Parantharami Mani

Mount Road during a monsoon day in early  1900s. It should be Bata junction  since the steeple of Christchurch adjacent to Cosmopolitan Club can be seen at the far end.

Cosmopolitan Club  1873        This  Club was started in the year 1873 as a gathering place for  high and mighty Indians of the City of  Madras with the English.  Intially  it had its premises at Moors Road, (Garden)Nungambakkam and shifted to the present place at Mount Road in 1882.         The  Office bearers of the  Club in 1881 below shows a mix of Royalty the  Maharaja of Travancore and Prince of Arcor being patrons, English men the President and Vice President  and Miller of Christian College, George Town along with the  Who's who  of Madras of 1880s including  Justice  Muthuswamy Iyer, P.Vijayaranga  Moodelliar of Thiruneermalai  Temple  Dharmakarta Clan, P.Venkatachalam Chetty , Bashyam Iyengar and  W.S.Venkataramanjulu  Naidu.            It became only  Indian Club in the  last decade of 19th ce...

The set up of the Supreme Court of Madras in the  year 1812 when Sir Thomas Strange was the Chief Justice.  One native Ragunadum Moodelliar is working as Gen too and Malabar interpreter  and a Muslim  Mahamud Tippao is Persian and Hindoostani intrepreter. The  Supreme  Court of  Madras functioned from  Ben tick building from  1817 to  1862 when  High Court was established.

The longest Police Chief  of Madras Edward  Francis  Elliott         The  Police set  up in Madras around  1840s.  Edward  Francis Elliott was the Superintendent of Police, Madras  for  a long period of nearly  22 years. He took charge on 14th February  1834 and was holding the post up to  15th April 1856.          He was the  son of  Hugh Elliott who was the  Governor of  Madras  from  1814-1820. He was  Chief  Magistrate,  Chief  Judge of the Court of Requests  (Later Court of Small Causes)  and Superintendent of Police. His Police force retained the old posts of Jamedar,  Darogah,  Daffadar and Peons.          He was one of successful Police Chief of Madras  whose tenure was spoken in high esteem by the people of Madras for many years after he demitted office.  He...

Wallajah Gate, Fort  St . George. This is one of the seven gates of the  Fort on the South West side of the  Fort. After the completion of the Fort in 1780s it should have been given the name since it led to the Chepauk palace of Nabob Mohd.Ali Wallajah  constructed in 1768. Since the Nawab was an important ally of the British they must have honoured him by giving his name.  Any important dignity visiting the  Fort like the Governor or Commander in Chief to take charge of their position used to be honoured by the troops by forming a street from North gate to Wallajah gate.      It happened when Sir George  Hilaro Barlow anchored on the Madras Roads in his ship ' Sceptre' on 24th December 1807. He landed at half past  five O'  clock at the watering face of North Gate where he was received by the outgoing  Governor Bentick, Commander in Chief, Chief Secretary and principal inhabitants of the settlement with a nineteen gu...

The  erection of the  Statue of  Queen Victoria at Chepauk and it's opening :         In February 1887 the  Sheriff of Madras announced that Rajah  Goday Narayan Gajapati Rao of Vizagapatnam has offered to install a statue of  Queen  Victoria as part her Jubilee celebration.  The  statue was made in London by  Mr.Boebin under the watchful eyes of Duke of Buckingham former Governor of  Madras. The  Queen is sculpted as sitting on a high back Chair with a sceptre on her right hand. It was opened on 20th June 1887 by Connemara Governor of Madras. An account of the arrangements made on the  opening day of the statue           "The ground in front of the statue was covered with  Carpet and Red cloth and the  Chepauk compound was gaily decorated. An arch was erected at the west gate of the  Chepauk grounds and another stood close to the small bridge that spans the...

Armenian  Church  1712       Before the  church was constructed in 1712 the  Armenians  of Madras performed their divine service at a place  made of Timber in the  Esplanade north  of Fort  St . George.       The  place was allotted by East India  Company who also paid 50 pounds annually for the priest  by a treaty with the Armenian nation dated 22nd June  1688       The  present church was built by the Armenians with  their own funds in 1712.        In 1833 the  East  India  Company  paid an amount of Rs 5000 from the  Lottery  funds by which the church was renovated and the verandah on the  East 148 feet by 10 feet was constructed.        The  present cemetery was constructed in 1862 by the Government and given to the community.         The  Armenian...

      European and Native holidays in Madras Presidency in the year 1832. See the beautiful spellings.  What festival is  Calatapetta Wooroovady. It is Kaladipet Uriyadi celebrated in Kalyana Varadaraja  Perumal Temple,  Kaladipet. St. Thome feast  is Rathostavam of Mylapore Kapali Temple.

