August 18-25, 2013
August 22nd is the birthday of Madras. It was on that day in 1639 that the grant
was signed and given to Francis Day of the East India Company for the piece of no man’s sand from which the city has grown. This day, Madras Day, has been commemorated during the last few years by celebrating a Madras Week around it. Madras Week, proposed and catalysed by a small group of volunteers who value the heritage of the city, encourages individuals and organisations to arrange Madras-focussed activities during the Week to create a greater awareness about Madras that is Chennai’s proud heritage. Madras Week this year is from August 18th to 25th and many programmes have already been arranged by volunteering individuals and organisations. Judging from the programmes lined up, it is likely to run from early in August into the first week of September.
Here is a list of some of the scheduled programmes.
August 6: Talk: Nina John on Women of Chennai: Where are they now? Where are they going? Organised by Rotary Clubs of Madras South, Madras North, Madras West, Madras East.
Venue: Hotel Savera. 6.30 p.m. For Rotarians only.
August 11: Walk: Waves of conversion! Tiruvanmiyur in 7-8th Century. Led by Pradeep Chakravarthy in the Marundeeswarar temple. 7.30-8.00 a.m.
The 30-minute walk will explore the sadly modernised Marundeeswarar temple and understand how religion and politics mingled for mutual benefit in the 6-9th Centuries.
Please dress appropriately for a house of worship. No shorts please!
Participants above the age of 40 cannot register unless they are accompanied by a school (class 8 and above) or college student. No more than 30 participants, registrations on or before August 1st noon with Pradeepandanusha@gmail.com No transport/food arrangements for the walk.
August 17-31: Exhibition: A photo exhibition on Madras by photographer S. Kanakaraj. At Studio Palazzo Art Gallery, 14, 2nd Avenue, Harrington Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031.
August 17: Talk: An illustrated talk on Natural Heritage of Chennai covering diverse flora and fauna by Dr. R. Bhanumathi.
Venue: Gallery Sri Parvati, 28/160, Eldams Road. 6 p.m. Organised by ELAI.
August 18: Presentation: Y.G. Mahendran and A.R. Srinivasan will present a dialogue-presentation on Tamil theatre – history and landmarks.
At Tag Centre, Chennai 9.30 a.m. Note: Private gathering. For members only.
August 21: University of Madras’s Music Department organises Nalayira Divya Prabandham and Multilingual Compositions on Lord Parthasarathy of Triplicane. Venue: F50 – Thanthai Periyar Hall, Time: 11 a.m.
August 24: Puppetry Session for Children on Wildlife. An interactive session on Wildlife of Chennai and their importance with puppets for children conducted by Dr. R. Bhanumathi of Pavai. At Nageswara Rao Park, Mylapore. 4.00-4.30 p.m.
August 24: Competition: Quiz Competition for school children from 6th standard to 9th standard. Theme: Heritage of Madras. Organised by Amaravathi Nagar Residents Welfare Association.
Venue: Ambal Matriculation School, Arumbakkam. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. For details contact Dr. Kr. Thooyavan, Chennai. Cell: 9840645855
August 25: Nature Walk: The Madras Naturalists’ Society (MNS) will organise a Nature Walk for the public at Pallikaranai Marsh on Sunday, 25th August.
6.15 a.m. Reporting place: Forest Dept. Office on Velachery-Thoraipakkam Road. Group size: 30. For assistance please call Vijay: 98400 90875
(When coming from Velachery, take the service road along the 2nd Flyover on the Velachery-Tambaram Road and turn left at the junction under the Flyover onto the Velachery-Thoraipakkam Road, travel around 300 metres. and take the U-turn after the Toll Plaza sign and the Office is on the left immediately after the turn. When coming from OMR, the Office is 200 metres after the Toll Plaza.)
August 25: Talk: Ravi Varma and his Engagement with the Madras Presidency (1878-1906) by Rupika Chawla. At Hyatt Regency, Mount Road. 4:30 to 6 p.m. Organised by Chennai Art Club.
August 27: Talk: K. Hariharan, film-maker and director of the L.V. Prasad Academy on Chennai, Chennaiites and Cinema. Organised by Rotary Club of Madras South.
