RANGANATHAN STREET
Ranganathan street is one of the busiest streets in Chennai city, Tamilnadu, India. It is the most crowded street of Chennai. Ranganathan street is the most preferred shopper's destination and seller's paradise. Though there are lots of competitions among the shops in Ranganathan Street still none of the shops here will be lacking of customers. There is small history behind the name of this busy ever crowded market place. Initially Ranganathan street was known as Rangaswamy Iyengar Street which was named after the first resident of that street for it was in those days people practice then to name the streets or the area after the first resident irrespective of their class, caste or contribution.
It was Mr.Tupil Rangaswamy Iyengar a retired civil servant from the Madras Presidency who built his house in this place during the early 1920's. But later when the civil authorities came requesting for his formal approval to name the street after his name, Mr.Tupil Rangaswamy Iyengar very humbly and religiously requested the officer to name after Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam. This is how the street got its name as Ranganathan Street and now people living in every nook and corner is aware of this bustling street. Ranganathan Street is one of the most popular shopping hubs of Chennai. It is one straight road with lot of narrow lanes leading in between. However the main street is lined up by multi -storyed shopping centers and also street vendors on the pavement.
Business happens here from few lakhs to few rupees. Saravana Stores, Jeyachandran Textiles, Ratna Stores, Textile India, Shanmuga Stores and Kalanjiyam are the main commercial establishments at Ranganathan Street. There are lots of other commercial establishments too in Ranganathan street. The shops at Ranganathan Street include big gold stores selling jewellery to street hawkers selling safety pins and handkerchiefs.The road also houses vegetable vendors. Ranganathan Street has the busy Usman road again with all major establishments on one end and with the Mambalam railway station on the other end. Ranganathan Street is supposed to be extremely crowded during festive seasons for it offers its consumers the chance to purchase a wide variety of commodities. Ranaganathan Street is one of the most renowned representations of T. Nagar.
Ranganathan Street -the Ever Crowded Place in Chennai City
Not only have the natives of Chennai but people from different parts of the country never failed to make a visit to this busy street on their visit to Chennai. Also the proximity of the Mambalam railway station to Ranaganthan Street makes it even easy and interesting for people to commute to this shopping destination. The street served as the inspiration behind the critically acclaimed Tamil movie 'Angaadi Theru'. Ranganathan Street the ever crowded place in Chennai city never falls silent even when the night is fully dead. When the electric trains call it a day, tempos arrive to unload goods at Ranganathan Street and shop assistants work into the dawn. Cleaning of the Ranganathan street takes place early in the morning where we can see sweepers from the corporation cleaning the untidy spread litters. Whatever cleaning happens because of thousands and thousands of people visiting here, by midmorning garbage piles up and the ramblers dexterously step on the stacks of bits of cloth, plastic and used cups as they ogle at the shop windows.Ranganathan is more in sync with T. Nagar for it is established with retail stores and builds together with the enclosed fruits and vegetables market. Ranganathan Street caters more to the middle class people unlike the Pondy bazaar which constitutes more of fancy stuffs like accessories, jewellery and the high end textile shops. At Ranganathan Street one can even purchase a sari for Rs.150 and less than that if you are an expert in bargaining.
Number of Shops Sell the Same Kind of Product:
Ranganathan street has a wide variety of display of things like from clothes to dishes, mobile phones, jewellery, toys, household articles, shoes and plenty more can be purchased. The most common scene witnessed in the shops of Ranganathan Street is the buyers bargaining highly with the sellers. But bargain is worth for we end up at least by paying less than Rs. 100 of what was originally quoted. Most of the shops in Ranganathan Street are open for bargaining. Business hoard at Ranganathan Street has increased the attraction of the site for buyers, thus increasing the business conducted. On the other hand the increase in the number of shops selling the same kind of product has led to more competition and choice, leaving the buyers with more negotiating ability. This to a certain extend might even lead to an overall increase in the sales volume for the individual seller not necessarily profits. There are basically three different types of shops at Ranganathan Street which includes the huge shopping complexes like the Saravana Stores which has everything under one roof and with commercial establishments on both the sides of the road. The second type is the retail shops which are tucked in between the big buildings and the narrow lanes of the busy street. Finally the catacombs and the street vendors are always doing busy business.Some of the big shopping complexes with nearly ten stories sell everything under one roof like jewelry, textiles, Household articles and groceries too. Thus all the standard shopping can be done here at Ranganathan Street.
Ranganathan Street has a Number of Popular Jewellery Shops
Ranganathan Street has a number of popular jewellery shops, silk saris shop and other regular textiles which pulls people from all strata of life. At the time of festival and wedding seasons people come in large crowd and flock the street rocking the entire bazaar. Though there are number of gleaming multi storey buildings, the road side shops are of major attraction to the public especially to that of the middle class shoppers. People from all walks of life of Chennai city would have surely made an attempt to visit the Ranganathan Street at some part of their life. Ranganathan Street is located in the South of Chennai Central which is about 10kms from the Airport and 8kms away from the city centre.
Ranganathan Street is Very Well Connected :
Ranganathan Street is very well connected by most of the public and private transport. It has in close proximity Mambalams bus terminal and railway station. Ranganathan Street not only attracts people from local but also has regular international visitors especially from countries like Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia. Discount and special offers are a part of festival season especially during Deepavali, Navrathri, Pongal, almost all the shops in Ranganathan Street. During weekends the rate of crowd visiting this bazaar is double from the week days.Ranganathan Street houses hundreds of shops especially more of textile shops. But there are huge multistory shops like Saravanas which sell everything under one roof like textiles, readymade, electric and electronic appliances, pins, vessels, groceries, cycles, suitcases, TV sets, foot wears and much more. Some of the other famous shops in Ranganathan Street include Jayachandran, Textile India, Anbazhagan Pazhakadai Murugan, Shobha, Shanmugha stores and Rathna stores, Ambika Appalam Depot, Kalanjiam, Saravana Sweets and lot of jewellery shops. The development of Ranganathan Street has grown to an extent where people from nearby villages regularly come for making wedding purchases.
Major Factor Which Acts as a Crowd Puller
One can buy readymade garments or buy cloth and have them stitched within an hour by many small shops nearby. This is one place where both the rich and the poor wander happily buying things. There is nothing that is not available at Ranganathan Street for we can buy things from Rs. 10 to Rs. 10,000. This is a major factor which acts as a crowd puller. Most of the shops at Ranganathan Street are occupied by the giant firms like Saravana, Jeyachandran, Ratna, etc. Also the street vendors turn out to do a good business for there is a group of people who mainly come here to buy the products sold in the pavements. There are lots of small shops and street vendors who sell tiny little things like accessories, foot wears, bags and wallets which are of great interest to the teenagers and college goers.
Flower Vendors Also Acts as a Major Crowd Puller:
Flower vendors also act as a major crowd puller. Most of the people from Chennai would have definitely bought something from these small vendors. It's the small vendors who make it big. The main drawback of the Ranganathan street is the uneven surfacing of the road with being elevated here and there as always some work or the other keeps happening. Because of the crowd it is hard for people to commute to Mambalam station to go fast. Auto Rickshaws and cars go through the subway to west Mambalam to get to the station.