A morning at Marina - Skywatch Friday
For brilliant skies around the world, visit Skywatch every Friday
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Thursday, February 17, 2011
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Showing posts with label chennai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chennai. Show all posts
For brilliant skies around the world, visit Skywatch every Friday
Where would you like to be this Monday ?
I am going to be in a train today heading back home to Bangalore, after a fabulous trip in Madras. Given a choice, I would stay back in this warm city this Monday - what about you ?
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Monday, January 24, 2011
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A morning at Marina
It was an impromptu decision to go to marina beach this morning and I spent about half an hour there enjoying the silence of the morning. Here is a view of the beach, bathed in the warmth of the rising sun. I have uploaded a few more photographs on my facebook page - you can click here
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Saturday, January 22, 2011
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Madras bound
I am off on work to Madras aka Chennai , the place I call home, although I live in Bangalore...Just realized that its been four years since I actually moved bag and baggage to Bangalore and yet, Madras has always been home. I don't have a return ticket as yet, so I have no clue when I am back..The next few days are bound to be a bit hectic - work , parents, friends..November looks otherwise empty as far as my travel plans are concerned..not an issue though - Ive loads of posts and articles to write and photographs to download and share..so I guess that will keep me busy for a while..Just getting set to pack a bit..Catch you all from Madras then ..
The garuda in this picture was on the parapet walls of one of the old houses in a suburb called Teynampet in Madras
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
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Seeyamangalam-cave temples of the Pallavas
When we think of Pallava art and architecture, the rock cut caves and the shore temple at Mahabalipuram comes to our mind. However there are quite a few cave temples built by Mahendravarman 1 in early 7th century which were the inspiration for his descendants to build the monuments at Malai or Mahabalipuram as its now called.
One such place is Seeyamangalam, which is about 80 kms from Madras (Chennai). Dedicated to Stambeshwarar, a form of Shiva, the temple has been further extended by the Chola and the Vijaynagar kings who have built the Gopurams and the Mandapams, besides the Murugan temple atop a rock with small steps carved on the stone.
A simple shrine with pillars and pilasters , the temple was called h“ Avanibhajana Pallaveshwaram, Avani, being a title of Mahendravarman 1.
The temple has one of the earliest interpretations of the Ananda Thandava posture of Shiva that we know as Nataraja carved in one of the pilasters, while the other has a low bass relief of Rishabhantara. We were anyways not allowed to take pictures of the deities inside the cave, but were allowed to take a few of the sculptures on the pillars and pilasters - so am sharing the Nataraja or the Ananda Thandava here .
For more great skies across the world, click here
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Friday, September 3, 2010
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Celebrate Madras Day
The settlement called Madras is very young as it celebrates its 371st birthday today. This settlement slowly grew over the 300 odd years adding villages , older than itself to its boundaries, growing into the metropolis that we know today. Nestled in South India and often dubbed conservative by those who are yet to experience the multi dimension spirit of the city, the story of Madras , the settlement started with Fort St George. Probably it started even earlier , 371 years ago on this day when the Britishers leased a piece of fishing hamlet and converted into their southern headquarters. Ive dedicated an entire post last year to the birth of this city, but today, I would like to celebrate by speaking about the oldest surviving monument in the Fort complex - the St Mary's Church on Church Street.
Built in 1680 , this is where apparently Robert Clive got married. You can ask to see the marriage register at the Fort Museum. Clive's house , which was called Admirality House today houses the office of the ASI, but coming back to the church - this is probably one of the oldest Protestant churches in Madras. Designed by a gunner, built through local subscriptions, there are several tombstones and memorials here - of missionaries, governors and former officials and their families
A statue of General Conway, known as the soldier's friend stands here , as he was known to improve conditions in the army.The organ , which is the fifth to be installed dates back to 1894 and is still played during service.The altar plate is said to donated by Elihu Yale, Governor of Fort St George and who later founded the Yale University in 1687 , but the most interesting aspect is a painting by an unknown painter. The painting is a replica of Raphael's Last Supper , which is now in the Vatican. The British apparently brought the painting from Pondicherry in 1761 .
