Chennai turns 370 tomorrow

R Satyanarayana

Chennai, Aug 21 (PTI) From a tiny fishing hamlet to a
bustling metropolis with major automobile units, a thriving IT
industry and pride of place as the cultural capital of South
India, its been a long and eventful journey for Chennai,
erstwhile Madras, which turns 370 on Saturday.

A grand week-long birthday bash has been drawn up to mark
'Madras day' celebrations including cultural and literary
activities.

Heritage walks, school exchange programmes, talks and
contests, poetry and Carnatic music and quiz, food festivals
and rallies, photo exhibitions and bike tours will give the
true blue Chennaites glimpses of the city they never knew and
of some things they do.

It was on this day in 1639 that British Administrator
Francis Day got permission from the wards of Chennapa Naicker,
a chieftain ruling the fishing hamlet near Madras Harbour to
construct Madraspatam, as it was referred then by the British.
The deal was struck by Francis Day, his 'dubash' Beri
Thimmappa and their superior Andrew Cogan, with local Nayak
rulers.

The original document relating to building of Fort St.
George, a historic fort which was for a while the seat of
power of the East India Company, is said to have been signed
at Chandragiri fort in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Robert Clive, founder of British empire in India, got
married in a church inside the fort. His marriage certificate
is still the prized possession of the museum in the fort.

Unknown to many is the fact that villages around temples
like Parthasarathy in Triplicane and Kapaleeswarer temple in
Mylapore near the Southern coast and Marudheeswarer temple in
Thiruvanmiyur existed for several centuries, long before the
Europeans arrived here.

Though many city historians have brought out books on the
history of this 'grand dame' of the South, there has been no
unanimity on how the city came to be known as Madras.

The Nayaks, who sold the land to the British, apparently
wanted the city named after their father, Chennappanaikan from
which the later version of Chennapattinam and the present
version of Chennai is believed to have come about.

The first Europeans to reach the shores of Madras were
the Portuguese. They built a church in Saint Thomas Mount
enshrining the 'Bleeding Cross.'

And then they went further down to Little Mount, where
they built another small church in 1551 where St Thomas, the
disciple of Jesus Christ was hiding in a cave from his
persecutors before being martyred at St Thomas Mount.

A Portuguese map of South India dating to 1569, displayed
at the Clive Hall in Fort St George, does not mention Madras
by name, but refers to 'Milapur', the present day Mylapore,
famous for its temples.

Out of the Fort grew settlements around which villages
came about and as time went by, merged to form a single
entity. The city which became prominent carrying the name of
Madras, was renamed Chennai by the Karunanidhi government in
1997.

Chennai, with over 60 lakh population, has emerged as
one of the four major metropolises in India and stands tall
with impressive strides in education, health care, IT,
history, tourism, automobile industries and movies.

The city has also emerged as the second largest film
production centre of the country behind Mumbai, with over 45
studios.

Of late, Chennai has also emerged as the 'medical capital'
of India, with a large number of corporate hospitals coming
up.

The city can also boost of being the second largest IT hub
in the country, next to Bangalore. Ashok Leyland, Hyundai and
Ford have set up manufacturing units in and around Chennai. So
also have Nissan and German luxury marque BMW.

Present day Chennai does have its problems like drinking
water shortage and waterlogging even during brief spells of
rains, besides unscheduled power cuts. City dwellers, who are
increasingly vocal about issues, hope that the birthday
celebrations will at least see an end to their woes. PTI SNR
SDE
NNNN