The Chenna Kesava and Chenna Malleeswara Swami temples of George Town are very historic though little known. Madras was founded on 22nd August 1639. Among the natives involved in that event were Beri Thimmannan (or Thimmappa), agent to Francis Day, and Naga Battan who was a gun powder maker for the East India Company.

Within nine years of this event, Thimmannan executed an endowment to a temple of the city in favour of one Narayanappa Ayyar. The document is dated the “28th of Chitri month in Sarvathari year of Salivahana Era, 1569″ and reads as follows:

“Whereas at Chenna Puttanem I have built the Chenna Casava Perumaul Covil, and have endowed it with Manyam, a piece of ground, and other privileges, which all I do (hereby) transfer now to you, and which you are to hold and enjoy from son to grandson, as long as the duration of (both) the sun and moon performing the divine service to their utmost extent. Should any one act prejudicially towards the charity, he would incur the guilt of having massacred a black cow on the bank of the Ganges. It is the gift to Narrainappyer by Bari Thimmanen through his consent.”

There is also a record of Naga Battan endowing the same temple two years prior to Beri Thimmannan.

Did the temple give the city its name or was it the other way round? Perhaps the former is the correct explanation for Chenna Kesava was a common name for Vishnu in temples of south India. Whatever be the correct theory, it cannot be denied that Chennai and the Chenna Kesava Perumal temple grew in size together. The temple that Thimmannan built was located where the present High Court premises stand. A visitor to the city in 1673, Dr Fryer penned his impressions of the shrine, most of which is unfortunately in completely unintelligible English. But what little can be gleaned makes it clear that he did not like temples.

By 1710, the temple was referred to as the Great Pagoda of Madras in city maps. The French invaded and occupied Madras in 1746 and left in 1749. The British on their return felt the need to reinforce security and among the first steps was to relocate Black Town, which grew up all around the Great Pagoda, further inland. The temple itself was demolished in 1757 and much of its debris went into the construction of a protective wall of the town.

However, the Company, realising that it was offending religious sentiments, gave the natives of the city, an equivalent parcel of land in new Black Town for building the same temple. This plot of around 25000 sq.ft, a rough trapezium formed by present day Gengu Ramiah Street, Devaraja Mudali Street, NSC Bose Road and Nainiappa Naicken Street is where the new temple came up and stands today.

Closely involved in the construction of the temple was Manali Muthukrishna Mudaliar, the last Chief Merchant of the East India Company and dubash to Governor Pigot. Muthukrishna Mudaliar opened a public subscription to rebuild the temple in its new location and contributed 5202 pagodas (the prevailing currency) as his mite. The Company gave 1173 pagodas and the rest came from the public making the corpus 15652 pagodas in all. It was decided that the new location would have two shrines, one for Shiva and the other for Vishnu and so, the Chenna Malleeswara Swami Temple came up along with the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple. Muthukrishna Mudaliar endowed the temple with lands and the Company gave an annual grant of 500 pagodas for maintenance. The deities were consecrated in 1766 and work continued till 1780. Together the twins came to be known as the Patnam (Town) Temples, which is how they are referred to even today in George Town area.

The temples must have still been under construction when Arunachala Kavi (1711-1779), the creator of the immortal Rama Natakam came to Madras to meet Muthukrishna Mudaliar and be rewarded by him. Carnatic Music lovers of course remember Mudaliar for his contribution to the art by bringing the family of Ramaswami Dikshitar to Madras in 1790. When the Dikshitar children, Muthuswami, Baluswami and Chinnaswami must have come to the city with their parents and sister, all wide-eyed at the bustling metropolis, they must have seen the temples in all their glory. Muthukrishna Mudaliar died in 1792 and then his son Venkatakrishna (d 1817) became the trustee of the temples. In 1831, a civil suit recognised the grandson, also a Muthukrishna, as the hereditary trustee and the Manali family continues to remain involved with the temples till date. Several of them have statues for themselves on the pillars of the temple.

An endowment made by Juttur Subramania Chetty, a patron of the 19th century ensured that a nagaswaram player was honoured each year at the Chenna Kesava Perumal temple. During the Periazhwar festival each year in the month of June, a nagaswaram artiste would be invited to come and perform for ten days. He would be expected to take up one raga each evening and perform elaborately on it, finishing off with a pallavi, a ragamalika and some lighter pieces. Writing about this event in the Madras Tercentenary Volume (1939), Prof Sambamurthy says that “all the leading Nagasvaram players of the past like Sembanarkoil Ramasami, Mannargudi Chinna Pakkiri, Sivakolundu and Madura Ponnuswami and of the present like Tiruvidamarudur Viruswami were recipients of this honour.” In his biography of TN Rajarathinam Pillai, Tumilan writes that the maestro’s second nagaswaram performance in the city happened in 1917 at the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple during the Periazhwar festival. Rajarathinam Pillai was surprised to find that some of the city’s leading lights preferred to stand outside the temple and hear his performance, Sir S Subramania Iyer being one. On enquiry, he found that they felt that the shrill Timiri Nayanam was best heard from a distance. That is when the maestro thought of switching over to the heavier and deeper Bari and later mastered it. The nagaswaram tradition continues even now at this temple. However owing the diminishing returns of the original endowment, local nagaswaram artistes are employed during the festival. Big names do not come here anymore.

The first thing that strikes any visitor to these temples is the high standard of cleanliness. Dr Fryer in 1673 wrote of the floor of the old temple “stinking most egregiously of the Oyl they waste in their Lamps and besmear their Beastly Gods with”. But even that nitpicker would not have found anything to cavil about if he were to visit today. The two shrines share a common compound wall and there is a door let into this wall through which it is possible to access one temple from the other. The entrance to Chenna Malleeswara Swami Temple is from NSC Bose Road while that to Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple is from Devaraja Mudali Street.

Architecturally there is nothing spectacular about the temples. The two share a common teppakulam (tank) in which there is always some water. Chenna Kesava Perumal used to have a spectacular utsavam each year when He would go on various mounts around the George Town area. Now congestion has forced Him to remain indoors and observe all festivities from within the compound. In the old days, the spring festival would see Him going on horseback to the Manali Charities Hostel on Govindappa Naicken Street, where enthroned in the Vasantha Mandapam, He would be entertained by music. But now all that is over and done with.

Chenna Kesava Perumal is a small deity in stature and is flanked by Sri and Bhu Devis. There is a separate sub shrine for Shengamala Thayar and also for Rama en famille. The Azhwars all have shrines on side of the temple at right angles to the main deity. Andal has a separate shrine. Chenna Malleeswara is in the form of a linga and the Goddess here is Bhramaramba as in Srisailam. There are separate shrines for Ganesha, Subrahmanya, the Navagrahas and the 63 Nayanmars. The utsava murthis are small and wonderfully embellished with fine details.

The temple is a must for all those who value the history of this city.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

T Namberumal Chetty may have been the biggest, but he was certainly not the only name to contend with when it came to execution of public buildings in the city. Unfortunately, there is not much biographical detail available about the others though some sketchy bits do exist. By far the best documentation is in Somerset Playne’s excellent work Southern India, Its History, People, Commerce and Industrial Resources, published in 1914/15 by the Foreign and Colonial Compiling and Publishing Company, London. Some of the names given in that work are:

S Ambrose- He began life as a clerk in the PWD. Having obtained private tuition from one of the tutors at the Civil Engineering College (later the College of Engineering, Guindy), he joined in 1894, a course of artisans and sub-overseers at the same institution. He was also trained by WN Pogson, the architect of the old Spencer showroom. He then worked at the PWD in Madras and Travancore and after 10 years of service, resigned to set up his own independent practice. Ambrose appears to have obtained contracts for building in various parts of Madras Presidency. In the city, he designed and built that St Ebbas School building and the Church of the Good Shepherd, both standing till now on what was originally Sullivans Gardens, Mylapore. He also built a hostel for Indian girls at the St Thomas Convent, San Thome and made improvements and additions to the Oriental Assurance Buildings, George Town. His office was at Milan House, Royapettah.

