Parantharami Mani

      An interior street of Black Town in this photograph taken by John Nicholas in 1865.  The beauiful tiled houses  can be seen with Thinnais outside for chit chatting and an era when no electricity was there. The new Black town developed after 1760s was originally made up of Muthialpet where the Left hand castes lived (Traders, Artisans, Oil Mongers, Leather workers and Weavers) and Peddanickenpet where the Right hand castes lived(Land owners, Accountants etc Dubashes and Merchants).  The Telugu speaking Arya Vysya and Beri Chetties generally lived west of Pophams Broadway while Tamil speaking Sengunda Mudaliyars lived east of Pophams Broadway and Moors to the North. The Black town was highly congested overpopulated and extended over 850 acres from NSC Bose Road in South to Old Jail Road in North and from Wall Tax Road on the West to North Beach Road in the East.

         A panoromic view of St.Thomas Mount in 1920s.  The church at the top of the mountain was constructed by the Portugese in 1523 and the steps to the mountain were built of charity made by Coja Petrus Uscan the Armenian merchant in 1740s.

    Visited St.Marys Church on Christmas day on 25th Dec 2015 along with my daughters to show them the heritage church and of the city.  The morning service were done by Rev. Father Kripa Lilly Elizabeth and there was a good congregation inspite of the fact that the church is inside the Fort in high security zone.She blessed us from her heart.  The 335 year old church has to be seen at least once to know the heritage of the city.  Had a satisfactory prayer and meditation.

      This is the advertisement given by Nicholas Bros who had taken many photos of South India including Madras in the second half of 19th century.  They had their studio in  Western Castlet, Mount Road,  Their Madras studio opened in 1861 and were in business upto 1905 although John Nicholas left India in 1890s. He also opened a studio in Ooty in 1869 in partnership with H.V.Curth.  One of th panoramic views taken by him of the Black Town in 1865.

         Cornwallis Cupola in the Fort Parade ground from a picture taken by Frederick Fiebig in the year 1851.  The Cupola and the statue of Cornwallis was raised by the principal inhabitants of Madras and Civil and Military personnel of East India Company in 1800 AD as a tribute to him for securing Madras from the forces of Tippu Sultan in the year 1791.  The statue was sculted by Thomas Banks of London.  As quoted in "Memories of Madras" the statue was opened on 15th May 1800 by Lord Edward Clive Governor of Madras in the parade ground in the presence of principal officers of the company amidst firing of guns from the saluting battery. It so happened that when Cornwallis came back to India to take charge of Governor General post in 1805 he passed through Madras on 6th May and was received by William Bentick Governor of Madras from the sea gate under a canopy of lined up troops upto the Cupola. An address was presented to him which was reciproca...

        Durant and Spenbcer.  This is the original Spencer shop.Charles Durant and John William Spencer were Assistants working in Oaks & Co. Charles Durant was an ambitious man and he wanted to open a shop of his own. Oaks & Co was in Pophams Broadway and in 1863 he opened his own shop in the newly developing great choultry plain on the eastern end of Mount Road. It was intially a "Merchant and Commission "Agent shop. Later that year J.W.Spencer joined him and the name of spencer  appeared in Madras for the first time. This shop is believed to have been in place near the Philatelic Bureau.

                Visited Sriperumbvudur Temple on 29th November before the rains started after dropping my daughter for an exam at Poonamalle.  It is the birthplace of Shri Ramanuja who enunciated the Vishishtadwaitha philosophy.  He was born in 1017 AD and lived for 120 years.  The main deity of the temple is Shri Ramanuja one of the three idols of him the other two being in Melkote and Srirangam.  The idols were made by his shishyas.  The perumal here is called Adikesava Perumal and thayar is called Yathirajanadhavalli. Th idol of Ramanuja is called Thanuganda thirumeni meaning that which is like by Acharya.  There is a mandapam opposite the temple in which Ramanuja was supposed to be born.  The temple has ingredients of late Chola and early Vijayanagar architechture. During the wars of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan the idols were shifted to Madras.

