Dr MGR Memorial House

The house of the actor, filmmaker and popular politician Dr Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran, commonly known as MGR, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 to 1987, was converted into a museum after his death. Dr MGR Memorial House, which was once his official residence, now houses several interesting memorabilia associated with his life, acting and political career. The two-storeyed building contains various mementos that were presented to him for the success of his films. His Ambassador car bearing registration number TMX 4777, which had been modified to include a mini television to enable him to watch cricket matches, looks just like new. The hall on the first floor contains many more souvenirs, as well as posters from his films. The most notable artefact is his stuffed pet lion, Raja.  The lion acted with him in a Tamil film, 'Adimai Penn', after which MGR took personal responsibility for its expenses in the Chennai Zoo. Post its death, he took great care to have the body stuffed and placed it in his residence. The first floor also houses his office, and a room where he met visitors. The most significant displays which are kept in a locked room  are a ledger with signatures in blood sent by over 500 fans when he started his political party, and the plaster cast that was used on his neck after he was shot by fellow actor M.R. Radha. Several noteworthy photographs, souvenirs from the Prince of Wales and Tamil Engineers of NASA, as well as a cricket bat gifted by Krishnamachari Srikkanth are also found on the first floor. The house is maintained by the MGR Memorial Trust and all employees are people who were associated with MGR since the 1970s. Entry and drinking water is free and there is a small stall selling books and DVDs about MGR and his movies. To get photographs clicked, one must get in touch with the official photographer.