Happy Birthday Madras! Its time to Celebrate!

August is an impressive month for Madras, Chennai. It was 380 years ago that the British East India Company bought Madrasapattinam from an Indian. A sleepy village that the British placed their sights upon is now a bustling capital, always in a state of flux, and yet, by all reports retaining its original quality, even as the old bend way to the new.

Did you know that Chennai houses Asia’s largest library? Or that it has the world’s second-largest urban beach?

Madras, Chennai, is eternally full of surprises. As we take you through the 380 years of Madras’ journey, sit back and soak in the history and culture that Chennai has to offer.

What is the history of Chennai?

Armenian and Portuguese traders were inhabiting in the San Thome area of what is now present-day Chennai before the advent of the British in 1639. Madras was the abbreviated name of the fishing village Madrasapatnam, where the British East India Company constructed a fort and factory (trading post) in 1639–40.                                   At that period, the weaving of cotton cloth was a local business, and the English welcomed the weavers and native traders to settle near the fort. By 1652 the factory of Fort St. George was known as a presidency (an administrative unit governed by a president), and between 1668 and 1749 the group expanded its control. 

About 1801, by which time the last of the regional rulers had been shorn of his powers, the English had become rulers of southern India, and Madras had grown their administrative and industrial capital. The government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name of the city to Chennai in 1996.

How was the Chennai in the 19th century?

The massive expansion of Madras during the 19th century introduced drastic reforms, including a shipyard and port for the British Navy and the entrance of the railway in the latter part of the century. This connected the city with Calcutta and Bombay, as well as the huge interior of the country, thus promoting its manufacturing and trading sectors.

One important development in the 19th century was the founding in 1836 of the Madras Chamber of Commerce, which separated the stranglehold of the East India Company on commerce in the city and prompted new entrepreneurs to start and develop successful companies. 

Architectural development:

With the history of many neighbourhoods of the city such as Mylapore, Triplicane, and Thiruvanmiyur preceding that of the city, the architecture of Chennai reaches in a wide chronology. The oldest structures in the city date from the 7th and 8th centuries CE, which include the Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane and Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore, constructed in the Dravidian architecture. 

This architecture incorporates various styles, such as those of the Pallavas, Cholas, and the Vijayanagara empires. The associated Agraharam building, which consists of legendary row houses enclosing a temple, can still be seen in these areas. The heritage temples at Mamallapuram at the outskirts of the city are some of the symbols of the Pallava design. Chennai stands second to Kolkata of Indian heritage buildings.

With the arrival of the Mughals and the British, the city observed a rise in a blend of Hindu, Islamic and Gothic revival styles, appearing in the distinct Indo-Saracenic style. The construction for several early institutions such as banking and business, press and education, railways, chiefly within the colonial rule, accompanied the earlier directions of the Neoclassical and the Indo-Saracenic. 

The Chepauk Palace in the city, outlined by Paul Benfield, is assumed to be the first Indo-Saracenic building in India. Since then, several of the colonial-era buildings in the city were planned in this style of architecture, which is most manifest around Fort St. George built-in 1640. Most of these were outlined by English architects Robert Fellowes Chisholm and Henry Irwin. 

The best examples of this style include the Madras High Court (built-in 1892), Ripon Building, Southern Railway headquarters, Government Museum, Legislature House of the University of Madras, Victoria Public Hall, Amir Mahal, Bharat Insurance Building, and the College of Engineering. The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, at the Marina Beach is an outstanding landmark of Chennai.

The construction of the National Art Gallery in Madras was built in 1909. The new building, with a remarkable façade, was built of pink sandstone transported from Sathyavedu and formed part of the Madras Museum campus. It was inaugurated, on 23 January 1909, by the Governor of Fort St. George, Sir Arthur Lawley, and called the Victoria Memorial Hall after the Queen-Empress Victoria. 

The domestic architecture in the city was based on the bungalow or the connected row house prototypes. Gothic restoration style buildings include the Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore railway stations. The Santhome Church, which was initially built by the Portuguese in 1523 and is considered to house the remains of the disciple St. Thomas, was reconstructed in 1893 in neo-Gothic style.

The presence of the weather radar at the Chennai Port, however, prevented the construction of buildings taller than 60 m around a radius of 10 km for various decades that followed. Besides, the floor-area ratio (FAR) in the central marketing district is also 1.5, much less than that of smaller cities of the country. This ended in the city expanding horizontally, unlike other metropolitan cities where vertical growth is obvious. In contrast, the outer regions, particularly on the southern and south-western sides, are undergoing vertical growth with the construction of buildings up to 60 floors.

Educational development of the Chennai city:

Chennai is home to some of the most salutary educational institutions in the country. The city ranks second among Indian metropolitan city centres with a 90.33 per cent literacy rate. Chennai has a mix of public and private schools, some of which also get financial support from the government.

The public school practice is managed by the Chennai Corporation with an admission of 142,387 students in over 330 schools. 

English is the medium of instruction in the preponderance of institutions for higher education. The University of Madras, established in 1857, is one of India’s first three contemporary universities. Colleges for science, arts, and commerce degrees are typically affiliated with the University of Madras, which has six colleges in the city. 