The establishment of Madras Museum  1851      The Madras Museum was established in the  year 1851 by a notification dated 14th August 1851 by  H.C . Montgomerry Chief Secretary to Government.        Intially it was established in the  first  floor  premises of the  College of Fort St . George  by exhibiting the collections available with  Madras  Literary Society.       It was shifted to  Pantheon on Pantheon  Road in 1854. Edward Balfour was the officer  in Charge  and Rengaswamy Moodelliar was the  first  Curator.       Both the  Europeans and Natives of the  Presidency  were asked to contribute to the  Museum and Communications and Parcels addressed to the Officer in charge of the Museum containing specimens were free of postage.     The  Museum was proposed to be shifted to a 48000 Sq feet spac...

Opening of first Railway line in Madras       The  first railway line in Madras presidency was opened on 1st July 1856 from  Madras(Royapooram) to  Arcot a distance of 65 miles by Lord Harris Governor of Madras. Before that the Royapooram station was opened on 28th June by the  Governor. Some important  trivia.     The  stations en route to Arcot     1. Madras     2. Perambore     3. Avady     4. Tinnanore     5. Trivellore     6. Chinnamapet     7. Companypet     8. Sholingur     9. Arcot     The Agent and Manager of the  line was Major  T.A.Jenkins. The Chief Clerk at Royapooram  station was R.Allen Esq.      The  charges for the journey to  Arcot was  First  Class  6Rs.  1A  5P   Second Class  3Rs. 0A 9P   Third  Class  ...

First  Demonisation When the Indian  Rupee was introduced         In the  year 1818 the  East India  Company government abolished the  then existing  Star Pagodas, Fanams and Cash and introduced Indian  Rupee.  A proclamation by D.Hill,  Secretary to  Government,   Public  Department, Fort  St . George  dated 7th January 1818

A breakfast meeting with Sir William  Wedderburn ( sitting in middle ) at D'Engelis' Hotel in 1911. Sir Wedderburn (1838-1918 )was a Scottish    who joined Indian Civil Service in 1860. He worked in various  position and ultimately retired as Chief Secretary in Bombay  Province.  He was a  sympathiser of Indians and wanted to  involve them more in Local administration. This was not liked by the bosses in London.  He along with  Allan Octavian Hume was the  founder of Indian National Congress and presided over their sessions in 1889 and 1910. He was a supporter of  Montague -Chelmsford reforms of  1918. One of the many Englishmen who supported Indian cause.       The  person who gave breakfast to him Natesan, is he Dr.Natesan of Justice  Party?

A mention  about the first light house of Madras erected in the year 1796 in Almanac of 1813. The  light house was erected above the Fort exchange  building  helped the ships on Madras roads to reach the shore safely. About 90 feet high  it had a visibility of  17 miles from the shore. Pic:  The  Hindu

This was the  position of accommodation  available for a visitor  to Madras in 1850s as given in a travel book.  Madras Club it seems was meant for  bachelor's in the   intial years.     "   As soon as landed strangers are surrounded  by a tribe of most importunate native  servants  of all kinds who keep up a distracting  hubbub of broken  English to which it is  pitiable thing to listen. Servants who speak English may be hired for 10 rs a month - palankeen bearers 6 rs a month - per man.       The  best thing of course to be done if no friends come to meet one is to get into a palankeen  and be carried to the Club if a bachelor or if travelling with ladies  to some friend's house. There are indeed Hotels which  may be repaired to as a dernier resort. These are Valu Mudeliars  Family  Hotel,  Myrtle  Grove  House  near the Club which is tolera...

ARMAGON (aka)  Durgarajupatnam         This place around  40 miles  north  of  Pulicat  was the  first place in which  the English  established  their  factory in 1625 before  establishment of  Fort St . George  This  village was originally  inhabited  by salt manufacturers. The native legend  goes  like this.  In the  time of Guruva Naidu  a native  chieftain in early  17th century  the English  arrived here to  build a Fort for  themselves.  The Accountant  of Guruva Naidu  was  Patnaswamulu  Armogam Mudalier.  The  English  brought  a Cannon fired a shot  towards  the  west and asked for  as much land as was included in the  space  the shot traversed . The  land belonged  to  Venkatagiri  Raja who  was induced  by Guruv...

Do you  know that  a Harbour  pier was proposed to Lord Edward  Clive in 1798 itself before the first  Screw Pile Pier foundation was laid 60 years later  in September  1859 by Charles Travelyan.      In 1798 Captain Lennon of East India Company proposed a harbour  pier for  Madras to the  Governor.  His proposal  consisted of  a single pier 450 yards  away  from  the  shore. It would be a masonry structure  36 feet  thick at the  base and 30 feet at the top having double parapets. The  sand was to be removed by mechanical scoops for 3 feet depth, sink caissons 20 feet by 12 feet fill them with masonry the spaces in between covered with brickwork. Provision was made for Cranes, boat stairs , a battery of 15 guns at the  pier head and for delivery of water through pipe. At that time itself it was suggested sand would accumulate on the south side of pier ( wh...