AK Venkatarama Iyer and AK Ranganatha Iyer – The brothers set up business first in timber around 1911 or so. They supplied fittings for the renovation of Banqueting (Rajaji) Hall. They supplied ornamental furnishings for the Government Medical College and branched into cabinet making. In 1913 they got into civil construction and among the first projects entrusted to them was the University Library. They also executed the Police Lines (living quarters) in Triplicane (since demolished). In later years, AK Ranganatha Iyer ventured into making bricks and his Krishna Brick Works held almost a monopoly for supply of bricks almost all over Madras. He lived in Kumara Vijayam, a palatial bungalow off Royapettah High Road next to Vidya Mandir School. That has become a multi-storeyed building of the same name.

T Batchacharry – His career was summarised as having grown from apprentice to journeyman, journeyman to manager and from manager to master. As a boy he learnt the carpenter’s trade and in 1894 he set up business, making household furniture on order. In 1899 he began undertaking civil contracts, among the first such being the construction of bungalows in Chetpet and Nungambakkam. In 1911, Bhatchacharry obtained his biggest contract – Rs 170,000 worth of construction for the Madras Christian College, then on China Bazaar Road. Sadly, none of all this survives, the last remnants being demolished by LIC a few years ago. He also did most of the woodwork when the Madras Legislative Assembly was built in Fort St George. He was also involved in the construction of the Church Park School and St Joseph’s Church, Vepery.

G Venkatarama Iyer – A graduate by qualification, he chose to leave Government service and start off as a civil contractor. He appears to have been an understudy to T Namberumal Chetty, for he was involved in the construction of the Bank of Madras and the National Bank of India buildings (the former now the SBI Main Office and the latter demolished). He is significant on a personal note for he built the residence of the District Engineer of the South Indian Railway Company in Tanjore. It was in that house that my father was born, when my grandfather V Ramaiya held that post.

P Loganatha Mudaliar – He it was who came closest to Namberumal in terms of business volumes and stature of projects. It is likely that he marked the beginning of the end as far as Namberumal’s sway was concerned. Beginning in 1902, Mudaliar first executed St Mark’s Church in Bangalore. In Madras he began with a hostel for medical students at Royapuram. This was followed by the Madras Records Office (now the Tamil Nadu Archives), which involved reconstruction of a bungalow called Haslemere at a cost of Rs One lakh. This was in 1909. From then till 1913, Mudaliar worked on his magnum opus – the construction of Ripon Buildings at a cost of Rs 7.5 lakhs (Rs 5.00 lakhs being Mudaliar’s share). The building, one of India’s first to use reinforced concrete for its foundation, was declared open by the Viceroy of India – Lord Hardinge of Penshurst on 26th November, 1913.

T Samynada Pillay – Like Loganatha Mudaliar, he too was from Bangalore where he had done considerable work since 1879. These include the magnificent Sir K Seshadri Iyer Memorial Hall (now the State Library) in Cubbon Park. The South Indian Railway Company brought him to Madras Presidency, where he executed the Tiruchirapalli Railway Station and the Madurai Railway Colony. In 1914, he took on the task of building the Egmore Railway Station to Henry Irwin’s design. After its completion, he embarked on the construction of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway’s headquarters next to Central Station. Today that is the head office of the Southern Railway. Samynada Pillay ran extensive brick kilns on Poonamallee High Road to support his construction activity. His brother Chinnasawmy Pillai assisted him right through.

It’s quite an impressive lineup. And to think that we attribute most of our heritage to British builders!

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

The Kapaliswarar Temple is a very important shrine of this city and its ten day annual festival in the Hindu month of Panguni (Mar/Apr) is all about participation. On all the days, five deities, Ganesa, Kapaliswara, Karpagamba, Singaravela with consorts and Chandikeswara are brought out in procession twice, once in the morning and again at night on various mounts. And each day’s procession is accompanied by nagaswaram and tavil ensembles which walk along with the procession and perform at specified spots. A western band also accompanies the deities.

Certain days are more important than others during the ten day festival. The third morning has Kapaliswara borne aloft on the silver Adhikara Nandi. Karpagambal and Singaravelar are borne by veena wielding divine personages. The whole atmosphere is filled with musical associations for Nandi is considered a master on the drum. The bearers sway from side to side as they carry Adhikara Nandi and this gives the impression that the Lord is dancing. It is an awe-inspiring spectacle. It is no wonder that this procession inspired the great composer Papanasam Sivan to compose Kaana Kann Kodi Vendum in raga Kamboji. In the word picture it paints of the Adhikara Nandi sevai, this song is unsurpassed.

On the fifth day the vrishabha vahanam procession takes place late at night. Kapaliswara rides a silver vrishabham or bull while Karpagambal is on a golden vrishabham and Singaravela on a golden peacock. The procession takes the whole night to wend its way around the four Mada Streets and it is early morning and still dark when the five deities are brought to the sixteen-pillared hall on Sannidhi Street.

The seventh day has the car festival when thousands throng the temple and the four streets to witness the procession of five chariots. The eighth day is the most important. Legend has it that Sambandar, the great 7th century devotee of Siva and one of his chosen 63 followers, composed ten verses to resurrect the dead Poompavai, the daughter of a Mylapore based businessman, Sivanesan Chettiar. Each verse describes at least one festival of the temple – the Shravanam festival in the month of Aippasi (Oct/Nov), Tirukarthikai in Nov/Dec, Tiruvadirai in Margazhi (Dec/Jan), Poosam in Thai (Jan/Feb), the ritual bath in the ocean in Masi (Feb/Mar) and the annual temple festival during the month of Panguni (Mar/Apr). It is clear from the verses that these festivals, which are celebrated even today, were well established even then. The Poompavai Pathigam as it is called, also describes Mayilai to be a prosperous settlement with groves, splendid buildings and occupied by good and pious people. In Sambandar’s time the eighth day was when Siva came out in procession with his eighteen bhoota ganas or ghostly attendants. In time it metamorphosed into the day when Siva comes out in procession with his 63 devotees, the Arupattu Moovar, all of them preceding him in palanquins, with their faces turned towards him; their palms pressed together in adoration. Deities from other temples join the procession and lakhs of devotees throng the area. Pandals are put up at all locations and water, cold drinks and food are distributed to the throng by devotees. Some of the tanneer pandals as they are called, have a hoary history themselves, going back as they do by many years. A unique song associated with the Arupathu Moovar festival is the Vazhinadai Chindu, written by an anonymous poet in the early years of the 20th century. It describes in Chindu format, the route taken by a beau and beloved of George Town to attend the Arupathu Moovar festival. The song describes several landmarks of Chennai.

On the ninth day, Siva comes as Bhikshatana, the handsome beggar who seduced the wives of the sages of Darukavana. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Doraikannu, the Devadasi of the temple would lead this procession dressed as Bhikshatana herself and her dance would thrill the audience. At a particular point in the Bhikshatana procession, Kapaliswara is met by Karpagambal decked out as Mohini. It is now the turn of the Goddess to dance and she performs most spiritedly and finally enchants him.

The tenth day witnesses the wedding of Kapaliswara and Karpagamba and late at night after the ceremony, the deities are brought out on the Ravana Vahana. On this occasion, musical accompaniment is provided by the mukha veena, a variety of clarionet.

