View source for Anna Salai

{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox street
|marker_image=
|name=Anna Salai
|native_name=
|alternate_name= Mount Road
|maint= [[Highways of Tamil Nadu|Highways and Minor Ports Department]]<br /> [[Corporation of Chennai]] <br /> [[National Highways Authority of India]]
|image= Anna Salai Chennai.JPG
|map=
|length_mi=8
|length_round=
|length_ref=
|length_notes=
|established=
|decommissioned=
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a=[[GST Road]] / [[Inner Ring Road, Chennai|Inner Ring Road]], [[Mount-Poonamallee Road]], [[Kathipara Junction]] at [[St.Thomas Mount]], [[Chennai]]
|junction=Pallavan Salai<br />West Cooum River Road/Swami Sivananda Salai<br />Wallaja Road/Blackers Road<br />General Patters Road<br />Binny Road/Spencers Plaza<br />Whites Road/Greams Road<br />Peters road<br />Lloyds Road<br />Nungambakkam High Road/Cathedral Road (Anna Flyover)<br />Vijaya Raghava Road<br />Sir Thyagaraya Road, T. Nagar/Eldams Road<br />Cenotaph Road<br />Venkatanarayana Road/Chamiers Road<br />South Usman Road, T. Nagar<br />Taluk Office Road, Velachery Main Road(Little Mount)<br />Sardhar Patel Road<br />Guindy Race Course Road<br />Maduvankarai Bridge Road
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b=Flag Staff Road, Island Grounds, [[Chennai]]
|coordinates={{coord|13.064369|80.265808|display=inline,title}}
|counties=
|cities=
|system=
}}

[[Image:OpenStreetMap render Anna Salai.png|Map of Chennai showing Anna Salai|thumb]]

'''Anna Salai''' ({{IPA-ta|aɳɳaː saːlaɪ|lang}}), formerly known as '''St. Thomas Mount Road''' or simply '''Mount Road''',<ref name="takeovertycoons">{{cite news | title = Mount Road's takeover tycoons | newspaper = [[The Times of India]]| location = Chennai  | date = 28 August 2011 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Mount-Roads-takeover-tycoons/articleshow/9767517.cms | access-date = 31 January 2012}}</ref> is an [[arterial road]] in [[Chennai]], India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of [[Fort St George]], leading in a south-westerly direction towards [[St. Thomas Mount]], and ends at the [[Kathipara Junction]] in [[Guindy]].<ref>{{cite news
  | title = Time travel on Anna Salai
  | newspaper = The Hindu
  | location = Chennai
  | pages = 4 (MetroPlus)
  | publisher = Kasturi & Sons
  | date = 23 October 2018
  }}</ref> Beyond the Kathipara Junction, a branch road arises traversing westwards to [[Poonamallee]] to form the [[Mount-Poonamallee Road]] while the main branch continuing southwards to [[Chennai Airport]], [[Tambaram]] and beyond to form [[Grand Southern Trunk Road]] ([[GST Road]] or [[NH45]]). Anna Salai, which is more than 400 years old, is acknowledged as the most important road in Chennai city. The head offices of many commercial enterprises and public buildings are located along Anna Salai. It is the second longest road in Chennai, after [[Poonamallee High Road]].

There were several flyover projects under proposal along the stretch, many of which have been shelved owing to the construction of the [[Chennai Metro]] Rail project, which runs along the median of the road.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article2116245.ece?service=mobile |title=Anna Salai flyovers proposal shelved |access-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026132159/http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article2116245.ece?service=mobile |archive-date=26 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Anna Salai Head Post office, one of the most important post offices in the city, is located on this road. It was established in 1854 as Mount Road SO as a non-gazetted delivery office. With the growth of commerce and urbanization, this SO was upgraded to gazetted in the year 1955. Nomenclature of this Head Post office was changed from Mount Road Head Post office to Anna Road Head Post office on 15 September 1974.

==History==
[[Image:HOTEL D'ANGELIS ,MADRAS EARLY'S 1900.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Mount Road in 1900]]
Anna Salai is more than 400 years old,<ref name="IE_FrozenInTime">{{cite news
  | title = Chennai's Anna Salai: Frozen in time
  | newspaper = The New Indian Express
  | location = Chennai
  | publisher = Express Publications
  | date = 2 July 2018
  | url = http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/travel/2018/jul/02/chennais-anna-salai-frozen-in-time-1837158.html
  | access-date = 23 October 2018}}</ref> and has its origins in a cart track which was used by the European employees of the [[British East India Company]] to travel from the factory at [[Fort St George]] to the holy town of [[St Thomas Mount]] where the apostle [[Thomas the Apostle|St Thomas]] was crucified.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}} The road, in its present form, took shape during the time of [[George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney|Charles Macartney]] who served as [[Governor of Madras]]. With the construction of Marmalong Bridge in 1724, the road started gaining prominence. In the following years, the road became part of the city's central business district which originally covered only [[George Town, Chennai|George Town]].<ref name="CMDA_StructureOfChennai">{{cite web
 |title=Structure of Chennai 
 |work=Chapter 1 
 |publisher=CMDA 
 |url=http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/Volume3_English_PDF/Vol3_Chapter01_Structure%20of%20Chennai.pdf 
 |access-date=24 February 2013 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826201439/http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/Volume3_English_PDF/Vol3_Chapter01_Structure%20of%20Chennai.pdf 
 |archive-date=26 August 2013 
}}</ref> Today, most of Chennai's business and corporate offices are located on Anna Salai.

