தர்மம் மிகு சென்னை........

[swathi25]

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[h=1]கத்தி பாரா முதல் கோடோ பாக் வரை (மெட்ராஸ் நல்ல மெட்ராஸ் - 12)[/h]
-தமிழ் மகன்


ஓர் இடம் தொன்மையானது என்பது அதன் காரணப் பெயரால் அறியப்படும். பள்ளத்தூர், குன்றத்தூர், குளத்தூர், மேட்டூர், பனையூர், ஆத்தூர், நெல்லூர் போன்ற சிற்றூர்கள் முதல் திருச்சிராப்பள்ளி, தஞ்சாவூர், மதுரை, கோயம்புத்தூர், திருநெல்வேலி, காஞ்சி போன்ற பல பேரூர்களுக்கும் அத்தகைய பெயர்க் காரணங்கள் உண்டு. பிற்கால சோழர்கள் காலந்தொட்டு அரசர்கள் பெயரை ஊர்களுக்கு வைக்கும் வழக்கம் ஏற்பட்டது என்கிறார்கள் ஆய்வாளர்கள். சுந்தர சோழபுரம், ராஜராஜேச்வரம், கங்கைகொண்ட சோழபுரம் என பெயர்கள் வைத்ததாகச் சொல்வார்கள்.

பிரிட்டீஷார் காலத்தில் சில ஊர்கள் சிதைந்தன. திருவல்லிக்கேணி ட்ரிப்ளிகேன் ஆனது, தஞ்சாவூர் டேன்சூர், திருச்சிராப்பள்ளி ட்ரிச்சி என பிரயோகிப்படுவது நாகரிகமாகிவிட்டது.

வந்தவாசியில் கவிஞர் அ.வெண்ணிலா ஒரு கூட்டத்துக்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்தார். வந்தவாசி என்றால் என்ன என்று கேட்டேன். அவர் சொன்ன காரணம் வித்தியாசமானது.

வெள்ளையர் ஆட்சிக் காலத்தின்போது, ஒரு வெள்ளைக்காரர் அந்த ஊரின் பக்கம் வந்தார். அவருக்கு ஊரின் பெயரை தெரிந்துகொள்ள வேண்டும் என்று ஆசை. அங்கே குளத்தில் நின்றபடி மாட்டு வண்டியைக் கழுவிக்கொண்டிருந்தவரிடம் 'ஊரின் பெயர் என்ன?' என ஆங்கிலத்தில் கேட்டார்.

நீ என்ன செய்கிறாய் என்று கேட்டதாக அர்த்தம் பண்ணிக்கொண்டு, 'வண்டி வாஷ்' என்றாராம் அரைகுறை ஆங்கிலத்தில். ஆங்கிலேயரும் ஊரின் பெயரை வண்டிவாஷ் என்று குறித்துக்கொண்டு போனாராம். அதுதான் வந்தவாசி என்று ஆனதாம்.

மேலும் படிக்க https://www.vikatan.com/news/writer/46048.html

Courtesy: Vikatan

 

[swathi25]

Kathipara: Growth of a Chennai Junction



Chennai's Kathipara Junction, sometimes also called the 'Guindy Flyover', is the largest cloverleaf flyover in Asia. It connects NH 45, Inner Ring Road, Anna Salai and Mount-Poonamallee Road. Incidentally, it is also the starting point of NH 45 - the 'Grand Southern Trunk Road' connecting Chennai and Trichy.

In 2005, it was decided to develop the junction, which originally featured a round-about with a statue of Pandit Nehru in the center. This is was due to its other important feature - 30-minute long traffic jams. The idea was to build a grade-separator - a flyover with two levels, allowing all four sides to cross one another without any signals.

Originally expected to be completed by 2007, the flyover was finally inaugurated in October 2008 by CM Karunanidhi. However the flyover had another tryst with destiny. Back in 2005, there was also the idea of a Metro rail across Chennai. And that too was supposed to cross Kathipara, on its way to the airport.

On June 29, 2015, after much delay, the first phase of that Metro project, with its dual rail-lines towering over the two-storey flyover (making quite a giddy impression on those who look at it for the first time) will be officially opened by CM Jayalalithaa, via video conferencing. Incidentally, the destiny of the Nehru statue is still under some cloud. It was supposed to be re-installed underneath the flyover after landscaping.

After ten years, the Kathipara Junction can finally be said to be 'ready'. Using Google Maps and the 'Historical Plugin', we can go back in time, and through these six satellite snapshots have a look at the growth of this Chennai junction. The images show the junction as it originally was, the building of the cloverleaf flyover and then the construction of the two Metro lines, one after the other.

