Chennai,
(formerly Madras) is located right on the superb seashore of the
Bay of Bengal on the south east of India. Almost a tropical zone,
with lush vegetation and dazzling red soil. There are acres of
casuarina and other trees set in glinting white sands on th coastline.
Located
near 13° North 80° E, Chennai extends 19 Km long along the seacoast
and about 8 km wide at the maximum. Small rivers flow through
Chennai--the Cooum and Adyar. The Buckingham Canal extends all
the way to the Krishna river in neighbouring Andhra, but is not
really important for traffic. Parts of the canal inside Chennai
are being converted for a rail way.
Chennai
used to be derisively referred to by its own residents as just
a cluster of villages coming together. There may have been some
reason for this as local village area patriotism was very strong,
but not any longer. It is a big city, and what is more, perhaps
the MOST LIVABLE, COMFORTABLE city among the metros. There are
good reasons for this.
HISTORY
Accurate
historical data is available from the 3rd C onwards. It is likely
it was a small fishing village like the many of the area. Many
such villages were absorbed into the later city , like the Mylapore
area in south Chennai. It dates back to Buddhist and Jain times.
The 16th century Kapaleeswar temple in Mylapore was moved from
the ancient one almost on the seashore, near the present day San
Thome church .
The
great sage Thiruvalluvar is said to have lived in the Chennai
region. In late medieval times, the Nayaks, governors appointed
by the Vijayanagar empire ran the place. The surviving cultural
monuments date from the time of the Nayaks. Triplicane, with an
old temple dates back to the 16th century and possibly earlier.
The name Chennai is said to derive from Chenna Bomma Nayak, the
local 16th century governor. Around 1639 D.V.Naidu, agent of the
Raja of Chandragiri sold a piece of land called Madraspatnam to
the English. The Fort St.George and the later English town of
Madras were based here.
Madras/Chennai
was the capital of the British controlled South India called Presidency.
Modern learning and universities were set up fairly early : the
British merely wanted an army of docile vegetarian clerks but
soon found the natives had other ideas. In short Chennai has been
and still is the cultural capital of South India.
(
ed.-- OK, OK this is hotly disputed by residents of Madurai, Bangalore,
Kochi, Mysore, Trivandrum, Alleppey, Palghat, Manipal, Udupi,
Panvel, Hubli, Pune, Sringeri, Paithan, Daulatabad, Panaji, Vijayawada,
Gobichettipalaiayam, Los Angeles etc. Send email explaining your
reasons and we'll publish it right here.)
