Category Archives: Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Villagers seek heritage tag for Vagaikulam tank

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All

Tirunelveli :

To protect thousands of migratory birds taking shelter in their village tank, Veerasamuthiram panchayat in Kadayam union in Tirunelveli has urged the government to declare it as a bio-diversity heritage site. In a grama sabha meeting held on Independence Day, the village panchayat passed a resolution appealing to authorities to declare the Vagaikulam tank a heritage site so that more conservation measures could be mooted.

According to Agasthyamalai Community-based Conservation Centre (ACCC) of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE),

which carried out a study, Vagaikulam is an important nesting area for many migratory bird species and it is the only safe roosting site in an area of over 100 square kilo meters. It attracts over 10,000 birds and half of them migrate to the area on every winter season.

So far 90 species of birds have been recorded in Vagaikulam tank, including cormorants and herons. Eight species are migrants coming from Europe and four are from Himalayas. Twenty species of birds like black headed ibis, glassy ibis, oriental darter, black crowned night heron, little cormorant, Indian shag, spoon bills nest mostly on the karuvel (accacia nilotica) trees, which were planted by the social forestry division, said M Mathivanan of ACCC.

However, 80% of these nesting trees have been cut down after they were auctioned and villagers have taken up a legal battle to protect the remaining trees, said A Nagoor Kani, president of Veerasamuthiram panchayat. “The contractor has applied for fresh felling orders hence we have decided to safeguard our tank and birds,” he said.

During the grama sabha meeting, they passed resolution to declare it as bio-diversity heritage site and prevent further felling of trees. The villagers also invited Alankulam MLA, Rajendra for the meeting and he planted a tree inside the tank. The villagers are now planning to plant more trees in the tank area. “The birds give us an identity and many research scholars and college students come here to see birds. We want our tank to be protected,” said R Poomani, a panchayat ward member of Veerasamuthiram. “After Koonthankulam, a bird sanctuary in Tiruenveli district, Vagaikulam is next big nesting site for migratory birds in the district. A bio-diversity heritage tag will help villagers to save their tank and protect these migratory birds,” Mathivanan mentioned. Having passed the resolution, the villagers have decided to apply to National Bio-diversity Authority office in Chennai for recognition.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /Home> City> Madurai / TNN / August 24th, 2014

The tale of an unsung doctor

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Ratnam Pillai
Ratnam Pillai

Ratnam Pillai, a Hyderabad-based doctor, worked as medical assistant to Sir Ronald Ross who linked mosquito bite to malaria in 1897. The proud possession for the four grandchildren of Dr. Pillai – Shela, Shirley, Franklin and Samuel – are the medals.

The whole world remembers the contribution of Sir Ronald Ross, the doctor who linked mosquito bite to malaria on August 20, 1897 and won a Nobel Prize for the discovery. A very few, however, know that there was a Hyderabad-based doctor, Ratnam Pillai, who was a medical assistant to Dr. Ross at the military hospital for Indian soldiers in Begumpet during the epochal discovery.

While the contribution of Dr. Pillai was largely left unsung, his grandchildren still cherish his priceless memorabilia, which they could salvage from getting lost in time. Staying in a modest house in West Marredpally, Secunderabad, Dr. Pillai’s grandchildren have been fighting for due recognition to their grandfather’s work for quite some time.

“He did his medicine from Royapuram Medical School in Madras and joined Indian Medical Service as hospital assistant at Military Hospital, Bolaram and later at Begumpet hospital with Dr. Ross. He has served Indian soldiers in the Burmese war and was promoted as Subedar Major,” says his granddaughter, Shela Paupens.

The proud possession for the four grandchildren of Dr. Pillai – Shela, Shirley, Franklin and Samuel – are the medals.

“My grandfather was awarded silver medals by the British Government for his meritorious service. In fact, he also has received an honorary sword for his work. You can clearly see his name written on the edges of these medals,” says a proud Samuel.

RatnamMedalsTELANGANA23aug2014

‘Contribution has gone unnoticed’
Historians point out that the contribution of Indian soldiers and the doctor in malaria research has largely gone unnoticed.