Read more at: http://www.sify.com/news/kathipara-...on-imagegallery-0-features-pg3i45abbjfbi.html

 

[swathi25]

Photos: The changing face of Chennai captured from 10,000 feet in the sky


An exhibition of aerial photographs of Chennai provides a commentary on the city, its history and its pollution levels.

“In 1871 Madras had plenty of room for expansion within the limits of the municipal boundaries, and large areas of what was technically the 'town of Madras' must have presented an entirely rural appearance. In the possession of these extensive and largely undeveloped tracts Madras has enjoyed a great advantage over other Indian cities such as Calcutta or Bombay (especially Bombay) where the obstacles to lateral extension have forced a vertical rather than horizontal development. Until comparatively recently, Madras could be accurately described as a one-storied city, and if its immense distances created transport problems, they at least delivered the city from 'sky-scaling' tendencies and the huddled dreariness of the Bombay 'chawl'.” - C.W. Ranson, 1938
On June 29, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa inaugurated via video conference the first phase of the Chennai Metro, a modern manifestation of the city's four century-old tryst with “immense distances”. Commuters can now cover the 10-km distance from Alandur to Koyambedu at a cost of Rs 40, among the steepest Metro fares in the country.

While the “sky-scaling” tendencies of Mumbai have not (yet) found equivalent expression in the urban form of Chennai, they have a hopeful future in the economics of public transport. The “huddled dreariness of the Bombay chawl” may yet find its place in south India after all – in the daily commute of the lower middle class, whose financial status does not allow the luxury of paying Rs 4 per kilometre.

Madras Transit is an urban portrait collection featuring 25 colour photographs from 10,000 ft above sea level. Accompanying each image is a record of air pollution levels on the corresponding day, as measured by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

..........................................

Madras Club​

Read more at: https://scroll.in/roving/746923/pho...f-chennai-captured-from-10000-feet-in-the-sky

Courtesy: scroll.in

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]A blast from good old namma ooru[/h][h=1]By Roshne B[/h]In a talk as part of Madras Week celebrations, historian V Sriram takes us on an exciting journey through ancient streets and places of the city.There was a cluster of villages that existed before the British arrived. But lack of authentic records prevents us from appreciating these localities

CHENNAI: The street names in our city have always been one of the main reasons to muse about our culture, heritage and in some instances our sense of humour. Most streets, which were earlier named after colonial masters, have now been renamed after Tamil scholars, and sometimes the nature of the locality that it once was. In a talk about streets of Madras, historian V Sriram takes us on a journey discussing some glorious street names including Beerkaran Street, Kolaikaran Pettai, Thyphoon Alikhan Street and more.
Talking about the ancient villages in the city which includes Mylapore, Velachery (known as Vedhasherni in ancient times) and Triplicane, he shares, “These are all ancient locations; references by Nyana Sambandhar in the 7th or 8th Century about the festivals that are still being celebrated in Mylapore vouch for the age of this area.”

On the villages which have no record of them existing before 16th-17th century, he classifies them as medieval villages and says, “When the British came here, they started acquiring locality for their own use. Hence, some say the place already existed, but there is no clear record of that.”
[h=1]Read more at: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cit...A-blast-from-good-old-namma-ooru-1512332.html[/h]

 

[naithru]

Oh dear swati ji, it becomes more interesting as the day unfolds. The wonderful thread.
You know in royapettah high road opp to anjaneyor temple near luz ( thanni thurai market) the appar swamy temple and munda kanni amman temple.
And we cannot forget patti and pyol and kozhukkattai (modakam) sweet and savoury in pitchu pillai st now a days it is mami's mess

 

[naithru]

கோயில் நித்திய பூஜைகள்
தினசாி நடைபெறும் நித்திய பூஜைகள் மற்றும் கோயில் நடை திறக்கும் விவரம் அறிய.

இங்கு சொடுக்கவும்
திரு தலம் அமைவிடம்
தருமமிகு சென்னை திருமயிலையில் ராயப்பேட்டை நெடுஞ்சாலையில் அருள்மிகு அப்பர் சுவாமி திருக்கோயில் அமையப் பெற்று உள்ளது.

நினைவுமண்டபம்
1855 ஆம் அண்டு ஸ்ரீ அப்பர் சுவாமிகள் நினைவாக 16 க்கால் மண்டபம் ஒன்றை அவர்களின் ஆத்ம் சீடரான திரு சிதம்பர சுவாமிகள் சிறப்பாக கட்டினார்.

குரு புஜை
1951 ஆண்டு ஆனி மாதம் பரணி நட்சத்திரத்தில் குரு புஜை கொண்டாடப்பட்டு, ஆண்டு தோரும் சிறப்பாக கொண்டாடப்படுகின்றது.

