Sandwiched between the stark walls of two-storied concrete buildings is a small tiled-roof structure with wooden beams and trellis work painted green. The 100-year-old building in which the Madras Sanskrit College began stands dwarfed by newer structures that have come up around it to accommodate the 80 students that the college teaches today.

“Though other structures have come up around it, we have kept the original building intact as we are proud of being a 100-year-old institution. We wanted to keep it while expanding the college to meet modern needs. Classes are still conducted here,” said college manager H Subramanian, showing the staircase to the first floor, which has railings made of Burma teak.

Constructed in 1910 by jurist and philanthropist V Krishnaswami Iyer, who contributed a fair share to the growth of Mylapore, it was the only building on campus when the college — established in 1906 with about 500 students — moved from nearby Pellathope. It was constructed on 5,000sqft with a single floor. The building looks more like a house with a small verandah and plants curling across the windows and red roof tiles. The building cannot be classified into a particular style or type but follows the style of construction adopted in the early 1900s for office buildings. “You’ll find many collector’s offices and other government buildings in this style in the districts. There were many of them in Mylapore too. This was the style of office buildings in the early 20th century with high ceilings and large windows that practically touched the ground,” said Intach convener S Suresh.

The college was set up by Krishnaswami with two others, who formed a committee to prevent the loss of Sanskrit. Back then, as now, students studied the basics of the language and its grammar and get a ‘Visarada’ in Veda and Vedanta certificate at the end of five years.

The building is supported by iron and wooden beams with high ceiling which makes it well ventilated. Similar structures surrounded it for many years, and the campus had a lot of trees. “Classes used to be conducted under the trees for many years,” said Subramanian.

Over the years with the expansion of the college, trees gave way to buildings and the house-like structures on either side of the heritage building had to accommodate a hostel and a research institute, said Subramanian. A few trees are still left on the front and rear side of the main heritage structure.

“The main building was whitewashed in January. The old tiles and wooden beams were carefully removed, painted and replaced during the renovation. As the tiles were in good condition we did not change them,” said Subramanian. The building houses the college office and lecture hall on the ground floor and examination hall and mini hostel for students on the first floor. “Despite having new buildings, the principal conducts lectures and holds discussions on the first floor. It is so well ventilated that we don’t have an airconditioner though a proposal is pending,” said Subramanian. On the first floor are wooden cupboards from the old days.

Over the years, the building has had many famous visitors. On April 28, 1915, Mahatma Gandhi visited the college. A few years later on October 9, 1922, Rabindranath Tagore visited the college and said he was pleased with the teaching of Advaita philosophy.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by B. Sivakumar, TNN / June 27th, 2014