A description of the Black Town, Madras and the  Devadasis of Temples  in 1748 AD in  London  Magazine        In the  Black Town the streets are much more numerous and more spacious than those of the  White  Town, with this  further advantage that some of them are planted with  trees; but the houses are not near so good. Some few of them are built with brick but the rest are wretched cottages  with walls of clay and thatched with  Palmetta leaves.  According to the East India manner  they have no windows on the  outside but are all built around a courtyard from whence only they have Light,  and none of them have any furniture within, but the  Mats and Carpets the people lie on  with a few utensils.  This they need not give themselves much trouble about for a stranger seldom comes any farther than the Door before which is erected a little shade supported by pillars  (Thi...

Birth of Royapooram fishing village     Consequent to the shifting of Custom House  and Master  Attendant office to Black Town beyond  esplanade the  Boatman of Chepauk mostly belonging  to  Christian community petitioned to  EIC for transfer of their village to a more convenient place. They were staying in Nabobs  Garden  (Chepauk ) occupying an area of 45 acres. The  Chief Engineer proposed to allot them 60 acres north of  Black Town.  The  land allotted was 300 yards north of the northern  ramparts of Black Town wall. They were also compensated for evacuating their huts in Chepauk and for building new ones in the  new village.  The  new village was occupied on 5th December 1800 and the  boatmen found it depressing with two burning and burying grounds and a place where the condemned persons of Court of Admiralty were hung. The  burying grounds were later shifted to a conveni...

Altogether different unseen  views of Ameer Bagh Mount Road.      Built in 1798 Amir Bagh ( Garden of Nobles)  was one of the many palaces of Nawab of Arcot in the Great choultry Plain.  It was one of stately private  buildings in Madras. It was behind IOB headquarters  and was agog with dance and music during 19th century since it was given to Governors of EIC  for entertainment. It's 40 feet high portico with 12 pillars was built  specifically  for the Nawabs elephant to go through. It had a splendid ballroom  and wooden balcony. It was later Sadr Adalat and was occupied by Elphinstone Hotel and later by Spencer  Hotel.   The Commander in Chief of East India Company had his headquarters in early 19th century on the  choultry plains.  The  Begum of the  last titular Nawab had her  residence here.  It was demolished in  1980s.

Ellis Island immigration building.  A gateway to millions of  immigrants from Europe from 1892 to 1954. The immigrants of Europe who went in search of the  promised land had to alight here before they were checked, documented and allowed to enter the United States. The  original building was constructed in 1892 a wooden structure which was destroyed by fire  in 1897. The  old building in the  picture was then constructed and inaugurated in 1900. During the period from 1892 to 1954 when it was closed close to 12 million people entered USA through this gateway.  Surprised why Indians did not utilise the opportunity to emigrate to the  promised land. Photo courtesy : Kiran Mani

      Jama Masjid one of the biggest masjids in the  subcontinent. Built by Shahjahan during the years 1644-1656 and inaugurated in 1656 by an Imam from Bukhara  in present day Uzbekistan. His descendents are the hereditary imams of the masjid. The  masjid built of red sandstone and marble was designed and  constructed by expert artisans from middle east  Asian countries.  It is said that Shahjahan used to enter through the Eastern gate facing Red Fort for his prayers with his nobles. The  masjid is 130 feet by 89 feet and the two minarets are 135 feet tall built at a total cost of 1 million rupees.  The exquisitely carved ornamental door is a delight to see. Visited the masjid during auspicious Ramzan month evening with devout Muslims waiting to break Roza (fast) in family groups with plate full of delightful dishes.  It was an opportunity one could not miss to see. The  sad part is that the approach road to th...

         St.Ritas Chapel, Santhome.  This church is situated on Santhome High Road inside the campus of Santhome Higher Secondary School.  This nearly 300 year old Church 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 S...

     This is from the collection of photographs taken during the visit of Madras Presidency by Prince of Wales ( later King Edward  VII)143 years  ago in 1875.  It is the  Ther festival of Kokilambal  udanurai Thirukameswarer temple at  Villianur in Pondicherry.  The Ther  then and now at same spot.

