The Velachery walk

Up at 5, but that is typical walk behaviour. Out at 6. And at the venue 10 minutes ahead of schedule. There is Padmapriya Baskaran, the person who is going to lead the walk, waving at us. We go towards her.
The crowd slowly builds as time goes by, and by the time we are ready to move at least 60 people are ready and waiting. We are off. Though we have assembled at the Dandheeswarar temple, it is to be our final stop. This is a temples walk.

The group slowly assembles, a large one, even though it had rained the previous day.

As it is such a large group, Padmapriya is constantly afraid that some of us may overflow onto the road and block traffic and it does happen at times. However, in the end, we get to our first stop, Brahmin street. Here, she talks about how Hari-Hara-Haram (the houses flanking the Shiva and Vishnu temples in a village), with usage, have evolved into agraharam. The Nattar street does not refer to Nadars, but to those who were administrators. Velachery was a Chathurvedimangalam, but that does not mean that it was only occupied by Brahmins and scholars. A village needs every community to survive. Interestingly, there is a 'Telugu Brahmin street; where the Telugu Brahmins lived, as this was a border area between Tamil and Telugu territory.
The first stop we came to was the Vasudeva Perumal temple. The bronze idol from the Pallava time has been moved to a separate temple, and the original, the only temple in Velachery that is a Chola remnant, is a ruin, with a tree merged with it. This had been noted(the ruins) in 1957, but Padmapriya notes that no move has been made after that. (Luckily, or unluckily, who knows?)
As i looked over the sides of the temple, I noticed that there were words, faint, but visible. Inscriptions. I called a few others and showed them. Apparently these haven't been read before!
This temple is believed to be from the Medieval Chola period.

A front view

Location: Vasudeva Perumal  This is just a rough location as neither show up on google.

An agraharam house pointed out to us on the way.One of the few houses from around a 100 years ago.

Our second stop was the Yoga Narasimha temple, where Prahalada is supposed to have seen Narasimha (received Darshan). The temple has been completely modernised, and the only trace of its past is in the inscription stones fused with cement to make the benches.

In the centre, the old pillars can be vaguely made out

She pointed out to us, the word "Chandradittavarai" which means, "as long as the sun and the moon are in the sky.

Location: Yoga Narasimhar

The next stop is a Saptamatrika temple, known as the Selliamman temple, where, though it has been renovated, the inscriptions have been saved and placed against a wall. They are from the time of Paranthaka Chola. However, Padmapriya mentioned, they are missing the phrase, Madurai Konda so they may be his grandsons, Uttama Chola's, son of  Gandaraditya, the younger brother of Rajaditya who died in the Thakkolam war, cousin to Rajaraja.

The inscription stones, now kept carefully to the side.

Location: Selliamman temple

From here we went to the back gate of the IIT campus, where she talked about the temples to be found in IIT. One of them is Jalakanteswara. This is a lingam, found in the campus while digging for construction, and from the Vijaynagar era.
The other is an Amman temple. This is one of the Ellaiamman deities of the village of Tharamani. It was believed that those who were ill were supposed to visit various temples (now) in South Chennai, including this one. The reason for the gate being named Appala Kulam was also explained. The name is actually derived from the fact that a saint, Appaya Deekshitar, had worshipped at the Jalakanteswara temple.

Location: IIT back gate

The next stop was the Jeeva Samadhi of the Chidambaram Swamy. It is quite an interesting story that was narrated to us.
Roughly 200 years ago, a man from South India went around visiting various ancient temples. He reached Velachery one fine day, and saw the Dandeeswaram temple in ruins. An old woman asked him to renovate it, and he took it as a sign from God. However, no one was willing to help him, until they saw a miracle. A cobra came out of the temple, and, as the Swamy slept, covered his face from the sun with its hood. Then they all realised he was a great man and helped him renovate the temple. He is supposed to have paid the workers in Veebudhi, and that converted itself into money.
Finally, when the work was over, he began to leave but the cobra stopped him. So he stayed on.
At a later date, the nawab residing in Madras(maybe the Arcot nawab), fell ill and came to him. As he was cured, he gave him 10 acres of land. (That land is now in the IIT campus). He is supposed to have foreseen his own death in 1858, and died, being buried there. Two of his disciples are buried there, two in Mylapore.

Location: Chidambara Swamy Jeeva Samadhi

The next and final stop was the Dandeeswaram temple.
The legend goes that, Shiva having saved Markandeya from Yama, takes away Yamas powers in his staff from him. As Yama worshipped Shiva here, and regained the power to take lives here, it is called Dandeeswaram. This is also supposed to be the place where the Vedas purified themselves after being retrieved, so the village was called Vedasreni.
The inscriptions here are from the time of Paranthaka I, which provides antiquity. However, a few of the inscriptions have been sandblasted. There are supposed to be 11 inscriptions here, from the time of Paranthaka I(907-955 CE) to the time of Kopperunjingan(1216-1242 CE).However, the temple is very strict about photography inside, so I was not able to take any, except one from the 19th century, after the renovation by the Chidambaram Swamy.

