Madras Day
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Madras Day is a festival organised to commemorate the founding of the city of
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
in Tamil Nadu, India. It is celebrated on 22 August every year, 22 August 1639 being the widely agreed date for the purchase of the village of Madraspatnam or Chennapatnam by
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
factors
Andrew Cogan Sir Andrew Cogan, 1st Baronet also known as Andrew Coggan (born circa 1600, Greenwich, England; died circa 1660) was the first agent of the English East India Company to rule Madras (a. k. a. Chennai). He was the chief of the Masul ...
and
Francis Day Francis Talbot Day (2 March 1829 – 10 July 1889) was an army surgeon and naturalist in the Madras Presidency who later became the Inspector-General of Fisheries in British Raj, India and British rule in Burma, Burma. A pioneer ichthyologist, ...
from Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka, the viceroy of the
Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belonging to ...
. The idea of a Madras Day was first suggested by Chennai-based journalists Vincent D'Souza, editor, ''Mylapore Times'' (a local newspaper) and Sashi Nair, director and editor,
Press Institute of India Press Institute of India (PII) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1963 for the development of standards of journalism in India. It conducts workshops on development journalism, women empowerment and child rights, national security, fo ...
, to historian S. Muthiah during a conversation at Muthiah's home in 2004. Since then, Madras Day celebrations have been held every year without fail, its highlights being exhibitions, lectures, film screenings and quizzes. The Madras Day festival has registered a steady increase in popularity year after year. Between 2014 and 2019, the editions lasted through August and extended into September as well, with more than 120-odd programmes, prompting demands to rename Madras Day as Madras Week, or even Madras Month. There has been a contention that the deed of purchase was actually dated 22 July 1639 and not 22 August.


History of Madras Day

The first recorded celebration of the founding of Madras was its tercentenary commemoration in 1939. Unlike later anniversaries, the celebrations were officially sponsored by the British government and a special tercentenary commemoration volume was issued with essays on the different aspects of Madras city authored by leading experts of the time. An exhibition of pictures, portraits, maps, records and coins was inaugurated by
Diwan Bahadur Dewan Bahadur or Diwan Bahadur was a title of honour awarded during British rule in India. It was awarded to individuals who had performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was accompanied by a special ...
S. E. Runganadhan, the Vice-Chancellor of the
Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...
and a short play writing competition was organised. The 350th anniversary in 1989 was celebrated with the opening of a commemorative monument titled "Madras 350" built in the Classical Style by builder Frankpet Fernandez at the junction of the
Poonamallee High Road EVR Periyar Salai (SHU 86)(EVR High Road), earlier known as Poonamallee High Road ( NH 48) and originally the Grand Western Trunk Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It is the longest road in Chennai. Running from east to west, the r ...
and the New Avadi Road. Other major events included the commissioning of a book by S. Muthiah titled ''Madras — The Gracious City'' by the
Murugappa Group Murugappa Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1900 by A. M. Murugappa Chettiar. The Group has 29 businesses including 10 companies listed on the NSE and the BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major companies of the Group include Carbo ...
which also organised the first Madras Quiz which has continued to the present day. The idea to celebrate the birth of the city every year was born when journalists Shashi Nair and Vincent D'Souza met S. Muthiah at his residence for coffee.First city of modern India
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It was based on the success of another event called Mylapore Festival which D'Souza had been organising every year in January. It was decided by the trio to start celebrating Madras Day from 2004. According to them, the "primary motive of celebrating 'Madras Day' was to focus on the city, its past and its present." The idea initially started off with about five events in 2004 but grew gradually. The second edition in 2005 had events throughout the week. In 2008, there were a total of 60 events conducted. In 2007, a commemorative postal cover was released by Chief Postmaster-General of Tamil Nadu Circle at a function at Fort St George as a part of the Madras Day celebrations, thereby inaugurating a tradition that continued through the later editions. The 2010 celebrations lasted beyond a week and extended well into the following week as well. The 375th Madras Day was celebrated with more than a hundred events that lasted from 10 August to 14 September 2014. However, despite expectations to the contrary, Tamil Nadu government departments did not participate in the celebrations which they felt "colonial heritage". The celebrations were deemed a roaring success and the events got nationwide coverage for the first time.Alternate Link
(Archived + Alternate Links added 23 August 2024)
" The Madras Song" was composed to commemorate the occasion and a website was launched by ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' titled friendsofchennai.com for residents of the city to create online petitions voicing their civic grievances. Historian and entrepreneur
V. Sriram Sriram Venkatakrishnan (born 22 June 1966) is an Indian entrepreneur, columnist, music historian and heritage activist. He was schooled in Madras and Calcutta. His bachelor's in engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering in 1987 was foll ...
also designed a mobile app named Chennai Past Forward for users to keep in track with the heritage of the city. The 376th Madras Day celebrations were bigger with events being held even in suburbs like
Tambaram Tambaram is a city located within the Chennai Metropolitan Area in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The city is governed by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation. Etymology Tambaram is an ancient town referred to as Taamapuram in an inscrip ...
. Apart from heritage walks, the 2015 edition also included a walk of the
L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Da ...
film studios. The focus was, however, on restoration of the Coovum River and a presentation on the history and heritage of the Coovum River was held at the
Madras Literary Society The Madras Literary Society is a learned society in Chennai (earlier called Madras), India which was founded in 1817 and in 1830 became associated with the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. It was founded by Sir John Henry Newbolt ...
by author
Anusha Venkatesh Anusha is a name of multiple origins meaning "dawn" or "auspicious morning" in Sanskrit, and "immortal" or "ambrosial" in Persian ('انوشه''). Anusha may also be etymologically traced to the Tamil astronomical term ''anusham''. Notable people wi ...
on 15 August. The Cycling Yogis, a Chennai cyclists' group, conducted a 72 km bicycle ride along with the Coovum River on 16 August 2015. The 377th Madras Day celebrations were kick-started in a grand manner by The Hindu Group through their Madras Beats 2016 song. Composed and performed by Opus g7, a band which was selected as winner through a competition floated by ''The Hindu'', the song "Endrum Padhinaaru" was launched on 21 August 2016 and went viral on social media.