A unique feature of the ten day festival is the dolls exhibition at the Vyasarpadi Vinayaka Mudaliar Chattram often referred to as Bommai Chattram on South Mada Street. This building which functions as a marriage hall for the rest of the year transforms itself into a dolls-house for the ten days and on display are age-old leather puppets and clay dolls all of which are locked up for the rest of the year.

The vidayatri festival begins immediately after the brahmotsavam and continues for ten days. The Lord and His consort are entertained each evening by music and kalakshepam performances.

The ten days of the festival see Mylapore going back in time and becoming a village once again. Clay pots, traditional toys and native beads will be available on sale, in makeshift stalls set up by vendors who come from far and wide to do business. True, the logistics of such an event had become daunting over the years, but when public spirit is more than willing, what cannot be achieved?

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

Who were the building contractors and artisans who converted into reality the plans of architects such as Benfield, de Havilland and Chisholm? We may never know. But from the 1880s, a series of Indian names emerges and foremost among these was Thatikonda Namberumal Chetty. He was numero uno in the business of civil contracts for constructing public buildings and several of his works still survive, standing testimony to his building skills.

Namberumal’s father T Ramachandra had migrated to Madras in the 1850s and begun a hardware business, in which he became greatly successful. Namberumal was born in 1855 and had a conventional education, graduating from the University of Madras and also becoming a Sanskrit scholar. But for some reason he opted not to follow in his father’s footsteps and decided to set up business as a civil contractor. His first contract was for the building of underground drains in present-day Jagannathapuram in the Chetpet area. The work began with his mother handing out the first brick, a tradition which was to continue as long as she was alive, for every one of his building contracts.

In 1887, Namberumal was to land his first big job – the construction of the Victoria Public Hall on Poonamallee High Road, to Chisholm’s design, though there is a theory that he was also the contractor for the GPO, designed by Chisholm and completed in 1884. It was with Chisholm’s successor Henry Irwin that Namberumal struck a great working relationship. The Irwin-Namberumal combination was to create some of the most wonderful buildings of the city including the High Court and Law College, the Bank of Madras (now State Bank of India), the Victoria Memorial Hall (now the National Art Gallery) and the Connemara Public Library. Later, under Irwin’s successor GST Harris, Namberumal was to build the YMCA Building on China Bazar Road. A couple of other buildings attributed to him are the Museum Theatre and a section of the General Hospital. One of his creations, the National Bank building on Rajaji Salai has since been demolished. Compared to all these stately edifices, a simpler and yet no less beautiful is the Hindu High School on Triplicane’s Big Street. In 1900, he built the Victoria Hostel for the students of the Presidency College. Given so many examples of his work, it is no wonder that it was generally believed that any red-brick structure in the city was built by him.

In an era when construction involved the usage of massive quantities of bricks and timber, Namberumal ensured that he had access to the best quality in both by promoting companies focusing on them. He had a brick kiln set up exclusively for his use near the Pacchaiyappa’s College. At a time when cement was unknown, he created his own bonding mix, made of indigenous materials. As for timber, he set up the Trichur Timber and Saw Mills which not only sourced timber from Kerala but also from Burma. Equipped with the latest machinery, this company employed 200 people in the 1900s and exported timber to Europe, America and South Africa. Namberumal’s entrepreneurial energies were also to see him acquiring a small private raiway company, which ran a feeder line to the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, from Tiruvallur Station.

Given all this business activity, Namberumal became very wealthy indeed. By the early 1900s, he had moved out of Ananda Bhawan, his ancestral home in George Town to Jarret’s Gardens in Kilpauk. From there he indulged in his passion for acquiring land and soon his property spanned some 2000 grounds, bound largely by the Cooum, Casa Major Road and Pantheon Road. Much of Chetpet fell into this property and soon there emerged a story, that Chetpet was so named because it was (T Namberumal) Chetty’s pettai (colony). Within this vast landholding were several bungalows and at last count, Namberumal owned 99 houses in Madras. He never acquired the 100th, believing that it would bring him bad luck. His residence was Crynant, built on 64 grounds in McNichols Road. He also became the first Indian in Madras to own a car – his first vehicle being a French Dideon with registration number MC03. He was also famous for his stable of some of the finest horses.

Many honours and recognitions came his way. He was given the title of Rao Sahib in 1901 and in 1923 he was conferred the Dewan Bahadur. He became a member of the Madras Legislative Council and was also the first Indian Director of the National Bank (later Grindlays and now a part of the Standard Chartered Bank).

Namberumal had two sons of whom the elder, Rangamannar, succeeded him in the contracting business. The younger Rajamannar interestingly, was to marry a Parsi woman – Rutti, a daring example of an inter-community marriage in that era. Among his sons-in-law, at least two would become well known – the first CT Alwar Chetty, was a partner with Namberumal and also a founder of V Perumal Chetty & Sons, the famed stationery firm. The other son-in-law, C Krishnaswami Chetty, was Electrical Engineer at the Madras Corporation and can claim the credit for first introducing the radio to India in 1924.

Namberumal lavished affection on yet another youngster – and that was the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. When Ramanujan returned, famous but terminally sick from England in 1919, it was Namberumal who housed him at Crynant, ensuring that he had the best medical treatment. Ramanujan felt that the name of the house had the syllable ‘cry’ and so would bring him bad luck. He was immediately shifted to another Namberumal residence- Gometra. But it was all to no avail, for he was to die in April 1920.

Namberumal died in 1925. Today, there are numerous charities and trusts that still bear his name and owe their existence to his munificence. These, and some of his buildings continue to tell the tale of the wonder that was Namberumal.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

After Chisholm, architecture was never the same for the British Raj and among his successors, it was Henry Irwin who was to contribute the most to the Madras skyline. Irwin unlike Chisholm was well known when he came to Madras in the 1880s.

He was of Irish origin, born in 1841 in County Kerry.  Not much detail is available on his education. In 1864 he joined the Public Works Department under the Admiralty in England and two years later moved to Ceylon where too he worked in the PWD. In 1868 he moved to India, once again in the PWD and in 1872 he became the Executive Engineer, Nagpur and Central Provinces. One of his earliest architectural commissions appears to have been the Christ Church at Panchmarhi, the hill-station for the Central Provinces. This was completed in the 1880s.

Irwin’s meteoric rise in architectural circles coincided with the arrival of Lord Dufferin as Viceroy of India in 1885. Irwin was then working on the Ripon Hospital in the summer capital of Simla and among the first ceremonial functions for the new Viceroy was the inauguration of this gothic-styled hospital, made almost entirely of wood. The Viceroy was evidently impressed. Irwin became Superintending Engineer, Simla Imperial Circle of the Central PWD.

Among Dufferin’s pet ideas was the construction of a viceregal palace in Simla and Irwin was entrusted with the task. Over the next three years the edifice rose, with the Viceroy visiting the site almost every day while he was in Simla and making changes much to the despair of everyone on the job. It was completed nevertheless in 1888 and received a mixed reaction. Even today, Irwin’s name can be seen engraved on the main portico of the building, an honour shared by the Viceroy’s name as well. During this time, Irwin was to design several other Simla buildings – the Town Hall, the Post and Telegraph office, the PWD offices and the Army headquarters. Of these, the Town Hall was not a success. Perhaps because his attention had been diverted to the Viceroy’s palace, Irwin overlooked the use of substandard materials in the Town Hall and within 20 years of its construction it had to be dismantled. But all that was in the future and when he left Simla in 1888, it was in a blaze of glory.

From the cool climes of Simla Irwin arrived in hot Madras, as Consulting Architect for the Madras Presidency, a post that Chisholm had just resigned, in a huff. It is not certain if the two met but there was to be a change in Irwin’s style. Evidently, he was a respecter of local traditions. In Simla his work was largely gothic but in Madras he embraced the Indo-Saracenic. And in that style he was to build at least eight massive edifices.