பொது கோயில்
1947 ஆம் அண்டு அரசு இந்து சமய அறநிலைய வாரியம் அருள் மிகு அப்பர் சுவாமி திருக்கோயிலை பொது கோயிலாக அறிவித்தது.

மஹா கும்பாபிஷேகம்
08-03-2017 அண்டு மாசி திங்கள் ஏகாதசி திதி, புனா்பூசம் நட்சத்திரத்தில் அஷ்ட பந்தன மஹா கும்பாபிஷேகம் வெகு சிறப்பாக நடை பெற்றது.

அம்பாள் விசாலாட்சி
04.12.2008 ஆண்டு அம்பாள் விசாலாட்சி சன்னதி புதுப்பிக்க பட்டு நூதன விசாலாட்சி சிலை அமைக்கப் பட்டு அஷ்டபந்தன கும்பாபிஷேகம் நடை பெற்றது


அருள்மிகு விசாலாட்சி அம்பாள்
மூலவர் மூர்த்திக்கு விஸ்வநாதர் என்றும் அம்பாளுக்கு விசாலாட்சி என்றும் பெயர் பெற்று அருள் பாலித்து வருகின்றார்.

அம்பாள் 5.6 அடி உயரம் கொண்டு மிகவும் அழகுடன் காட்சி தருகின்றார். 04.12.2008 ஆண்டு அம்பாள் விசாலாட்சி சன்னதி புதுப்பிக்க பட்டு அஷ்டபந்தன கும்பாபிஷேகம் நடை பெற்றது

 

[naithru]

Welcome to Arulmigu Mundagakanni Amman Temple

Temple is Administrated by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, TamilNadu Inspected area Chennai. This Amman (Sakthi)Temple is located at one of the ancient parts of chennai city i.e. mylapore, where other famous shaivaite and Vaishnavaite temples such as Sri Kapaleeswarar and Madhava Perumal Temples are also present. Believed to have an origin before 1300 years this temple has a significance towards fulfilling Vows and therefore is a famous Prarthana Temple...

Introduction:
he prime Deity is Swayambu (Not carved by man but has a natural origin). Therefore till date the main shine is having the thatched roof and housing upkeeping the old style never renovated as modern. Since the Deity is both the form and formless (having just the head only)– like a lotus – the Deity bears the name “Mundakam” which means lotus in Tamil.).

“Kottravai worship”:
He classical Tamil literature speaks of “Kottravai worship” – a cult existed during the age of “Tholkappiam” and “Silapathikaram “ This temple is also presumed to have worshiped as “Kottravai” once... The prime Deity is Swayambu (Not carved by man but has a natural origin). Therefore till date the main shine is having the thatched roof and housing upkeeping the old style never renovated as modern. Since the Deity is both the form and formless (having just the head only)– like a lotus – the Deity bears the name “Mundakam” which means lotus in Tamil.. The classical Tamil literature speaks of “Kottravai worship” – a cult existed during the age of “Tholkappiam” and “Silapathikaram “ This temple is also presumed to have worshiped as “Kottravai” once.he deity being near and dear to the female devotees, prarthanas exclusive for them is offered in this temple. Therefore all Tuesdays, Fridays and in the month of “Aadi” this temple is seen as crowded with ladies clad in yellow. Special offerings to ward off ill spells, curses, Occults and other influences of bad spirits are exclusive for this temple..

 

[naithru]

When trams on rails dominated Chennai roads

-B.Kolappan

Run by the Madras Electricity System (MES), trams on rails dominated Chennai roads back then and remained a convenient mode of transport for office-goers

They moved at a maximum speed of just 7 kmph but the trams that ran in the city for 67 years left behind many pleasant memories. Photo: The Hindu Archives
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They moved like giant snails, at their own pace. But when life itself was leisurely paced, trams in Chennai — the service came to a stop in 1953 — did not seem as if they belonged to the Jurassic age.

They travelled at a maximum speed of 7 kmph but have left behind pleasant memories of a time when every inch of city roads was not occupied by vehicles.

“I would not call the journeys thrilling. But travel in a slow-moving tram, seated by the windows, offered me excellent sightseeing opportunities. At one anna (1/16th of a rupee), they were ideal for a pleasant journey,” said writer and Sahitya Akademi winner Ashokamitran.


Read more at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/citie...ls-dominated-chennai-roads/article5056386.ece

Trams at snail speed as you say, we used to ascend and descend the moving trails, as children!

 

[tbs]

கோயில் நித்திய பூஜைகள்
தினசாி நடைபெறும் நித்திய பூஜைகள் மற்றும் கோயில் நடை திறக்கும் விவரம் அறிய.