     Madras University students in the year 1860 with some sporting religions symbols. Hard to believe.  The student in trousers is an East Indian.

               This is a beautiful photograph of European part of Black Town taken by Frederick Fiebig a German Photographer in 1851. The original Black Town was immediately to the north of Fort wall in the area where RBI and High Court are situated now. This was raced to the ground after the war with the French in 1760s and the new Black Town was developed to the north of it in Muthiapet and Peddanaickenpet. The first Europeans to settle in Black Town were Armenians and Portugese. Still there are streets in their names Armenian Street, Portugese Church Street and Coral Merchant Street where Armenians lived and traded in Gems.        As Madras grew Blacktown became the main commercial centre and many Europeans moved out of the Fort and settled in Black Town. Its Grid pattern layout is the earliest example of English town planning in India.  Three broad streets (North Beach Road, Pophams Broadway and Mint Street) interse...

    The East Mada Street, Mylapore in the year 1851 with the chariot of Kapali. This is a photograph taken by ace German photographer Frederick Fiebig who had taken hundreds of photographs of Madras, Calcutta and Ceylon. As per the book " A view from below" written by Kanaklatha Mukund  Kumarappa Mudali who had taken over the Dharmakartaship of the temple in 1740 did a lot of things to improve the temple.  He was the Dubash and Kanakkupule of Governor Saunders. The first thing he did was to remove people of other religions from the vicinity of temple by paying handsome amounts to them.  He built the compound wall of the temple and the temple tanks and widened the four mada streets of the temple so that processions can go smoothly.  He also planted a lot of coconut trees on the mada streets and created an endowment so that a regular income is there for the upkeep of the temple.  He arranged for the dancing girls and also nominated temple servants. ...

   The US consulate with its flag flying in the balcony in 1908. This building was on No.1 China Bazaar Street within the campus of Parry & Co.  The Obelisk showing the boundary of Esplanade dated 1st January 1773 is in the corner of the building. Trade link between US and East India Company started late in 18th century.The first consular agent for Madras Presidency was appointed in 1794 by Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State. After that there was a hiatus in the trade for many decades between the two countries.In 1908 the consular agency was raised to the status of a consulate and housed in this building. It continued till 1939 when the building was demolished to build Dare House. It was housed in Dare House from 1940 till 1952 and thereafter to Bank of America building in Mount Road and to its own building by the side of St.Georges Cathedral in 1969.

     A beautiful street scene on First line beach somewhere in 1900s.  The Grand building of Gordon Woodroffe with its flag pole is seen in the background. A high society Rao Sahib is going in his horse drawn buggy.Two labourers are pulling their hand drawn carts laden with goods.  It must be a rainy day since water is stagnant on the road and one person is carrying the Umbrella must be a Mann mark.Other persons on the road are busy in their daily chores.See the kerosene oil filled street lights on the sides. I have heard my grandfather telling stories about how every evening municipal workers with their ladders used to clean the lights and refill with oil before they are lit up. As per a report of Madras Corporation there were only 250 such stret lights in 1856. Electric lights made their appearance in the city in 1912.

       The person sitting in the centre is Elijah Hoole (1798-1872) a Wesleyn machinery who travelled extensively in the Madras Presidency during the period 1820-28 and has left a lasting impression of Madras its people, culture and contemporary living in his writings. The Wesleyn mission was established in Madras in 1817 and its first church was built in Black Town  Pophams Broadway in 1822.  The church was built on a plot of land that was not stable and wells were sunk for a depth of about 12 feet and  partly filled with sand and the structure was built with bricks and madras chunam.  It was consecrated on 25th April 1822 and around 400 native christians were present. The total cost was 10000 pagodas and Elijah Hoole was behind its construction  He was also a scholar in Tamil and translated Bible.  The church in Royapettah was  constrcuted in 1850s.

