Chennai quiz, Madras quiz, Tamil quiz, Tamil Nadu quiz – whatever

Around 20-30 of us had been on a day-long picnic to Splendour Country Club near the Khadakvasala dam. We just lazed around in the pool and spent the rest of the time eating lunch and snacks! In the middle of all this, i conducted a tamil/chennai/madras-based quiz. Before some passionate quizzer gets wild, this quiz was for non-quizzing junta and all the questions in this quiz were accumulated over a period of a week by googling and also by searching through my massive quiz archives for keywords like Tamil, Chennai, Madras etc.

• Gopalan Trophy (Cricket) is played between Tamil Nadu and ? Srilanka
• The nagarathars are a chettiar community that originated in kaveripoompattinam under the chola kingdom of india. Which present day famous politician is from this community? P Chidambaram
• Born Arulmozhivarman, he went on to conquer large parts of South India and went on to be called ___, the king of Kings. Raja Raja Chozhan
• This place gets its name from the tamil for “Place of coconut trees” due to the coconut groves that once existed there. Which area/ locality in chennai? Teynampet – from “tennam-pettai”
• Why is Mount Road named so? Because it was the road leading to St.Thomas Mount
• Armoured Vehicles and Ammunition Depot of India –Better known as ? Avadi
• This place on the outskirts of Chennai is a delta formed from the deposition of sediment carried by river Coovam. Aminjakarai from Amaindha Karai
• This place in Chennai is named so because fierce battles have been fought here during Pallava times. Porur
• What did Gandhiji establish in Chennai in 1918 recognising the importance of the whole nation speaking one language? Hindi Prachar Sabha
• Which Film Maker’s company is called Madras Talkies? Mani Rathnam
• Which Chennai Resident has reached the semifinals of Wimbledon Tennis Championship? Ramanathan Krishnan
• This place, surprisingly, has its own pin code. 600036. Which place? IIT Madras
• Name the erstwhile group of cinema theatres named after precious stones? Blue Diamond, Sapphire and Emerald
• There was a memorial for Lord Cornwallis situated at the junction of Mount Road and this road. This road is named after the English word for “A monument erected in honourof a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere”. Cenotaph Road
• In January 2009, Mylapore festival was organised. Many traditional games were played during this festival. Which was the most popular in terms of number of participants? Pallankuzhi
• He was the founder of the British Empire in India. He got married in a church inside this fort. In fact, his marriage certificate is still kept in the museum inside this fort. Which fort and who? Fort St.Georgeand Robert Clive
• Auto Shankar, a notorious serial killer claimed that he used the same technique as used in a famous tamilmovie. Which movie? Nooravathu Naal
• Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, daughter in law of Stalin has started a magazine called Inbox 1305. What is the significance of the number 1305? Latitude of Chennai
• There was a significant change in the credits of Dasavatharam when it was released in the US. It is related to the producer. What is it? Oscar Films was changed to AascarFilms due to a law suit by Oscars –Academy Awards of USA
• Over the span of 16 years (1975 to 1991), the actress has played the actor’s wife, sister, mother-in-law and mother. Name the actor, actress and at least one of the movies each of those relationships was portrayed in. The actor is Rajnikanth and the actress is Srividya. The two played husband & wife in Aboorva Raagangal, brother & sister in Manidhan, mother-in-law & son-in-law in Maappillai and mother & son in Thalapathi.
• There is a unique similarity between a song each from Kaathirukka Neramillai, Rang De Basanti and Varanam Ayiram. What is the ‘relationship’ between the three songs?  The songs are: Yehmachimachi (Kathirukka neramillai), Hey saala (RDB) and Machi machi (Varanamayiram)
• Which Tamil word, meaning “to avoid doing work” gets its origins from the British Army where retired officials were called so? OB (adikkaradhu)…gets its origin from OB , which stood for “Off Beat” in the British Army
• Where in Chennai would you have a Hindu shrine, a Buddhist shrine and a church in one place? The Theosophical Society
  
• “Steps to the Highest Place” is a rough translation of which famous board game? Snakes and Ladders (Parama Padam)
• Which restaurant, started by TiruloknathGupta, opened its first outlet in Triplicanein 1948? Rathna Cafe
• In which pub in Chennai would the British Prime Minister feel at home?  10 Downing Street
• A Maratha ruler of Tanjore made which dish with tamarind curry and lentils and named it after his cousin? Sambhar. The origins of this dish is uncertain though legends has it that it originated in the kitchen of Thanjavur Marathas ruler Shahuji, during the 18th Century. It is believed that Shahji had a liking for a dish called amti which had kokum as one of its main ingredients. In one particular season, the kokum which was imported from the Maratha homeland ran out of supply and someone suggested him that the locals used tamarind pulp for sourness. Shahji experimented the dish with the tuvar dal, vegetables, spices and the tamarind pulp served his coterie and his cousin, Sambhaji who was visiting him. The court liked the dish and named it sambhar after the guest of the day, Sambhaji.
• The British called this dish string hoppers. How do we know them? Idiyappam
• Earlier, servicemen ate meat to increase their stamina. What was the common name for hotels that served non-veg food? Military Hotesl
• Which popular Chennai dish is rumoured to have got its name from its position in the restaurant’s menu card? Chicken 65. It was the 65th item on Hotel Buhari’s menu
• What is the tamil version of “Jack of all arts”? Aalinaal Alaguraja
• If a person is stopped after bowling just 3 balls in an over, he is said to have bowled a ____ over. Baby
• While batting, it denotes a defensive stroke with a low or zero scoring potential. What word? Dokku
• Term for playing the last ball in the previous over and taking 1 run so that he can play the the next over’s first ball too. Overgajee
• Which place started as a joint venture between TIDCO and ELCOT and also got its name from the venture? TIDEL Park
• How many oil lamps were traditionally lit at the Nawab of  Wallajah’s Assembly Hall during Muharram? A thousand lights!
• In Tamil, this delicacy literally means ‘pepper water’. It is also a favourite in England. What dish? Mulligawtany Soup
• Which Chennai institution, established in 1936, literally means ‘a holy place of arts’? kalakshetra
• Which locality gets its name from the fact that many of the city’s dhobighatsused to be located here? Washermanpet
• It was an old airfield, belonging to the Indian Air Force—an unused WWII air strip with a T-Shaped layout with long straights. What new use was found for it? Sholavaram Race Track
• What statue on Marina beach is reminiscent of a famous WWII photograph of the American Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima? The Triumph of Labour
• The government of the former Soviet Union released a postage stamp to honourwhich actress for her acting and dancing skills? Padmini

I have for 40 more questions. Those will updated tomorrow!