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Photo: G. Moorthy

Imposing structure A century old

Scratch a wall of any building in the heart of the city and it surely will speak volumes about the history of the bygone era. But, standing tall among several other contenders and acknowledged and recognised for its majestic presence is the Victoria Edward Hall.

It all happened during British rule when a group of eminent personalities led by G. Srinivasa Rao, who was conferred the title of Rao Bahadur by the British Government, formed the Madura District Literary Association in 1902 and ran a library on the North Chithirai Street. Later, he initiated steps to form the Victoria Edward Hall Society and got it registered in 1907. He again raised funds for the construction of a building for the society to perpetuate the memory of Queen Victoria and in honour of Edward VII, the new Emperor of India. This chronology of events is shared by S. Palanikumarasamy, president, The Victoria Edward Hall Society.

Earlier, it was a huge hall right in the heart of the town near the Railway Station, which prompted people to call it as Town Hall. The building was constructed on the vacant plot measuring one acre and 11 cents. It belonged to the District Board. Their objective was to shift the library to the new premises that would benefit public. Library has become an integral part of the Victoria Edward Hall. Reminisces I. Ismail, the secretary of the Society: “Earlier, there were not many buildings around facilitating better visibility of the West Tower of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple from the Hall. Everyone visits the library, as it has some of the rarest of rare collections.”

With plenty of collections dating back to 18th and 19th centuries and topics ranging from literature to science, astrology to psychology, law to economics, religion to fine arts, the Victoria Edward Hall could as well be equated to the famous Connemara Library in Chennai, one of the country’s four depository libraries and the Ranade Library in Kolkata. In all more than two lakh books of which 36,000 books are rated to be very rare collections, are stacked in this library. Moreover, the British Government gazettes from 1934 and district gazettes from 1927 are available here, Dr. Ismail informs.

Besides, the library also subscribes to plenty of journals, magazines and dailies both inland and foreign. There is also a reading room for the benefit of the people.

The hall is also known for its theatre. For the sizeable British community, which resided then in the city, the theatre was a favourite past time screening their favourite movies. In fact, they had developed a special liking for the theatre. More than seeing the film, people would flock to this theatre to watch the British etiquette. Some of the inspiring speeches of great political leaders such as the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the city were delivered at this hall, says Dr. Ismail.

As a responsible organisation, the Victoria Edward Hall Society also involves in various social welfare measures. Every year it distributes welfare and financial assistances to the school children besides encouraging the district toppers in the public examinations. The society also bears higher education expenses of meritorious poor students.

The hall runs the affairs with funds generated from the theatre and from the shops rented out to private parties.

Recently, the society celebrated the successful completion of 100 years with Governor Surjit Singh Barnala participating in the centenary events.

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