      The Madras Regiment soldiers with their drummers in this picture.  The Madras Regiment has a history of more than 200 years.The British East India Company who started their trading post in Madras in the year 1639 were a mere commercial entity in the intial 100 years.  They were more concentrating on the trade with the natives and exports to England.  But the loss of Fort St.George to French Army in 1746 changed their attitude.They then began to have an army of their own to protect their commercial interests in the face of fiery competition from the French,Dutch and Danish companies.  The credit for starting the Madras Army should go to Major Stringer Lawrence who in August 1758 started recruiting soldiers and by December of that year there were two battalions of 8 companies each. Those serving in the Northern parts of Presidency were called Sircar battalion and in the south were called Carnatic battalion. The regiment in its 250 years of its exis...

      Madras is now battered by torrential rains due to North East Monsoon resulting in submerging of the City.  On 2nd May 1872 a severe cyclone battered the city after 7 pm and continued upto 3rd morning.As per report published then wind was howling the whole night and in the early morning of 3rd wind was blowing at a speed of 100kmph. Nine foreign vessels on the Madras roads were destroyed and wrecked.Native crafts in the Port were sunk or driven ashore. The City of Madras suffered severe loss of property.  The pier of Madras built in 1861 was breached and cut into two.  The debris were strewn to three miles on the coast.

              North Mada Street, Mylapore in the year 1945.  A Kai Rickshaw man is moving slowly in search of Probable customer. The three storeyed building is Hotel Suprabath which was a bachelors den in 1960-70s. It is now Saravana Bhavan. The building with the protruding wooden balcony is the Vellore Lakshmi Ammal Kalyana Mandapam which is now Sukra Jewellery.The only building which is now available in this row is the cream painted one with balcony. Must have been a relaxed life in mylapore then.    

     Agasteeswara Temple, Nungambakkam.  Had the opportunity to vist this temple which is in existence for more than 400 years. As per the sthala puranam on the website of the temple one Boomaraja who ruled this are was suffering from acute stomach pain and Shiva ordered him to take bath in the temple tank after which his illness was cured.Since he prayed to God from his Agam (Inner self) the deity was called Agasteeswarar. The area was rich in palm groves with Nungu fruit and hence called Nungambakkam. The presiding deity Shiva is facing east and the base of lingam is always percolated in water.  The amman Akilandeswari is facing south.The temple has hereditary dharmakartaship starting from the days of Subbu Deiva Nayaka Mudaliar in mid 18th century who was a dubash and an intrepreter in mayors court of East India Company.He and his successors have dedicated acres of land to the temple which is inscribed on the granite tablet on the outer wall of the temple i...

        This is the old bungalow of Tamil Nadu State Coperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank situated within the famous  Alwarpet Anjaneyar Temple complex. Had been there on some work.  This photograph was framed and hung in their office.If one looks deeply there is a statue of Anjaneyar on top of the building. The new building was inaugurated on 13th April 1968 by Kalaigner Karunanidhi who was the PWD Minister after demolishing the old building. The staff informed that was the reason for having the Anjaneyar temple in the complex.  It must have been a great edifice during its time.

Parrys Corner in 1960s. Thomas Parry (1768-1824) arrived in Madras in the year 1788 and commenced business under his name having got the licence to trade as a free merchant immediately. The Head Office of the company covering an acre of land situated at the end of first line beach was purchased from the Nawab of Carnatic in 1775 and was subsequently sold to Thomas Parry in 1803.  The old building of the company was constructed in the first decade of 19th century.  The company and its buildings are mute witness to the changes happening in this part of Madras for over 200 years. Immense changes have taken place opposite parry building since the construction of Madras Port and great accretion of Foreshore. The sea used to lap the walls of Parry building in olden days.  Thomas Parry died in 1824 at Port Novo of Cholera after staying in Madras for over 36 years.  He was buried in the Missionary church at Cuddalore.  The present Art Deco building was constructed in t...

