A time when Chennai rivalled Udhagamandalam in flower shows

Chennai's Semmozhi Poonga hosts a flower show inspired by Dubai's Miracle Garden, reviving the city's forgotten tradition.

The city’s Semmozhi Poonga is en fete, hosting a flower show for which over 12 lakh plants have been brought in. When I read that Dubai’s Miracle Garden was the inspiration for the event, I could not help smiling at how short public memory is. Forgotten is the fact that for decades, a flower show at this time of the year was part of the city’s annual calendar, with the Mayor and the Corporation being responsible for it. And flowers did not have to be brought in.

For years, we, in Chennai, rivalled Udhagamandalam in flower shows. By hosting the present show at Semmozhi Poonga, the government has, in a sense, taken it back to the place of origin. The Agri-Horticultural Society (AHS), established in 1835 and till recently the occupant of the Poonga, was the progenitor of the city’s flower show, organising it from 1839 to 1923 or thereabouts.

The public was invited to exhibit its specimens as well, and won prizes. The Corporation’s flower show was first hosted in 1924 and continued unbroken till 1991 after which it was held in fits and starts, ceasing altogether in the last decade. The venue was the historic and quaintly named My Ladye’s Garden (MLG) on Sydenhams Road (Raja Muthiah Salai).

Who the lady(e) in question was is unknown and likewise, there are no records on when this garden was created. Was it in 1859/60, set up as an adjunct to the larger People’s Park which has now vanished?

Interestingly, there was a proposal in the 1960s to rename MLG. But Lourdammal Simon, the then Minister in charge, flatly refused. In the ensuing debate, a question was raised as to the ‘e’ in ladye and the Assembly recorded that it had no information on why.

Located as it is just behind the Ripon Building, MLG was the Mayor’s Garden and this was where the holder of the office hosted tea parties, civic welcomes and other events related to the Corporation. It is even now a thing of beauty, possessing age-old trees, fine flower beds, and some interesting statuary. Most of these were designed by Ms. Alagacone, a student at the Madras School of Art (now the Government College of Fine Arts, Egmore).

Four of her works — Prosperity, Letter Writer, Venus, and Flora — survive in the garden, with the seated figure of Dewan Bahadur R. Subbaiah Naidu, ICS and sometime Commissioner of the Corporation, watching over them all. These were all installed in 1939. Till a couple of decades ago, these statues were pristine white, but in keeping with current tastes every one of them, including the late Commissioner, has been done up in multiple colours. The dignified ICS officer now looks like a clown.