Madras Club, or Adyar Club, is a gentleman's club

Gentlemen's club

A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...

 in the city of Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Founded in 1832, it is the second oldest of its kind in India.

History

The Madras Club was founded on May 15, 1832 as an European mens-only club. Its first President was one H. Chamier. The Adyar Club was founded in 1890. In contrast to the Madras Club, the Adyar Club gave membership to women. Originally started as an Europeans-only club, the Adyar Club started admitting Indians as members in 1960. The two clubs merged in 1963 under the name "Madras Club". Since the merger, the Madras Club had been admitting Indians as its members.

The Civilian's South India, in its 1921 issue, considered the Madras Club to be the best of its kind in the country

Headquarters

The Express Estate, which now houses the Express Avenue

Express Avenue

Express Avenue is a shopping mall in Chennai promoted by Express Infrastructure, a subsidiary of The Indian Express Group. It is Chennai's largest shopping mall with 900,000 sq. ft. of retail space...

 shopping mall

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

, was till 1947, the original home of the Madras Club. The Club moved to Adyar

Adyar

Adyar may refer to:* Adyar — a locality in Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, India* Adyar River — a river in Chennai city* Adyar, Karnataka — a town in the state of Karnataka, India* Adyar, Bhandara, Maharashtra...

in 1963 and is presently based there.