As the sun streams in from the garden, you sit here for a while and imagine the days of colonialism, the era of Black and White towns , of Armenians, French and British ruling over the country .
This post was written on behalf of AffordableCallingCards.net, which offers different long distance calling cards, such as calling cards to India
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Sunday, August 22, 2010
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Faces of Chennai
images from the photowalk - You meet many faces when you walk down the road and some stay with you..
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Sunday, March 8, 2009
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Chennai-moments and monuments
Our photo-walk continues as we walk past the Churches -Wesley and St Andrew's Kirk.It gets hotter, but we pause by capturing a few moments and monuments on the lens.
Pink seems to be the flavour of the season - the Govt Arts college and the Egmore station .
We continued looking at some old houses, offices ,shops, hotels until my battery ran out..
And something that made us go dead in our tracks !
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Monday, March 2, 2009
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On the street where I live-Chennai
A beautiful Wesley Church lies a few houses away from my house, a part of which faces the Poonamallee High Road . It was just another monument until a few days ago.
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Saturday, February 28, 2009
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A landmark of Chennai
Vamsee had tagged me a while ago and the rules were fairly simple. I had to select the 6th picture in my 6th folder and write the story of the picture. To begin with, Ive altered the rules a bit here. Its the 6th picture alright, but its from my latest folder - the Chennai photowalk that started at Dasaprakash and went on till Rippon Building. Ironically the latter is the landmark of the city, but my post speaks of the former.
When Aarti told me that the walk started from Dasaprakash, I couldnt say no . After all, I lived down the road. This was my area and it would be fun to discover it through a lens. Secondly, the hotel has several fond memories - of playing as a kid, enjoying the icecream in the parlour , meeting friends and being treated by parents in the restaurant. The dasaprakash dosa was the most delicious dish ever tasted. This was of course years before fast and junk food took over our lives .
Sadly however, the hotel doesnt offer services anymore .In fact no one knows whether it does or not, but it has an empty look about it.The picture says it all. Family disputes followed by litigation, union strikes have been the cause - but if rumours are to be believed, there is a talk of a buy over and a revival. Until then, the landmark lives on as a reference to the traffic junction opposite the building,as one haggles with the auto driver .
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Friday, February 27, 2009
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Back in Bangalore -
Travelling is often passing one milestone and moving on to the next. I am now back in Bangalore and lazing around in the summer heat.My thoughts however go back to the photowalk in Chennai last Sunday.
I walked up to the milestone(in the previous post) to take a picture of it from the other side. It was at the intersection of Egmore over bridge and Poonamallee High Road in Chennai. With all the muck lying around, it was written in Tamil -
Poondamallee - 22kms
Bengalore - 328 kms..
The Poonamallee High Road leading to the village is one of Chennai's main arteries and it also connects to the highway - NH4 between the two cities. Well, I didnt take the road this time, but the late evening train. By road or rail, commuting time between the two cities is just under 6 hours (oops - had written years by mistake..my dad called to correct it..and in the meanwhile quite a few comments as well..)
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
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At home in Chennai
A friend seeing my status on Facebook asked me "What, you are on a jaunt again ? " I relied saying " Home ." The status said that I was heading to Chennai aka Madras . His prompt reply was "I thought Bangalore was home." I was planning to reply - " Bangalore is where I live, but Chennai is home ." I went for a photowalk today, my second and the 17th organised by the photowalkers . The walk was not just in my hometown, but also in my locality and even though the weather was very hot , I couldnt resist the walking down the streets .Incidentally, my story on the birth of the city was published in Jet Wings in the January issue.
(The milestone says 3 Km to Chennai - from Egmore over bridge to Fort St George -Parry's corner )
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
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A dark morning
Its dark in Chennai where I am currently, as it has been raining cats and dogs. My house is an island and I am stranded, waiting for the waters to recede .On the other side of the coast in Mumbai, it is been raining bullets. I feel extremely hollow and sad as I wake up to the killings in Mumbai. Besides Chennai, Mumbai is the city that has groomed me and I owe a lot to this city.I studied there, lived there, built my life and career there and lots of friends and colleagues are still there . It was the safest city at one time and I used to feel proud when I said I have walked around the city post midnight. My college (Sophia Polytechnique ) where I studied and stayed was much closer to South Mumbai and these areas are virtually home to me. It hurts to see so many people dead and the city waking up to terror...My heart goes out to those out there ...When will we ever wake up to stop this ? It is time to act now..no more analysis..
