In the heart of old Madras lies Moore Market, a fantasy land, a Xanadu - elusive, romantic and enchanting. “Here, you can get everything under the sun,” says Shanti. She cleans the park, which is now home to perhaps the only remnant model of the erstwhile Moore Market. It lies safely hidden from the same prying eyes that once led to the destruction of the market in a mysterious fire. This model in Broadway lies forgotten, littered and abandoned.
The Lily Pond Complex that came to be much later in 1986 paved way for the new Moore Market. Maybe those were the days…
However, there are some stores in the present Moore Market that are a treasure trove for antique lovers. Dingy and cluttered, the Mahalakshmi Palace is a storehouse of beautiful vintage items. From palm tree-shaped brass candelabra to crystal Eiffel tower, from ancient gramophones to Sherlock Holmes pipes, this shop is a treasure trove of collector’s items. “Only those with good taste and knowledge of antiques buy them,” says shopkeeper, Rangarajan.
A huge woodwork of Hussaini Bidi’s advertisement looks incongruous amidst a row of enormous Johnny Walker bottles. A weather-beaten poster of Sugandhi Soap, immortalised in a copy of a Ravi Varma painting, lies unattended yearning to adorn the walls of a home.
Explore further and you are transported to an era of gramophones, sepia photos, heavy radio transmitters and ten paise coins. This enchanting retail space is one of Chennai’s oldest shopping stretches where you truly find authenticity under heaps of dust, ragged cardboard and frail shopkeepers.
A BRIEF HISTORY...
- Built in the Indo-Saracenic style by RE Ellis and constructed by A Subramania Aiyar in 1900, the Moore Market had shops selling flowers, meat and other food items along with pets, second hand books and art.
- After the fire in 1985, the Chennai Suburban Railway Terminus was built where the market once stood. The Lily Pond complex was built by the government.
- One of the shops sells army merchandise ranging from army boots and uniforms to badges and belts. According to the shop keeper, his products are bought for film shooting purposes as well as NCC cadets.
- The aquariums here sell a huge variety of ornamental fish and fish food. The medicines and anti-fungal liquids sold here are not reliable though.
- Original SLR Cameras, music systems, computer parts and mobile phones are sold here at costs almost half the MRP. This, too, is bargainable.
- Ancient heavy locks and pendulum clocks displayed here will take you back in time.
- You will see Rajinikanth resplendent in his white dancing costume from Mappillai, the ABBA troupe in all its glory and the crooning queen Donna Summer on the covers of gramophone records. These are priced as low as Rs 40.