Venue: Hotel Savera. 6.30 p.m. For Rotarians only.
Nizhal Tree Walks
Nizhal is organising tree walks in English and Tamil. The walks will last for about an hour. Rediscover the verdant parks and magnificent trees in your neighborhood with friends and family! The Azhinji at Kotturpuram Tree Park, the Thaandri at Semmozhi Poonga, the Putranjiva at Panagal Park and many more such gems!
August 16: Kotturpuram Tree Park. 5.00 p.m. (Tamil)
August 17: Nageswara Rao Park, Luz Church Road. 4.30 p.m. (English)
August 18: Anna Nagar Tower Park. 4.30 p.m. (English)
August 18: A Special Musical Tree Walk will be held in Kalakshetra. 8 a.m. The walk will be led by the Nizhal team (Latha Nathan and Dr. Babu) and Carnatic musician Dr. Sowmya along with her disciples. Meeting and assembly point will be the Kalakshetra Road entrance to the campus.
August 23: Panagal Park, T Nagar. 5.00 p.m. (English)
August 24: Semmozhi Poonga, Cathedral Road. 4.30 p.m. (English)
August 25: Nanmangalam Forest Park. 8.00 a.m. (English)
August 25: Sivan Park, K.K. Nagar. 4.30 p.m. (English)
Registration for all the walks: Please call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Online through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade
Madras Week Programmes by
Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum
At Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr Secondary School, KK Nagar: PSBB, KK Nagar, and Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum have organised the following for students of the Central Cluster and neighbourhood schools:
August 12: Music Competition: Papanasam Sivan songs. 10.30 a.m. to noon
August 13: Oratorical Competition. Topic: How I Visualise Chennai Ten Years from Now and Impact of Metro/Monorails on Heritage, Duration: 3 minutes each. 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
August 14: Philately Quiz on Chennai. Each team of 2 students. 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon.
August 19: On-the-spot Painting Competition. Topic: The Place I Like in Chennai. 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Materials to be brought by the participants. Chart paper will be provided by school.
August 19: Katha Kalakshepam: Alwar or Nayanmar. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
August 21: Pulli Kolam Contest. 30 minutes. 13 dots. Materials to be brought by the participants. No colour allowed. 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
August 26: An exhibition conducted by Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum and ‘Reflections of Our Heritage’ by PSBB students. Prizes for all the competitions will be distributed on the same day. Venue: Silver Jubilee Hall 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon
The neighbourhood schools include PSBB Millennium, Gerugambakkam; PSBB Siruseri; Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ashok Nagar; Springfield, KK Nagar; MAK, KK Nagar; Devi Academy, Valsaravakkam; AVM School, Vadapalani; Karthikeyan Matriculation School, Vadapalani; Government Cariappa School, Vadapalani; and Government School, MGR Nagar. For details: Shanthi Chandrasekhar: 23663165/ 23664251 (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
Roja Muthiah Research Library Programmes
for Madras Week
August 18: Exhibition: Inauguration of exhibition of C.L.D. Gupta’s “Line drawings of Madras, Queen of the Coromandel”. 5.00 p.m. Inauguration by P. Chellapan.
Public lecture by S. Muthiah.
(Exhibition will be open on all days from the time of inauguration till 24th August)
August 22: Film: Screening of documentary Sekkizhar Adi-p-Podi by T.N. Ramachandran and Ravi Subramaniam. 5.00 p.m.
August 23: Public lecture: Re-inscribing religion as nation: Naveena Saiva (Modern Saivites), Tamil nationalism and the Dravidian movement by Prof. Ravi Vaitheeswaran. 5.00 p.m.
August 24: Public lecture: Thiru Vi Ka’s Chennai by Prof. A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Madras Institute of Development Studies. 5.00 p.m.
British Council Programmes for Madras Week
August 14-20: Blog Competition. Blog on a topic each week and win a Tablet. The topics are:
August 1-6: Madras to me is…
August 7-13: An Iconic Symbol of Madras...
August 14-20: Greatest British contribution in Madras to Modern India...
