The story
Hello there, I am Avsha, and I am delighted to guide you through the beating heart of Chennai. If you are standing here, you are standing on history. Your guests often ask, why does everyone call this Anna Salai, yet the older maps say Mount Road?
It is the city’s greatest paradox. Originally a cart track carved out in the 1700s to connect Fort St. George to the holy St.
Thomas Mount, it became the arterial spine of the British Raj. In 1969, it was renamed after the visionary leader C.N.
Annadurai, but to many locals, the soul of the road remains the legendary Mount Road. As you look around, you might wonder about the sheer variety of the architecture. Look toward the iconic LIC Building.
When it was completed in 1959, this fifteen-story marvel was the tallest skyscraper in all of India. It was a symbol of a newly independent nation’s soaring ambition, a concrete giant that defined the skyline for decades. Just a short walk away, you will find a complete contrast in the pristine white facade of Higginbothams.
This is India’s oldest bookstore, serving bibliophiles since 1844. Step inside and you can almost smell the nineteenth century in the creak of the floorboards and the high, airy ceilings. Then there is the question of the name Thousand Lights.
As you pass the stunning Thousand Lights Mosque with its multiple domes and towering minarets, guests always ask about the name. Legend says that in the early 19th century, it took one thousand lamps to light up the assembly hall of this sacred space, creating a glow that could be seen for miles. Further down, you encounter Spencer Plaza.
Long before the modern glass malls took over the world, the original Spencers was the grandest department store in Asia, a place where you could buy everything from imported French perfumes to hunting rifles. Though the original burnt down and was rebuilt, the spirit of commerce here is ancient. And don’t ignore the flyovers, especially the Gemini Flyover.
It gets its name from the legendary Gemini Studios that once stood nearby, where the kings of South Indian cinema crafted their dreams. Today, Anna Salai is a river of neon lights, roaring engines, and political statues that tell the story of Tamil pride. It is a road that never sleeps because it is too busy carrying the weight of a city’s future.
So, take a deep breath of the salt-tinged air, listen to the rhythmic chaos of the traffic, and know that you aren't just traveling a road—you are walking through the biography of Chennai itself.