Wedding finery

At a wedding hall; the ceiling looked quite grand and I couldn't resist taking this picture. For a change, I've managed to get a lot of symmetry on this!

 

Just because

As far as I can make out, this marriage hall was renamed only after 2014; before that, it was called the Hema Malini Kalyana Mantapam. I am not sure if the "dream girl" had anything to do with the property, but chances that she did are pretty high. The original owner of the property was Justice Somayya, who had built his bungalow on Lloyds Road. After his time, the bungalow became the place for conducting dream weddings. 

And this post comes up because we are going to this hall for a wedding reception tomorrow. Even if it has been a few years after the name changed to SVR Mantapam, map locations continue to refer to it as "formerly Hema Malini Mantapam"!

Wedding hall

Passing this building, one would think it was a house. In some kind of jumbled fashion, it seems to have started as a residence for one family, to which appendages were built when a branch of the family needed their space. 

But no. Chhajer Bhavan on Avvai Shanmugham Salai is just one more of the marriage halls of Chennai. This set of buildings has over 20 rooms and according to the Chhajers, can accommodate 70 people. But the more surprising thing about it is the claim that the main hall has space for over 500 people to sit. 

Must try and get inside soon to find out how the claustrophobia is taken off one's shoulders!