Parantharami Mani

       A Madras dancing girl in a postcard in the  year 1903. Pic: Delcampe

      The  population of Black Town  and surrounding villages of Madras as per the census of East India Company government in 1823.  Black Town : Men 33789 Boys 21305 Males 55094;  Women 44720 Girls 19832  Females 65532;  Total 120646.  Chintadripettah and villages within jurisdiction of Madras  Men 75457 Boys 58687 Males 134144;  Women 99196 Girls 61765  Females 160961; Total 295105. Khandans and their servants 46300. Total population of Madras  462051.  Total no of houses 29612 of which 14093 are in Black Town.  The excess of Females over Males is 37275 a disproportion of  about one in eleven in the  whole population.             The  first recognised census of Madras was taken in 1871 which showed a lesser number Source: The Asiatic Journal Photo : Frederick fiebig 1851

      A British  official travelling in the  Jungle  in his Caravan  of Bullock Cart taking rest with his  retinue of Native  helpers. Picture : worth point

      The  three arch Chepauk bridge constructed around 1878 with the Chepauk  Palace in the background.  The  bridge still exists and was widened in the  90s. Pic   Delcampe

     From my collection of old magazine.1945 Deepavali Malar of  Ananda  Vikatan and excerpts from it.  A family  enjoying  gramophone record and the  Thula Ghat in Mayavaram where the Pushkaram was held  recently

      Left Right hand  caste conflict in                       Thiruvotriyur temple:          Thiruvotriyur Thiagarajaswami Temple which is more than 1400 year old temple had also its share of  Caste conflicts between the Right and Left  hand  castes.  Thiruvotriyur  came under British  control in 1708. The  land was farm out to Thambu  Chetti  one of the richest  Beri Chetty  merchant of  left hand caste. After the fall of his commercial empire Lingi Chetty  a trader in bullion  who managed  the company  Mint took charge  of the  farm in 1741. As was the  order of those days he was made the  Dharmakartha of the  temple  in 1754 and after his death  in 1757 his son  Tepperumal Chetty became  Dharmakartha.  The Right hand castes were not  able to  digest the control  of  one of the  biggest temple of Madras  by Left hand Beri Chetties. They  had the right to  only  worship in the  temple. One day they beat up the temple  servant,   forced the musicians to pay a fine and stationed th

       Little girls enjoing a get together  may be a Marriage  withave Kollattam. Pic: Worth point

        Mount Road  around  1880s. The Whiteway Laidlaw building on the  right no tram lines seen.   Vijayanagar fountain is also not  seen.  The  Madras  Mahajana Sabha on the  left. Definitely a picture before 1896. Pic: Published by Whiteway Laidlaw.

      China Bazaar Road around the year 1935 with the  Anderson  Church,  Muted steeple of College Chapel with semi circular  dome, MCC building and two trams crossing each other. Pic: Madras mania

Third VI Ka Pechu Payilarangam Mylai  Branch 601th week meet  at Nageswara Rao on 17th September 2017 presided over by me.  A Forum to bring the best out of you in Medai Pechu( Stage speaking ) and to develop your leadership skills for  making better citizens.

     A fashion statement by a  Devadasi girl in early 20th century.  See the ornamental Visiri.

          A beautiful so far unseen rare photograph of  China Bazaar Road with the  Agra and United Services Bank  building.  This bank was established in 1833 with parental institution at Agra. The  Madras branch started in 1843. This picture should be around  1855. The  Octogonal building next to it is the  one where the  Anderson Church with its spire was  constructed in 1859. The church at the  far end  is the  college chapel of Madras  Christian  College which was demolished at around 1900. Two carriages are waiting to pick up the bosses.

        The five villagesof Trivitore, Longumbauc (Nungambakkam) Varsakavada (Vyasarpadi) Sautungudda(Satangadu) Cuttevauca(Kathivakkam) given in 1708 to East India Company were confirmed by a firman issued by  Moghul Emperor Farrukhsiyar in July 1717. A celebration of the occassion in Fort St.George on 24th July 1717.     "  The contents of the Farman were proclaimed in appropriate ceremonial.  It was placed in the State palanqueen of Governor in the Inner Fort with the whole garrison under arms. On the arrival of the Governor the Farman was read in English by the Secretary and in Urdu and Telugu by Chief Dubash to the the assembled inhabitants.(No Tamil) Mr.Francis Hugonin Chief Gunner fired a salute of 151guns from St.Thomas Bastion after which it was taken up by the ships on Madras roads.  The farman was then taken around the White Town by civic authorities with English Musick down Charles Street to St.Thomas Gate, then to Sea Gate and Middle Gate.It was then taken aro

      An English man with his box Camera enjoying with a   group of Jugglers and  Snake charmers  playing their Bansuri and a snake (King Cobra?) dancing to the melody. The  snake charmers hail mostly from Kattu  Naicker community and inhabit in and around  Manamadurai area. All the  paraphernalia associated with snake charming like Bamboo basket, Udukai, Keeripillai are there. The Jugglers are a nomadic community of Kalai Koothadis mostly present in  Tamil Nadu. It is said they originally hailed from the area around  Visakhapatnam.  Normally they use an improvised bullock cart with loudspeakers and move from place to place. The bullock cart serves as their tent for resting in the  night. Pic:  Published by Whiteway and Laidlaw

