Mithila
410/215, T.T.K. (Moubray’s) Road, Alwarpet
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Mithila, one of the few surviving stately homes on this road, is the residence of
Mr. and Mrs. T.R. Nagoji Rao, descendants of one of the oldest Maharashtrian families of Madras. The land was purchased in 1930 from noted Mathematics professor Anand Rao and his brother Madhav Rao by their brother-in-law,
T. Ramachandra Rao (1896-1973), a successful chemist and druggist of Broadway. He was a founder of the Triplicane Permanent Fund and the Mahratta Education Fund. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society and a member of the Servants of India Society, besides being the zamindar of Eliambedu, Ponneri. His grandfather, T. Ramachandra Rao (1825-1879), the first Indian to become Deputy Commissioner of Police in the city, was honoured by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) during his visit in 1875.
Mithila was built on this site in 1931 as a single-storeyed bungalow, in strict accordance with manae shastra, the treatise that governed construction. Handsomely proportioned, with a combination of traditional and colonial features, the house, constructed on a high plinth, was designed for good ventilation and, at the same time, keeping out the strong sunshine. Its ‘Attached toilets’ to the bedrooms were a novelty at the time. The house features high ceilings, deep verandahs and projecting eaves and gables. All the prescribed trees, according to the shastras, were planted in the garden, which soon became a bird-lovers’ paradise. The first floor, comprising three tile-roofed rooms and a central hall, was added in 1945. (Courtesy: KalamKriya.)
Sriram V.
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