“The hospital was meant for Indian soldiers, who had malaria and the research was done on them. In fact, Dr. Pillai had played a vital role in malaria research, but his contribution was not acknowledged,” says historian Anuradha Reddy.

Interestingly, a large number of members from Tamil-speaking community had migrated to Secunderabad in the early 1800s after the signing of subsidiary alliance between Nizams and the British. “We believe that Dr. Pillai too migrated from Madras to Secunderabad during this period,” she says.

Family memebers of Rathna Pillai, who worked as a deputy under Ronald Ross, showing his medals and Sword of Honour in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Photo: D. Chakravarthy
Family memebers of Rathna Pillai, who worked as a deputy under Ronald Ross, showing his medals and Sword of Honour in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Photo: D. Chakravarthy

The family members too lament lack of recognition.

“When he died in 1943, we were told by our relatives that he was draped in the British flag and laid to rest in Bhoiguda cemetery. We have tried to find the grave, but unfortunately could not succeed. All we have are his medals and accounts of his work with Dr. Ross. The government should commemorate Dr. Pillai’s contribution too,” the grandchildren demand.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by M. Sai Gopal / Hyderabad – August 09th, 2014

The house of lords

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

There’s a little known story about Sir C P Ramaswami Aiyar, corroborated by a piece of furniture. It stands plain and tall, so tall in fact that it keeps the writer on his feet and denies him the luxury of a chair. “So he wouldn’t nap,” explains Nanditha Krishna, Sir CP’s greatgranddaughter, “It had been predicted that the child, CP, would never pass an exam in his life, and it was to counter that forecast that his father had the table built.”

It continues to stand long after its prodigious student’s passing, preserved in a corner of a suite on the first floor of The Grove, CP’s house on Eldams Road. Arranged alongside are a day bed, a writing desk and a few of his personal effects. The house itself is a monument to his life — of professional ambition, political fervour and common domesticity. Built in 1885-86 by CP’s maternal and paternal grandfathers, it was erected on a plot of land that was part of an expansive property called The Baobab, after an eponymous tree. The land had belonged to John Bruce Norton, whose son Barrister Eardley Norton was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress.

Norton sold part of his property in 1875 to P Chentsal Rao Pantulu (first Registrar General of Madras), who in turn offloaded part of it to Conjeevaram Venkatasubbaiyar, CP’s maternal grandpa. He had the house built in the colonial style with a colonnaded front porch, but suitably adapted within to house the practical and cultural exigencies of south Indian living, like a ‘kalyanakoodam’, a hall reserved for marriages.

The house structurally is as it was, even though it has lately been put to alternate use — as the office of the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, lecture hall, research centre, library and art gallery. Although old rooms have found new purpose — the C P Art Centre was originally a cowshed; the Venirul Art Gallery once housed a boiler, saunas and massage rooms; the kalyanakoodam made for a convenient lecture hall; three big suites upstairs have been absorbed into the Indological Research Centre, and a bathroom is now part of the library.

The foundation has adopted a ‘use as is’ approach, fitting in modern amenities without compromising the original form and material. “I refused to put in a false ceiling in the kalyanakoodam just to accommodate a few split ACs, so I had about eight split ACs installed around the hall, kept the old ceiling fans and added a few new ones and replaced the CFLs with LEDs to keep the place from overheating…,” says Krishna, director of the foundation, walking us past Burma teak pillars, Belgian ceilings, and Venetian floors still in impeccable condition.

The foundation spends `2-3 lakh every year on maintenance. To save the couple of hundred photographs and prized art collection (including an 8-ft Roerich portrait of CP), it has sheathed the backs and sides of the frames in transparent plastic. It’s a historic house that has welcomed all rank and file of man and beast — from Ramsay MacDonald, to Mahatma Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Annie Besant, Indira Gandhi and “any dog in Madras that wished to make it their house”. Political visitors apart, little else has changed.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Joeanna Rebello Fernandes , TNN / August 22nd, 2014

Anglo-Indian Heirloom Cuisine Festival at Taj-Connemara

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

AngloIndiaFoodCF23aug2014

Chennai : 

It’s an heirloom Anglo-Indian cuisine food festival at the Vivanta by Taj-Connemara, a top chef said, proudly showing a 108-year-old notebook containing recipes of a bygone era.

