Ripon Building

Built in the Indo-saracenic architectural style, Chennai’s Ripon Building serves as the headquarters of the Corporation of Chennai, a civic governing body of the city and the oldest municipal body of the Commonwealth outside Great Britain. 
Located near the Chennai Railway Station, the ornate white Ripon Building was commissioned in 1913 and took four years to complete. A 2012 restoration returned it to its original Raj-era splendor. Loganatha Mudaliar, the architect who led the construction, named the building after Lord Ripon, the then Governor General of British India.
The highlight of the structure is the eight-foot (2.5-meter) clock, known as the Westminster Chiming Clock, that occupies the rectangular building’s central tower.

Practical Info

As a working government building, visitors are not allowed inside the Ripon Building, but it’s worth admiring from the outside, especially for those with an interest in Indian architecture.