Among the first projects were the High Court and Law College premises. Begun in 1889, this was clearly inspired by the Gothic Law Courts of London but at the same time it paid handsome tribute to the Indo-Saracenic. Constructed largely by T Namberumal Chetty, the great building contractor of Madras, it remains an architectural delight even today. The High Court was completed in 1892 and inaugurated by the Governor.

Work began thereafter on a couple of landmark buildings in Egmore. These were at the Pantheon complex and comprised the Connemara Library and the Victoria Memorial Hall. Irwin designed both, once again the execution being that of Namberumal. The Connemara Library can barely be seen in its entirety today thanks largely to a colourless new block. But it is clearly inspired by the Viceregal Lodge, Simla while incorporating elements of the Indo-Saracenic. Its interior is a riot of stained glass and relief plaster. The Library was completed in 1896 and is still one of the four National Libraries of India. The old block was magnificently restored a couple of years ago but still remains out of bounds for visitors.

Next to the Library is the Victoria Memorial Hall, originally intended as home for the Victoria Technical Institute but from 1951 designated as the National Gallery. It has remained locked for several years now, ostensibly awaiting funds for restoration. This was completed in 1909 and designed by Irwin in the Mughal/Rajasthani style. Its exterior is of pink sandstone quarried from Tada in present-day Andhra. Its entrance is clearly inspired by the Bulund Durwaza, Fatehpur Sikri.

One of the oldest commercial banks in the country was the Bank of Madras which later became a part of the Imperial Bank of India, now the State Bank of India. In 1896 Irwin began work on the bank’s headquarters on First Line Beach. Constructed at a cost of Rs 300,000 by T Namberumal Chetty, it is Indo-Saracenic in the main, with Mughal elements thrown in for good effect.

Those were the days when the railways were operated by private companies and Madras Presidency was catered to largely by two – the South Indian Railaway Company (SIR) and the Madras and South Mahratta Railway Company (M&SM). The SIR’s station, now familiar to us as the Egmore Station, was designed by Irwin in 1909. While it paid tribute to Gothic and the Indo-Saracenic, it was to also incorporate Dravidian motifs, perhaps a first in that direction.

In the midst of all this hectic activity, there was time for sport as well. Irwin was asked to design a pavilion for the Madras Cricket Club of which he was a member. He was an active sportsman as well, excelling in cricket, squash and tennis, besides keeping a regular stable of racehorses. The Irwin pavilion at the club, constructed at a cost of Rs 10,000 has since vanished, making way for the vast Chepauk Stadium.

Another Irwin creation was on Mount Road and this was the showroom of TR Tawker & Sons, famed Gujarati jewellers. This later changed hands several times finally coming into possession of the LIC, which demolished the ornate structure for modern highrise in the 1980s.

Ironically, the work for which Irwin is chiefly remembered today is not in Chennai. His crowning glory was the construction of the Amba Vilasa Palace in Mysore on which work began in 1897 and ended in 1912. Immortalised by the Dasara celebrations, this is Irwin’s most famous work. When this was completed, Irwin retired to Ooty, where he died in 1921. His buildings live on to speak of his greatness.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

If Paul Benfield gave the world its first example of the Indo-saracenic style of architecture with Chepauk Palace, it was Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1838-1915) who made it a complete form and the true architectural statement of the British Raj. Chisholm’s finest works survive in two cities in India – Madras (Chennai) and Baroda (Vadodara).

Not much is known of Chisholm’s early years, though it is certain that he was born in London. By the early 1860s he was in the employment of the Government of Bengal, being Executive Engineer, Puri Division, Bengal Department of Public Works. It was around this time that the Government of India was pressing ahead with the spread of education on Western lines. Universities had been set up in Bombay, Bengal and Madras and it was felt that buildings suitable to their stature ought to be constructed. In Madras, land for the Presidency College and a University Senate House was allotted by 1865. But two years prior to this, the Government of Madras had, for the first and only time in its history, announced an architectural competition for the design of these two buildings. With Rs 3000 being the prize money, it was a prestigious affair and by 1865, 17 designs had been received. The best of the lot, as per the committee that sat in judgement, were those of Chisholm.

He was accordingly transferred to the Madras Government in 1866, his arrival in the city coinciding with that of the new Governor, Lord Napier. The two were to become close friends though in private the Governor was to refer to Chisholm as a “clever little cockney” even while accepting his being “crammed with high art.” Napier was to make Chisholm’s transfer to Madras a permanent one, getting the Government of India to sanctioning a new designation for him – Consulting Architect to the Government of Madras. It was rather significantly, the first time that the word architect was being used in Government circles, at least in the city.

Napier was a man with a high imperial vision and in Chisholm he was to find someone who could translate his schemes into reality. To Napier, the Chepauk Palace, recently acquired in full by the Government from the Nawabs was a symbol of the times when the English had been subservient to the natives. No doubt the palace, rising in all its glory on the beachfront irked him and so among Chisholm’s first contracts was the building of the offices of the PWD, on the eastern face of the Chepauk Palace, hiding it from public view.

It is significant that none of Chisholm’s early works in the city or in the Presidency, were examples of the style for which he would eventually become famous. In his early years he experimented with the Scottish-baronial (the PWD building), the severely classical (the Madras Club buildings as they stood till recently on Express Estates and the gates of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills at Pulianthope) and the Italianate (Presidency College and the Lawrence Asylum which later became the Lawrence School at Lovedale, Ooty). He was asked to convert the old police courts at Royapettah into Amir Mahal, a suitable residence for the Prince of Arcot and this he did in the style of the Italian villa, copying the design of Queen Victoria’s Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Then came two projects that would transform Chisholm’s ideas forever. The first was a commission from Napier to restore the Tirumalai Nayak Mahal in Madurai. Chisholm was to grumble about the heat and dust of travel by bullock cart but when he arrived at the site, he was to fall in love with the place. Back in Madras, he was to rework his ideas for the University Senate House, incorporating into it several elements from the Mahal. He was to also add ideas and designs that had inspired him in other places such as Bijapur, Mahabalipuram and Ajanta. As a consequence, Senate House, completed in 1878, emerged as a curious but beautiful amalgam of various styles and became a new genre by itself – the Indo Saracenic. A smaller example of this, built at around the same time when Senate House was being constructed, was a tower that connected the two wings of Chepauk Palace – the Humyaun and Kalsa Mahals.

To fill the interiors of Senate House, Chisholm began working on a bewildering variety of stained glass, mosaics and painted canvases. These were all done at the Madras School of Art (now the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Poonamallee High Road) of which Chisholm became Principal in 1877. He probably lived on the campus from then on and one of the buildings there is said to be his work.

In 1872, Napier sent Chisholm to Travancore where a museum was to be built. There he saw the Travancore style of roofing and concluded that it was “a very beautiful form of domestic art.” Even as he designed the Napier Museum in Trivandrum he began work on a General Post Office for Madras and this was to incorporate his new fascination – the Travancore roof. The GPO on First Line Beach was completed in 1884.

By this time Chisholm was a very busy man, designing jails, court houses, offices and much more. Some of the other buildings in the city that bear his stamp are the Victoria Public Hall (1887-9), the tower of the Central Station (1880s) and the main offices of P Orr & Sons. Napier had long left the city and Chisholm was to work with his successors. He became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and whenever he went home on leave, he was asked to address the Institute. Chisholm was an avid painter as well and some of his watercolours are at the RIBA while others are in the Madras Museum.

Chisholm left Madras in a huff. He had been lobbying for being made the Superintending Engineer of Madras Presidency but the Government was not keen. There were charges against him of irregularities in accounts. In 1887, he resigned and after completing some more of his private projects in Madras, he moved over to Baroda. The British architect in charge of building Lakshmi Vilas, the grand palace of the Gaekwar, was another master of the Indo-Saracenic – Major Mant. He unfortunately lacked Chisholm’s breezy confidence and obsessed by the fear that the palace would collapse he went mad and committed suicide. Chisholm stepped in to complete Lakshmi Vilas and stayed on till 1902, working on several buildings there.