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
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India through my eyes - Kiski band bajegi ?
7 am on a Sunday morning on Mount Road in Chennai .This band of boys are up early and they do not seem too excited. Probably the wedding season is keeping them busy .
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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100th post - The birth of a city and the birth of a blogger
The number 100 is always special as it denotes a milestone.To me it denotes the birth of a traveller and a travel blogger .All these posts spanning destinations,pouring out memories , talking to locals ,researching trivia,posting pictures,waiting in anticipation to see responses and creating my own circle of blog mates have brought me here.But I am just a beginner unlike my other blog mates who have been a constant source of inspiration to me .
I would like to acknowledge them here who have helped me on this journey - Celine, Priyank, Pijush, Mridula, Aaarti, Ajeya, Gill, Indrani, Gopal, Alok, Anil, Arun, Anu, Siva, Cuckoo, David, Dharma, Jeevan, Kalyan, Kamini, Mark, Matt, Shantanu, Nandan, Mitr, Ceedy, Vishesh,Stephanie ,Wendy and VJ. There are many others whose names are not here and I apologise if I have missed out - I dont just look forward to their comments , but every feedback and appreciation counts..Thank you for being there.Today I feel that I have more friends through my blog than in reality. And that is what inspires me to go a step further, to better each post and appreciate the posts of others.
I have always been travelling as a child as well and even as a professional and my mother used to say that I have wheels under my feet and that I could never sit still.But I was never a serious traveller as in I was never serious about travelling. It was always one of those things that I enjoyed like icecreams and chocolates.
I started this blog without knowing what a blog is . I was not even a travel buff then. It was mainly an outlet to write as writing was an integral part of me and I had given up writing around the time I started this blog. And of course, I thought it was cool to be a blogger.
I used to be a freelance writer when I was in college and I worked for a community newspaper in Madras aka Chennai way back in the 90s . That was my first start up experience and we almost felt like we were the founders of the paper.My freelancing came to an end after I was lured by the broadcast and online media and somewhere down the line, a part of me slept while I got into the shoes of a 24 /7 media professional ( Nothing to do with NDTV )I set up and launched other companies, but did nothing to launch myself. This blog was just there and since holidays happenned once in a while, posts followed them.
If you see my archives , I started this blog in January 2005 (yeah..its taken me 3 + years to get here) and I have just 8 posts there and in 2006 another 3. 2007 was when I started taking blogging seriously and in a way, my trip to Tawang brought out the traveller in me..Until then, travelling was just to have fun or to be different for the sake of being different. .Even my media assignments took me places and I enjoyed doing video travelogues and stories in the early days of my career, but without any specific focus on getting into that space.
However, I soon learnt how to make friends, how to appreciate other's posts and how to build yourself as a blogger. I still remember a rap from Mridula when I asked her to include my name in her list of travel bloggers and she said, will do but please post something. She was right, I hadnt posted anything from January 2007 to June 2007 . But 2007 was the craziest year in my life and I forced myself to take a sabbatical towards the latter part of the year to rethink my journey in life. And then the posts followed and I travelled and slowly became a traveller . A vagabond looking for a certain direction and in turn became a serious traveller and travel writer. 88 posts in about 16 months.