In the 1700s, the road was lined with garden houses and large colonial mansions with balconies and verandas set amidst lush gardens.<ref name="Hindu_RoadThatWas">{{Cite news 
  | last = Narayanan 
  | first = Ayush 
  | title = The Mount Road that was
  | newspaper = The Hindu
  | location = Chennai
  | pages = 5 (MetroPlus)
  | publisher = Kasturi & Sons
  | date = 2 July 2019
  | url = https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/the-architectural-gems-of-mount-road-and-the-history-behind-them/article28250379.ece
  | access-date = 21 July 2019}}</ref> By the 1800s, Mount Road has become the traders' area of the city of Madras while First Line Beach in Georgetown remained the seat of processing, shipping and manufacturing businesses. However, the business activities of Mount Road was responsible for the city's economic growth. Several giant firms had beginnings on Mount Road, from the Amalgamations group to the TVS group. The road's proximity to the Government House, the home of the Governor, and the palaces of the Nawabs of Arcot resulted in several firms selling cars and other luxury goods setting up shops on the road. Simpson & Co, which moved to its current location opposite Government Estate after 1875, began building carriages and coaches and then cars. In the early 1900s, the road became the entertainment hub for the British.<ref name="Hindu_RoadThatWas"/> In 1903, the first steam-driven car was taken for its debut drive on Mount Road. To overcome the Great Depression of the 1930s, Simpon's introduced the [[hire purchase]] system for cars and trucks. In the 1930s, the TVS group, which was a travel operator in mofussil areas, was established in Madras by acquiring the Madras Auto Service property. In the 1940s, Anantharamakrishnan helped with the formation of Amalgamations & Co. The city's first skyscraper, the [[LIC Building]], was built in 1959. Several major firms were then established, namely, Spencers & Co, Victoria Family Hotel (the present location of the Indian Overseas Bank Headquarters) and Higginbothams.<ref name="takeovertycoons" />

==The Stretch==
[[File:Thomas Munro classic.jpg|thumb|200px|Statue of [[Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet|Thomas Munro]] in [[The Island, Chennai]]]]
Anna Salai starts from the [[Parktown]] area of Chennai city where [[Chennai Central]] railway terminus is situated. It, then, traverses [[The Island, Chennai|the Island]] with its statue of Sir Thomas Munro to the other side of the Coovum before entering the neighbourhoods of [[Thousand Lights]] and [[Teynampet]] areas. From Teynampet, it continues straight southwards to [[Nandanam]] and [[Saidapet]] before traversing the [[Maraimalai Adigal Bridge]] across the [[Adyar River]] to [[Little Mount]] and finally, [[Guindy]]. Anna Salai is maintained by the [[Highways of Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu Highways Department]]. The road extends for a total of 11 kilometres and traverses the heart of the city.

By the 2010s, the stretch between [[Parry's Corner]] and [[Nandanam]] was used by over 16,000 vehicles during rush hour. Anna Salai is used by over 0.183 million vehicles every day.<ref name="FlyoverWallMended">{{cite news
 | last = Ramakrishnan
 | first = Deepa H.
 | title = Flyover wall mended after 3 days
 | newspaper = The Hindu
 | location = Chennai
 | date = 1 July 2012
 | url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3589297.ece
 | access-date = 5 July 2012}}</ref> The Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Anna Salai carries about 14,000 passengers per hour per direction.<ref>{{cite news
  | title = Chennai: Bid to ease Anna Salai rush, give push for public transport
  | newspaper = The New Indian Express
  | location = Chennai
  | publisher = IBN Live
  | date = 11 June 2012
  | url = http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chennai-bid-to-ease-anna-salai-traffic-rush/265437-62-130.html
  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130126111151/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chennai-bid-to-ease-anna-salai-traffic-rush/265437-62-130.html
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = 26 January 2013
  | access-date = 20 June 2012}}</ref>

==Safety level==
Anna Salai remains the road in the city experiencing second most number of accidents annually, next only to Jawaharlal Nehru Road (100&nbsp;ft Inner Ring Road), with one person being injured every 1.13 days. Together, these roads account for almost 14 per cent of the 5,101 accidents that occurred in Chennai in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|author =Karthikeyan Hemalatha |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-11/chennai/29760253_1_accident-rate-traffic-police-anna-salai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926145123/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-11/chennai/29760253_1_accident-rate-traffic-police-anna-salai |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 September 2012 |title=100-Ft Rd, Anna Salai are city's most dangerous |date=11 July 2011 |work =[[The Times of India]] |access-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

