Madras Day | A day inside Chennai’s Brodie’s Castle, now the Music College campus

Watch | A day inside Chennai’s Brodie’s Castle, now the Music College campus

A group of nattuvangam students at Govt. Music College, Chennai, which was once Brodie’s Castle
| Photo Credit:
Johan Sathyadas

S Vijayaraghavan is introducing the basics of Hamsadwani raga to his violin students. “It goes, Sa Ri Ga Pa Ni Sa…” he tells the 30-odd students, seated in jamakalams spread across the center hall, who then play it on their instruments.

The sound of thirty-plus violins playing the raga all at once reverberates across the halls of the picturesque Tamil Nadu Music and Fine Arts University (Government Music College). Not far away, classrooms echo with the sound of the veena, where a handful of students are learning a song in Mohanam raga, and basic vocal classes.

A class in progress inside Chennai’s Govt. Music college, once Brodie’s Castle
| Photo Credit:
Thamodharan Bharath

Outside, amidst the lush campus, are smaller classrooms where nadaswaram, thavil, flute and folk arts are taught.

Music pervades each nook and corner of this colonial heritage building, once known as ‘Brodies Castle’ and now called ‘Thendral’. Located along the Adyar river bank, this iconic white structure, spread over 20,000 sqft, is among the city’s few remaining historic homes.

The story of Brodie’s Castle begins in 1796, when it was built on an eleven-acre site by James Brodie, of Jarvis and Brodie, who was probably inspired by the eponymous castle in Scotland. The sloping outer walls and two castellated turrets has seen a lot of activity in the building that has been a residence to many, including Sir Thomas Strange, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Madras, and many other judges.

A view of the Chennai Music college, which was once Brodie’s Castle
| Photo Credit:
Johan Sathyadas

Unfortunately, the Castle is said to have brought ill luck on several of its residents. In 1866, it was in the news for the wrong reasons. Historian V Sriram, in an earlier column in ‘The Hindu’, writes that “when James McIvor of the Bank of Madras was its occupant, his two daughters, an aide-de-camp to the Governor and the president of the Madras Corporation, were killed in a boating accident.” In 1943, a rise in the water level in the Adyar river destroyed many possessions inside the Castle, and subsequently, it stopped being a residence and started a tryst with music that continues till date.

Cut to 2023, and ‘Thendral’ witnesses hordes of young music aspirants – dressed in traditional Tamil clothing – and training in various art forms. All this even as this heritage structure is being strengthened by the PWD department; the state government recently granted a fund of Rs 2 crore for its renovation. “A lot of people take this route while heading to Adyar, but might not have ventured inside this particular lane leading to our college. This is a beautiful building,” beams Thoppur B Sairam, Principal, Govt. Music College, even as sounds from the nearby violin class waft through the air.

Inside Chennai Music college, which was once Brodie’s Castle
| Photo Credit:
S Shiva Raj

There’s also some desilting work going on at the Adyar river, which is located right behind Sairam’s office in the building’s premises, but it is the melodies of the flute and the beats of the mridangam that fill the air. And quite a bit of dance too, as Bharatanatyam and nattuvangam classes progress briskly not far away.

There’s also a separate section for folk arts, where artist Madurai Muthu is talking to students about the importance of forms like karagam and kaavadi. “We also separate departments for ghatam, kanjira and morsing, which is unique to this Chennai institution,” adds Sairam. About 600 students, from both day and evening college, train here at present. They also take part in college culturals and perform in government programmes as well, apart from a special tour for select students to the popular Tyagaraya Aradhana that happens at Thiruvaiyaru in the months of January and February. “Students come from different backgrounds – some from engineering and some even from nursing – but when they take up music, it gives them the satisfaction that none of the other subjects gave.”

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