Woodlands
25 Westcott Road, Royapettah |
One of the large landowners of Madras was Shanmukha Rajeswara Naganatha Setupathi, Rajah of Ramnad, and among his many properties was Woodlands, set in the midst of 16½ acres. Woodlands was purchased by Muni Venkatappa, a building contractor, in 1937, for a hotel. Not finding the going easy, he offered it on rent in 1938 to K. Krishna Rao (1898-1990).
Krishna Rao had worked as a dishwasher, waiter and flour-grinder before he got his big break, when he was asked to manage a restaurant on Acharappan Street in George Town. Having made a success of it, he struck out on his own and set up Madras’s first Udipi hotel, ‘The Udipi Sri Krishna Vilas’ on Mount Road in 1926/27.
He leased the Royapettah property and established Woodlands Hotel here, the first of what is now an immensely popular worldwide chain. The hotel had 45 rooms at a rent of Rs. 5 a day. Krishna Rao would himself solicit guests by waiting at the Central Station! The Music Academy’s annual conference in 1938 was held here under the leadership of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, which proved a strong advertisement for the hotel. The War years brought difficulties, including the crashing of a light plane in the garden! In 1947, Rajaji hosted a tea party on the lawns here to celebrate Indian independence. In 1952, Krishna Rao moved Woodlands Hotel to Edward Elliot’s (Radhakrishnan) Road.
Woodlands itself now houses a hotel and a theatre under different managements and both share its name. The house, with a portico that was probably added later, is of the typical Madras roof type. It has some fascinating and beautifully maintained period furniture and fittings. A few plaster statues adorn the vast gardens. (Courtesy: KalamKriya.)
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