இங்கு சொடுக்கவும்
திரு தலம் அமைவிடம்
தருமமிகு சென்னை திருமயிலையில் ராயப்பேட்டை நெடுஞ்சாலையில் அருள்மிகு அப்பர் சுவாமி திருக்கோயில் அமையப் பெற்று உள்ளது.

நினைவுமண்டபம்
1855 ஆம் அண்டு ஸ்ரீ அப்பர் சுவாமிகள் நினைவாக 16 க்கால் மண்டபம் ஒன்றை அவர்களின் ஆத்ம் சீடரான திரு சிதம்பர சுவாமிகள் சிறப்பாக கட்டினார்.

குரு புஜை
1951 ஆண்டு ஆனி மாதம் பரணி நட்சத்திரத்தில் குரு புஜை கொண்டாடப்பட்டு, ஆண்டு தோரும் சிறப்பாக கொண்டாடப்படுகின்றது.

பொது கோயில்
1947 ஆம் அண்டு அரசு இந்து சமய அறநிலைய வாரியம் அருள் மிகு அப்பர் சுவாமி திருக்கோயிலை பொது கோயிலாக அறிவித்தது.

மஹா கும்பாபிஷேகம்
08-03-2017 அண்டு மாசி திங்கள் ஏகாதசி திதி, புனா்பூசம் நட்சத்திரத்தில் அஷ்ட பந்தன மஹா கும்பாபிஷேகம் வெகு சிறப்பாக நடை பெற்றது.

அம்பாள் விசாலாட்சி
04.12.2008 ஆண்டு அம்பாள் விசாலாட்சி சன்னதி புதுப்பிக்க பட்டு நூதன விசாலாட்சி சிலை அமைக்கப் பட்டு அஷ்டபந்தன கும்பாபிஷேகம் நடை பெற்றது


அருள்மிகு விசாலாட்சி அம்பாள்
மூலவர் மூர்த்திக்கு விஸ்வநாதர் என்றும் அம்பாளுக்கு விசாலாட்சி என்றும் பெயர் பெற்று அருள் பாலித்து வருகின்றார்.

அம்பாள் 5.6 அடி உயரம் கொண்டு மிகவும் அழகுடன் காட்சி தருகின்றார். 04.12.2008 ஆண்டு அம்பாள் விசாலாட்சி சன்னதி புதுப்பிக்க பட்டு அஷ்டபந்தன கும்பாபிஷேகம் நடை பெற்றது

hi
i used to live in veera perumal kovil st in 80s...very close to appar swamy kovil and mundaka kanni kovil ....very close to

famous sanskrit college in mylapore,,,just info..

 

[tbs]

Oh dear swati ji, it becomes more interesting as the day unfolds. The wonderful thread.
You know in royapettah high road opp to anjaneyor temple near luz ( thanni thurai market) the appar swamy temple and munda kanni amman temple.
And we cannot forget patti and pyol and kozhukkattai (modakam) sweet and savoury in pitchu pillai st now a days it is mami's mess

hi

i used to go thannithorai market daily..my house was opposite to anjaneyar kovil...its called veera perumail kocil street,,

 

[naithru]

Dear tbs ji,
I felt that theertha paleeswarar temple is a little away in dr natesan road near icehouse, I felt that appar swami temple can be included in 7 shiva temple.
Mundaka kanni temple is old and now it has an mrts station with that name also.
This market known as thanni thurai is also old. They used to get groceries and vegetables by boats thru Buckingham canal which was used for transportation and hence the name

 

[naithru]

Yes you are right. The famous sanskrit college and ki va ja and his manjari and kalaimagal as editor
MS

 

[tbs]

Dear tbs ji,
I felt that theertha paleeswarar temple is a little away in dr natesan road near icehouse, I felt that appar swami temple can be included in 7 shiva temple.
Mundaka kanni temple is old and now it has an mrts station with that name also.
This market known as thanni thurai is also old. They used to get groceries and vegetables by boats thru Buckingham canal which was used for transportation and hence the name

hi sir,

i lived in Luz area more than 40 yrs...i was school teacher in p s senior secondary school in 80s....i go to santhome church and

Luz corner pillaiyar kovil also...i got many tamil novels from kalaimagal regularly...it was golden period in my life...

 

[tbs]

hi

i used to go to kamadhenu theater and kapali theatre for movies....i saw kalyana parisu movie there..in 80s...

kamalahasan/rajani kanth movies peak period...

