As the sun rises over the endless Marina beach, we find a city full of emotions-Madras, celebrating its 376 years of existence with almost the same fragrance everywhere .
Madras Day is celebrated on 22 August every year commemorating the foundation of Fort. Saint George by Francis Day of East India Company in 1639.In pic: Painting of Fort. Saint George ( 17th century).According to S.Muthiah ,Shashi Nair and Vincent D’Souza, the people behind the idea of celebrating Madras Day say:
“ The prime motive of celebrating Madras Day is to focus on the city ,its past and present”.
It seems strange that out of a fort- a city was born. Every year people there celebrate seven days of Madras through culture, arts, traditions, archives, heritage walks and the history the basis on which the whole city came out.* In pictures : Fort St. George painting (17th century) and present one. People say
“There is something for everyone in Madras”.
The celebrations consist of events such as food festivals, quizzes, exhibitions, public speeches, talks. The talks will be focused on the prime motive :Heritage and history of the city. The core team of Madras Day group motivates communities, groups, companies and campuses in the city to host events that celebrate the city. Heritage walks, school exchange programmes, talks and contests, poetry and music and quiz, food fests and rallies, photo exhibitions and bike tours . . . . these and more are the ways in which the city is celebrated. “Participation in these events is purely voluntary. Anyone who loves the city is free to join.”
Chennai has got many places which people wish visiting frequently. These places are heart and soul of Madras Day and Madras in real too..
- Marina Beach and Fort St. George :
The first place which come in to mind of a non-Tamil guy when heard of Chennai. Polluted but never miss it .It’s Chennai in short form. We can see real “Beach fun” here. Fort St. George, First English Fort in India, is situated on the other side of beach road .
- Kapileshwara temple :
The Kapileshwara temple in Mylapore, Chennai , with a “Seven-tiered Gopuram”, is known for magnificent sculptures depicting Puranic incidents.
- Besant Nagar Beach:
A place where sunrise is seen in a different approach-”Photographers spot”. Where evenings are worth spending, watching natural beauty.
These are just few as we enter city we find much more complicated like Traffic in Chennai roads. You can smell fragrance of Mylapore Coffee from 2 km away. Even though in 1996 the name is changed to Chennai people love being called them Madrasis because Chennai is a name just given but Madras has attachment with the people .That is why
“Chennai is city — Madras is emotions”
People love this place and the name too. A place where Movie tickets are cheaper than popcorn, Where Auto meter is useless as ‘ueue’ in ‘queue’, Where festivals come more often than weekends, Where people hate both summer and winter, Where migrants are almost equal to locals in number ::
:: Madras- The Spirit of Chennai ::
Picture Credits: Flickr, WordPress and to each and every original owner.
Source: https://www.icytales.com/madras-the-spirit-of-chennai/
