past six months during weekends. Recently, when on a ride to Ennore, I came across this structure, almost under the canopy of a big tree, and had a building on the other side. This made the Kathivakkam Standalone Clock Tower difficult to spot from public view. Lack of awareness in history and disinterest in preserving our past are also other reasons for this clock tower not being in focus,” he stresses.

Having spent his childhood in Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur and East Coast Road (ECR) region, he recalls the Thiruvanmiyur Clock Tower being an important landmark for Chennaiites. “Those days, to visit any place on ECR, one had to get down at Thiruvanmiyur, near Marundeeswarar Temple, and then take a jatka (horse carriage), which were lined up near the Puducherry Bus Stop. There is the imposing Thiruvanmiyur Clock Tower, which was a landmark. Memories of childhood kickstarted this passion for exploring clock towers in our city,” he elaborates. 

Even though clock towers are of no use in the digital era, Ramanujar says they can become tourist attractions and remind people of the past. “One of the books published by Cycling Yogis, Madras by Cycle, curates a trail of all the clock towers in the city. We plan to take cycling and heritage enthusiasts on a tour of these towers soon,” he remarks.