“The deciphering of the handwritten recipes in the notebook was the only challenge we faced while bringing back to life the dishes mentioned in it,” Arzooman Irani, executive chef at Vivanta by Taj-Whitefield Bangalore, told IANS here.

He was here to host the “Chronicles of Whitefield” Anglo-Indian food festival at Vivanta by Taj-Connemara Chennai located on the Binny Road here at The Verandah restaurant Aug 22-31.

The Made in Austria note book contains the recipes of around 120 dishes.

“It was the family recipe book handwritten by Harry Blake, one of the original settlers of Whitefield near Bangalore. The notebook was handed over to us by his granddaughter,” Irani said as he served a ginger wine.

The non-alcoholic drink surprised one with its sweetness – and the ginger flavour that followed.

What is unique about the dishes is that they are not very spicy nor are they bland. The dishes are very tasty, flavourful, mild and light on the stomach.

The only spicy item is the fried masala prawn which Blake himself has termed spicy prawn.

“The dishes are made with locally available ingredients. While Blake made his fish curry with the fish caught in the local lake/pond, the prawns came from Madras (Chennai),” Irani said.

He said the whereabouts of Blake’s granddaughter are not known as she has shifted after her husband’s demise.

“She gave us the notebook two years back. We started our work after that and launched the menu at our hotel in Whitefield recently,” Irani remarked, adding that 35 of the 120 recepies were being served.

The ginger wine was followed by mulligatawny soup – a broth made with lentils and pepper. Blake gave a fruity twist to the soup by adding finely cut apples.

For the main course, Irani offered rice varieties – coconut, tomato, cabbage – along with vegetable stew, muttonball curry, country captain chicken curry and Blake’s signature dish – Harry’s fish curry.

The vegetable stew made with coconut was different from the Kerala variety, which is spicier than Blake’s stew.

Similarly the muttonball curry and the country captain chicken curry were very flavourful and not spicy and could be safely consumed by children as well as adults.

The tasty fish curry gave out the good flavours of mustard.

“True the dishes are not very spicy. But this is how the Anglo-Indians settled in Whitefield cooked their food and ate. We also checked with other Anglo-Indian families there who said their dishes are not spicy,” Irani said.

“For the present generation, we offer an experience. It is an experience of going back into the history and tasting the dishes made during those times,” Irani said.

A meal for two, without alcohol, would cost around Rs. 3,500 including taxes, said Irani.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Food / by IANS / August 21st, 2014

CELEBRATING GEORGE TOWN – Between gods and business

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
A NEW WORLD At the entrance to DM Street / The Hindu
A NEW WORLD At the entrance to DM Street / The Hindu

Devaraja Mudali Street in George Town packs in a vast variety of merchandise, and some unusual history to boot

The mid-day sun is merciless, footpath non-existent and, to top it all, a mega traffic jam is hooting in the middle. That is Devaraja Mudali Street (off Evening Bazaar) on a working day. But overlook these irritants (try!) and plough through the 500-metre distance to where it meets NSC Bose Road to discover its true worth: DM Street trades in some of the most colourful merchandise in Park Town, and is home to one of the most heart-warming stories of the early British era.

Shopping here is fun. I ask Dhandapani, whose shop rather breathlesslyManufactures Indian Human Hair Exporter Specialist in Gents/Ladies Wigs Wholesale Dealers of Drama Wigs and Ladies/Gents Design Buns, Hair pieces Chauri Hair, where he gets his goods from. “Wherever mottai is done!” he returns. For 30 years, he has been peddling hair — real (washed/cleaned/combed) and synthetic — to numerous hair-seekers. “Original is expensive — 200-a-foot, has five-year guarantee, synthetic 85/ft (one-year only),” he tells a customer who needs a chauri.

