New police museum in Chennai is a place of pride for peacekeepers

The recently opened police museum on Pantheon Road is a treasure trove for history enthusiasts, showcasing the valiant efforts of the state's police force.
Lady police officers click a selfie at Tamil Nadu Police Museum at Egmore in Chennai. (Photo| P Jawahar, EPS)
Lady police officers click a selfie at Tamil Nadu Police Museum at Egmore in Chennai. (Photo| P Jawahar, EPS)

I am always one to disagree when people call museums dull, boring and uninviting. Wandering the hallways of these stunning spaces have always whisked me away to a different timeline. The teeming antiquities excite me, offer multiple musings amid the mundane, and tuck me into a deep, pensive state.

So my recent visit to the newest museum in town, The Tamil Nadu Police Museum on Pantheon Road, didn't disappoint me. Collecting a Rs 10 entry pass and a floor map of the one-storey building from the ticket counter, I meandered from room to room, learning about the legends and valour of the state’s police force. The rich historic fabric of the Indo-Saracenic building, its resplendent architecture and its restoration story itself make this place worth a visit.

A plank in the portico of the building reads: 'Office of the Commissioner of Police, Madras. Originally built in 1842; Repurposed in 1856; Restored in 2020; Tamil Nadu Police Museum ESTD 2021', offering us a glimpse of the building’s antiquity.

The entire estate on the Road is said to have been purchased for an amount of Rs 21,000 from Arunagiri Mudaliar by the first Commissioner of Police in the Madras Presidency, Lt Col JC Boulderson.

From 1856 to 2013, the building housed several chiefs until the Commissionerate was shifted to a newer structure. After this transition, the piece of heritage which was left behind slowly began giving way to flora and fauna to take over, almost pushing it to its end. This was until 2020 when the decision to restore it to its former glory was made.

Today, the renovated high parapet walls, the age-old wooden spiral stairway, the Madras terrace roofing, the traditional chunam (lime plastered) walls, have brought the building back to life. The myriad artefacts, which dot the space in its new form as a museum, have only made the structure more interactive.

A plethora of physical artefacts - vehicles that the police force used (seemai vandis to speed boats), a confidential document copier from the 1900s, tools used for investigation, country-made bombs, ceremonial swords, an array of guns (Bore pump action gun, sniper rifles to AK 47) and ammunitions, forensic kits; descriptive wall panels on landmark cases dealt by the state's police, stories about the Force through the ages, evocative photographs, portraits (keep a lookout for the first woman sub-inspector, Usha Rani's image) and visual panes; mannequins dressed in uniforms of the various police wings, a retrieved loot idol section, a restored cell unit from the dilapidated Tondamuthur Police Station in Coimbatore for a photo booth, grand louvred doors, deep and well-lit verandahs, a Commissioner's office room decorated with an inkwell from the Art Deco period, a roll-top table, a kerosene fan, gramophone... the massive museum and the fascinating stories took me on a revelatory journey.

'The seed is sown for posterity. Generations will pass by, but this Boulderson building and all its content will stand here singing praise to the men who protected human lives around' reads another panel in the portico. Soaking in this spirit and the view of the edifice illuminated by the golden hour, I whispered, "hear, hear!"

The Tamil Nadu Police Museum is located at 483, Pantheon Road, Egmore. Open from Monday to Sunday; 11 am to 7 pm (weekdays), 10 am-7 pm (weekends); closed on Tuesday. Ticket price Rs 10 (Adults), Rs 5 (children). For details, call: 9498143468

Glory behind the glass

Addl DGP (Operations) A Amalraj, worked under the direct supervision of former DGP Tripathy and incumbent C Sylendra Babu to get the building back in form. Steve Borgia of INDeco Group of Hotels, was invited as Honorary Executive Consultant into this project to make the dream come alive.

The Reach Foundation and Conservation Mainstream, along with The Tamilnadu Police Housing Corporation took up the conservation and adaptive reuse of the building.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com