==Landmarks on Anna Salai==
[[File:State Legislative Assembly (5319604341).jpg|thumb|200px|The Tamil Nadu Omandurar Government Multi Speciality Hospital and Medical College]]
[[File:The Hindu and The Mail.jpg|thumb|200px|The offices of ''[[The Hindu]]'' and the now-defunct ''[[The Mail (Madras)|The Mail]]'' in Anna Salai]]
[[Image:LIC building, Chennai.jpg|thumb|200px|[[LIC Building]]]]
[[File:Spencer Plaza from Anna Salai.jpg|thumb|200px|Spencer Plaza from Anna Salai]]
[[File:Thousand Lights Mosque (6708375421).jpg|thumb|200px|Thousand Lights Mosque]]
[[Image:Equestrian Statue Anna Salai Chennai.jpg|thumb|200px|Equestrian Statue on the [[Nungambakkam]] side of Anna (Gemini) fly over.]]

[[File:Anna Salai seen from Chennai MRTS near Willingdon Bridge.JPG|thumb|200px|Near Willingdon Bridge, seen from [[Chennai MRTS]]]]
[[Image:Panagal Building.jpg|thumb|200px|Panagal Maaligai or Panagal Building, [[Saidapet]]]]
<!--PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER-->

===Major landmarks===

* Agurchand Mansion (built late 1800s)
* [[Anna Flyover]]
* [[Ashok Leyland]] - ALCOB Building
* [[Bharat Overseas Bank]] Headquarters
* [[Indian Overseas Bank]] Headquarters
* [[Bharat Insurance Building]] (built 1897)
* Century Plaza
* Christ Church (built 1852)
* Cosmopolitan Club
* Cosmopolitan Club Golf Links
* [[Consulate General of the United States, Chennai|American Consulate]]
* [[Devaneya Pavanar|Devaneya Paavaanar Library]]
* Devi Theater
* [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] [DMK] (Party Headquarters)
* Gove House (built 1916)
* [[Grand Chola, Chennai|The Grand Chola Hotel]]
* Guindy Railway Overbridge
* [[Higginbotham's]] (India's oldest bookshop) (built 1844)
* Hindustan Teleprinters Limited (built early 1900s)
* [[Hyatt Regency, Chennai|Hyatt Regency Hotel]]
* Indian Oil Building
* Intellectual Property India Headquarters
* Island Grounds Exhibition Centre
* Kalignar Satellite Television Headquarters
* [[Kamaraj Memorial Hall]]
* [[Kathipara Junction|Kathipara Cloverleaf Intersection]]
* [[Le Royal Meridien, Chennai|Le Royal Meridien Hotel]]
* [[LIC Building]] (Chennai's first skyscraper)
* [[Gymkhana Club, Chennai|Madras Gymkhana Club]]
* [[Maraimalai Adigal Bridge]]
* Mount Road Mosque
* [[Thousand Lights Mosque]] (built early 1800s)
* [[General Post Office, Chennai|Mount Road Head Post Office]]
* ''[[The Hindu]]''
* ''[[The Mail (Madras)|The Mail]]'' (built 1921)
* Thevar Statue
* Oxford University Press
* [[P Orr & Sons]] (built 1873)
* Panagal Building
* [[The Park, Chennai|The Park Hotel]]
* Poombuhar Building (built late 1800s)
* [[Rajaji Hall]] (built 1802)
* [[Raheja Towers, Chennai|Raheja Towers]]
* Rani Seethai Hall
* Rayala Towers
* Sacred Heart School, Church Park
* [[Safire Theatre complex]] (now demolished)
* [[Saidapet Teachers' College]]
* [[Semmozhi Poonga]]
* Simpsons
* [[Spencer Plaza]]
* [[SPIC building, Chennai|SPIC Building]]
* State Bank of India building (built early 1900s)
* St. George's Cathedral (built 1816)
* [[St. Thomas Mount]]
* [[Sterling Towers]]
* [[Taj Connemara|Taj Connemara Hotel]]
* Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Headquarters
* Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Government Estate
* Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL)
* Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
* Tarapore Towers
* [[The British Council]]
* VGP Victory House
* [[Victoria Technical Institute]]
* Voltas
* Willington Bridge
* YMCA

===Railway Stations===
* [[Chintadripet (Chennai MRTS)|Chintadripet MRTS railway station]]
* [[Guindy railway station]]

<gallery>
Image:Anna Salai shops.jpg|Anna Salai shops
File:Gemini Flyover-Mount road-Chennai.jpg|Gemini Flyover-Anna Salai
Image:Anna Salai2.jpg|Anna Salai near old Anand Theater
</gallery>

==See also==

* [[Transport in Chennai]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Anna Salai}}
{{reflist}}

{{Chennai topics}}
{{Roads of Chennai}}
{{Transport in Chennai}}

[[Category:Roads in Chennai]]
[[Category:Central business districts in India]]
[[Category:Memorials to C. N. Annadurai]]