Then he retired to England, where he passed away in 1915. He was largely unknown in his home country. Indeed, of his works, just two or three are outside India. One is a church in Rangoon and another is a church in London, which has recently been converted into a concert hall. But by the time of his death, his style was all the rage in the entire sub-continent. All the Raj edifices would follow the path he had laid. The construction of New Delhi was to be its grand finale, climax and apogee. But rather ironically, it also marked the end of the British Raj.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

The de Havilland family of England was one that could trace its ancestry to the times of William the Conqueror, a Sieur de Havilland having accompanied him in his conquest of England. Since then, de Havillands had distinguished themselves in the service of the Crown and made their home on the island of Guernsey, off the English coast.

Thomas Fiott de Havilland was born on 10th April 1775 to Sir Peter and Lady Cartarette de Havilland. He joined the Madras Engineers in 1792. He was appointed a Field Engineer during the Egyptian campaign of 1801/02. Survey had always been a passion for him and de Havilland ‘amused himself’ by preparing maps of Coimbatore, Dindigul and the surrounding areas. In Egypt he undertook survey work too, identifying sources of water in the Cairo-Suez area.

After his return from Egypt, on which journey he was captured by the French and later released, he was assigned to the Nizam’s Subsidiary Force to survey the Deccan. He appears to have been called increasingly for civilian work from then on. Involved as he was in the engineering side of the army, de Havilland made a name for himself in scientific observations and constructions, the latter being both military and civil in nature. In 1807 Sir John Malcolm, the Resident of Mysore, gave him his first architectural contract – the task of building a magnificent banqueting hall in the Mysore Residency, a unique structure that would have a roof entirely free of column support. When this was done, de Havilland submitted a proposal to build a bridge across the Cauvery in Mysore with just five arches. To demonstrate his skill in building it, de Havilland erected a great arch in his garden, with a hundred-foot span. The structure became a local landmark and stood till 1937 when it collapsed. The remains of the de Havilland arch are a tourist attraction in Seringapatam even now. The brick bridge over the Cauvery was completed in 1810 in which year de Havilland joined a group of officers who mutinied, protesting against the appalling conditions of the army in Mysore. He was dismissed and returned to Guersney where he was commissioned to construct a barracks. Reinstated in service in 1812, he returned to Madras and became civil engineer and architect of the Presidency in 1814.

It would be no exaggeration to say that he is one of the earliest engineers of the city whose works can be identified with any certainty. It is said he ‘built Mount Road’ which probably means he gave the northern half of the road its present contours. Among his earliest commissions in the city was the construction of a protecting bulwark all along the sea front to prevent the notorious Madras surf from causing any damage to the Town and Fort. This he did after a detailed study of the tides by means of installing a tide gauge at the northeastern angle of the Fort’s glacis. A stone, later named de Havilland’s benchmark, was let into the bulwark of the Fort and all tide levels were subsequently measured against it, till the construction of the harbour in the 1890s caused the sea to recede.

The Madras Bulwark, when completed in 1820, extended for two and a half miles from the Fort to Black Town In 1823, an iron railing was put up on top of the bulwark, overseen by de Havilland. He was entrusted with the task of widening the Wallajah Bridge, one of the many that cross the river Cooum. But it was church building that brought him immortality. During the years that the Bulwark was being constructed, the English had begun moving out of the Fort and the need arose for a church close to the Great Choultry Plain. Designed by Chief Engineer Col. James Caldwell and supervised by de Havilland, St George’s Cathedral was completed in 1816. Sadly, among the first burials at the new cathedral was that of his wife Elizabeth, whom he had married in Madras in 1808.

No doubt, in order to be close to this great project, he purchased land in Poodoopauk (present day Pudupet abutting Mount Road) and built his residence. This was an unusual construction for it comprised two castellated circular towers, standing on the opposite ends of a vast garden. These became the Eastern and Western Castlets. The intervening garden would be put to good use by de Havilland when he was entrusted with his next project – the building of St Andrew’s Kirk in 1816.

de Havilland decided that the new structure would be circular in plan and topped with a dome. In order to closely study the native technique of dome building, he had a team build one in the garden of his house, just as the arch had been built in Mysore. Having observed them closely, he gained confidence and went ahead with the construction of the kirk. The soft soil in the Egmore area was a deterrent and de Havilland, once again observing native methods, decided to build on a foundation of terracotta wells! The church when completed was to prove a masterpiece and still remains one the most beautiful heritage buildings of the city. de Havilland was then asked to take a look at the possibility of restoring the St Mathias’ Church in Vepery. He reported it to be beyond repair and bids were invited for a new building. The quote of John Law, a rival, was the lowest. Work began and de Havilland, greatly offended at losing the bid, waited till the church was completed in 1825, complete with a magnificent steeple. Then, in his capacity as Chief Engineer of the Presidency, he inspected the building and declared that the steeple was a security risk for guns could be trained on the Fort from its pinnacle! Fully aware that the kirk’s steeple was just as high he declared that unlike the St Mathias steeple, the former “yielded no facility for the mounting of mortars and howitzers.” His word was taken and the St Mathias steeple was demolished at great expense and replaced with a diminutive tower.

He appears to have retired to his native Guernsey in 1825. His father had died in 1821 and it was necessary for him to return and manage the estates. In Guernsey, he built/rebuilt Havilland Hall in the classical style. He entered public life and was elected Justice of the Royal Court. He died at the age of 90 in 1866. He clearly did not lose touch with Madras for in 1836, he warmly supported Col Arthur Cotton in his scheme for building a breakwater off Madras, the first of the many projects that ultimately culminated in the Madras Harbour in the early 1900s.

Of de Havilland’s buildings in the city, some have survived – St George’s Cathedral, St Andrews Kirk and the Wallajah Bridge (now much modified). The two castlets have vanished. But it is surmised that they stood where the Addison offices are on Mount Road today. What about the Madras Bulwark? It clearly extended from the Fort and ran parallel to the Esplanade, ending somewhere on First Line Beach. It later formed the foundation on which the Beach Road, fronting the Fort runs. In 1967, when a subway was built to connect North Beach and South Beach Roads, excavations revealed the Madras Bulwark. More of it surfaced in 1978 when the area near the Beach Station was dug up. No doubt, the ongoing Metro Rail work will throw up some more bits of it.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

Markets have always existed in human settlements and in the eastern world, the very word ‘bazaar’ conjures up a certain image – arcaded building, awnings to keep off the sun, wares spilling onto the streets, brisk trade, bargaining and a high decibel level. Some of Chennai’s old markets still retain vestiges of this, though they are very much on the exit lane of time.

The history of the city’s markets is very poorly documented and given that their present ownership is often in dispute, very little information is available. The older parts of the city such as Mylapore, Triplicane and Tiruvottiyur must have had their small markets from time immemorial. But as far as the British-founded city of Madras that is now Chennai is concerned, we first hear of an overseer for the city markets only in 1777. The first appointee was Veera Perumal, who took over from the Governor’s Dubash (translator), who was until then entrusted with the responsibility.

George Town being the centre of affairs in those times, it was soon felt that a market with separate sections for fowl, flesh, fish and vegetables be erected there. A vacant plot on Broadway (now Prakasam Road) was selected and Popham’s Market (after Stephen Popham who owned the land), was completed by the 1780s. This survived for nearly a century when it was condemned as unsanitary. Work began near Central Station on the Moore Market, named after Sir George Moore, then President of the Madras Corporation. This became the most important market and Popham’s was demolished, making way for a park – Loane’s Park, named after Samuel Joshua Loane, Engineer of the Madras Corporation who was responsible for constructing Moore Market. It is now known as Sriramulu Naidu Park, after a former Mayor of the city.