 

[swathi25]

சென்னையின் குதிரைக் குளம்பு குளம் (மெட்ராஸ் நல்ல மெட்ராஸ்-13)


-தமிழ் மகன்

நண்பர் ஒருவர் திருமண அழைப்பிதழ் கொடுத்தார். ஓர் இடத்தில் சின்ன இடறல். திருமண மண்டப முகவரியில், இறங்க வேண்டிய இடம் என்ற இடத்தில் 'ஏரிக்கரை பஸ் ஸ்டாப்' என்று போட்டிருந்தது.

'அந்த இடத்தில் ஏரி எங்கே இருக்கிறது' என எங்கள் இருவருக்குமே தெரியவில்லை. மாரியம்மன் நகர், மகாலட்சுமி நகர் என்று அங்குள்ள நகர்கள்தான், அந்த நாளைய ஏரி என்பது தெரியவந்தது. இப்படி குளக்கரை ஸ்டாப்பிங், குளத்தூர் பஸ் ஸ்டாண்டு, ஆத்தூர் மார்க்கெட் என்ற பெயர் உள்ள இடங்களில் பெயருக்கு காரணங்கள் மிஸ் ஆகியிருக்கும். நீர் ஆதாரங்களை ஆதாரம் இல்லாமல் அழிப்பது அதிகாரத்தில் இருப்பவர்களின் சிரமம் இல்லாத அழிச்சாட்டியமாக இருக்கிறது.

சென்னை கிராமம், செங்கல்பட்டு மாவட்டத்தின் ஓர் அங்கம். செங்கல்பட்டு மாவட்டத்தில் காவிரி, தாமிரபரணி, வைகை ஆறுகளைப் போல் ஜீவ ஆறுகள் எதுவும் இல்லை. எல்லாமே மழை நீர் வடிகால் ஆறுகள். மலையில் இருந்து புறப்படுபவை அல்ல. அதனால் இங்கே ஏரிகள் அதிகம் உருவாக்கப்பட்டன. வீரநாராயணர் (வீராணம்) ஏரி, மதுராந்தகம் ஏரி, பூண்டி ஏரி, புழல் ஏரி, சோழவரம் ஏரி, செம்பரம்பாக்கம் ஏரி, வியாசர்பாடி ஏரி, பொன்னேரி போன்ற பெரிய ஏரிகள் என்று சென்னையைச் சுற்றி உள்ளன. அது தவிர ஒவ்வொரு ஊருக்கும் ஒன்றிரண்டு சிறிய ஏரிகள் இருக்கும். செங்கல்பட்டுக்கு ஏரி மாவட்டம் என்று ஒரு பெயரும் உண்டு.

மேலும் படிக்க: https://www.vikatan.com/news/article.php?aid=46505

Courtesy: Vikatan

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]Lessons from Chetpet lake[/h]

The Chetpet Eco Park promotes sustainable eco-tourism at lakes. Photo: R. Ravindran Photo Credit: R.RAVINDRAN
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[h=2]The Chetpet Eco Park serves as a template for carrying out any exercise to promote sustainable ecotourism at any other water body.[/h]With a 1.5-km walking track, facilities for boating and sports fishing, a children’s play area, a restaurant and a multilevel car parking, Chetpet lake is a great hangout for many people. For the environment-conscious, it is an icon of sustainable ecotourism. For Ashok Thakkar, it’s a dream come true. A longtime resident of Chetpet, Ashok has seen the waterbody when it was in an unprepossessing state.

With distance lending enchantment to the view, the lake looked inviting from a distance. Getting near the lake, one’s senses were assaulted by an overpowering stench. Untreated water from neighbouring localities was being let into the waterbody. Sullage from the Chetpet railway station also made its way into the lake. Garbage was strewn around the area.

Residents like Ashok wanted to see the lake restored and protected. So, when an initiative to improve the condition of the lake loomed on the horizon and, most importantly, had the support of officialdom, Ashok and a few other residents welcomed it. This was around 12 years ago.

Around 2005, the Department of Environment, the Government of Tamil Nadu, began to take steps towards reviving the waterbody, along with 10 others within the Corporation limits. Under the expertise of the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL), a broad conceptual design to revive Chetpet lake was chalked out, recalls Gagandeep Singh Bedi, former secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Department.


Read more at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/lessons-from-chetpet-lake/article17434972.ece

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]How grave lapses at Chembarambakkam Lake caused Chennai’s ‘manmade’ flood in 2015[/h]
2015 Chennai floods was a manmade disaster for which TN govt is responsible, stated the CAG

Scores dead, hundreds left homeless as flood waters swept through Chennai and its suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Now two-and-a-half years later, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has minced no words in calling the Chennai Floods of 2015, a “manmade disaster”, pinning the blame on the Tamil Nadu government for its handling of the crisis.

