1850
National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
Private
38 acre
NAAC A
Male
About Us
Pachaiyappa's College,
Chennai is the offspring of a superlative act of private philanthropy of its
progenitor, Pachaiyappa Mudaliar, who had made himself a master financier and
merchant prince when he was just 22 years old. Around this age many of us are in
the threshold of our collegiate educational career. We must be inspired and
motivated by the preciousness and large-heartedness of the benevolent founder.
This
College had its genesis in the famous Will of Pachaiyappa Mudaliar. Pachaiyappa
was born, posthumously in 1754, of poor parents. He grew up in poverty and rose
by his own force of character to be the most opulent man of his time but who
finally bequeathed all his wealth for the service of God and humanity. It was
at Kumbakonam on March 22, 1794, having a premonition of his premature demise,
that he drew up his renowned Will "dedicating, with full knowledge and
hearty resignation, all his wealth, in the absence of any male issue, to the
sacred service of Siva and Vishnu and to certain charities at various temples
and places of pilgrimage, to the erection of religious edifies, to bounties to
the poor, to seminaries of Sanskrit learning and to other objects of general
benevolence."
The
Board of Trustees had their first meeting on October 9, 1842. They had several
more meetings subsequently and chalked out distinct programmes of action to
accomplish the tasks entrusted to them. In January 1842 a primary school was
started bearing the name of Pachaiyappa's Central Institution with the
objective of providing free education to poor Hindus in the elementary branches
of English literature and science, with instruction in Tamil and Telugu. The
school functioned in a rented building on a rent of Rs. 20/- per month. This
was the beginning of Pachaiyappa's College. On October 2nd, 1846, the
foundation stone of "Pachaiyappa's Hall", as it was called, was laid
by George Norton in a grand, colourful and glittering function. It is most
fitting that George Norton is hailed as the Second Founder of Pachaiyappa's
Charities in recognition of his yeoman services to the cause of education. The
magnificent hall was built in 3 1/2 years, on the model of the temple of
Theseus in Athens. This hall is a landmark in the busy locality of George Town.
In the vicinity of this hall, twelve classrooms were built to accommodate 600
students. The new building was inaugurated on March 20, 1850 in a grand
function, attended by a large number of European and Indian intelligentsia. The
Pachaiyappa Central Institution began functioning in the new building in 1850.
Growth
of the college in terms of new courses was rather sluggish in the few years
after the Golden jubilee Celebrations. The Diamond jubilee was celebrated in a
grand fashion on November 21, 1902, Lord Pentland, the then Governor of Madras
presided over the celebrations. In his impressive speech, the Governor referred
to the special qualities of Pachaiyappa's institutions. He said that the
college and the school were "no ordinary educational institutions of
ordinary origin and ordinary growth. They have several unusual and highly
important characteristics. In the first place, they owe their existence to the
munificent endowment made by a single private individual; in the second place,
they are purely Hindu institutions, managed by Hindus for Hindus with the
smallest possible assistance and interference on the part of the Government.
And in the third place, they lay claim in a very special manner to aims and
Objects of the highest importance. The often declared object of the Trustees is
to provide a national education to make the college a seat of culture."
The
dawn of the new century culminated in the generation of a new awareness of the
growing importance of science subjects whose phenomenal advances touched every
aspect of life. Realising that a college bereft of science education was doomed
to extinction, B.A. courses in Mathematics and Physical Sciences were started
and spacious laboratories were constructed. There was also a strong feeling
that the hustle and bustle of Esplanade made it unsuitable to house the college
and the accommodation of the college was woefully inadequate to meet the
growing student strength. To start with, a hostel for 150 students was built at
a cost of 4 lakhs of Rupees in Chetput and completed in 1921 the year which
witnessed the appointment of the first Indian Principal, Professor M.
Ruthnaswami. Two more blocks were added to the hostel in 1953 to meet increasing
demand for rooms.
The
idea of shifting the college from squalid Esplanade to salubrious Chetput was a
non-starter owing to paucity of funds. In 1933 the College conducted a raffle
which fetched Rs.50,000/- which served as the nucleus of a fund for construction
of new buildings. The Government of Madras sanctioned a substantial building
grant. Finally on March 22, 1939, Lord Erskine, the then Governor laid the
foundation stone for the new buildings which were completed in 1940. The new
buildings which were the envy of educational institutions in the state were
declared open on August 12, 1940 by Sir Arthur Hope, the then Governor. Dr.
Sir. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar who was president of the Trust Board for 3
years successively planned and executed this new building project in a masterly
and exquisite fashion. The triumph of this building project is largely
attributable to the profound genius, laudable foresight and lionistic efforts
of Dr. A.L. Mudaliar who was fittingly described as a second Pachaiyappa by Dr.
D.S. Sarma, the then principal of the College. In the meantime Honours courses
had been started in a number of arts subjects.
The
centenary of the college was celebrated in a glittering function in february
1942. Governor Sir Arthur Hope presided and Dr. Rajah Sir M.A. Muthiah
Chettiar, President of the Trust Board delivered the centenary address.
Utilising the increased accommodation available, a large number of new courses
in Arts and Sciences at the Bachelor's, Master's and Honours levels were started
greatly augmenting the quality, variety and utility of the education imparted
in the college.
A
resume of the college in the third half-century of its existence is a chronicle
of the addition of new courses from time to time. The Post-Centenary Golden Jubilee
of the college was celebrated in 06.05.1994 in a grand manner. Dr. (Selvi)
J.Jayalalitha, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, was the Chief Guest of
the function.
As
a mark of respect to the age and glory of the College, the distinguished alumni
have provided financial assistance for the construction of buildings in the
campus. By way of the unique gesture of the donors, a number of new
buildings has been constructed in the campus. Owing to the The brilliant
efforts taken by the then Principal, Dr.A.P.Kamalakara Rao (1989-1994) the
College has added these buildings after 150 years of the establishment of the
College with main blocks.