I have a lot of people to thank for who took me on several trips..my family, my uncles and cousins and friends who even tolerated me during the trips and my quest to work harder on their holiday .And all of them are religious readers of my posts - including every comment. The Karwar trip with Sharath, the Hoysala trail with my uncle and cousin Lalitha, The Chola trail with another uncle and my mother along with a lot of inputs from friends, Siva and VJ ,the Coorg trip with my friend Kamalee and the Singapore trip with my parents are the highlights of this year's travels so far. My husband still says he got his slip disc because of these trips ..and yes, the Europe trip last year was a great milestone in making me feel passionate about heritage and I turned that interest into understanding my country's heritage and culture. (My mother is still shocked - she says Ive never visited so many temples ever in my life..I seemed to have beaten the family record )
I became a travel writer and I have written for a few publications - Simplifly, Jet Wings, Bangalore Mirror, Bengaluru Pages, The Metro Plus of the Hindu, Brunch, Indian Express are some of them..and there are still a few projects waiting to be published. I have done quite a few trails like the Hoysala and the Chola trails (partially) which have still not got documented here. I will be launching a new travel web site soon which will have those trips documented..but the backpacker lives on..
However this long post is not over. I am sorry as it wasn't meant to be about me , but about the birth of a city which in many ways has moulded me and given me an identity that will never wear away - no matter which part of the world I travel and where I live.. A city called Madras, also called Chennai. A city that gets me overwhelmed and emotional. A city that I crave to live in and miss every moment ..The city I call home no matter what my pincode says.I dedicate my 100th post to Madras and Fort St George which was and is the nucleus of the city.
Birth of a city
The city is both young and old at the same time. Perhaps no other city has such a unique feature. Or perhaps this is the story of every other city in this country and world. I wouldnt know. The settlement called Madras is hardly a little more than 3 centuries old, but the villages that got added to this settlement is probably centuries older . However I will not attempt to write about the history or the formation of the city, but will etch out the story of the settlement only - this narrow strip of land, a small village which is now the metropolitan city .
We never really know if anything called Madras or Chennai or Madraspattinam or Chennaipattinam actually existed or not. No one has any concrete evidence on the origin of the names . There are several stories on the same and I will come back to it towards the end of this post.
During the 17th century ,South India was under the rule of the Vijaynagar empire and the local Nayaks were holding sway. Probably this piece of land was under the control of the Vijaynagar chieftains who were ruling fron Chandragiri, 180 kms away from Madras. The Europeans had landed and the Portuguese, the Danes, The Dutch and the French had already established their connections and controlling various small settlements.
The British arrived here rather late and they needed a small strip of land to set up their East India Company and trade with the locals. They arrived first in Masulipatnam in 1611 and obtained land in 1626 in Armagadon (modern Durgarayapatnam) about 100 kms from Madras. Francis Day who was one of the traders here realized that this was not a secure fort as there was constant wars with other European countries. He set out to look for a place on the Coromandel coast and along with his boss, Andrew Cogan built Fort St George, named after the patron saint of England.The two Indian aides who made this possible were Beri Thimmanna , who later on became the chief merchant and Nagabattan, the gun powder maker of the company.
Day struck a deal with the local chieftain Venkatappa Nayak with the help of his aide and got a piece of land as a grant where they could fortify and store merchandise. This deal was apparently signed on August 22, 1639 and hence it is celebrated as Madras Day. (However there are still some debates wrt dates and please free to add them in the comment section.Since I didnt attend the Fort walks during the Madras Day celebrations, these are researched from ASI documents.)
This was a sandy strip of land about 5 kms in length reaching out from the present day harbour to the River Cooum and the Buckingham canal .Cogan and Day dismantled the fort at Armagon and sailed in three ships with 50 persons and 25 soldiers and arrived at Madraspatnam on 20th February 1640.
The construction of the fort began and so did a new settlement come up near the fort with several local artisans . The two settlements came to be called the White Town and the Black town respectively. The White town was inhabited by the English, Portuguese and Armenians and an outer wall was built around the fort on all three sides except the west where the river Elambore was flowing.
The Black Town stretching to todays NSC Bose Road and Broadway with the native traders and artisans grew rapidly that it is estimated that by the end of the 17th century , the population in this settlement called Madras was 80,000.
The initial structure of the fort took 13 years to build and it was squarish with corner bastions.A domed structure was at the centre where the present day Secretariat stands and it was the residence of the governor. If you go to the Fort Museum today in the Fort St George complex, you could see various illustrations showing how the Fort St George had evolved over the years.