The CAG report titled ‘Flood management and response in Chennai and its suburban areas’, was tabled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday.

In the aftermath of the disaster, several reports highlighted how failure to ensure timely release of water from the Chembarambakkam Lake in Chennai during the Northeast monsoon season had resulted in the floods. The CAG report puts a spotlight on just how Chembarambakkam Lake sank Chennai, pointing to glaring errors such as “imprudent and injudicious release of water”, absence of scientific real-time flood forecasting and communication facilities, and lack of monitoring in release of water at the reservoir.

‘Emergency should have been declared on November 16, 2015’


Read more at: https://www.thenewsminute.com/artic...ake-caused-chennai-s-manmade-flood-2015-84524

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]The vanishing waterbodies of Chennai[/h]

[h=2]The area of the waterbodies in Chennai city and its suburbs has shrunk from nearly 12.6 sq. km. in 1893 to about 3.2 sq. km. in 2017, mainly due to urbanisation, a recent study has revealed[/h]


Names of places in Chennai are more than just geographical markers. They bring out what Chennai was not too long ago. Lake Area, Tank Bund Road and Eri Scheme are a few pointers that tell us how bountiful the city was in water resources.

Even as recently as in the 1950s, you could drive down Mount Road from Saidapet to Teynampet through what became CIT Nagar, bank left near where Gemini Flyover stands now, hop on to Tank Bund Road and continue motoring along, never too far away from water.
Cut to 2018: Chennai is all built-up and the names of places are just fluid reminders of the past.

It’s almost summer and the anxiety of Chennaiites is mounting. Despite official assurances, they are worried about how the supply of water will pan out. Today, motoring across roads means conducting tricky negotiations with water tankers that dominate not just our streets but other types of water supply too.

Read more at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/citie...ng-waterbodies-of-chennai/article23404437.ece

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]Where are those water bodies?

-sriramv[/h]

Mylapore Tank
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For a city that is perennially starved of water, Chennai has paid scant attention to the conservation of this scarce resource. The city was ringed in by as many as 650 water bodies till around two decades ago. Today, a mere fraction survives. Those that do are victims of continued encroachments and poor maintenance. With the city becoming increasingly dependent on sources such as the Krishna River for its water, why does it not pay any attention to the wealth that is in its own backyard?

Greed for land would perhaps be the first reason. It must not be forgotten that, as early as 1921, Madras filled in one of its largest reservoirs, the Long Tank of Mylapore, to create T’Nagar. Those were times when environmental consciousness was not heard of. What is surprising is that these practices continue even today. Thus we have a long history of vanishing lakes and tanks. The Nungambakkam Tank, the Rettai Eri in Vyasarpadi and the Kodungaiyur Tank are but a few instances of what we have lost.

While some were filled in as part of a conscious decision to expand the city’s land area, others have died out due to encroachments. The Maduravoyal Lake is only one-fifth of what it was around two decades ago. The Kadaperi Lake in West Tambaram has lost 15 acres in recent years, much of it to a burgeoning colony on its banks. With the continued dumping of garbage, the water body has become more of a cesspool and its degradation has led to the wells in the neighbourhood getting polluted. The lake is now viewed as the cause of the problem and there is a growing body of opinion that it ought to be filled in! It is a sad state of affairs that the civic body in charge remains silent when encroachments and pollution of water resources happen under its very nose. It wakes up when matters can no longer be set right.


Read more at: https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/where-are-those-water-bodies/

Courtesy: Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]A brief profile of Royapettah[/h][h=1]-sriramv[/h]
From Royal Enclave to Residential Area

Why Royapettah? Several explanations have been given for this name but the most convincing one is that because it belonged to the Nawabs of Arcot it became Raya (ruler’s) pettah (district). And, after the British took over, the royal family was finally given Amir Mahal on the edge of Royapettah to live in. The residence may be tucked deep inside the compound, but the ornamental gateway is a sight to behold. And if you are lucky, you will hear the ceremonial drums beaten on special occasions from the first floor gallery of the gateway.

Close to Amir Mahal is the clock tower, a Royapettah landmark. Built in the 1930s in the classic art deco style it is still functioning. From here begins Westcott Road. On the left is the vast Woodlands Estate, once the residence of the Rajahs of Ramnad. In the 1930s, it was sold to a businessman and the new owner leased it out to a young man who had made a success of running the city’s first Udipi style restaurant on Mount Road – Krishna Vilas. K Krishna Rao was his name and he made Woodlands a success- as a 40-roomed hotel. But the lessor soon wanted the place back and so in the 1940s, Krishna Rao moved to Mylapore and began New Woodlands, the first of the famous worldwide chain of hotels. Happily, old Woodlands still functions. Its South Indian style lunches are known to few and inside the hotel it is as though time has stood still in the 1940s. Period furniture and ambience is what it offers for a low price. At its edge stands the better-known Woodlands Theatre.

