Parantharami Mani

  A Karagattam player with Poojari having Udukkai in his hand. During the Adidas festival in Ammanford Templeso Karagattam is an important part of the festivities.

Heard of  Tigers roaming in Tambaram and Cheese being made in Mudichur  300 years ago. See this Narrative by a Germany Machinery  Schultz in 1726 AD. "  July 3 1726 :  We rose early and continued our journey  through a country  full of high rocks and overgrown with bushes. The  first village we came to was Tamaram. Here about tigers abound and destroy  men and cattle  every  year. But the heathen  inhabitants go in security each hoping that he shall  escape. Eighteen days ago a tiger had killed and sucked the blood of a man on this very road. Last night he strangled an ox and a hog. To travel by night is to risk one's life. Near Muritshur a boy met us carrying  Cheese for sale to  Madras the  first I had ever seen made by a heathen. Probably  they recently learn to  make it  from  British or French.

  Chembarampakkam Lake water gushing out of the sluice gates. A narrative about the lake 270 years ago.      " Sembaram  Pakkam twelve miles west of  Madras. Here there is a large tank nearly  four miles square constructed by the  celebrated  king Scholem - from whom this country is called Scholeremandelam ( Coromandel) or as others say by his sister. Here it collects rain from south and west and during the  dry season the water is let through  nine stone  sluice gates to neighbouring 32 villages. The  tank contains  a supply for 12 months. Near the great sluice there are marks to indicate how many months supply remain in the tank. Source : Missionary  Travelogues Pic : The Hindu

  An altogether different view of Kapaleeswarar  Temple from  Brodies Road with a decorative lamp on the  parapet wall.

The  Ice House Madras in the year 1915. This was constructed in the year 1842 by Frederick Tudor of Tudor Ice company Boston.  The  circular structure on the first and second floor were constructed around 1900 when the building was owned by Biligiri I year. Pic. West Sussex County council

     A traffic policeman  in good old uniform at the junction of Esplanade and Broadway. The  YMCA building and National Insurance building constructed in 1900 and in 1930s can be seen in the far left. Pic: Getty Images

   Wallajah Gate , Fort St.George one of the seven gates in the Fort in early 20th century.  It should have been given this name after the completion of the Fort in 1780s since it led to the Chepauk Palace constructed by Nawab Mohd.Ali Wallajah in 1768. Since the Nawab was an important ally of the British they must have honoured him by giving his name to the gate. Any important dignitary visiting the Fort like the Governor or Commandeer in Chief to take charge of their position used to be honoured by the troops by formation of a street from North Sea Gate to Wallajah Gate. It happened when Sir George Hilaro Barlow anchored on Madras Roads in his ship " Sceptre" on 24th December 1807. He landed at half past 5 O' Clock at the watering face of North Sea Gate where he was received by the outgoing Governor Bentick, Commander in Chief, Chief Secretary  and principal inhabitants of the settlement  with a nineteen gun salute from the saluting battery. His Majesties 14th, 30th r

    A Village street near Madras in late 19th century.  Rich in greenery.  See the beautiful Oil Lamp street light.

   An Oil Mill in Madras in 1870s.  I remember during 1980s an Oil Mill by name A.B.Oil Mill used to be there in Kutchery Road where we used to buy freshly grinded Coconut Oil.  The aroma of dried coconuts and other seeds kept for grinding oil in the Chekku used to be enchanting. Pic: British  Library

  Southern Railway Headquarters at around 1930.  The foundation stone for the building was done by Lord Pentland Governor of Madras on 8th Feb 1915. It was declared open in Dec 1922. The central towers raise to a height of 125 feet and the corner towers houses water tanks. See the Ovaltine advertisement on the left hand corner near the tree. Pic: Vintage Vignettes

  Mount  Road, Madras around  1930s. The  building on the left with a dome above is the  Vizianagaram fountain  donated by Sir Ananda Gajapathi Raju the  Maharaja of  Vizianagaram. It was a 40 Sq. feet structure  with a fountain  probably inside  built around 1890s. The Maharaja also donated for the construction of Victoria Memorial Hall. It was demolished after  World war II the  ground beneath used as air raid shelter. It was used as parking lot for more than 20 years when the Anna statue was  erected perhaps in 1968. It used to be called round Tana.

