A memorial that brings nostalgia to the visitors

Sivaji Ganesan memorial in Adyar honors legendary actor with historic roles, featuring photos, statues, and filmography.

Who would have seen or imagined how Rajaraja Chozhan or Karnan or Veerapandiya Kattabomman could have looked. It was Sivaji who brought all these historic heroes to us by playing such legendary roles and had given an everlasting visual memory, says S. Krishnamurthy, a septuagenarian and diehard fan of actor Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan.

“I have seen almost all the films of Sivaji Ganesan. Whenever I visit my daughter at Alwarpet, I stop here and spend at least half-an-hour, recollecting my memories through the photographs displayed. This place gives me immense happiness,” Mr. Krishnamurthy said while visiting Sivaji Ganesan’s memorial on Durgabai Deshmukh Road at Adyar.

The memorial took a long-winding route to become a reality. In September 2002, roughly a year after Sivaji Ganesan died, the AIADMK government allotted 65 cents of land opposite Sathya Studios at Adyar to construct a memorial for the legendary actor. Subsequently, the land was handed over to South Indian Film Artistes’ Associations by the Mylapore Tahsildar.

The approach road to the quarters of the Madras High Court Judges ran through the land, and the State government requested the association to give ₹4.20 lakh to lay a road. The association paid ₹2 lakh and the rest was borne by the government. A fence was erected around the site, a report in The Hindu noted. However, the project to construct a memorial was shelved for various reasons. In 2006, soon after coming to power, the DMK government installed a 2.35-metre-tall bronze statue of Sivaji Ganesan at Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai-Kamarajar Salai junction. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi unveiled the statue. However, the Madras High Court in 2014 directed the government to remove the statue as its location in the middle of the road was affecting traffic flow.

In August 2015, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that the government would take up the construction of the memorial. “As the association announced that it would construct it, the government did not take any initiative in the beginning. If it had asked me to construct the manimandapam, I would have issued orders in 2006 itself,” she said in a suo motu statement in the Assembly.

In 2017, the Public Works Department completed the construction of the memorial at a cost of ₹2.8 crore. Later, it also shifted the statue of the actor to the memorial. On October 1, 2017, on the birth anniversary of Sivaji Ganesan, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam inaugurated the memorial. It was built with features of the Dravidian style of architecture with domes. It also has drinking water facilities, a toilet complex, and a lawn.The walls feature nostalgic photographs of Sivaji Ganesan with Jawaharlal Nehru, S. Radhakrishnan, K. Kamaraj, M. Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran, G.K. Moopanar, and other political leaders and film personalities. The list of films in which Sivaji Ganesan acted in the lead and supporting roles, numbering more than 300, was also mentioned at the memorial.

The building is now being administered by the Department of Information and Public Relations.