Opposite these is the Wesleyan Church with its associated educational institutions, set in a vast green enclosure. The church was begun in 1819. Further down the same stretch is the empty expanse of the YMCA, which is used for exhibitions. By far the best-known landmark on Westcott Road is the Royapettah Hospital. Begun as a native infirmary in 1843 in a side street and meant to cater to the requirements of those who lived in South Madras, it has expanded since 1911 when it became a hospital. Parts of it, especially its morgue section, date back to an early vintage and are Gothic in appearance. Bodies from the morgue were taken by horse carts and the area became well-known for horse dung according to noted writer Ashokamitran. He has it that rose-growers from all over the city would come to Royapettah to buy horse-dung as it was a great manure.


Read more at: https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/a-brief-profile-of-royapettah/

Courtesy: Madras Meritage and Carnatic Music

 

[swathi25]

குறுகலான பிராட்வே-வும் எம்.ஜி.ஆர் வசித்த ஒத்தவாடையும்! (மெட்ராஸ் நல்ல மெட்ராஸ்-14 )


-தமிழ் மகன்


சென்னையின் மிகக் குறுகலான சாலை ஒன்றுக்கு பிராட்வே (அகன்ற சாலை) என்று பெயர். இந்த முரண்சுவைக்குப் பின்னால் ஒரு சுவாரஸ்யமான சரித்திரம் உண்டு.

சென்னையின் மீனவக்குப்பத்தை ஒட்டியிருந்த அந்த வெட்டவெளி இடம் ஒருநாளில் கடல் மட்டத்துக்கு நிகராக இருந்தது. அடிக்கடி கடல் அதுவரை வந்து அலைவீசும். செயின்ட் ஜார்ஜ் கோட்டை கட்டப்பட்ட பிறகு, அதற்கு அருகே இருந்த நரி மேடு, கோட்டையின் பாதுகாப்புக்கு உகந்ததாக இல்லை என்று முடிவு செய்யப்பட்டது. அந்தச் சிறிய குன்று தகர்க்கப்பட்டு அந்த மண் கொண்டுவந்து கொட்டப்பட்ட இடம்தான் மண்ணடி என பெயர் பெற்றது என முன்னரே பார்த்தோம். அந்த நரிமேட்டு மணல் மிச்சம்தான் இந்த பிராட்வே.

இன்று பிராட்வே எனவும், பிரகாசம் சாலை என்றும் விவரிக்கப்படும் அந்த இடத்தில் ஓர் ஓடை இருந்தது. பெரிய நீர் ஓட்டம் எல்லாம் இல்லை. சாக்கடை ஓடை.

மேலும் படிக்க: https://www.vikatan.com/news/article.php?aid=47133


Courtesy: Vikatan

 

[swathi25]

A warehouse worth its salt in its heyday

-GEETA PADMANABHAN

Salt Cotaurs, a ramshackle godown belonging to the Southern Railway, on Walltax Road, at once makes us imagine the kind of trade and commerce that flourished in the city


Walltax Road, or VOC Salai, is not where you would want to stand in the middle to take pictures. Not even at mid-day. It takes a special kind of guts to train the camera on the structure opposite, while mad drivers try to maim you for life. But we're looking at Salt Cotaurs (property of Southern Railway), determined to find out what salt was doing in these parts. There was a delicious incentive to this quest. “I tried tracing people who could tell me something about Salt Cotaurs’ history, but no one could give me anything,” the divisional commercial officer said. “I'm looking forward to reading about Salt Cotaurs in your story,” he added.

I had dug into sources. Salt manufacture was an important industry along the eastern coastal districts from Pulicat to Marakkanam, historian Muthiah has mentioned in Madras: the Land, the People & their Governance. Salt Cotaurs was once well-known for its salt pans, he wrote. Today, it is a railway yard. Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan of the Chennai Photowalk sent me this note. “Salt Cotaurs is an old godown (corruption of the Malay godong, which comes from the Tamil kidangu, all meaning “warehouse”) that apparently takes its name from the Telugu word c otauru, meaning godown. You will find it on Walltax Road that runs parallel to the tracks of the Central railway station, with George Town on the west.” The road was named after the wall, built as a protective measure by the British in 1772–1773, and originally ran from Cochrane (Buckingham) Canal on the northern side, to the junction of Poonamallee High Road and Madras Central railway station to the south. The outer side of the wall had a space of about 600 yards for setting up a clear field for fire in the event of a future attack, and was later developed into People's Park and a railway goods shed named Salt Cotaurs in 1859.



