It was the 1880s. Madras’s skyline was still taking form. The city’s aspirations and its fights for freedom rose even higher. Its citizens dreamed of a common yet accessible space to gather, where thought leaders could speak to the masses; artistes could perform, interpret, and preserve cultural heritage; and the collective voices could oppose the forced restrictions and measure their progress, step by step.
Meeting the public’s demand, an Indo-Saracenic town hall was built, pushing the skyline and resisting colonial conformity, becoming a space where ideas, art, and people converged. The stone, laid in 1883, anchored a vision that would go on to shape the city’s public, cultural, and political life.
For more than a century, the Victoria Public Hall (VPH) has thrived watching Madras, and now Chennai, gather. Political meetings, ideology formations, public debates, cultural performances, and even some of the city’s earliest film screenings unfolded under its high red-brick ceilings. It was not merely a venue but a living, breathing public space, until time, neglect, and changing urban rhythms silenced it.
While the doors were shut tight, the music, voices, and stories reverberated from each brick, bearing the weight of the structure’s rich history. After nearly 16 years, the music returns to this iconic, over 140-year-old landmark, and with it, the city’s cultural pulse and pride. Today, after a government-led renovation under the Singara Chennai 2.0 initiative, the hall is ready to speak again of its past and echo new memories. It is done so through music, the very art form that once defined its spirit.
Beginning February 7 and 8, VPH will host a curated series of musical events, marking the first step in a larger vision to reimagine the space as a year-round cultural centre.
“The place has an interesting history of politics, cinema, art, art forms, and more,” says V Sivakrishnamurthy, IAS, Deputy Commissioner (Works). “Reviving the structure and restoring it with contemporary art and culture was a priority in the list of projects included in the Singara Chennai 2.0 project. We want to make it [VPH] a very autonomous place where a lot of art thrives.”
A collaborative revival
Sivakrishnamurthy notes that the hall was one of the most emotionally resonant projects under Singara Chennai 2.0. “Every GCC staff member who has worked here for decades wanted something like this to happen,” he says.
To shape the programming, the government constituted an advisory committee comprising artistes and cultural practitioners, including actors Suhasini Maniratnam and Revathi, among others. Working alongside them is In Collective. Its founder notes that since the government wanted this space to be engaging, useful, and alive, they helped bring that vision to life in a way that today’s audiences connect with.
With the support from the government and the efforts by the committee, the opening events focus on music, but the larger plan is intentionally expansive. Given the history of the space, they are keen to start with, but not limit it to, musical events.
Working on the principle of ‘for the people and by the people’, mass-market bands like Motta Maadi Music, KM Conservatory, and others are actively involved in performing. “There are a lot of interested groups and individuals who are in touch with the highest level of authority, and with VPH. We encourage every idea and every art form,” assures Sivakrishnamurthy.
The musical concerts would eventually bleed into film clubs, screenings, workshops, masterclasses, theatre, stand-up comedy, and discussions around mental health and social issues. The aim is to create a space that blends entertainment with information — infotainment — and acts as a bridge of the past and the present. The legacy of the hall in photographs is on display on the ground floor, and the “modern, contemporary art shows are scheduled to happen on the first floor,” he notes.
At its heart, through this initiative, the government’s message to every individual stepping into this soil is to know that “there’s something here for them. They could come to VPH not just for a show, but to spend time, meet people, and return.”
Day one of one day
Crucially, Victoria Public Hall is not being positioned as a closed cultural circuit. The hall is open for public bookings, and the intent is to keep it active with events on all 365 days. “There are so many micro-events happening across the city every weekend now, and this series of events is about becoming part of that flourishing ecosystem and enhancing it,” adds Sivakrishnamurthy.
The campus includes an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 100-150 people, and the team is reaching out to colleges to encourage student participation. In the long run, the vision is to provide a platform for emerging artistes. “This is just a start. These events could open doors to many more venues and ideas across the city,” he adds.
For the Greater Chennai Corporation, the challenge lies in balancing the restored heritage of the building with present-day artistic expression. “We want to showcase what Victoria Public Hall stands for in today’s context,” he says. “The artiste and the art form become the medium. We are open to ideas from the public and we work through the execution and administration processes,” concludes Sivakrishnamurthy.
As the curtains are set to rise at Victoria Public Hall, the promise is not just of concerts or performances, but of memories, old and new, resonating once more within its walls. The hall is not just reclaiming its past, but is extending it into the present, inviting Chennai to gather again.
The series starts with Motta Madi Music playing on February 7, and ‘Kalaimani’ Radhika Shurajit presenting ‘Paatum Bharatamum’, a unique Natya tribute celebrating Kollywood songs, through Classical Bharatanatyam, on February 8.
For tickets, visit: https://gccservices.in/victoriapublichall
Book it now!
The Victoria Public Hall is open to the public from 8 am to 6 pm. They can book the amphitheatre, with a capacity of 100-150 people, at Rs 10,000 for a day, main hall with a capacity of 250-300 people for Rs 1,00,000 a day, and corporate events at Rs 50,000. For education-related events, bookings can be done through the GCC services’ website.