Down its length, DM Street’s closely-packed shops buy and sell glass of all kinds, plywood, picture-frames, hardware, sanitary fittings, watches — “from everywhere,” according to Kotilingam (78) whose picture-framing outlet has marked 50 years in business. DM Street connects two major thoroughfares; its twin temples attract crowds. I walk past dour-faced men who won’t let me photograph their shops and weary labourers on their unloading trips to reach the all-things-pooja row of shops.

“This is VM Subramanyan Chettiar shop of 52 years,” smiles the handsome third-generation scion who sits surrounded by colours and fragrances from bales of thali-thread, cones of turmeric, kumkum, boxes of namakkatti, sandalwood, joss-sticks and sambrani. “Want to offer anything at the temples?”

I had overshot it. Mounds of dirt and demented parking now effectively block the entrance. To much relief, a long corridor of woodcraft shops keeps the interior cool. Before crossing into the praharam, I look up right and on a faded blue board, find divine history. The board, put up by the Chenna Malleeswarar/Chenna Kesava Perumal Devasthanam, names Guhasri Rasapthi as the writer: The temple precinct is in the middle of the city, at Park Town, it says, and gives proof of age. The translation: “Some 300 years ago, during the East India Company rule under Sir Pigot, an ancient temple in what was called Chenna Kesavapuram on the seashore to the south of High Court was broken up and rebuilt in 1762 by philanthropist (vallal) Muthukrishna Mudaliar (Kottai Iyya), elder grandfather of the present manager (Dharmakarthar) of the temple.” Inside, a flexi-board propped on the pillars of the main mandapam elaborates the narrative and says, “these were known as Pattanam and Flower Bazaar temples.”

I get an accurate version from historian Varadarajan: the temple is mentioned in Beri Thimannan’s 1648 records, he says. In 1673, Dr. Fryer had called it Madras Pagoda where town meetings were held. Governor Pitt’s map of 1709 confirms its presence at the High Court premises. It withstood the 1750 French invasion but was pulled down by the British in 1759 and the bricks/stones were used to build Fort St. George’s northern wall. In 1762, the East India Company offered a compensation of 565.5 pagodas to the local Hindus who had started an agitation. Governor Pigot stepped out to calm nerves, allotted 23,944 sq.ft of land (equal to the temple area) on Jengu Ramaiyya Street (DM Street now). The twin temples came up on this site. The twin-temple construction, done in the late Vijayanagar/Nayak style, started in 1766, got over in 1780 on a total expenditure of 15,652 pagodas. Records tell us that Pigot was present at the Kumbabhishekam. They quickly became popular venues for discourses, kutcheris and non-political events. And till evacuation in 1914, tulasi thirtham from the temple was carried to the High Court for witnesses to take their truth oath on. Today, devotees leave locks on the doors of Narasimha sannadhi for blessings, families get young men and women to meet in front of Sengamalavallithayar for match-making. The Siva-Vishnu temples have stood side-by-side as symbols of caste/creed/sectarian amity for centuries.

“Mr. Pigot was a good man,” agreed Executive Officer Yuvaraj, who has brought out an updated version of temple history (Rs.60). “May be the figures of violinists and angels you see on the roof of the Bramarambikai sannadhi were carved in appreciation of an Englishman who respected the sentiments of the people he ruled.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / Celebrating George Town / by Geeta Padmanabhan / Chennai – August 22nd, 2014

Armenian traces her community’s role

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion
Picture for representation purpose
Picture for representation purpose

Chennai: 

Situated between commercial establishments on Armenian Street, opposite the Madras high court, is the Armenian Church. One of the oldest churches in India, tombs of about 350 Armenians can be found there. But, according to Satenig Batwagan, researcher and historian at the Society for Armenian Studies, Paris, that number actually pales in comparison when one considers the ‘countless Armenians’, who led a happy and prosperous life in old Madras.