Read more at: https://www.thehindu.com/features/m...rth-its-salt-in-its-heyday/article6101046.ece

 

[swathi25]

Story of Madras


-Hazeeda Vijayakumar

Madras in South India was a port town ideally situated on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal.


The city as we know it today started as an English settlement in Fort St. George.

The land was ruled by the Vijayanagaras and they appointed chieftains known as

Nayaks who ruled different regions in the province, almost independently.
Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka was the chieftain of the area of present day Chennai when the British East India Company arrived to set up its trade and other commercial activities.

The British, looking for a new settlement along the coast, secured a Grant by Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka giving over to the EIC a three-mile long strip of land in the fishing village of Madrasapatnam.

On August 22, 1639, the deed was signed by EIC’s Francis Day accompanied by his interpreter Beri Thimmappa and superior Andrew Cogan.



Read more at: https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/story-of-madras/article5041625.ece

 

[swathi25]

A Real Cool Time

The ‘last solace’ of the British in India was ice. But how did it get here in the first place?

Around 300 years earlier, the first Mughal emperor, Babur, had also bemoaned the absence of “ice and iced water” in the same vein he lamented the dearth of good quality melons in India. (Source: Thinkstock images
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On September 6, 1833, the arrival of a ship in Calcutta was a cause for much joy for the city’s European inhabitants, including colonial officials. The ship, Tuscany, had set sail four months ago from Boston in the United States. When it reached Calcutta, the British governor-general, William Bentinck, presented William C Rogers, the man in charge of Tuscany’s cargo, with a silver cup. The ship’s crew was also feted and its captain received a letter of gratitude from Bentinck. There was good reason for the enthusiasm. Tuscany was carrying 100 tonnes of a commodity that the English in India despaired for: ice.


A few months before Tuscany’s arrival, Calcutta’s Anglican bishop Daniel Wilson wrote to his family in England, “The weather is perfectly suffocating. None can pity us but those who know our sufferings.” The historian Percival Spear writes, “the last solace for the English in the hot months was ice.” But, it was a commodity in very short supply. Around 300 years earlier, the first Mughal emperor, Babur, had also bemoaned the absence of “ice and iced water” in the same vein he lamented the dearth of good quality melons in India. His successors deployed horses and elephants to move ice from Kashmir to Delhi, Agra and Lahore. The Mughal capitals also had ice pans which, writes Spear, “were strewn with straws of various kinds. Water pots were provided and should the weather promise a cold clear winter night, water was poured into cloth-bottomed pans, which were then fitted onto the earthen squares or hollows. On a good night, ice would form at a depth of one-and-a-half inches in these pans. These were then gathered by shivering coolies and stored in ice pits. These ice pits were covered with a low mud house, thickly thatched, drained by a well and further protected from the air by layers of straw. Within the pit, the ice was beaten into a solid mass by relays of blanketed coolies.”


Read more at: https://indianexpress.com/article/l...w-did-it-get-here-in-the-first-place-4624103/

 

[swathi25]

[h=1]Memories of colonial Madras

- RADHA PADMANABHAN[/h]

[h=2]Madras of the 1930s and 1940s was a different city. Looking back on a time of silent films, convent schools and the first whiff of the freedom movement.[/h]I have only memories. No photographs… going back to the early 1930s when I was a child. Memories of white men with cropped hair, in dust-coloured khaki, riding chocolate-brown horses, up and down, patrolling the Government Estate on Mount Road. This scene is vividly etched in my mind as we lived on Ellis Road, off Mount Road, opposite Elphinstone Theatre. The English name is still in use and has not been traded to please today's narcissistic politicians.

Elphinstone Theatre. Silent films where music was played during the interval by an orchestra composed of Anglo-Indian boys. At the end, we stood up obediently to the strains of “God Save the King”.

I studied at St. William's European Middle School on Peter's Road near the Royapettah Hospital. My father took me to meet the headmistress Mother Margaret, an Irish nun. He dressed up in a full suit with a waistcoat and a pocket watch tucked in it. He took his hat off and greeted her.

Name changes

She looked at him and smiled and said, “I am going to call your daughter, Peggy. It is the short form of my own name Margaret.” And so Peggy I was till I joined college. My siblings' names were also changed. My eldest sister Indira was Hilda, Hemalata became Annie, my elder brother Niranjan James and my younger brother, Siddharth, was Sid. All Hindus had their names changed. My classmate Chandra was Sandra and Palaniswamy was Teddy. Our names were “difficult” to remember and impossible to pronounce.

Read more at: https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/Memories-of-colonial-Madras/article16578362.ece