A city deserves to celebrate its birthday.
And Madras, that is Chennai certainly deserves it.
So a small group of people who love this city launched a unique celebration in 2004.
The founding day of Madras is considered to be August 22, 1639.
It was on that day, in that year, that a sliver of land, where Fort. St. George stands today, was transacted by the East India Company.
The deal was struck by Francis Day, his ‘dubash’ Beri Thimmappa, and their superior, Andrew Cogan, with the local Nayak rulers. It is believed that this deal was made on August 22, 1639.
Out of the fort, grew settlements. Then the villages around it were brought together. And then, the old and new townes linked up. And then we had the city.
Today, Chennai stands tall for a variety of reasons. Education, healthcare, IT, history, tourism, auto industries, movies, etc. And yes, it also has its warts.
Madras Day celebrates the city.
Madras Day was an idea that three people put together – the city’s famed historian, S. Muthiah, journalist Sashi Nair and publisher Vincent D’ Souza. Later, they have been joined by three others – senior journalist and editor Sushila Ravindranath, journalist and website entrepreneur Revathi R and entrepreneur and writer-historian V. Sriram.
Madras Day focuses on the city, its history, its past and its present and the core team 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.
In order to enlarge participation, the Madras Day has been expanded to host events throughout August.
MADRAS DAY, as always, is August 22.
If you wish to organise, collaborate or host an event for MADRAS WEEK and need guidance / info, please send an email to – themadrasday@gmail.com
This is a wonderful initiative. All of us need to celebrate ourselves more. Love that this is getting so much corporate support.
I do have a pet peeve, however. We celebrate Madras day on the day the brits built a fort… Whereas the Kabaleshwarar temple in Mylapore was built around the 7th Century… Mylai was among the oldest of the villages that today comprise Chennai/Madras. The Kalikambal temple probably predates the fort as well.
I do appreciate that dates are harder to fix for these old structures, but perhaps mention should be made of these predecessors to the fort. I would say that building the fort was probably the oldest event to which we can assign a date and hence we run with it. I wouldn’t say that the fort is the foundation of Chennai. That would be a lie.
Rgds
ஜாதி, மதம், இனம், மொழி, நிறம் இவை அனைத்தையும் கடந்து உலகில் உள்ள அனைவரையும் ஒன்றாக திரட்டி வாழ வைத்துக் கொண்டிருக்கும் தமிழகத்தின் தலை நகரமான சென்னையின் சிறப்புகளை நாம் அனைவரும் சந்தோசமாக கொண்டாடுவோம் .
### HAPPY MADRAS DAY ###
I was born and brought up in Chennai. I have lived there for 21 years. Recently shifted to Pilani. There is not a single day which passes without memories of Chennai. Surely, waiting for a vacation in Chennai.
many more happy returns of day dear Maddras Patanam
Wishing Madras a Happy 373rd Anniversary, once again! Let us be proud of being part of Madras. I see many people referring to our dear city as Chennai here. That is fine as they may have known Madras as Chennai from the time they knew about it. I expected them to refer to our beloved city as Madras. 🙂 This is meant to celebrate Madras as it used to be in the glorious past AND how we grew up here. After all, those who were born and brought up here will know the exact feeling, whatever be the name they refer to. Celebration of Madras week is paramount. Finally, those who ‘lived’ in Madras or were ‘part of’ Madras will only understand the import the city has. Something seems to be missing when somebody says or writes ‘Chennai’ – it appears to be artificial. We continue to refer to our dear city as Madras just as some people refer to it as Chennai.
Happy bday chennai!!!Chennai is the best place to live in among the metros in INDIA and i can vouch for it.Proud to be a chennaite:-)
Happy bithday “MADRAS”
Gr8 website…Keep up the good work…
It’s really a happy feeling to see Madras day being celebrated nicely…I was born and brought up in Madras but am now in New Delhi for many years…Madras is the city I like the most…It’s the leading city in many areas like IT, healthcare,education,safety,etc…Above all,It’s The December Music season that I like the most…No other city organizes more than 10000 Concerts in just one month!!!
Am really excited to see the Birthday of this beautiful city being celebrated in such a grand style…
Madras…the name is synonomous with Mylapore temples, SanThome Basilica, Mount Road mosque, the filter coffee, rendu idly oru vada sambhar, the fantastic roads and the heritage buildings. I was born and brough in South Madras and my father is a mylaporean. As a kid I was dumbstruck by his tales about Mount Road, Cafe Amin, Rayar’s cafe, Drive -in Woodlands, various cinema theatres which are not there today.
What I love most about Madras is everything and what I hate the most is the name Chennai.
Now the corporation wants to rename the good old names, imagine how names like Haddows, Demellows, Demonte, Sterling, Smith, Whites,Conran Smith, Edward Ellis, Halls etc etc which have been integral part of life will be soon renamed. We need to do something about this. We let Madras change to Chennai, atleast lets retain the road names.
Special thanks to Muthiah sir for all his contributions. We love Madras….
hey its a beautiful website , you know what chennai will be so happy to see websites like this, so keep rocking , all the best…
and “madras nalla madras”…
I have stayed in Chennai for 7+ years and have loved it for its food and its humid weather just like my hometown 🙂
I still prefer it to be called Madras as they used to when I was a child and still say Madras when I talk to my friends or colleagues who sometimes are not so ok with it.
Madras is what it should be 🙂
பல பாடங்கள் சொல்லித்தந்த மதராஸ் கொண்டாடுவோம் எல்லோரும்
– முஹம்மது அனஸ்
Wish you all the best