Community dwellings of Triplicane

When most people say Triplicane, the image that comes to mind is usually of the Parthasarathy temple, and to those more gastronomically inclined, Ratna Cafe.

But one would never guess Triplicane to be an architect's haven, especially not in an age when old buildings are being destroyed at such a rate. This is the story of the walk led by Thirupurasundari Sevvel, and her team from Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai, on the community dwellings of TRiplicane.

At 3pm one Sunday afternoon, I got to the Neelangarai bus stop, and boarded a 109 to the marina. Daek clouds loomed menacingly on the horizon, and over the North, so I gave Sundari a call, to check on the walk. She assured it me it would happen, if the rain, currently pouring in Triplciane, dies down. 

By the time I was at Santhome, the rain got to us, and by the time my stop came, it was pouring sheets, buckets, cats and dogs! I went into the bus shelter, and gave Sundari a call again, and told her my situation. She said I should make my way to the Parthasarathy temple, if possible, where they were taking shelter, and meet them there. I said ok, and stepped out into the storm. 

By the time 

I turned into Bharathiar Salai, and ducked under a tree for shade, my clothes and pouch where I was carrying my change(luckily all in coins) had become thoroughly soaked. I could hardly open my google maps, as each time i unlocked my phone, the rain would double tap on the menu button and open up Google assistant! 

I somehow made my way to the MRTS station of Triplicane, and asked a man there taking shelter directions to the Parthasarathy. Following them, and accompanied by vigorous thunder and pounding rains, I sloshed through ankle deep water (at points) and checking with some others on the way, got the temple, where I found Sundari, the team, and a few others, waiting for the rain to subside. Sundari looked very guilty when she saw me, and asked if I needed a towel. I said no, as I was drying off pretty quickly. 

They then produced some models of houses that would be covered, and proceeded to talk about them. I will be mentioning them as we reach stop, and not here. 

The first house we visited was the Golu veedu, a private owership house, which sells Golu items. The house itself is about 150 years old.



Stop 1:
Golu Veedu

As the name suggests, the house has very strong ties to Golu and Navarathri: It sells plastic and clay idols for the festival. An old mada veedhi house, it was used by a joint family, which has now turned it towards commercial purposes.
The ground floor is one big room, with a set of side rooms locked up. The  stairs are small and narrow, and lead to a large hall upstairs, which has a passage to the back, which connects it to rooms, where the owners currently live.
The roof is completely Madras Terrace, with Teak pillars supporting it, beautifully carved, and cement flooring.
-flashback-
By the time they had finished talking about the different houses we would be visiting, the rain had more or less died down. Sundari then mentioned that according to a Devaram, Triplicane really comes to life only when the lotuses on the temple tank glisten with rain, and the smell of the ground after rain(petrichor) fills your nose. This was the first time she had experience Triplicane in rain, after 8 years of working on restoring its cultural dwellings, and doing her thesis here! The small group(which grew as we walked) followed her out of the temple, while I ran to get my sandla which I had taken off on the other side. Then ran across the temple to join them.
Fast forward to the Golu veedu.
After this, as we left the house, Sundari pointed out a vacant plot, right next to the Golu veedu. This was one of the older houses in the area, demolished just last week. She, and all of us, were very upset about it.





Stop 2: Gomti bunglow: There is a narrow 'L' shaped lane off the mada veedi of Parthasarathy kovil. This lane has about 40 odd houses, with a total of 36 families. These people are proud of their 'bungalow'(actually a set of individual units with common walls, and a common area in the middle) for a couple of reasons: firstly because the land is owned not by a local owner, or the Triplicane temple, but by the Ayodhya mutt. This means their buildings cant be knocked down on a whim, and their rent is very low. 
Secondly because this is not a typical brahmin dwelling unit on a temple mada Veedhi. It houses all communties. They share two wells, and all the land between dwelling units.
This place is about 150 years old







Final stop: Bharathiar's house:

The freedom fighter Bharathi, whose songs and poems inspired the freedom struggle. lived his last years in namma Madras. He lived in what is now a large building, with a corridor running around an open central courtyard. The walls are full of his photos, writings, and things associated with him, He died when he went to receive the blessings of an elephant in musth in the nearby Parthasarthy kovil, and no, did not succumb to his injuries, but caught an illness which killed him.

BUT

According to Thirupurasundari Sevvel, the house was not totally his!

All along the corridors are interestingly caved pillars. These pillars would have had walls built between them according to the number of tenants(an there was also a first floor like this-now houses a library-). The landlord would have built it. Bharathi rented a 7ft by 8ft corner room, where he, his wife, sister in law, children and cow all lived, ate and slept.

The open area in the centre would have been common to all, with washing of clothes, and evening chatting, taking place around it.

With that we finished a walk that had one of the most interesting openings I've ever experienced. By the end of the walk, my clothes were still slightly damp, a talk afterwards at an A/C hall was all that was left for the day!