Chitra Madhavan

At the Namma Arcot Road-organised Madras Day celebrations at the Hotel Green Park, students of Spring and Zoom presented 'Madras: Then and Now', a lecture-cum-theatrical presentation of certain aspects of Chennai that has changed with time – the streets, the games children play and, of course, music and dance.

Chithra Madhavan later spoke on 'Lesser known temples of Chennai', a well-researched presentation. Chithra drew attention to the neglected old temples in the city, with inscriptions in them scraped away and gaudy paint plastered over them. She explained to her large audience the importance of renovating temples without destroying old inscriptions and sculptures, for much of old history can be learned only from this legacy.

Pradeep Chakravarthy, in a second talk, pointed out to listeners that 'Kodambakkam (Puliyur) was the centre of Madras'. He explained how Madras was organised geographically in the 9th-12th Centuries, what were the troublesome local governance issues, and how they were resolved. There is very little about Puliyur in the public domain and Pradeep suggested there was a lot that needed to be researched.

Book&borrow.com, an online book rental service in Chennai, had a stall for books on Madras, its history and culture at the celebrations.