The Madras Observatory was founded by the British East India

The Madras Observatory was founded by the British East India Company in 1786 in Chennai. For over a century it was the only astronomical observatory in India that exclusively worked on the stars.

Madras Observatory may have lost its status but it offers an interesting slice of history. The monuments here hearken back to a bygone era. The first monument, which was fixed in 1792 on the southern wall of the observatory room, is a granite slab with an inscription in Latin.    

The imposing 15-feet tall granite pillar was erected by Sir Charles Oakeley, and its original transit equipment is still there. There are Tamil, Telegu and Urdu inscriptions on the pillar which date back to 1792. The other four monuments are pillars too. Monuments 3 and 4 are granite pillars that were set up in 1860 for monitoring a new transit circle. Monuments 5 and 6 were erected for standard clocks in the observatory – one was built in 1792 and the other possibly in 1860.