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and the College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University are two well-known centres for engineering education in the city. The Indian Army’s Officers Training Academy is also headquartered in the city.

Chennai has a plethora of libraries, including American Library, British Council Library, Connemara Public Library, and Anna Centenary Library. The Connemara Public Library is one of four National Depository Centres in India that get a copy of all newspapers and books published in the country. The Anna Centenary Library is the largest library in Asia.

Chennai has two CSIR research institutions namely the Central Leather Research Institute and Structural Engineering Research Centre. Chennai Book Fair, an annual book fair arranged in Chennai by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), is the most generous exhibition for Tamil book publishers to display their books. The fair is typically held for about 10 days between the last week of December and the third week of January. 

The forty-first edition of the fair was carried in 2018. Chennai also has Indian Maritime University to confer quality education in maritime management, engineering, and different pre-sea courses. This is the only central university, headquartered in Chennai to give maritime education in India.

what about the transformation in the transport systems of Chennai?

Air:

The Chennai International Airport is the fourth-busiest in India in terms of passenger traffic behind New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It handled about 15.2 million travellers in 2013–2014, in terms of international passengers, Chennai is the third-busiest airport after Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.

The existing airport is undergoing modernisation and extension with the addition of 1,069.99 acres (433.01 ha), while a new greenfield airport is to be built at an estimated cost of ₹ 2,000 crores in Sriperumbudur on 4,200 acres (17 km2) of land.

Rail:

Chennai hosts the headquarters of the Southern Railway. The city has four main railway extremities. Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Beach and Tambaram. Chennai Central station, the city’s largest, grants nationwide access, whereas Chennai Egmore provides the path to destinations principally within Tamil Nadu, however, it also manages a few interstate trains. A fifth terminal has been introduced to decongest Chennai Central. 

The Chennai suburban railway network, one of the oldest in the country, promotes transportation within the city. It consists of four broad-gauge sectors ending at two locations in the city, namely Chennai Central and Chennai Beach. While three divisions are operated on-grade, the fourth sector is fundamentally an elevated corridor, linking Chennai Beach to Velachery and is combined with the rest of the rail network.

Metro rail:

Chennai Metro is a rapid-transit system helping the city and was partially initiated on 29 June 2015. To enhance the city’s public transportation system and equip the city for the future commuting needs, the Chennai Metro was designed and approved by the state cabinet during 2007 for which foundation began in 2009. 

Phase I of the Chennai Metro network consists of the Blue Line and the Green Line meeting a length of 45.1 kilometres (28.0 mi) consisting of 40 stations with Alandur and Chennai Central serving as junctions. 

In December 2016, it was declared by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) that Phase-2 of Chennai Metro is fixed to be for a length of 104 km consisting of 104 stations which were directed to an endorsement from the State and Central governments. The Phase 2 was finally approved in late 2018, with certain requirements, and soil testing for the various stations are in complete swing with construction set to commence in late 2019/ early 2020. 

As of April 2019 ridership has risen considerably to about 100,000 daily commuters, post the inaugural of the entire Phase I. Phase I-A, which is an enlargement of the Blue line from Washermenpet to Thiruvottiyur is assumed to be inaugurated by June 2020.

Road:

Chennai is connected by the Golden Quadrilateral operation of National Highways. It is correlated to other Indian cities by four major National Highways (NH) that originate in the city. The government has built grade separators and flyovers at major junctions and built Inner Ring Road and Outer Ring Road. The Gemini flyover, built-in 1973, passes over the arterial road and eases the traffic movements towards Anna Salai and towards the Kathipara Flyover.

As of 2011, according to the Transport Department, there were 25.8 lakh two-wheelers and 5.6 lakh four-wheelers in the city, and the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus line were 3,421, equaling 0.1% of all vehicles in the city.

When inaugurated, the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) was the largest bus station in Asia. It is the main intercity bus station of Chennai, governed by seven government-owned transport corporations, which run intercity and interstate bus services. 

There are many private bus companies. The MTC provides a private intracity bus service, consisting of 3,421 buses on 724 routes, which provides transportation to 55.2 lakh passengers daily. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation operates Volvo air-conditioned services from Chennai to nearby Pondicherry, Vellore, Hosur and Trichy.

Sea:

The city is served by two major harbours, Chennai Port, one of the largest artificial ports in India, and Ennore Port. Chennai Port is the largest in the Bay of Bengal, with a yearly cargo tonnage of 6.146 crores (2010–2011), and the second-largest container-hub in India, with an annual package volume of 15.23 lakh TEUs (2010–2011). 

The port handles the shipping of automobiles, motorcycles and general manufacturing cargo. The Ennore Port with a seasonal cargo tonnage of 1.101 crores (2010–2011), manipulates coal, ore and other bulk and rock mineral products. Royapuram fishing harbour is used by fishing boats and Kattupalli Shipyard near Ennore Port was originated in January 2013.

The Protector – Chennai City:

Chennai has always been one of the most protected, cultural and a state with people owning a very strong mentality. People are very strict about their culture, customs, food and these things only make Chennai a very unique place in India. They respect your space, they travel along with the latest technology but will stick to their moral values which is very unique as they are connected to their roots.