Moore Market in time grew to sell far more than groceries and provisions. It had a flourishing trade in gramophones and records, books, toys and even second-hand clothes. Indo-Saracenic in style, its destruction by fire in the 1980s is a matter of eternal regret. The suburban railway terminal was built in its place but a small and exquisite replica of Moore Market still stands in a square plot in the car parking area of Central Station.

Popham’s and Moore Markets may have a well-defined history but not so the old native markets. Chief among these was the wholesale vegetable market at Kotwal Chavadi in George Town that operated on land belonging to the Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Devasthanam Trust. This was where, in the era before wedding arrangements were contracted out, everyone shopped for vegetables. Trade began at 2.30 am and ended by 9 am, by which time retail trade in vegetables, bought chiefly from here, would have begun in other parts of the city. In its heyday, over 5000 people jostled for space here. In 1996, this 18th century market was closed and shifted to Koyambedu in west Chennai. The land has since been developed as a women’s college. But surrounding it are several reminders of its past. Vegetables are still sold on the streets and not far from here is Flower Bazar on Badrian Street, stubbornly refusing to move despite Court orders. Its neighbours are Mat, Rattan and China Bazaars, mere names now, but indicative of what was once sold there. Not far from here is Evening Bazaar Road, commemorating a thriving market for western goods that came up each evening chiefly based what had arrived on the ships. Perhaps Burma Bazaar, which came up not far from here in the 1940s, is a reminder of this. Deep within George Town is Chengam Bazaar, still retaining its arcaded structure but evidently on its last legs. Chiefly a meat market once, it now has several mirror makers and a few vegetable sellers, all eking out an existence amidst squalor, even as the owners are said to await a Court order before demolition and redevelopment can take place.

Several historic markets abound in the older suburbs. Mylapore still has a Bazaar Road, probably in commemoration of a market that once stood there. In Royapuram by the sea is the Kalmandapam Market, again an arcaded structure over a century old. Of probably greater antiquity is the Chintadripet Fish Market, cramped and dirty but home to a thriving trade. In the same business and even older is the Seven Wells Fish Market, in the northern end of George Town. Said to be over 125 years old, it is considered the first separate market for sea produce in the city. Though it may come as a surprise, this seemingly vegetarian city has over 30 fish markets dotting it, and then again perhaps not so surprising given its long coastline.

A place where markets of different sizes still flourish is Triplicane. Right in the middle is the Zam Bazaar Market, which is a huge single-storied building with stalls for various shops. Owned by a Trust, it sells a variety of items. On Triplicane High Road is the Abdul Hakim Market, less than a century old and on the Royapettah side is the Mir Sahibpet Market. The one that has closed is the Sultan Market, which was mainly for meat sellers, on Royapettah High Road. Locked up now, it is still possible to see its handsome arched entrance and the wide bays for the stalls.

The ancient suburb of Tiruvottiyur has its market as well, largely the property of the temple of Adipuriswarar. The celebrated Devadasi, Bangalore Nagarathnamma is said to have built additions to it in early 20thcentury and bequeathed the shops to the temple. Indeed, several temples of Madras have played a role in the construction of markets, by way of making use of their land and also generating revenue. The Karaniswarar Temple in Saidapet built its market in 1949. Of earlier construction is the one belonging to the Kasi Viswanathar temple in Ayanavaram.

Mylapore had the Tanneer Turai Market built in early 20th century, thanks largely to the family of Bhashyam Iyengar, a famous lawyer and judge who owned vast lands here. It was envisaged as a waterside market, with goods being brought in by boat via the Buckingham Canal. In the 1960s the waterway ceased being navigable and so the market began depending on surface transport for its supplies. In the last few years, the Trust that maintained the market changed hands. The shopkeepers left and the buildings were demolished. The shell now awaits a new future.

Tanneer Turai’s is a story that can be told of most of these older markets. Not having kept abreast with modern notions of hygiene, shopping comfort and ambience, they are all likely to vanish, sooner or later. Which is a pity, as something representing the flavour of the city is lost. Perhaps it is time for some promising architect to come up with a design that blends the markets with modern taste and comforts.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

Incredible though it may sound today, there was no Chennai or Madras to the west of Mount Road till 1921. Land’s end was effectively Gemini Studios, after which, all along the western side was a vast lake, known as the Long Tank of Mylapore. By 1921 however, there was a severe housing shortage in the city and it was decided that this lake be filled in and the space converted into a vast self-contained residential colony – Theyagaraya Nagar. This was the first instance of planned development in 20th century Madras. The draining of a water body would today raise concerns from environmentalists but then it was not thought to be of any importance.

The removal of a lake has led to some place names being meaningless but they have survived nevertheless. There is a Lake Area nearby, and there are the Lake View and Tank Bund Roads. All of these commemorate the vanished Long Tank. The entire area was once the village of Mambalam and when the lake on the eastern side became T Nagar, what was left became West Mambalam as it survives even now.

T Nagar, when it was planned in the 1920s, was conceived to be bounded by four roads – Mount Road, Mambalam High (now Usman) Road, Burkitt Road and Bazullah Road. This was the era when for the first time a Government by Indians was in power in the provinces. In Madras Presidency, the Justice Party was in power, with the Raja of Panagal being the Prime Minister. This grand title did not amount to much, for the real power was the British Governor. But nevertheless, T Nagar, developing as it did during the Justice Party’s tenure, was to see a number of that party’s leaders commemorated in its streets and parks. Several still survive – Panagal and C Natesa Mudaliar have parks named after them while O Thanikachalam Chetty, Sir Gopathy Narayanaswami Chetty, Dr. TM Nair and Sir Mohammed Usman among others have roads remembering them.

Officialdom was not forgotten either. Thus Molony Road is in honour of J Chartres Molony who was then President of the Madras Corporation. JW Madeley, JR Coats, Sir GT Boag, J Venkatanarayana Rao and Sir T Vijayaraghavachariar were all officers of the Corporation. In the midst of all this, we also have touching tributes to the humble labourers who made T Nagar a reality. Thus Nathamuni and Govindu Streets remember two diggers who were killed while laying the underground drains in T Nagar. Pondy Bazaar, which was the main shopping precinct, is named after W Soundarapandia Nadar, another Justice Party man. Pride of place however goes to Sir Pitty Theyagaraya Chetty, one of the founders of the Justice Party and one of the prominent councillors of the Corporation. T Nagar takes its name from him and one of its principal arteries – Sir Theyagaraya Road commemorates him too.

Along these principal roads and arteries came the houses. The main roads had several stately bungalows, largely reflective of the then prevailing art-deco style in architecture. The area slowly developed its own amenities – the Mambalam Railway Station, the bus terminus, schools by way of the Ramakrishna Mission institutions, the Holy Angels Convent and Vidyodaya. The T Nagar Social Club, founded in 1935, provided the space for social interaction. It is still going strong, operating from its handsome premises at Panagal Park corner. Another, less known but more historical is the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, set up in 1918 but moving only in 1936 to T Nagar. Mahatma Gandhi was its President from 1927 till his passing. Another historic institution is the SGS Sabha, the community association for the Goud Saraswaths or Konkani-speaking people, which turns 100 in 2012.