Currently in Chennai to organise ‘Armenians in Madras’, an exhibition at Armenian Church as part of the Madras Week celebrations, Ms Batwagan says, “a lot of Armenian school children, today, are aware of the role played by Armenians in Madras. They are curious to know about their past and Madras, especially, played a significant role.” Tracing the movement of Armenians to modern day Chennai, Ms. Batwagan says, “Unlike other Europeans, like the Portuguese, Dutch and French, who also came during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Armenians were primarily merchants and had no colonial intentions. Thus, they were well regarded by locals.”

Giving a measure of the prominent connection between Madras and Armenia, she says it was here in the year 1780, that Shahamir Shahamirian wrote the first constitution for the Armenian state. Another person, Haruthyun Shmavonian, priest at the local St. Mary’s Church brought out Azdarar (The Monitor), the first ever Armenian periodical, in 1794. Quite appropriately, he is referred to as the founder of the Armenian Press. Besides, an altar curtain made in Madras in 1789 can be found at the treasury in Edjmiadzin, holy city of Armenia.

 Sadly though, not many among the residents of the city are aware that the Armenians were also benefactors of the city. Khodja Petrus Uscan, a prosperous merchant, originally constructed the Maraimalai Adigal Bridge or Marmalong Bridge, across the Adayar River, in 1728. In addition, he was also instrumental in facilitating access to St. Thomas Mount by building the steps leading up to the church.
“When I mention the contributions to our people, they express surprise. It has taken a lady from Paris to highlight the rich Armenian heritage of Chennai, when ideally, citizens here should have been made aware of much earlier,” Trevor Alexander, caretaker of the Armenian Church says.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Venkatesan Parthasarthy / August 19th, 2014

REMEMBERING GEORGE TOWN – The building that breathes

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
The edifice that houses K. Natesa Iyer & Co., an 82-year-old jaggery godown in George Town, is living its last days. Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
The edifice that houses K. Natesa Iyer & Co., an 82-year-old jaggery godown in George Town, is living its last days. Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu

The edifice that houses K. Natesa Iyer & Co., an 82-year-old jaggery godown in George Town, is living its last days

The building swallows us in one soundless gulp. The cluck-cluck of tricycles, the yackety-yak of customers and vegetable-sellers at the market, the “vazhi, vazhi” — “Give way, give way” — of sweat-drenched load men heaving jute sacks on their backs outside disappear the instant we travel down its throat. Inside, a man squats on a thinnai by a short wooden table, leaning on a pillar and writing down the order from a customer.

Temperature drops. Crumbling limestone pillars rise like pale white hillocks from the corners; wooden beams of the Madras terrace run horizontally on the ceiling. Surely, we haven’t travelled back in time? That’s the thing with K. Natesa Iyer & Co. on Anna Pillai Street — it has an otherworldly aura that borders on the mysterious.

The jaggery mundi (godown) is over 80 years old. “This property belongs to the Kannika Parameswari Temple,” says P. Suresh, looking up from his account books. “My grandfather took it for rent in 1933.” Natesa ran a wholesale jaggery and tamarind business that Suresh took over. “I get my stock from Tumkur in Karnataka,” he explains, adding that he has customers from all over Chennai, extending to Kanchipuram.

The godown opens out into a pillared courtyard — one with windows at strategic locations to let the maximum amount of sunlight in. Small chambers branch out from the main courtyard; the ceiling is high, rendering the whole place cool. Says Suresh, “Everything here is made of limestone. Construction methods back then were completely different from those of today. They resulted in sturdy buildings that withstood time.”

What did the building function as? Was it a dance-floor? A rehearsal room for temple dancers, perhaps? “I think it was a wedding hall,” says Suresh. “But I’m not sure. The size, the side rooms and such indicate that it could have hosted weddings,” he adds. “You can ask the temple authorities. But the old-timers are long gone; there is no one to tell you what exactly it was. We can only assume what the godown was, almost a hundred years ago.”

But two months from now, it will be razed to the ground.

