Travelling through the spaces of time, all the way from Chennai to Madras

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The Indian Express 8 Aug 2014

CHENNAI: How would it feel revisiting the grand old legacy of Chennai, erstwhile Madras? If you wish to travel through the spaces of time and have a glimpse of Chennai in the 1800s, then participating in the Madras Week is all you need to do. The Madras Week which would begin on 17 August will perhaps be bigger than ever before, given the fact that this year marks the 375th birthday of our city.

Madras Week was initially started eleven years ago as Madras Day, to celebrate the founding of the city on August 22, 1639. The celebrations this year are likely to be spread throughout August and will be carried over to the first week of September. The participation in the event is purely voluntary.

The hotels in the city are slowly gearing up for the celebrations and would be enthusiastic participants in the week. Some of the city hotels would be venues for talks while others will host art and photographic exhibitions besides organising food festivals.

The city would witness a slew of events on the occasion. The Murugappa Group’s Madras Quiz for schools would be featured as part of the celebrations.  The Chennai Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will also conduct several competitive programmes for schools and colleges, such as quiz competitions, elocution contests and debates, with the point of focus being Madras. As has been the practice, Chennai Heritage, publishers of Madras Musings, will be hosting eight talks at various locations, on subjects related to the city. It will also lead several heritage walks in the city during the week.