I had seen a photo of the Chepauk Palace in a guidebook and knew approximately where it should be, but that didn't prevent me from almost missing it. As the taxi drove by a clustered bunch of buildings, I caught a brief glimpse of the tower, nearly obscured from view. When the Chepauk Palace was built in 1768, the area was quite wide open and spacious. Now, the small driveway with an unpretentious entrance, tiny grounds (actually, a pathetic stubble of grass along with dirt) and no signage seriously underscores the significance of the building in the history of Indian architecture. It is considered to be the forerunner of the Indo-Saracenic style which spread from Chennai to the rest of the Indian subcontinent. The tower had a Mughal feel to it, reminiscent of some of the buildings I had seen in Delhi. Its stripes reminded me of some of the Islamic architecture I had seen in Sarajevo. Sadly, there is a feeling of forgottenness and abandonment, the buildings and grounds in disrepair. Still, if you are in the area, it's still worth a visit to see this still-beautiful building.
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