Send your blog entries to madrasweek@britishcouncil.org with your name and date of birth. Blogs in Tamil are also welcome. Watch our Facebook page for weekly winners.
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August 17-22: Walk into the British Council. Answer our Trivia questions on Madras to win daily prizes.
August 19-23: Identify this iconic place in Madras. Log into www.facebook.com/British CouncilIndia. Be the first to identify to win daily prizes.
August 22: Seminar: Wallajah, Pigot and Tanjore: Did they transform trading to expansionism? An all-day seminar. Speakers: Stephan Roman of the British Council, S. Anvar and S. Muthiah. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Amir Mahal. For invitees only. Organised by the British Council and hosted by Prince of Arcot.
Madras Week Programmes by INTACH
August 1: Short Play
Topic : Choose a historical personality of Chennai from the list below and portray a small part in his/her life through interaction with one or more of his/her contemporaries. Maximum 5 members per school
Venue: AMM Matriculation Hr. Sec. School, Kotturpuram. Time: 9.00 a.m. 5-7 minutes.
1. Thatikonda Namberumal Chetty
2. Beri Thimmappa
3. Sister R.S. Subbalakshmi
4. Durgabai Deshmukh
August 1: Presentation
Topic: Choose any area of Chennai and through an audio-visual presentation show the evolution of the area over the course of time. You can use photographs and videos of people, areas and maps. Team of 3 members per school.
Venue: AMM Matriculation Hr. Sec. School, Kotturpuram
Time: 12 noon. Duration: 5-7 minutes
Essay Competition
Topic: Choose any 5 top heritage sites in Chennai and write about their significance. Number of pages: 2-3 foolscap size. Last date to submit: August 10.
Email us at youngintachchennai@gmail.com to confirm participation.
Madras Week Programmes by
Madras Book Club
August 27: Book launch: The Anglo Indian – A 500 Year History by S. Muthiah, Harry MacLure and Richard O’Connor. Hotel President, 6.30 p.m. For members and guests only.
August 27: Book launch: Master of Arts – A life in dance by Tulsi Badrinath. Chief Guest: Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Hotel Savera, 11.30 a.m. Sponsored by the Duchess Club and Madras Book Club. Only by Invitation, and not for members of both Clubs.
August 31: Memorial meeting for K.S. Padmanabhan. Taj Connemara. 6.30 p.m. For members and guests only.
September 4: Book launch: Degree Coffee by the Yard by Nirmala Lakshman. Taj Connemara, 6.30 p.m. For members and guests only.
Madras Musings Walks and Talks
Talks
August 18: The Superstar of Tamil Cinema – Rajinikanth by Mohan V Raman at Grand Chola, 6.30 p.m.
August 19: Advertising in Pre-Independence Madras by A.R. Venkatachalapathy at Chamiers, 6.30 p.m.
August 20: FM in Chennai by Rajeev Nambiar (CEO Hello FM). The Park, 6.30 p.m.
August 21: Dialects of Madras – Badri Seshadri at Amethyst, 6.30 p.m.
August 22: Panel discussion on changing professional profile of Chennai – chaired by Chandu Nair, Park Sheraton, 6.30 p.m.
August 23: Creating a tree park in Kotturpuram by Shobha Menon at Savera, 6.30 p.m.
August 24: Motorsports in Madras by Ejji K Umamahesh, Hyatt Regency, Anna Salai, 7.00 p.m.
August 25: Chennai Weekend Artists and their works – exhibition and talk. GRT Convention Centre, 3-5 p.m.
Tours
August 17: Adyar and around led by Sriram V. 6.00 a.m.
August 18: The Islamic Heritage of Mount Road led by S. Anwar. 6.00 a.m.
August 24: A half day at Pulicat organised in collaboration with ARDE. 6.00 a.m.
August 25: Roaming around Royapuram led by Sriram V. 6.00 a.m.
All tours are partly by van and partly on foot. All tours end with breakfast except the tour on the 24th which will have breakfast during the tour. All tours are charged and prior registration is necessary by email at srirambts@gmail.com. Payment details will be emailed on receipt of registration.
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