For instance the famous St Mary's church where Robert Clive apparently got married can was built in the fort complex in 1680. I will come back to this beautiful church, which you can see even today and is the oldest surviving building of the British.
More structures were added to the fort complex between the 17th and 18th centuries. A new fort house was built, "the grand house on Charles Street" - Robert Clive's house , a Town Hall, a Parade Ground, a mint, a hospital , court and even offices came up. It was a late Sunday afternoon when I walked around the Fort uninterrupted..only the sun was merciless. The street names were still preserved and so were the old residences within the fort.More buildings, old residences, including Wellesley's ..It was ironic merging the colonial flavour with the current local political colour
Back to history. The French from Pondicherry defeated the English and captured Madras in September 1746 and they ruled for about 3 years and destroyed the Black town. New settlements came up as well away from the fort. When the East India company regained ownership following the treaty , the generals started fortifying the area and the fort was virtually rebuilt. The King's barracks was added in 1755 , the small river was diverted and three main gates were built - the Sea Gate, the Wallaja Gate and the St George Gate. A vaulted chamber was built in the walls and cisterns were built to support 6000 men with water supply. I quote ASI here when it says that "the entire reconstruction was at a cost of Rs 7,700,000/- at that time".
The Company by then was the virtual ruler of Carnatic and in the meantime, this little settlement grew .Villages were added or annexed as the rule may be or were given away as grants between 1676 to 1749. Triplicane was the first given on rent by the Golconda King,then came areas like Egmore,Purasawalkam, Tondiarpet,Tiruvottiyur, Nungamabakkam,Vepery, Vysarpadi, Ennore,Periapet, Perambur .Chintaripet was formed while Mylapore and Santhome became a part of the settlement called Madras.
The Madras Presidency became more powerful as Fort St George became the seat of power. It had its share of raids during the world wars - attacks from the German cruiser SMS Emden during the World War1 and by Japanese fighter planes , but the powers to be were not dented. During the war years, Adyar, Guindy and Saidapet have been added along with Mambalam, West Mambalam, Aminjikarai and Ayyanavaram.The settlement had finally grown into the metropolitan city of today
Buildings of Fort St George
The Secretariat Buildings
The Seat of power today was the seat of power during Day's days.This has seen several modifications and renovations, notable among them being the colonnade which connects the Fort Square and the Sea gate. The colonnade was where the merchandise was stored and the French had demolished it and taken away the pillars to Pondicherry .It was rebuilt only to be pulled down again later .
The Exchange Building
This was the hub of all trading activities and was built in the 18th century.There were offices, warehouses,auctions and library . The long room was used to hold public meetings for lottery drawings and general entertainment.There was also a coffee shop and other committee rooms.
A lighthouse was later erected here on the roof of this building which glowed at the height of 90 feet above sea level.It later became the Officer's Mess and now it houses the Fort Museum which is one of the best museums I have seen. The Long Room is the Portrait Gallery and should not be missed .
St Mary's Church
This deserves a separate post, but nevertheless, here is a short note.Built in 1680 with local subscriptions, this is one of the oldest Protestant Churches in colonial India.A very beautiful monument, it still stands on the Church Street.
It has a reproduction of the famous Raphael painting-The Last Supper and here is where the register shows the marriage records of Robert Clive.It is interesting to note that the church was probably designed by a gunner, William Dixon and the roof was built to withstand the gunfire from sea and land.
Clive's House or Admiralty Building
The great house on Charles Street was where Robert Clive lived and it is a three storied stately mansion. The long hall was used as a banquet and it was apparently owned by an Armenian merchant in the early 18th century. It was purchased by the Company as they did not want Armenians inside the Fort. Today it houses the office of the ASI.
The Grand Arsenal and King's Barracks
The former is built to store ammunition and the latter to accomodate the King's Regiment to defend the fort.Today it is a property of the Army.
Madras or Chennai ?
