The Chennai Observatory (Madras Observatory) was established in 1792 at
Chennai by Sir Charles, the then-Governor of Madras. A 15-foot tall granite pillar weighing 10 tons is named after the architect, Michael Topping, and has inscriptions in Tamil and
Telugu languages. The first astronomer here was J Goldingham, who began recording meteorological observations in 1796. Now the five monuments of the Chennai Observatory are kept in a separate enclosure for visitors at the Regional Meteorological Centre in
Nungambakkam.