The Gopuram opposite which we assembled.

A 19th century inscription outside, which meant I could take a picture of it.

The temple tank.

Location: Dhandeeswarar temple

Having seen all these sites, with so much history(as well as those with history vandalised and lost) we all went home, though some went on the next Madras day event, as is usually the case in that month.

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!

Broadway: A broad walk for a narrow road.

The road Broadway in our Madras's George Town draws its origins from the 18th century, when it divided George Town into Mudialpet and Pedanayakkanpet, both with their own caste, class and ethnicity. At one point it was one of the city's biggest, most happening roads, with a theatre, several publishing houses and religious institutions,  but now is a bustling part of the city's commercial old town.
Mythreyi Krishnaswamy and I, accompanied by Kannan Palani traced most of the length of Broadway, as part of a project to document the churches of the city.
After visiting the Anderson church, the three of us walked down to the entrance of Broadway. The sharp turning off NSC Bose road makes for careful crossing, but once you manage it, you now have further obstacles to avoid.
Broadway is known today as Prakasam road, after a leader and erstwhile Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency from the Congress Party, T Prakasam, later first Chief Minister of Andhra.

an old building, now sublet. On the left just after the beginning of Broadway

Our first stop was the St Thomas Orthodox church. 

After passing a slum on the corner of Broadway and Audiappa Naiakken street, we came to the church.  A spectacular building of the late 19th century, but the caretaker told us the priest comes there very infrequently, only on Sunday mornings. 

(At first she asked if we were Malayali, and when we said no, told us to go pray at some other chapel, but when we told her our interest was history and heritage, she gave us the above piece of news.)

We went from here to the Tucker church

According to a plaque inside the church, the Tucker church was started by the Reverend John Tucker, who was "Fifteen years Secretary of the Madras Corresponding Committee, of the Church Missionary Society and Minister of this Chapel". He died in England in 1873, at the age of 81.
The structure of the building is quite modest, and contains an old organ, one of the few Madras churches to do so. Lots of plaques mention members of the church who have died. Not sure if any of these are vaults, but are definitely for remembrance of the departed one.

The organ 

The font

Before arriving at the Tucker church, we came across a series of old buildings:

After this, we went to the Wesley churches, Tamil and English

But first, we crossed the road, and had a look at the Centenary hall.

This is a hall built to commemorate 100 years of the Tucker church, which once was used by the church for meetings, gatherings and functions, Now it serves as a storehouse for goods of a local caretaker. The brickwork and the plastering is peeling, and a cow is tied, seemingly permanently to the window on the road. 

The inside of the hall

Next to the Hall is the Minerva press, now defunct

Sign on top proclaims the history of this building

From here we went to the Arcot church, which was closed that day. (will be edited when we visit)

Christmas decorations were still up at most churches which we visited, like the ones seen above, as it was between Christmas and New Years'.

Wesley Churches

The Tamil

In 1861, the Wesley church started a new division, for preaching and prayer in Tamil. This church has plaques smattered liberally, commemorating Silver, Gold, Diamond jubilees and whatnot, along with a couple of memorial tablets on the walls. A very simple church, the caretakers let us in, and let us look around. The Tamil church is a little off Broadway, on Thatha Muthiappan street. 

The English

When we came into the churches compound, we wondered at the size of it. At the same time we wondered how we were to go in. As we went around a side, we saw a door slightly open, so peeked in. Unfortunately, no one was there. We turned and sadly went away. Luckily, there was a garden on the other side, where the caretaker was sitting. We called out to him from the main road, and got him to open it for us. 

Built in 1844(strangely the signboard says 1822 and 44), this church was built for the Wesleyan Methodists of the city. The church is a unique one, built on two levels. The ground floor is like a basement, with plaques and two adjoining rooms. The upstairs has the seating area, and the dias. 

A few buildings we saw on the way were a Jewish jewellery and  ruby merchant's store, and a building with J.O.Y 'Venlak' on its front. The ex-jewellery store has a plaque on top that calls it Shadulia palace. Any leads on that anyone?

Venlak's house:

Next we went to the St Francis Xavier church, named after the famous Portugese convertor of India, Francis Xavier, who was one of the most foremost of the Saints who took Christianity to the East. 

This church is from the 1700's, but renovated in the early 1900's. The church has some relics, and also hosts a school within its campus. Again, this church is just off Broadway on St Xavier street. 

From here, we detoured from Broadway to the Protugese church, which deserves a rant to itself.

From here we came back to a road parallel to Broadway, Pedariar street, where we went to the st Marks church. Established in 1805, this 213 year old church has within its complex numerous tablets. The structure is mostly the same, but with a little renovation here and there. 

This brought us to the end of Broadway.

The end of Broadway actually houses a women's college, and a PWD campus, which is one of the city's oldest jails, a debtors jail at a point, now of course no longer in use, which I visited at another point of time, so will publish that later. 

 From here we went to the St Mary's church in the Fort. But that is for another write-up.