The celebration

Madras Day focuses on the city, its history, its past and its present and the core team of catalysts motivates communities, groups, companies and campuses in the city to host events that celebrate the city.Madras day website
/ref> The celebration consists of events such as
heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...
walks,
public talks A public lecture (also known as an open lecture) is one means employed for educating the public. Gresham College, in London, has been providing free public lectures since its founding in 1597 through the will of Sir Thomas Gresham. The Royal ...
,
exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
, poetry reading sessions, public performances,
food festival A food festival is a festival, that features food, often produce, as its central theme. These festivals have been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season. History Food fe ...
s and special programs on local radio. It also includes contests such as
T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...
designing, documentary film contest, multimedia presentation for schools and quizzes in both
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
and English. T-shirts to mark the event are also released. The talks delivered to mark the week-long celebrations usually involve lectures explaining the heritage and history of the city. There are also events for the retired citizens where they can post about their life years ago on the "Stories about Madras section" on Madras Day's website and share their views on how Madras grew into the Chennai of today. The programmes for Madras Day 2015 included: * Heritage walks organised by the Chennai Heritage foundation * Quizzes and competitions for children organised by the
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...
* Daily lectures organised by the Roja Muthiah Research Library * Daily lectures organised by the
Press Institute of India Press Institute of India (PII) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1963 for the development of standards of journalism in India. It conducts workshops on development journalism, women empowerment and child rights, national security, fo ...
* Tree walks by the Nizhal Foundation * Field trips by the
Madras Naturalists' Society Madras Naturalists' Society is a non-governmental organization that promotes appreciation, education and conservation of Nature. It was founded by bird watchers from the city of Madras (now Chennai), India) on 17 May 1978. G. K. Bhat was the orga ...
* Lectures and exhibitions organised by
The C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation The C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation is a non-profit organization founded on 14 October 1966 as per the will of lawyer C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. The foundation is headquartered a1 1, Eldam's Road, Alwarpet in Chennai, India (also known as C. P. Ramas ...
* Competitions organised by the
Photographic Society of Madras The Photographic Society of Madras is in Chennai city of India. Founded in 1857, it is the oldest photographic society in India and one of the oldest in the world. PSM was founded in 1857, with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Pho ...
A unique design T-shirt, selected through open competition, is sold by ''Mylapore Times'' every year during Madras Week.


Controversy regarding the date

There has been a controversy regarding the exact day when Madras was handed over to the British East India Company's Francis Day and Andrew Cogan between the dates 22 July and 22 August. The controversy arose since the agreement documents dates the records to 22 July 1639 rather than 22 August of that year. It is often stated that Francis Day and Andrew Cogan did not arrive at the Madras coast until 27 July 1639. The evidence comes from writings of Henry Davison Love, whose monumental three-volume history ''Vestiges of Old Madras, 1640–1800'' is a prime reference source for Madras' early history, which states that "The Naik's grant, erroneously styled a
farman Farman Aviation Works () was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rational ...
, which was probably drafted by Day, was delivered to Andrew Cogan at
Masulipatam Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar (), is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the mandal headqua ...
on September 3, 1639... Three copies are extant ... all of which are endorsed by Cogan. Only the last bears a date, 22 July 1639, where July is probably a slip for August, since Day did not reach Madras until 27 July". When was Founding Day?
The Hindu


References


External links


Madras Day: August 22

Madras Day site

Madras Day 2015


{{Portal bar, India August observances Culture of Chennai Recurring events established in 2004 2004 establishments in Tamil Nadu Events in Chennai