Madras Day

With ornately carved arches, Rajasthani-style false balconies and decorative brackets, it is easy to mistake this quaint little building for a mini palace. Cloaked by the flamboyant Gulmohar outside, the Madras Literary Society, a treasure trove of archaic books and venerable first editions from the 16th century patiently waits to share its hidden gems with the curious visitor. The history of the Madras Literary Society can be traced back to the College of Fort St. George set up by the British East India Company in the early 1800s to help English engineers get accustomed to the vernacular language, practices and…

Here is the first story to kick off our month-long celebration of Madras Day! Happy Birthday Madras! Sriram V is 75 walks old!! A name synonymous with Chennai heritage, Sriram marked this milestone with a tour of Dare House, the distinguished Art Deco building on Parry's corner, which is the headquarters of the Murugappa group. (A list of all 75 walks can be found here) Meenakshi R: Between Walk 1 and Walk 75, tell us what has changed. Sriram V: I did my first walk in 1999, in Mylapore. In those days there was no social media or apps to…

Having been a resident of Madras for 20 years, I finally got an opportunity to visit the Buckingham Canal, through a walk organised for celebrating Madras week. Cochrane Canal, Clive Canal, East Coast Canal, North Canal (in Basin Bridge side), South Canal (in Adyar side) and finally Buckingham Canal. A bit of research revealed that these are the various names by which the Canal was known over the years. Interesting, isn’t it? I wanted to know more about the men after whom the canal was named at different points in history. Nineteen of us, all from different backgrounds, began our…

First  it was Madras Day, then Madras Week. And now some say it should be Madras Month. And if that were to be accepted, today would be the first day of Madras Month! Happy birthday month to namma Madras! It has been reasonably established that 22 August 1639 was the day Andrew Cogan and Francis Day of the East India Company, purchased the village of Madrasapattinam from Damarla Venkatapathy, Nayak of Vandavasi, owing allegiance to the Vijayanagara kings. First, a trading post was established at the site. In 1640 the foundations of Fort St George were laid, and the rest,…