For centuries, the sea was Chennai’s front gate. Long before airports and expressways, the city’s first encounters were shaped along this coast. In many ways, modern Chennai began here: with ships unloading not just cargo, but cultures, communities, and the city’s very identity.
It is not every day that the gates of Chennai Port open to visitors, but on a cloudy August dawn, buzzing with anticipation, a group of us step past the high-security entrance as part of The Hindu’s Made of Chennai heritage walk led by Thirupurasundari Sevvel, architect and founder of Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai. Inside, the port reveals itself not just as a bustling trade hub, but as a site layered with colonial history, wartime scars, and evolving architecture.
We begin at the Chennai Port Trust Centenary Building, where officials take us through the history of the port. “Chennai Port and Chennai city are integrated with each other. The city came into being in 1639, while the port was officially built only in 1881. For almost 240 years, there was no protected harbour — ships anchored offshore and passengers were ferried through the surf,” said Sunil Paliwal, the Chairman of the Port Trust.
The story goes back to 1770, when Warren Hastings first suggested a harbour in Madras. The idea lay dormant until 1836, when the Madras Chamber of Commerce began lobbying for one. Work started on a pier in 1859, but it collapsed within years due to the rough sea.
In 1875, when the Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone, the port’s modern history began. The foundation stone can be spotted at the Centenary Building even today.
Participants with the Chairman Sunil Paliwal
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Completed in 1880 and opened in 1881, Chennai Port became India’s third-oldest major port, after Kolkata and Mumbai — a horseshoe-shaped harbour that finally tamed the Coromandel coast.
Our first stop is the Steam House, the oldest surviving structure on the port campus. Built in 1938, this brick-and-stone building still bears its Madras terrace roof, an architectural style that kept interiors cool against the coastal climate. “Over the years it has served many purposes, from a steam house to an electric substation. Now, we are working to restore and transform it into a museum that showcases the history of the port,” says the chairman.
Participants of the heritage walk listening to Thirupurasundari
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Next, we climb to the Signal Station perched on the North of the port. From here, the panorama is striking — all three docks laid out in sequence, cranes swivelling, cargo stacked high, ships awaiting their turn. This is the nerve centre of the port. Here we learn about how it is the control point where ships are signalled when to enter, which berth to dock at and how pilot boats guide them in.
The walk ends at the Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC), tucked to the South of the harbour. Founded in 1911, it is among the oldest yacht clubs in India, but its walls carry memories far beyond sailing. During World War I, on the morning of September 22, 1914, the German warship SMS Emden bombarded Madras, targeting oil tanks along the coast. “Shells and shrapnel fell close to the harbour and the RMYC, and one of the paintings displayed there was damaged,” says Captain Vivek Shanbgag, who runs the RMYC. The painting, with scars of war, is still on display at the club.
View of the harbour
| Photo Credit:
Sangita Rajan
As the walk winds down, what lingers is the sense that the port is not just a restricted industrial space, but the city’s first doorway. “The main essence of the walk is to understand the amount of effort that goes in,” said Thirupurasundari. “We are celebrating Madras Day at the place which is really the starting point of everything — the Chennai Port, the beach, and the many aspects that shaped the city.”
The Hindu Made of Chennai is presented by Casagrand and powered by SRM. In association with Union Bank of India. Associate Partners: Tata Tea Chakra Gold, Tata Coffee. Walk partners: Port Trust of India and Kamarajar Port Limited. The event is also done in partnership with Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation, Greater Chennai Corporation, Greater Chennai Police, Greater Chennai Traffic Police and Namma Marina, Namma Pride. Radio Partners: Big FM, Fever FM and Radio One.
Published – August 18, 2025 02:37 pm IST