  A Horse keeper of Madras in 1870s. Horse drawn carriageso were the common mode of transport for the high and mighty of 19th century Madras till the  Cars were invented at the  turn of 19th century.

  The  Admiralty House in Fort St George.  This  is a more than 250 year old house opposite  St.Marys Church.  This house was owned  by an Armenian  and Robert Clive lived in this house in 1753. This  house has beautiful wooden floors  and a wooden staircase. The  first floor has a big hall with  Corinthian columns. The  Court of Admiralty started in 1687 functioned in this building for sometime  and hence it was called Admiralty  House. ASI has its office there now.

Velliswarar Temple main entrance 50 years ago in 1968.

     A street near Madras. Lots of greenery. The Oil lamp street light is a beauty.

   A Madras street in 1920s with a  water  carrier.   Pic: Delcampe

     A hot summer  in Madras. Working women  without chappal hiding their face with  saree  to avoid the  Sun in 1930s.  Pic: Delcampe

     The  old light house at Mahabalipuram. The  British  had a light house at the  turn of 19th  century  before the new light house was constructed  nearby

   Pulliyar  Ratha at Mahabalipuram  50 km to the south of Madras in 1880. This  is very  near to  Arjunas Penance and Krishna  butter rock.  As per  Jennifer Howes  a British Art Historian specialsing on Indian  monuments it was originally  a Siva temple worshipped by Arjuna and had a connect to Arjunas Penance  nearby. The  Siva idol was stolen sometime around  1799-1803 and the  local  brahmins replaced it with a Ganesh idol.  The Sahadeva ratha of the  five rathas  was called  Arjuna Ratha  and he occupied the Ratha of Nakula. This  incident has been witnessed and recorded by two Telugu brahmins and is part of  Colin Mackenzie collection in British  Library.

      The  rectangle building in the  centre with  Jalis is the remant of the Fort House  of Fort St.George constructed in 1694. The  First fort House was constructed in 1640 which got dilapidated in 50 years and had to be razed and new House constructed in 1694. This was constructed to the  East of first  House  and was extended with wings in 1825. This is the core/nucleus of the  present secretariat building which was constructed in 1910. I got the photo clicked during my visit to Secretariat for official meeting with Secretary, TN Govt.

    Gave  Key Note Address in  the  seminar  on  " Labour  Rights,  Duties and Corporate  Growth " at Meenakshi  College  for  Women  on 16th February 2017. Happy to be in the midst of future generations of this great  nation.

         A beautiful and Panoramic view of Marina with  Presidency College in the  background  around the year 1930s. It seems they have planted trees in the  platform.  Where have those trees gone.

     The black town wall in Ebrahim  Sahib Street  in the  Northern side. The  black town wall was constructed in 1780s by company contractor  Paul Benfield.  Only the remants of the wall remain at Madi  Poonga which is now a ASI protected monument.  There was a jail here of the company era and the  road down is called  Old Jail Road.

    Inner streets of Sowcarpet  George  Town with  rows of single storeyed Madras Terrace houses in early 20th century.  Sowcarpet was the  melting pot of  North  Indians especially  Gujarathis ( Joshis and Bhatts) and Marwaris from  Rajasthan who had settled here more than 200 years back.  Mint  Street in Sowcarpet  was earlier  called Washers street in early  18th  century  with  Calico washers and bleachers  settled there. It got its name  in 1841 when Mint started functioning there on the northern end. It is a gourmet  paradise for  North Indian  varieties. When I used to work here in 80s I used to  visit  the  more than 50 year  old Kakada  Ramprasad  for its Jalebis   and Hot samosas. Another  joint was the  Agarwal Bhavan in Govindappa Naicken Street.

      The  Churchyard of St.Matthias Church,  Vepery.  This  church was built  around  1730s by the  Armenian  merchant Coja Petrus  Uscan from his personal income  and dedicated to Catholic community.  After his death in 1751 it was purchased  by SPCK the  Danish  Mission and convertedo into  a Protestant church.  The  church was extensively renovated  in 1823 with  John  Law as architect. Lady Munro  took active interest in the  renovation.  The body of Uscan along with  J.P.Fabricius the  German missionary and great Tamil scholar who published the first English -Tamil  dictionary  in 1779 and Rottler in whose name a road is there in the  neighbourhood are interred in this churchyard.