The chief has been drooling over a Madras Guide of the 1950s which has photos of some famed commercial establishments of the city. The quality of print is terrible but still the photos evoke a memory. I have been given the enjoyable task of writing the notes for each.
The first of these is Dasaprakash Hotel. A wonderful art deco building, it was part of a chain built up by Kuttethoor Seetharama Rao who gave up a lowly Government job in 1921 to join his brothers in running a restaurant in Mysore. He later established others in Madras and Ootacamund, and the chain moved to North India in the 1970s and, thereafter, to the USA.
The Poonamallee High Road flagship hotel was inaugurated in 1954, as was its twin kalyana mandapam, Dharmaprakash. The hotel was known for its good Udipi fare, ice creams and comfortable rooms. In its time, its restaurants had seen visitors ranging from Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru to J.K. Galbraith.
Differences in the family and the five-star culture saw the closure of Dasaprakash in the 1990s. The building was demolished in 2010 to make way for highrise after the property changed hands.
It was one of the finest hotels in chennai and their moonlight dinners at the cost of Rs 4 is to be excellent
In those days,when i was a college student, we used to visit Hotel Dasaprakash for its tasty food.
How about Hotel Woodland ? Is it still operating in Chennai.
Swimming pool in Marina beach in the premises of Hotel Bukhari .Oh. Marvelous Moore Market, crowded Kothawal Chawadi, burstling Esplanade, black-clad lawyers in NSC Bose Road,un-forgetable.
Now I am 65 years old and not in chennai though i am naitve of chennai. For the past 25 years i have not seen Chennai.
I have forgotten Madras Pasai(Madras Language)
Podaa um moonchile en kaiye vykka–.
Ennaa Machhaan Meen kolambu thunniyaa ?–
Ennaada badaa bejaara pochhcu.–
Annaathe varaan vazhi vidungappaa–.
Now so many years, i have not heard any body speaking in Tamil
Down the memory lane
Prashant
A lovely hotel of the yesteryears famous for the food and icecreams. Also Mr.Ananda Rao, Manager / Cricket Commentator.
As a resident of Egmore and student of M Ct School in the 50s, Dasapprakash was a family hotel. Of course now it is history !!!
Dasaprakash was a famous landmark of Poonamallee High Road and for those of us who lived in the vicinity a great place to socialise. ‘Soda Fountain’ the coffee shop served sinfully rich masala dosai and ‘Dasaprakash special’ icecream; one could also get South Kanara delicacies like ‘kadubu’ and ‘yam pathral’The dining rooms could be depended on to serve excellent breakfast and meals. It was sad to see the decay and decline in quality in later years after the courts took over management. Its demolition marks the end of an iconic building of Madras !
Sriram,
You are right. The picture does look ghostly. It neither brings back the charm of the place nor conjure up the culinary delights the establishment dispensed to the locals and to happy travelers.
I have vague memories of being there a few times before, but our trip to Chennai that hot April in 1972 to be at a niece’s wedding made the place a haven–especially to my very young children. The wedding took place in Dharmaprakash which wasn’t air-conditioned then. My little son, on his very first trip to India from the UK was wilting. Sweat coming down his temples made him exclaim, “What’s that, trickling down my face?”
The rooms were air-conditioned, but we were all busy spending most hours at the wedding. What to do with the children who simply couldn’t take the heat?
Besides the grandmothers who took turns (no television in the rooms then), older cousins chipped in. The children couldn’t eat much of the feast food–so they spent most of their wakeful hours in the ice cream parlor for two days. Whenever I looked in, there they were in that semi-lighted place which looked like a pirate’s den, making merry with different flavors of ice cream and enjoying all the attention they got from their cousins and waiters, charming them with their quaint english accent. Being seven then, my daughter still remembers the ice cream parlor at Dasaprakash with relish 🙂
The small open air auditorium used to host AIR sangeetha sammelanam concerts under lovely ambient
I used to enjoy masala dosai and badamkheer for 90 paise
Something unique about Dasaprakash Chennai was that it had a separate room (Room No. 70) for lovers of philosophy. Sri K. Raghupathi Rao used to sit in that room and dispense wisdom and good guidance to a whole lot of people and even extend the famed hospitality of the hotel chain through cups of coffee and milk! He had stored a whole lot of books in his room. Wonder what happened to them.
As a student in Chennai during the early sixties, I used to visit Dasaprakash for its 40 paise butter masala dosa. My friends and I used to enjoy the dosa so much, we made it almost a weekly affair.
In those days, , when i was a college student, we used to visit Hostel Dasaprakash for its tasty food. How about Hotel Woodland ? Is it still operating in Chennai. Swimming pool in Marina beach in the premises of Hotel Bukhari .Oh. Marvelous Moore Market, crowded Kothawal Chawadi, burstling Esplanade, black-clad lawyers in NSC Bose Road,un-forgetable. Now I am 65 years old and not in chennai though i am naitve of chennai. For the past 25 years i have not seen Chennai. I have forgotten Madras Pasai(Madras Language) Poda um moonchile en kaiye vykka–. Enna Machhaan Meen kolambu thunniyaa ?– Ennada badaa bejaara pochhcu.– Annathe varaan vazhi vidungappaa–. Now so many years, i have not heard any body speaking in Tamil
Prashant