                  The subject we will be discussing today is the development of Kapaliswarar temple in the 19th and 20th centuries.  The picture old shown down is the picture of the temple in the year 1851 taken by Frederick Fiebig a Calotype  Salt print hand coloured photograph.  The Mylapore of the 19th century with its lustrous  growth of coconut trees on all the streets surrounding the temple tank and the four mada veethis.  The Eastern temple tower ie. the Rajagopuram is not there.  The twin shrines on the sides of the Western gopuram is not there as well as the Navarathri  Mandapam.The nirazhi mandapam on the tank is not having its tower.  Our new photo of the same was taken around 1925 when the Easter Rajagopuram constructed in the year 1906 and the temple steps and side mandapams constructed during the period 1910 to 1925 are clearly visible  The Navarathrimandapam is in position as well a...

          After leaving Thailand we took our Air Asia flight to Siem reap a North west city of Cambodia. The flight took hardly 40 minutes and we landed in Siem reap whose airport had an Kerala type architechture with tiled roofs.  The immigration was quite easy and quick and we saw a statue of Indra on his Iravath on the airport lounge which spoke about the link of Cambodia with Indian culture.  Our Cambodian guide Mr.Narun was quite at ease with us and he had a sound knowledge of spoken English. After putting  our luggage in our hotel Saem Siem Reap. Our first stop was at Angkor Thom which was the capital of ancient Angkorian empire with a million people living in it.  The Bayon temple in Angkor Thom is a famous Buddhist temple built by King Jayavarman VII in 1181 AD.  The figures in the temple ie, the mammoth faces are that of king Jayavarman VII they say.  There are many bass reliefs on the walls of the temple showing the life a...

       Last  month we had been on a holiday to Thailand and Cambodia from 23rd May to 30th May.  We were all 13 in the group including my family and my two brothers family. We visited Bangkok,  Ayutthaiya, Pattaya and river Kwai. We went on a river cruise in Bangkok and also saw the floating market. The country Thailand is a developing country and a founding member of ASEAN.  I was amased to find the huge infrastructural development in Bangkok which is superior to any other city in India. The skyway from Bangkok to Pattaya extends to almost nearly 70km of flyover drive which is a great wonder by any asian standards. We did an underwater sea walk in Pattaya myself my two kids and Madhan.  It was really exciting.  The speed boat journey to Coral Island was exhilaratin and at the same time dangerous.  We were fortunate to see many Buddha temples in Thailand.  The culture of Thailand is almost similar to India in that Buddha is r...

                        On the way from Tiruvotriyur temple I also visited the Kalyana Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kaladipet.  The story goes like this.  In the early 18th century one Mr. Colett was the governor of Fort St.George between 1717to 1719.  He developed a weavers colony in North Madras near Thiruvotriyur called Colettpet which during the course of time became Kaladipet.  The Governor had a very close assistant  by  name Veeraraghava who was an ardent devotee of Lord Varadaraja Perumal of Kancheepuram.  H used to visit Kancheepuram at least twice a week which the Governor did not like. So he gave some funds to Veeraraghava for building a temple in Colettpet for Varadaraja.  He collected some more funds from the public and built the temple in early 18th century.  The templ has a small temple tank also and is visited by hundreds of devotees on weekends which I witnessed...

               Yesterday 9/5/2015 I visited two temples in Thiruvotriyur a suburb of Madras in the north.  The first one was the Vadivudaiyamman TemplE which was recently renovated and Kumbhabhishekam was done 2 months ago.  Thie is a 8th century  temple dedicated to Thiagaraja swami built by the Pallavas .  Over a period of 1200 years the temple has been renovated added by the Cholas, Pandiya and Vijayanagar rulers. The temple has a rich source of inscriptions all around in the walls both in Tamil and Telugu which tells the life and times of those periods and the various donations made to the temple by the kings. The Moolavar is Adhipureeshwarar and the consort is Vadivudaimman who is veneratd by the devotees.  There are 27 lingas representing the 27 stars around the prakara. There are separate temples for Ganesha, Muruga, Annamalai.  There is also a separate shrine for Thiruvotreeswarar in linga form. The main dei...