       Madras High Court and Esplanade  Row  in the  early decade of 20th century.  Originally the Cemetery for St . Marys Church in the  Fort   was situated in "Guava Garden " in the present High Court complex.  After the siege of French in 1759 the  British razed to the ground old Black town north of the Fort and also this Guava garden  Cemetery. The cemetery for  St.Marys Church was then established in the  North West portion of Island near Pereira  Garden (Madras Central) in  1763. Many of the  East India Company Civilians and Soldiers are interned there. It has been the place for climax seen in many tamil movies.  The  High Court  complex was inaugurated in 1892 by Governor  Wenlock. Pic: Published by Whiteway Laidlaw & Co

      Nawab Azim-ud-Dowla  the  first titular Nawab of Arcot.  He took over from his uncle Umdat-Ul-Umra on 31st  July  1801.  He was the  son of Amir-ul-Umra second  son of Mohd.Ali Walajah. He has to  take over since  Taj-ul-Umra son of  Umdat-Ul-Umra refused to accept the treaty  by which the Civil and Military administration of Carnatic was taken over by British  for an amount of 1/5 of net revenue or one lakh forty four thousand star pagodas annually whichever was higher. A first hand account of the exchange of  treaty on 16th September 1801       "  On Wednesday morning the 16th instant the right  hon.the Governor attended by the  Commander in Chief, the members of the council and the gentlemen of the civil, naval and military services delivered to his highness the  nabob Azeem -ul-Dowla  at Cheapauk Palace the ratified treaty received from his excellency the most noble the Governor  general in council  for  settling the succession to the subahdarry of Arcot and for vest

Studio  Portraits of  British  colonial  beauties and gentlemen in Madras of 1870s. Pic: Nicholas Bros  & A.A.Hughes

A Tram rolling down the Mount Road towards Willingdon Bridge in 1930s with the Madras  Mahajana Sabha building  and Elphinstone  Cinema  in the  background. What is  Abroo advertised on the tram in three language formula? Source : eBay

A view of Kapaliswar Temple and Tank in late  1940s  with people happily bathing and washing clothes in the tank.         A description of Mylapore in the year 1820  by Elijah  Hoole  a Wesleyn missionary in his book  on Madras  Mysore and South India.     " The original Hindu town of Meilapoor stands at a short distance from the beach and was never included within the Portuguese Fort. It has a large ancient temple of considerable repute; adjoining it is a deep stone built tank filling a very large quadrangle where the natives bathe and from which they supply themselves water. The annual festival of the temple is attended by tens of thousands of worshippers and is celebrated with barbaric splendour and great expense. There is no place within the same distance of Madras where the traveller may see such as assemblage of Yogis, Sanyasins, Tabasins, Pandarams all the varieties of heathen priests and devotees each making an exhibition of his peculiar mode of dress, worship and pe

       St.Ritas Chapel, Santhome.  This nearly 300 year old Church is situated within the compound of  Santhome Higher Sec School.  It is one of six churches situated within the Portuguese fort of Santhome. It was built by Armenians who were in good numbers in 18th century Madras. There are two inscriptions on the eastern wall of the church abetting the road.  One is in Armenian dated 1729 which says " In memory of  the Armenian Nation. In the year of the Saviour 1729". It is not in memory of any individual but of Armenian nation.  It was in this year that the  tomb of St . Thomas was opened in nearby  Santhome Cathedral  for  public view. Coja Petrus Uskan was present on the  occasion.  The  other  inscription is in Portuguese  which says " This church was finished anew in the year 1740 the  Vicar of it  being Friar Gaspar Dos Reis a native of Santhome ".

     Pic:  eBay

      A Memsahib at a Native village in this picture around  1901 in a village near Madras. Perhaps teaching English to them.  The  house is a Nattu Odu tiled one with  ceiling made of Moongil rafters. Pic: Wielie Klein

      The  bleeding  cross in St Thomas Mount  which is  believed to be there from the period of  St. Thomas and was found while digging the earth in 16th century for the  construction of the church.  A note on the  inscription around it from a letter written  by German Lutheran missionary  Schultz to  his fellow  missionary at Halle in South Germany on 26th January 1728    " With this letter  I send a fac-simile of the cross on St . Thomas  Mount. The  letters around it are known to no one here. For  five days  consequitively I sent this inscription  round the town and submitted it to natives  of various countries and languages  to ascertain if any person was acquainted with the language in which it is written or could read it. There was not a single person who could say that such a language exists in India.  This  suggested to me after all that  it might be a " pious fraud " invented to beguile simple people  and to encourage pilgrimage to it. After an investigatio

     Rekla racing in Madras in Madras. The  bullock is skinny and must not have been fed properly.