Suresh says he has been allocated a shop at the Koyambedu wholesale food and grains market and that he is preparing to leave. “I hope to do good business there. Once I shift, the temple authorities are planning to demolish the building,” he says.

From the outside, K. Natesa Iyer & Co. looks desolate — new buildings have come up around it, elbowing it from every direction. It looks out of place in the bustling market place, peepal leaves sprout from its cracks and crevices. The men and women the building housed, their stories that the pillars heard…we will never get to know them.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Akila Kannadasa / Chennai – August 19th, 2014

The street with a ‘fragrant’ past

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

Coimbatore :

Branching off from both sides of D B Road is a little known street called Sambandhan Road. You have West Sambandhan Road which leads to Thadagam Road and East Sambandhan Road which leads to Mettupalayam Road. The road is believed to have been named as a tribute to former municipal chairman M Sambandhan in the 1930s when the legendary Rathna Sabapathy Mudaliar drew the layout of R S Puram.

However, like almost all roads in R S Puram the road has seen a lot of changes in the demography of its residents over the past few decades and only a handful of original inhabitants can still be found. So, it is not surprising that not many people know who Sambandan was or why the road was named after him. M Sambandhan was born in 1869 and passed his Class 10 in 1885. Then he moved to erstwhile Madras for further studies. The MCC graduate got his degree in 1891 and got a degree in law from Presidency College in 1894.

Being the son of former tahsildar and Tamil literature expert Muthukrishna Mudaliyar, he moved back to the city in 1894 and took up a job as a secretary of a sugar manufacturing company. In 1901, he began his legal career. However, in 1906 he decided to enter public life. “He became a municipal councillor in 1906 and went on to become a municipal chairman in 1916,” say INTACH members and historians Perur K Jayaraman and Rajesh Govindarajulu.

The man is believed to have greatly contributed to the city infrastructure creation in the early 20th century. “He was awarded a certificate of merit and a silver medal as a councillor,” says Govindarajulu. He then grew in society by becoming the director of Janopakara Needhi, becoming committee members of the Cosmopolitan Clubs of Coimbatore and Chennai, becoming a part of the Madras legislative council, Theasophical Society, becoming a Free Mason and being a part of the Madras Mahajana Sabha, known to be instrumental in forming a congress chapter in the state, says Govindarajulu.

The street, which now has cars parked on both sides and is dotted with apartment complexes and a range of commercial establishments like a bakery, coffee shop, an art gallery, clinics, Aavin outlet and eateries, has managed to retain a bit of its past. There still exist a few two-storey independent houses, painted in peach, blue and pink with terraces and flat window sills. The street’s oldest resident 78-year-old S S Seshadri gave a glimpse of the street’s past.

“I was born in this house on this street in 1936. My parents had moved here in 1933,” he recalls. “Then it was just a gravel and mud road. We just had horse carriages. It became a tar road in 1952. “The Chandrika soap manufacturing unit was based in East Sambandhan Road,” says Jayaraman.

“The whole road used to be filled with fragrance when they processed their solution,” he adds. The road also used to have a few well-known residents like surgeon T S Sivanandham and former movie actor T S Baliah. Seshadri says the road for decades used to have only independent limestone houses with tiled roofs. “It changed about 40 years back when people began to use cement to renovate them. Many sold off their property and left the area. Now it has become more of a commercial street with more shops and apartments than houses,” he says. He gets nostalgic as he talks about those “good old days” when he used to spin tops on this very street. He knows those days will not come back again.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / August 17th, 2014

Northern suburb houses a 1,500-year-old temple

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
The impressive mandapam of Sri Thyagaraja Swami Vadivudaiamman temple at Tiruvottiyur. (Photo: DC)
The impressive mandapam of Sri Thyagaraja Swami Vadivudaiamman temple at Tiruvottiyur. (Photo: DC)

Chennai:

 Tiruvottiyur, a busy northern suburb has its due share of pristine beaches, but it is steeped in the city’s religion, accommodating a 1,500-year-old temple although it became part of Madras city (now Chennai) much later.

