Kodambakkam | |
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  Kodambakkam Kodambakkam கோடம்பாக்கம் (Chennai) Show map of Chennai Kodambakkam Kodambakkam (Tamil Nadu) Show map of Tamil Nadu Kodambakkam Kodambakkam (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:13°03′13″N80°13′32″E / 13.0535°N 80.2255°E /13.0535; 80.2255 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Chennai District |
| Metro | Chennai |
| Zone | ZONE 10 – Kodambakkam Zone |
| Ward | Ward No. 127,130,131,133,134 |
| Talukas | Mambalam Taluk |
| Government | |
| • Body | Greater Chennai Corporation |
| Elevation | 63 m (207 ft) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 600024 |
| Vehicle registration | TN-09 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Chennai South |
| Legislative Assembly constituency | Theagarayanagar (T Nagar) |
| Planning agency | CMDA |
| Civic agency | Greater Chennai Corporation |
Kodambakkam (also known asK-Town[1] orKollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in CentralChennai,Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served byKodambakkam railway station of theChennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam has a high concentration of film studios and has been known for its status as the hub of theTamil film industry, lending its name to the industry's monickerKollywood, aportmanteau of Kodambakkam andHollywood.[2]
Kodambakkam is situated at 13.0481 N latitude and 80.2214 E longitude. It is one of the westerly located neighbourhoods of Chennai city. It is bounded by the neighbourhoods ofNungambakkam to the east,West Mambalam andT. Nagar to the south,Vadapalani to the west,Choolaimedu to the north andK. K. Nagar andAshok Nagar to the south-west.
Kodambakkam is located at a distance of 8 kilometres fromFort St. George.
It is believed that the name "Kodambakkam" itself might have been derived from theUrdu wordGhoda Bagh meaning "garden of horses".[3] Another version says that "Kodambakkam" derives its name from "Karkodagan Pakkam".[4] Karkodagan is the name of a famous snake in Hindu mythology. It is said that the snake worshiped LordShiva here. There is still a temple for Lord Shiva by the name Vengeeshwarar in Kodambakkam. Several sculptures and images of the snake Karkodagan can be seen in the temple, even today. There is another etymology for this name fromSoundarya Lahari according to Sudha Seshayyan. "Kodu-am-bakkam" Kodu means hill, am – denotes arrow. The place is associated with lord Shiva using the meru mountain as bow for destroying Tripura.[citation needed]
The neighbourhood of Kodambakkam has a history going back to about 2,000 years. During the period of thePallavas and theLater Cholas, the western part of Kodambakkam formed a portion of the historically important temple town of Vadapalani. One of the oldest temples in Kodambakkam is the Bharthukesavar temple which is over 500 years old.
Present-day Kodambakkam originated in the 17th and 18th centuries CE, when it supposedly served as source for thehorses of the stable of theNawab of the Carnatic.
Under the British, Kodambakkam was administered as amunicipality inChingleput district till the draining of the Long Tank in 1921, when Kodambakkam was incorporated into the Madras city and formed the Kodambakkam-Saligrammam-Puliyur district of Greater Madras along with other localities to the west of the now extinct Long Tank, with a population of 497 people in 1939. Kodambakkam also played an important role in the Anti-Hindi agitations of 1938 whenMaraimalai Adigal presided over a conference denouncing theimposition of Hindi in theMadras Presidency on 3 June 1938.[5]
The first movie studio was established byAvichi Meiyappa Chettiar in 1948. Since then, a number of other movie studios have been established, notable among them beingL. V. Prasad Studios and Vijaya Vauhini studios.Liberty theatre which was the oldest movie theater in Chennai was based here too, it was the place to be seen in the 1950s for movie premieres. However, the theater been demolished in the year 2010 and been replaced by a hotel and condos.
The neighbourhood got one of the city's first flyovers in 1967.[6] It is 623 m long and 12.8 m wide and connects the localities ofK. K. Nagar,Vadapalani, andAshok Nagar. The district is also home to theMeenakshi Sundararajan Engineering College, which is affiliated toAnna University.
There are old temples dedicated to Lord Shiva namely Vengeeswarar Temple and Bharadvajeswarar (Valeswarar) Temple belonging to 13th Century built during Chola Period. One of the oldestmosque inChennai named Puliyur Juma Masjid is situated here.
Kodambakkam is the centre of theTamil film industry known asKollywood, aportmanteau of Kodambakkam andHollywood.A. V. M. Studios established byAvichi Meiyappa Chettiar was the first movie studio to be established in Vadapalani-Kodambakkam. The Vijaya Vauhini Studios was established a little later followed by Prasad Labs in 1974. Today, many Tamil movie studios are located in and around Kodambakkam.
Residences of many film and television stars are located in and around Kodambakkam due to proximity to the movie studios. A film directors' colony situated in Kodambakkam is the home of many Tamil film directors and producers.
Indian Music ComposerIlaiyaraaja's self-owned Musical Studio "ILAIYARAAJA Studios" is located at Kodambakkam High Road.
Indian music directorA. R. Rahman's house and his officePanchathan Record Inn and AM Studios is located in the same street.
Some of the localities of Kodambakkam include:
Neighbourhoods adjacent to Kodambakkam | ||||||||||||||||
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