This is not a question I pose to the purists and those with a strong language fervour. No body really knows why it is called Madras .Did the agreement between Francis Day and Nayak mention Madraspattinam ? It is said that the grant did and the story goes that it was named after a local fisherman, Madarasan who apparently was the helmsman of the village before it was granted to the British. Or maybe there was a madrasa in the locality. The story behind Chennai was that the Nayak wanted it to be named after their father Chennappa Nayak.Or possibly there were two kuppams or small villages called Chennapattinam and Madrasapattiman and they were eventually merged to call Madras , only to be renamed as Chennai.. Does it really matter today ?
Thanks for the patience and for reading this very long post. This is possibly the longest so far and I would like to acknowledge the ASI for their efforts in documenting the history of the fort from where this information has been sourced from.
I would like to acknowledge them here who have helped me on this journey - Celine, Priyank, Pijush, Mridula, Aaarti, Ajeya, Gill, Indrani, Gopal, Alok, Anil, Arun, Anu, Siva, Cuckoo, David, Dharma, Jeevan, Kalyan, Kamini, Mark, Matt, Shantanu, Nandan, Mitr, Ceedy, Vishesh,Stephanie ,Wendy and VJ. There are many others whose names are not here and I apologise if I have missed out - I dont just look forward to their comments , but every feedback and appreciation counts..Thank you for being there.Today I feel that I have more friends through my blog than in reality. And that is what inspires me to go a step further, to better each post and appreciate the posts of others.
I have always been travelling as a child as well and even as a professional and my mother used to say that I have wheels under my feet and that I could never sit still.But I was never a serious traveller as in I was never serious about travelling. It was always one of those things that I enjoyed like icecreams and chocolates.
I started this blog without knowing what a blog is . I was not even a travel buff then. It was mainly an outlet to write as writing was an integral part of me and I had given up writing around the time I started this blog. And of course, I thought it was cool to be a blogger.
I used to be a freelance writer when I was in college and I worked for a community newspaper in Madras aka Chennai way back in the 90s . That was my first start up experience and we almost felt like we were the founders of the paper.My freelancing came to an end after I was lured by the broadcast and online media and somewhere down the line, a part of me slept while I got into the shoes of a 24 /7 media professional ( Nothing to do with NDTV )I set up and launched other companies, but did nothing to launch myself. This blog was just there and since holidays happenned once in a while, posts followed them.
If you see my archives , I started this blog in January 2005 (yeah..its taken me 3 + years to get here) and I have just 8 posts there and in 2006 another 3. 2007 was when I started taking blogging seriously and in a way, my trip to Tawang brought out the traveller in me..Until then, travelling was just to have fun or to be different for the sake of being different. .Even my media assignments took me places and I enjoyed doing video travelogues and stories in the early days of my career, but without any specific focus on getting into that space.
However, I soon learnt how to make friends, how to appreciate other's posts and how to build yourself as a blogger. I still remember a rap from Mridula when I asked her to include my name in her list of travel bloggers and she said, will do but please post something. She was right, I hadnt posted anything from January 2007 to June 2007 . But 2007 was the craziest year in my life and I forced myself to take a sabbatical towards the latter part of the year to rethink my journey in life. And then the posts followed and I travelled and slowly became a traveller . A vagabond looking for a certain direction and in turn became a serious traveller and travel writer. 88 posts in about 16 months.
I have a lot of people to thank for who took me on several trips..my family, my uncles and cousins and friends who even tolerated me during the trips and my quest to work harder on their holiday .And all of them are religious readers of my posts - including every comment. The Karwar trip with Sharath, the Hoysala trail with my uncle and cousin Lalitha, The Chola trail with another uncle and my mother along with a lot of inputs from friends, Siva and VJ ,the Coorg trip with my friend Kamalee and the Singapore trip with my parents are the highlights of this year's travels so far. My husband still says he got his slip disc because of these trips ..and yes, the Europe trip last year was a great milestone in making me feel passionate about heritage and I turned that interest into understanding my country's heritage and culture. (My mother is still shocked - she says Ive never visited so many temples ever in my life..I seemed to have beaten the family record )
I became a travel writer and I have written for a few publications - Simplifly, Jet Wings, Bangalore Mirror, Bengaluru Pages, The Metro Plus of the Hindu, Brunch, Indian Express are some of them..and there are still a few projects waiting to be published. I have done quite a few trails like the Hoysala and the Chola trails (partially) which have still not got documented here. I will be launching a new travel web site soon which will have those trips documented..but the backpacker lives on..