The Sri Thyagaraja Swamy Vadivudai Amman temple at Tiruvottiyur with its impressive seven-storeyed raja gopuram – a masterpiece in south Indian temple architecture-  is about 1,500 years old.

The presiding deity is Thyagaraja Swamy and the sthalapuranam claims that this is the first temple in the world to this deity. It is also known as Tiruvotreeswaran, after whom the town came to be known. Goddess Vadivudai Amman, who is among the three Shakthis in and around the city , represents Jnana Sakthi (power of knowledge) and special prayers are offered to the Devi, offering a red saree and jackfruit for neivaedhiyam.

There are 27 lingams in a row, one for each of the 27 stars, and in the inner prakaaram are situated the sannadhis of the 63 Saivaite saints. This temple has attracted numerous saints and poets like Appar, Sundarar, Gnana Sambandhar, Vallalar, Valmiki, Kambar, Adi Shankara. The Kamba Ramayanam was composed here before it was recited at Srirangam, Tiruchy.
There is also the samdhi of saint Pattinathar in Tiruvottiyur.
Tiruvottiyur is a developing northern residential suburb with a population of 2,49,446 and has a heavy concentration of industries. It has good road and rail connectivity, fishing hamlets besides a good number of educational institutions, restaurants and malls.
Other attractions here include the Srinivasa Perumal temple, Ramakrishna Nagar beach, Shanmuganar park, Sri Muthu Krishna Swami Madam, Varadharaja Perumal temple, Kattu Ponaimman temple. This state Assembly constituency is one of the biggest areas in the Chennai-North Lok Sabha constituency.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / J.V. Siva Prasanna Kumar  / August 17th, 2014

375 years and going strong

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
The first phase of metro rail is nearing completion. (Photo: DC)
The first phase of metro rail is nearing completion. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: 

In the age of runaway electronics, the smartphone is just 20 years old. Compare that to a city that is turning 375 this week and you have some idea of the enormity of the differences we are talking about. And yet, much like the world of gizmos, the city has grown phenomenally in those 20 years, making a great deal of progress in a short span when compared to the eon that went before it.

The tale of two cities, Madras and Chennai could not have been more disparate than it is now with the modern city an amorphous mass of buildings, people and incessant traffic highlighted by the unique Indian habit of vehicles honking their way throughout their journey. While old timers would yearn with nostalgia for old Madras with its leafy avenues and distinct lack of traffic lights, the modern Chennaiiite knows he is on to a good thing in an expanding city.

At no time could the city have boasted of such a wide spread of leisure activities as now. Adventure sport not as much on the water as it should be in a harbour city has opened up avenues that never existed in times when the good old transistor radio was the sole link to the world even as youngsters sat on the Marina ground’s sea side wall to look on at the cricket, without quite knowing who was actually playing.

The fabulous spread of eating joints – from the most economical at the old messes of some of the city’s most ancient localities like Mylapore and Triplicane to the most expensive at the luxury caravanserais as the city hosts more and more hotels with multiple stars claimed by some grand but opaque system is a veritable gourmet’s haven as well as a gourmand’s delight. Of course, the tippler also has a wider choice now thanks to an incipient liberal policy.

In a city that toyed with Prohibition for a long time in the name of great socialistic values that were always well beaten by bootleggers and illicit liquor brewers, the scene has transformed beyond belief with a snooty new pub on Chamiers Road even declining to let in customers just for one drink on a Saturday evening unless they had a booking. In the old days, the speakeasys had a welcoming policy that did the customer and the seller proud.

It is a fervent hope that in the next 25 years to the city’s 400th anniversary Chennai would do two things that would make it more liveable clean up the stinking waterways along the lines of the Singapore model and plant millions of trees to give shade as well as invite more rain and absorb the carbon footprint.  As the saying goes, change is the only constant and Madras-Chennai has been a living emobodiment of that principle; only it needs to be even more so as one the more sensible metros of India that has always melded the best of old values with the comforts of modernity.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / R. Mohan / August 17th, 2014