     A so far unseen photograph of Mylapore temple.  Going  by the period car outside the temple the photograph should be 1940s. It seems the  side gate was not there at that time

      Prince of Wales Albert  Edward  ( later  King Edward VII ) with his wife Princess Alexandria of Denmark on their marriage in March 1863. He  visited India  in 1875-76  and Madras was part of his itinerary.  He came by train and alighted  at Perambur station.  A first hand account of the reception given to him.     " The reception of the Prince at Perumpore a station some three miles landward of Madras was of course gorgeous.  The  Duke of  Buckingham in political  uniform of Blue and Gold was there  surrounded by his suite. There was a large assemblage of native princes and functionaries including the Chiefs of Travancore,  Cochin, Arcot and Vizianagaram. The  Prince was escorted to a carriage over which was reared an umbrella covered with gold the magnificence of which would make the renowned one from Ashantee pale into utter insignificance.  The  procession pass...

     A colour photograph of  NSC bose road junction in mid sixties. The  Kuralagam building which was constructed in 1967 is still to come.  Savaran Pakku  Thool advt and Hero cycle advt can be seen.  Two constables in their  half trousers and striped old model  cap seen crossing the road in their trademark cycle companion.

Tirupathi  Sannidhi Street  in 1950s with the thousand pillar mandapam on the  left.         The  East India Company handed over the  administration of the temple of  Tirupathi along with auxiliary  temples of  Sri Govindaraja,  Sri Kodandarama, Sri Kapileswara  in Tirupathi along  with Sri Padmavathi  temple in Tiruchanur in September 1843 to Mahant  Sri Sevadasa of Sri Hathiramji  Mutt designated as Administrator of Temple   by agreement dated 21st April  1843 to carry the management  through  successor  disciples. The  Mahant  was a Gowda  Brahmin  from  Bengal a follower of Vishnu  and in no way concerned in the distinctions of Tengala and Vadagala. The  Mahant was deeply  interested in the worship of the temple  and was respected by the community in general.  The  temple was under the administration of th...

      The  Prince of Wales later King  Edward  VII toured the subcontinent during 1875-1876. His tour included a visit to Madras during which he laid the foundation of Madras Harbour  works on 15th December 1875. In 1875 Edward was hardly a man of 34 years was not in the  good books of Queen  Victoria in view of his habits.  He was sent to the subcontinent to  improve his stature and to become a model monarch. Victoria had also her own ambition to become the Empress of India which she did two years later. The  tour of the Prince  was meant to improve diplomatic relations with the sub continent and various  Kings, Maharajahs and Nabobs to make way for Victorias ambition.  He was given a grand reception at  Madras Club,  Mount  Road  which was attended by the  who's who of Madras. He could ultimately become King in 1901 at the  ripe age of  60.

       Ponnambala Vaddiyar  Street  abetting  the  eastern  tower of Kapaliswar  Temple  around 1915. Ponnambala Vaddiyar was the dharmakartha of the  temple in early  18th century along with Kannakasabai  Pandaram. He was not from the Tuluva Vellala community which dominated the dharmakarthaship.  The street  must  have been named in honour of him . The street is full of coconut trees. It must have been Brahmotsava time since pandal is there on Sannadhi street. The  row of shops abetting the compound wall selling flowers and other items  were established in 1950s

     The  8th century  Parthasarathy Temple around 1900 AD. The  four pillared mandapam is Vijayanagar  era one with  stone rings on the  four corners. The  32 pillared  mandapam at the back was constructed during the period 1851-55 by Mannivakkam  Somasundara  Mudaliar who was also in the  Pachaippas Trust  board. Mudaliar  and his wife are sculpted in one of the pillars of the mandapam.  Thirumadhil  (compound wall) of the  temple was constructed around 1564 AD during the reign of  Sadasiva Raya of Vijayanagar  dynasty  by one Narasingha Dasan when major expansions were carried out in the  temple. Pic  Deltufo  & Co

      Mylapore of bygone era. This so far  unseen   photograph must have been taken around 1910 when the steps of the tank were yet to be constructed.  The view should be from North Mada  Street perhaps from  NAC showroom towards South Mada street. The  building on the  opposite side must be bommai chathiram.    Lush green trees . It should  have been a cooler place then to live.

     First line Beach with the Bentick Buildings and Cenotaph Cupola outside  it. The Arbuthnott building and GPO towers(1884)can be seen in the far end. The picture must have been taken around 1900s since the tram lines are already in position.         The First Line Beach  was developed in early 1800s  when the sea customs was shifted out of Fort St George by the  Governor  and the Supreme court was established in Bentick building in the  around 1817.  Other Commercial establishments followed suit and there was a row of buildings two to three storeyed èxtending from Parry House  to Clive Battery  in the North. For  a Englishman landing for the first time in Madras it would have been a pleasant sight from the Sea to watch  these row of beautiful buildings with the towers of Temple, Mosque and Churches of Black Town in the background. In the  second half of the 19th century the Madras ...