Table Of ContentMADRAS
DISCOVERED
A
Historical Guide to Looking
Around, Supplemented with
T&les of (Once Upon a City'
itm'i
S Muthik
III
him
II
*
AND
REVISED
EXPANDED
EAST-TVESJ_0*ESS
ADYAR
MuthulakshmlReddyPark 14. LawCollege&YaleMemorial
15. Magistrate'sCourt
CHEPAUK 16. Pachaiyappa'sHall
2. ChepaukStadium(MACStadium) 17. RajaAnnamalaiHall&Museum
3. MadrasCricketClub 18. RattonBazaar
GEORGETOWN 19. St.Mor/sCo-Cathedral BAY OF BENGAL
20. Taker's Church
4. AndersonChurch
MOUNTROAD
5. ArmenianChurch
6. Bentinck'sBuilding(demolished) ConnemaraHotel
7. ChcnnaKesova-Chenno ChristChucch
MallikeswararTemple Ex-d' Angelis Hostel
8. ChinaBozoar Gandhilllam
9 Esplanade MountRoadDargah
.
10. EveningBazaar RoundTana
11 RowerBazaar UdipiSriKrishnaVilas
'2 KondaswomyTemple TheMoil
13. KachaleeswararTemple VictoryHouse
e^i
Madras
Discovered
A
Historical Guide to Looking Around,
Supplemented with Tales of 'Once Upon a City'
S Muthiah
Affiliated East-West Press Private Ltd.
New Delhi Madras Bangalore Hyderabad
AFFILIATED EAST-WEST PRESS PVT. LTD.
G-l/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002
1/1 General Patters Road, Madras 600 002
3-5-1108 Narayanaguda, Hyderabad 500 029
5 Lavelle Road, Sixth Cross, Bangalore 560 001
©1992 MUTHIAH
S
ISBN: 81 85336 97
Price: Rs. 150/-
First Published 1987
Reprinted 1990
Reprinted 1992 (incorporating stories from Tales of Old and New
Madras')
Cover photograph: GOPI
Cover design: CHINNU
No reproduction in anyform ofthis book, in whole or inpart (except
forbriefquotationsin criticalarticlesorreviews), may bemade without
written permission of the publishers.
Photoset and printed in India at TT. Maps & Publications Limited,
Madras-600 044. Published by Affiliated East-West Press Pvt. Ltd.,
62-A Ormes Road, Kilpauk, Madras 600 010.
MADRAS DISCOVERED
Contents
Page
PREFACE
vi
ILLUSTRATIONS
ix
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
1. 1
Once Upon a City: A Search for Roots 6
2. DAY'S 'NO-MAN'S-SAND' 8
Once Upon a City: The Mystery of the Woman
in the North River 12
3. TO METROPOLITAN LIMITS 16
Once Upon a City: Pushing the Map Ever Forward 21
4. THE FORT WHERE IT ALL BEGAN 24
1. Of Clive and Wellington 24
2. The bells of St Mary's 26
3. The portals of power 33
4. The Yale fortune 37
Once Upon a City: The Fort's Great Romance 40
THE MALL TO THE MOUNT 44
5.
1. The Mount Road Press 44
2. Coffee and Cinema at Round Tana 54
3. Commerce in Clubland 62
4. Trend-setting with a smile 72
5. Sahibs in Nawabland 75
Once Upon a City: The Hindu Experience 81
THE THOMAN TRADITION 100
6.
Once Upon a City: The Missing Merchantmen 104
THE ROAD SOUTH 111
7.
Once Upon a City: The Tormented Genius 115
iii
..
Page
8. A TALE OF TWO ISLANDS 122
Once Upon a City: Down by the Riverside 129
9. MAGNIFICENT MARINA 132
1. Building for education 132
2. When the icemen cometh 139
3. The majesty of Chepauk 144
Once Upon a City: Chepauk's Lovely Cricket 150
THE TOWN OF THOMAS
10. 157
Once Upon a City: A Little Bit of France 164
11. OF PEACOCKS AND LILIES 171
Once Upon a City: The Universal Scientist
and the Magical Genius 183
12. THE RETREATS OF THEOSOPHY 190
1. Sanctuary and serenity 190
A
2. library and beyond 194
Once Upon a City: A Rebel's Legacy,
"A Cultural Empire" 199
13. WHERE THE DEER AND THE BLACK BUCK PLAY 204
Once Upon a City: Printing Comes to India 210
14. BHAVANS OF THE RAJ 215
Once Upon a City: The Dalliance of Miss Mansell 220
THE ROAD NORTH
15. 225
1 The pillars of commerce 225
2. The towers of justice 229
A
3. challenge in the face of nature 236
4. Betwixt city and surf 240
Once Upon a City: Merchant Princes at North Beach 248
16. THE CITY WITHIN 258
1 Minting wealth 258
2. Bazaars and Broadways 261
A
3. tax for a wall 267
4. Amenities for the people 269
5. The City within today 276
6. Temples in 'Thimmappa-Town' 278
Once Upon a City: An English Failure, An Indian Success 286
IV
Page
THE ROAD TO POONAMALLEE
17. 291
1. The civic tradition 291
2. Spreading knowledge 297
Once Upon a City: The Splendour that
Still is Indo-Saracenic 304
18. IN THE CURVES OF THE COOUM 308
1. Pantheonic splendour 308
2. Keeping the record straight 312
3. Villages for weaving 314
Once Upon a City: A Winter's Tale 317
19. THE GREAT CHOULTRY PLAIN 323
1. Shrines of all faiths 323
2. Repositories of learning 330
Once Upon a City: The Tamil Dream-Makers 338
20. THE GRACIOUS CITY 347
Once Upon a City: The Changing City 348
POSTSCRIPT 351
APPENDIX 353
A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF MADRAS 354
BIBLIOGRAPHY 359
INDEX 360
MADRAS DISCOVERED
Preface
(to the Third Edition)
In the sixyears sincetne secondedition ofMadrasDiscovered, I'veread
Love very much more carefully, there has been 'discovery' of several old
classics about thecityand I'vesadly watched several ofthecity's landmarks
vanish, eveniftheyencourageda further search fortheir antecedents. There
also occurred a significant anniversary, the city's 350th birthday.
Regrettably, it wasnot celebratedonthesamescaleas Calcuttacelebrated
its 300th anniversary about the same time. But there was more interest
shown in the city than in the last forty years and this manifested itself in
several others writing about it. To all of them, too many to single out
individually, I'm indebted for more information about Madras.
But even if all this had not necessitated a considerably revised and
enlarged third edition, there was one serendipitious happening that just
had to be included. And that was discovery, purely by chance, that the
Thirnmappa connection still remains in the city and that his descendants
still call Madras 'home'. Todiscoverthatthe familyofoneofthe founders
is still going strong in the city is a happy fact that needed to be recorded.
All the rest that's expanded this edition substantially pales beside the
discovery that Alavandar Naidu and others ofthe Thirnmappa family are
very much a part of today's Madras scene. They are, indeed, the 'First
Family of Madras'.
Ifand when thereis a fourth editionofMadrasDiscovered, I hopethere
will be additional information about other early families, Indian as well
as British; perhaps I might even find a Madra or a Day or a Cogan
somewhere. I appeal once more, as in years past, not only for such
information but for more about Madras the City, how it began and grew.
Becausethereis suchinformation somewhereoutthere,MadrasDiscovered
remains not the last word on this city.
MUTHIAH
S.
Madras
December 1992
vi