However this long post is not over. I am sorry as it wasn't meant to be about me , but about the birth of a city which in many ways has moulded me and given me an identity that will never wear away - no matter which part of the world I travel and where I live.. A city called Madras, also called Chennai. A city that gets me overwhelmed and emotional. A city that I crave to live in and miss every moment ..The city I call home no matter what my pincode says.I dedicate my 100th post to Madras and Fort St George which was and is the nucleus of the city.
Birth of a city
The city is both young and old at the same time. Perhaps no other city has such a unique feature. Or perhaps this is the story of every other city in this country and world. I wouldnt know. The settlement called Madras is hardly a little more than 3 centuries old, but the villages that got added to this settlement is probably centuries older . However I will not attempt to write about the history or the formation of the city, but will etch out the story of the settlement only - this narrow strip of land, a small village which is now the metropolitan city .
We never really know if anything called Madras or Chennai or Madraspattinam or Chennaipattinam actually existed or not. No one has any concrete evidence on the origin of the names . There are several stories on the same and I will come back to it towards the end of this post.
During the 17th century ,South India was under the rule of the Vijaynagar empire and the local Nayaks were holding sway. Probably this piece of land was under the control of the Vijaynagar chieftains who were ruling fron Chandragiri, 180 kms away from Madras. The Europeans had landed and the Portuguese, the Danes, The Dutch and the French had already established their connections and controlling various small settlements.
The British arrived here rather late and they needed a small strip of land to set up their East India Company and trade with the locals. They arrived first in Masulipatnam in 1611 and obtained land in 1626 in Armagadon (modern Durgarayapatnam) about 100 kms from Madras. Francis Day who was one of the traders here realized that this was not a secure fort as there was constant wars with other European countries. He set out to look for a place on the Coromandel coast and along with his boss, Andrew Cogan built Fort St George, named after the patron saint of England.The two Indian aides who made this possible were Beri Thimmanna , who later on became the chief merchant and Nagabattan, the gun powder maker of the company.
Day struck a deal with the local chieftain Venkatappa Nayak with the help of his aide and got a piece of land as a grant where they could fortify and store merchandise. This deal was apparently signed on August 22, 1639 and hence it is celebrated as Madras Day. (However there are still some debates wrt dates and please free to add them in the comment section.Since I didnt attend the Fort walks during the Madras Day celebrations, these are researched from ASI documents.)
This was a sandy strip of land about 5 kms in length reaching out from the present day harbour to the River Cooum and the Buckingham canal .Cogan and Day dismantled the fort at Armagon and sailed in three ships with 50 persons and 25 soldiers and arrived at Madraspatnam on 20th February 1640.
The construction of the fort began and so did a new settlement come up near the fort with several local artisans . The two settlements came to be called the White Town and the Black town respectively. The White town was inhabited by the English, Portuguese and Armenians and an outer wall was built around the fort on all three sides except the west where the river Elambore was flowing.
The Black Town stretching to todays NSC Bose Road and Broadway with the native traders and artisans grew rapidly that it is estimated that by the end of the 17th century , the population in this settlement called Madras was 80,000.
The initial structure of the fort took 13 years to build and it was squarish with corner bastions.A domed structure was at the centre where the present day Secretariat stands and it was the residence of the governor. If you go to the Fort Museum today in the Fort St George complex, you could see various illustrations showing how the Fort St George had evolved over the years.
For instance the famous St Mary's church where Robert Clive apparently got married can was built in the fort complex in 1680. I will come back to this beautiful church, which you can see even today and is the oldest surviving building of the British.