For some reason, T Nagar became the home of the Telugu speaking community. Even today it is rumoured, you can get through life knowing Telugu, if you happen to live in that area. And perhaps because of this connection, many film stars and directors of the 1950s lived here. Savitri, BN Reddy and Chittoor V Nagiah were just a few. The last named was also to give T Nagar its first music sabha – the Tyagabrahma Gana Sabha which functions from its landmark building – the Vani Mahal. Rather appropriately, his statue adorns Panagal Park as does a small exquisite one of the Raja of Panagal. Other film personalities who have statues in T Nagar are NS Krishnan and the composer Kannadasan. Perhaps the greatest of them all, Sivaji Ganesan was a long time resident too. He bought the house of Sir GT Boag in the 1960s and lived in it till his death. Annai Illam as the house is called, is beautifully maintained and lived in by the family. A part of Boag Road is now Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Road. Several theatres once stood here – Rajkumari (earlier Sayani) and Nagesh were two that were owned by the eponymous film stars. These have become shopping malls.

T Nagar is today known more for its shopping complexes. Among the first to set base here was Nalli, its trademark white art-deco showroom still a prominent presence. Another old name is Naidu Hall. Since then, we have had any number of famous names here. Come festival season, the crowds that throng T Nagar are legendary. This has also led to several problems, most notably congestion. But there is no denying that T Nagar possesses a vibrancy all of its own. It is therefore no surprise that some have come to think of the ‘T’ as being an abbreviation for trade.

T Nagar is perhaps unique in that it has a book on it and its author is none other than the textile baron Nalli Kuppusami Chetti, long time resident of the area. ‘Theyagaraya Nagar, Anrum Inrum’ is a succinct account of the various aspects of T Nagar and is a must-read. The veteran writer Ashokamitran has also penned several interesting accounts of life in this neighbourhood. Reading his works transports you to a T Nagar that was lush green and laid back.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

You may not be able to recognize it easily today, but Chennai has a royal palace in its midst – the Chepauk Palace. Now hidden by the PWD Building and Ezhilagam, it once fronted the Marina Beach and at least till the 1860s was the most impressive structure that could be seen from the sea. It was also the first building in India to be built in the Indo-Saracenic style.

By the 1750s, the British were very clearly the power on the ascendant. The ruler of the Carnatic as the Coromandel was called, was Mohammed Ali Walajah, and he had obtained his throne thanks to their support. He desired to move from his capital at Arcot to a location close to Fort St. George and that is how Chepauk Palace came about. An area of 117 acres was demarcated for the construction of a suitable royal residence and in charge of building it was the notoriously corrupt Paul Benfield, engineer at the East India Company.

By 1768, the palace was complete. It comprised two blocks, the HumayunMahal which was the Nawab’s quarter and which also had the two-storeyed durbar hall, the Diwan-e-Khas. The other building was the private quarters and this having a small pot-shaped dome, became the KhalasMahal. During construction, the Nawab frequently ran short of money, partly due to his royal style of living. The Nawab’s debts soon worried the East India Company and the Parliament in England. Estimated at around 10 million pounds, inclusive of private and public debts, the liabilities became a convenient excuse for taking over the entire kingdom. Mohammad Ali had died by then and his son Umdat-ul-Umrah had to face the music. In 1801, when the latter died, the entire Carnatic was annexed and the family was evicted from Chepauk Palace. The successors, inheriting a titular Nawabdom lived in Triplicane till 1868, when the hereditary title of Prince of Arcot was conferred along with a pension. A new residence, once the office of the Royapettah Police Court was given to them and this is Amir Mahal on Pycrofts Road. That is where the present Prince of Arcot lives.

What of Chepauk Palace in the meanwhile? In 1855, the Government held a sham auction, ostensibly inviting members of the public to buy the palace. When nobody could afford the price, the Government took it over. In the 1860s, the brilliant architect Robert Fellowes Chisholm built a tower between Humayun and KhalsaMahal. This was symbolic of British conquest of the Carnatic. Nevertheless, it is a masterpiece in the Indo-Saracenic style. Chisholm also built a Scottish baronial style PWD building fronting the Marina. He added the Records Office and the Revenue Board Buildings on Wallajah Road, both of them in the Indo-Saracenic style. Today hardly any of all this is visible, for the palace and all surrounding buildings have been hidden by modern construction with no thought for heritage. Chepauk Palace by itself is in a very poor state of preservation though still functioning as a government office.

In the erstwhile grounds of the palace, several landmark buildings came up. Chisholm designed the Senate House, which was built on the Nawab’s artillery park, from where guns would be fired when dignitaries visited Chepauk Palace. The Nawab’s bathing pavilion, known variously as the Octagon, Marine Villa and Hasht Bungalow, was demolished in the 1930s for Madras University buildings. To the rear, on Wallajah Road, there once stood a three-arched gateway, which was the main entrance to the palace. This had the musician’s gallery or NaubatKhana on the first floor. On ceremonial occasions musical instruments would be played here, a tradition that is now continued at Amir Mahal.

There are some survivors too. The Triplicane Police Station was once the LangarKhana where horsemen and attendants of visitors were fed. Of the ornamental pillars that marked the extent of the palace grounds, at least three have survived. Two are on either side of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s gate and the third is on the compound wall of the MA Chidambaram Stadium, fronting Bell’s Road. The last pillar has some of the ten incarnations of Vishnu carved on it. The MA Chidambaram Stadium itself is built on part of the palace grounds. Cricket has been played here since 1842, when the Madras Cricket Club was founded.

The area to the rear of ChepaukPalace, is called YaanaiKulam or Elephant Tank. Though there is no sign of the water-body now, this once had a lake or tank in which the elephants of the palace were washed. Not far from here are the mosques where the royal family prayed. Today, given the hustle and bustle of Triplicane and Mount Road, it is hard to imagine that all this was once a royal enclave.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city

Come December and everyone in Chennai knows it is the music season, that period of the year when Carnatic music, the classical music of South India, is heard at various places in the city. Not that it is not heard at other times of the year, for Chennai is the Carnatic capital, rather like Nashville being the country music capital of the USA. But in December it takes on mammoth proportions with over 60 music organisations conducting more than 2000 programmes.

How did this come about? And why Chennai? The answers are better given in the reverse order. When the British founded this city in 1639, not many would have given it much of a chance for survival. But it grew from strength to strength, ultimately becoming the capital of a Presidency that stretched from Orissa to Kanyakumari. It put all other erstwhile strongholds in the shade as a commercial capital and that included towns such as Madurai, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Pudukottai. With power shifting to Chennai, artistes found this the real place to be in.

Music patronage here was not in the hands of the traditionally feudal aristocracy. Musicians were supported by the rich and powerful agents of the British masters – the dubashes, the men who knew two languages. Musicians, dancers and scholars attached themselves to one dubash or the other and from the 1750s onwards, Chennai’s temples and palatial residences began resounding to the performing arts. When the era of the dubashes waned with the East India Company ceasing to be a commercial power, the artistes found new patrons among the upcoming class of professionals –ICS officers, lawyers and judges, businessmen and doctors. These men did not have the wherewithal to have artistes in their individual pay. That is when groups of patrons began banding together to form Sabhas – social organisations that supported music and dance performances.

The traditional venues for public performances were temples, school and college buildings and the homes of the rich, the last being open to the public during occasions such as weddings, when music and dance were performed by artistes. Tickets were unheard of for concerts till the 1880s, when for the first time, a performance of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan’s introduced the idea, the venue being the Tondaimandalam Sabha at the TTV High School, Mint Street. Gradually the idea caught on and from a tradition wherein a salver was circulated among audiences on which voluntary contributions would be placed, Sabhas began selling tickets and paying artistes out of the proceeds.

The early performing venues were all in the heart of the old city – George Town. Some of these famed locations still survive – Gokhale Hall, Hindu Theological School, YMCA Hall, Pacchaiyappa’s Hall and Victoria Public Hall. But music is not heard anymore in any of these places. As the city pushed south and west from the 1890s onwards, Sabhas began springing up in places such as Mylapore, Triplicane and Royapettah. The oldest musical organisation in Chennai, which has survived from 1900 is Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha.

In 1927, the Congress party held its annual session in Madras. A music festival was held in parallel and a resolution was passed that a Music Academy ought to be set up in the city. This was duly formed in 1928 and from then on, it became the practice of the Music Academy to conduct an annual festival of music in December. That was when the High Court closed for Christmas and the lawyers, almost all of them patrons of music, were free to come for concerts. From 1932, Indian Fine Arts Society decided to do the same and so there were two organisations offering music and dance in December. In 1943, a third organisation – Tamil Isai Sangam joined the fray.

As the city expanded, Sabhas in various locations began emulating what these three had begun. And so the December season acquired its present contours. It cannot be really called a commercial success but the art has thrived on it. For it is the one time of the year when Carnatic music takes centre-stage everywhere – magazines, electronic media, newspapers… you name it. This is a unique reconfirmation that Chennai cares for its traditional arts.

This is also the time when youngsters get to present their talent. All the Sabhas present free slots for upcoming talent, which enables the music-loving public to evaluate them. This keeps fresh blood coming into an art form in which individuality is highly prized. December is when the theory of the art gets discussed in great detail and so that keeps the intellectual input coming all
the time.

Lastly, there are the canteens. Each of the big Sabhas has a top-notch South Indian culinary wizard running a kitchen for the duration of the Season. That keeps the foodies happy and the coffee flowing. What more can anyone want?

Sriram V

The writer is a well known historian of the city

Why Royapettah? Several explanations have been given for this name but the most convincing one is that, because it belonged to the Nawabs of Arcot it became Raya (ruler’s) Pettah (district). And, after the British took over, the royal family was finally given Amir Mahal on the edge of Royapettah to live in. The residence may be tucked deep inside the compound, but the ornamental gateway is a sight to behold. If you are lucky, you will hear the ceremonial drums beaten on special occasions from the first floor gallery of the gateway.

Close to Amir Mahal is the clock tower, a Royapettah landmark. Built in the 1930s in the classic art deco style, it is still functioning. From here begins Westcott Road. On the left is the vast Woodlands Estate, once the residence of the Rajahs of Ramnad. In the 1930s, it was sold to a businessman and the new owner leased it out to a young man who ran the city’s first Udipi style restaurant on Mount Road – Krishna Vilas. K. Krishna Rao was his name and he made Woodlands a success – as a 40 roomed hotel. But the leaser soon wanted the place back and so in the 1940s, Krishna Rao moved to Mylapore and began New Woodlands, the first of the famous worldwide chain of hotels. Happily, old Woodlands still functions. Its South Indian style lunches are known to few and inside the hotel it is as though time has stood still in the 1940s. Period furniture and ambience is what it offers for a low price. At its edge stands the better known Woodlands Theatre.

Opposite these is the Wesleyan Church with its associated educational institutions, set in a vast green enclosure. The church was begun in 1819. Further down the same stretch is the empty expanse of the YMCA, which is used for exhibitions. By far the best known landmark on Westcott Road is the Royapettah Hospital. Begun as a native infirmary in 1843 in a side street and meant to cater to the requirements of those who lived in South Madras, it has expanded since 1911 when it became a hospital. Parts of it, especially its morgue, date back to an early vintage and are Gothic in appearance.

Royapettah High Road, which can be called the spine of the district, begins just after one wing of the hospital. On its left, almost unnoticed is the local post office, the second oldest in the city and having been in service since 1830 or so. The police station, a short distance away is also of a venerable age. Painted bright red, it is a classic, a perfect example of Raj-style police stations. Just behind the police station, and perhaps rather appropriately so is the ‘town of killers’ (Kolakarapettai), which happily is far removed from the truth. The name is a corruption from the days when a colony of stoneworkers (kallukkaran) lived here. At the place stands Pilot Theatre, the first in the city to get a wide screen when they came into vogue in the 1960s. The theatre still functions, going strong despite challenges. Opposite Pilot are two icons of Royapettah. The Sultan Market, an arcaded Indian style shopping area, is now empty and faces an uncertain future; but Mani’s Auction House, famed for its old furniture is thriving. Around it have come up several showrooms selling the modern variety of furniture.

Just after Mani’s is the Provident Fund Commissioner’s Office. Now a modern building, it was once a vast garden house, named at various times as Gowri Vilas and Acharya Griha. In olden times it was Nawabi property and a secret passage was said to run from it to Amir Mahal. Opposite this building is Swagath Hotel, a throwback to the 1960s. It still functions, though its competitor and another landmark of Royapettah, Ajanta Hotel with its art deco façade has vanished to make way for a modern one – Deccan Plaza. Diagonally opposite Swagath is Adarsh Vidyalaya, one of the well known schools of the city.

Religion is firmly entrenched in Royapettah. Some of the old shrines here are the Srinivasa Perumal and Gangai Amman temples. The Gaudiya Mutt, established here in 1932, is a small piece of Bengal transhipped to Chennai. Its Krishna Jayanthi celebrations are famous. Further down Gaudiya Mutt Road is the Balasubramania Bhakta Sabha, a place where bhajans were performed regularly and where Tamil scholars such as Maraimalai Adigal and Tiru Vi Ka met. Royapettah High Road is now named after Tiru Vi Ka.

Royapettah was always known for its professionals. Dr. K.N. Kesari who manufactured the Kesari Kuteeram brand of medicines, in particular Lodhra tonic, lived here. Commemorating another well known physician who did work in medical research is Dr. T. Sitapathy Clinic, run by his descendants, now with the 4th generation of doctors in the family. Another medical man was Jammi Venkataramanayya who, beginning practice in 1900, perfected Jammi’s Liver Cure, which saved countless children suffering from infantile cirrhosis. Jammi Buildings, shaped like a ship and now home to several offices, commemorates him. Ehrlich Laboratories in Balaji Nagar, a locality in Royapettah, is a well known diagnostic facility going back several years. Balaji Nagar takes its name after Balaji Rao, a prominent legal luminary of the early 20th century who lived there. Another famed lawyer was S. Doraiswamy Iyer who lived at Palm Grove, a lovely Palladian building, which later became the Kesari High School founded by Dr. K.N. Kesari. It was perhaps due to the office-goer type of residents here that the Indian Officers Association, founded in 1907, struck roots here. For years it functioned from Mohana Vilas, a stately bungalow on Royapettah High Road where members could stay for nominal rates. Now this has become a commercial complex, owned by the Association. Several famed lawyers lived on Lloyds Road which cuts Royapettah High Road. Some of their bungalows survive, though many have become high-rises.

Close to where Royapettah joins Mylapore, after R.K. Salai cuts it, is the Mylapore branch of the Young Men’s Indian Association, established by Annie Besant in 1914. It offers board and lodge to those coming to the city for education. And Royapettah has its share of schools too. Apart from those within the Wesley College campus, there are others such as Adarsh Vidyalaya and Sri Venkateswara. A unique facility for the young ones is Children’s Club, established in 1954 and still going strong. It was to provide music to those in Royapettah that the Narada Gana Sabha was formed in the 1950s, in an empty plot of land next to the Children’s Club. That it moved elsewhere later is another matter altogether.

Royapettah was home to artistes too. Lloyds Road is now Avvai Shanmugam Road, named after the great thespian Avvai T.K. Shanmugam who lived here and whose residence still stands. Close by is Thaandavarayan Street, home to several cine and stage artistes in the past, the most famous being S.V. Sahasranamam.

Behind all these great buildings is a bewildering maze of streets, all of them with street houses and some spacious bungalows. Interestingly, several still have houses of early 20th century vintage, giving the impression that Royapettah is happy to live in the past.

Sriram V
The writer is a well known historian of the city