More structures were added to the fort complex between the 17th and 18th centuries. A new fort house was built, "the grand house on Charles Street" - Robert Clive's house , a Town Hall, a Parade Ground, a mint, a hospital , court and even offices came up. It was a late Sunday afternoon when I walked around the Fort uninterrupted..only the sun was merciless. The street names were still preserved and so were the old residences within the fort.More buildings, old residences, including Wellesley's ..It was ironic merging the colonial flavour with the current local political colour
Back to history. The French from Pondicherry defeated the English and captured Madras in September 1746 and they ruled for about 3 years and destroyed the Black town. New settlements came up as well away from the fort. When the East India company regained ownership following the treaty , the generals started fortifying the area and the fort was virtually rebuilt. The King's barracks was added in 1755 , the small river was diverted and three main gates were built - the Sea Gate, the Wallaja Gate and the St George Gate. A vaulted chamber was built in the walls and cisterns were built to support 6000 men with water supply. I quote ASI here when it says that "the entire reconstruction was at a cost of Rs 7,700,000/- at that time".
The Company by then was the virtual ruler of Carnatic and in the meantime, this little settlement grew .Villages were added or annexed as the rule may be or were given away as grants between 1676 to 1749. Triplicane was the first given on rent by the Golconda King,then came areas like Egmore,Purasawalkam, Tondiarpet,Tiruvottiyur, Nungamabakkam,Vepery, Vysarpadi, Ennore,Periapet, Perambur .Chintaripet was formed while Mylapore and Santhome became a part of the settlement called Madras.
The Madras Presidency became more powerful as Fort St George became the seat of power. It had its share of raids during the world wars - attacks from the German cruiser SMS Emden during the World War1 and by Japanese fighter planes , but the powers to be were not dented. During the war years, Adyar, Guindy and Saidapet have been added along with Mambalam, West Mambalam, Aminjikarai and Ayyanavaram.The settlement had finally grown into the metropolitan city of today
Buildings of Fort St George
The Secretariat Buildings
The Seat of power today was the seat of power during Day's days.This has seen several modifications and renovations, notable among them being the colonnade which connects the Fort Square and the Sea gate. The colonnade was where the merchandise was stored and the French had demolished it and taken away the pillars to Pondicherry .It was rebuilt only to be pulled down again later .
The Exchange Building
This was the hub of all trading activities and was built in the 18th century.There were offices, warehouses,auctions and library . The long room was used to hold public meetings for lottery drawings and general entertainment.There was also a coffee shop and other committee rooms.
A lighthouse was later erected here on the roof of this building which glowed at the height of 90 feet above sea level.It later became the Officer's Mess and now it houses the Fort Museum which is one of the best museums I have seen. The Long Room is the Portrait Gallery and should not be missed .
St Mary's Church
This deserves a separate post, but nevertheless, here is a short note.Built in 1680 with local subscriptions, this is one of the oldest Protestant Churches in colonial India.A very beautiful monument, it still stands on the Church Street.
It has a reproduction of the famous Raphael painting-The Last Supper and here is where the register shows the marriage records of Robert Clive.It is interesting to note that the church was probably designed by a gunner, William Dixon and the roof was built to withstand the gunfire from sea and land.
Clive's House or Admiralty Building
The great house on Charles Street was where Robert Clive lived and it is a three storied stately mansion. The long hall was used as a banquet and it was apparently owned by an Armenian merchant in the early 18th century. It was purchased by the Company as they did not want Armenians inside the Fort. Today it houses the office of the ASI.
The Grand Arsenal and King's Barracks
The former is built to store ammunition and the latter to accomodate the King's Regiment to defend the fort.Today it is a property of the Army.
Madras or Chennai ?
This is not a question I pose to the purists and those with a strong language fervour. No body really knows why it is called Madras .Did the agreement between Francis Day and Nayak mention Madraspattinam ? It is said that the grant did and the story goes that it was named after a local fisherman, Madarasan who apparently was the helmsman of the village before it was granted to the British. Or maybe there was a madrasa in the locality. The story behind Chennai was that the Nayak wanted it to be named after their father Chennappa Nayak.Or possibly there were two kuppams or small villages called Chennapattinam and Madrasapattiman and they were eventually merged to call Madras , only to be renamed as Chennai.. Does it really matter today ?
Thanks for the patience and for reading this very long post. This is possibly the longest so far and I would like to acknowledge the ASI for their efforts in documenting the history of the fort from where this information has been sourced from.
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Monday, September 8, 2008
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