Chenna Keshava Perumal Temple

Chennai, which was also called Madras, has been expanding fast. The migrated population, industrial development, and various other developments have changed the landscape of the city to a great extent. The boundaries of the city keep changing. If the citizens of the current Chennai are quizzed to name a few important temples in the city, they might list down the temples in Mylapore and Triplicane. Hardly few of them would know about Chenna Malleeswarar and Chenna Keshava Temples, the twin temples of the original Chennai or Black Town. There is a theory that the city was named after these temples. Many interesting historical incidents related to this temple are connected with the prominent people who founded the city or helped the tiny hamlet to develop into a bigger city in the initial days. Let me talk about all those details in this article.

This article focuses only on Keshava temple. The other temple, Chenna Malleeswara temple, is covered in another article in this blog.

History:

Formation of Madras

Armagon, located around 57 km north of Pulicat, was one of the earliest settlements of the East India Company. In February 1626 CE, the factory was set up here.

As per the instructions from Thomas Ivie of Bantam, Francis Day, the Chief of the Armagon Factory, undertook a voyage of exploration of a new site for setting up the factory. He traveled to Pondichery on his ship. Then, he reached a small village named Madrasapattinam, located about 5 km north of Santhome. In Madrasapattinam, Day met Damarla Venkatappa Nayak, who was ruling that region.

Venkatappa was the representative of Vijaya Nagara Kings of Chandragiri, who ruled the coastal region between Pulicat and Santhome. His capital was Vandavasi. His father was Chennappa Nayak, a.k.a. Damarla Kumara Chinnappa Naidu. His dynasty was called Kalahasthi Rajas. They were originally from Damal village, located north of Kanchipuram. (There is a theory that the city was named as Chennai after a hamlet called Chennapattinam, which was again named after Chennappa Nayak.)

On 22nd August 1639 CE, an agreement was signed between Day and Venkatappa, in which the Madrasapattinam village was offered to the British for two years. It enabled the British to build a fort in this village and conduct trade-related activities. Day translated the agreement, which was drafted in Telugu, to English, and sent the same to his higher officials for their approval.

The higher official in Surat did not know about the exploration conducted by Day. They had assigned a group under Andrew Cogan's leadership to find a suitable site for setting up the factory. Cogan became the company agent of Masulipattinam on 3rd September 1639 CE. 

At the same time, Day reached Masulipattinum with a copy of his agreement with Venkatappa. After getting the approval from Surat's higher officials, Day and Cogan came to Madrasapattinam on 20th February 1640 CE by two ships called "Eagle" and "Unity". Along with them, an Indian too traveled to Madrasapattinam. His name was Nagappan. He used to produce gunpowder for the British. Day and Cogan started constructing the Fort (named St. George Fort later) on 1st March 1640 CE. 

Beri Thimanna served as the Dubashi for Day and Cogan. It is said that he was instrumental in the purchase of Madrasapattinam village by the British from Nayak.

Francis Day, Beri Thimanna and Andrew Cogan are the founders of Madras/Chennai city.

The Original Temple

There was a temple for Vishnu called Chenna Keshava Perumal, located at the site where the High Court is located now. It is believed that this temple was referred to by Dr. Fryer, who mentioned that he had visited a Pagoda in 1673 CE. In 1710 CE, the Thomas Pitt map also indicates the existence of a great Pagoda in this region. 

In addition, in a document dated 26th April 1648, it is mentioned that Beri Thimanna presented the Chenna Keshava Perumal temple, which was built by him, to a Brahmin named Narayanappa Iyer. Another document dated 13th August 1646 CE talks about the temple and the adjoining land given as a gift to the same Narayanappa Iyer by Nagappan.

Based on the 1648 dated document, some historians believe that the temple was built by Thimanna in the 1640s. However, based on the 1646 dated document, I believe the temple was not constructed by Thimanna. He could have probably renovated the temple but boasted as if it was built by him. If what I think is true, then this temple is much older. This should have been made even before the British landed in Madrasapattinam. Now, this raises two different theories. The first probability is that Chennappa Nayak might have built this temple, and hence was named Chenna Keshava. Else, Nayak was named after this deity of a much older temple. In either case, the name of the temple has some connection with the name of the city (Chennai), which cannot be denied.

It appears that the Britishers gave much importance to this original temple. The temple servants wore the badge of the East India Company. Even the coins called Pagoda had the stamp of Chenna Keshava imprinted. Some portion of the toll collected in the city was spent on this temple.

Demolition of the Temple

In December 1758 CE, the French army entered the unfortified Black town where the majority of the native population lived. The French army occupied Chenna Keshava Temple. The siege was lifted in 1759 CE. Now, the Britishers realized that it was unsafe to settle near St. George Fort. Hence, they moved the settlement further north, resulting in the Esplanade forming in-between. The temple was also demolished as part of that move. (As per a few historians, the temple was destroyed in 1757 CE).

Twin Temples

Reportedly, there was a public outcry after the temple was demolished. In 1762 CE, the East India Company offered an area in Petha Naickenpet that was equivalent to the space occupied by the original temple. Under Manali Muthu Krishna Mudaliar, a committee was formed to construct the temple. Mudaliar was the last chief merchant of the East India Company. 

In Ganga Rama Street in Petha Naickentpet, Mudaliar started constructing the temple. The Company compensated the owners of 38 houses which were removed to accommodate the space of around 24,000 sq. feet for the temple. The Company donated 1,173 pagodas. Mudaliar contributed 5,202 pagodas and collected the rest from the public. Totally, about 15,652 pagodas were spent on the construction of the temple.

While constructing the Chenna Keshava temple, Mudaliar built the Chenna Malleeswarar temple nearby. 

The four Mada Streets around these two temples were renamed later. East Mada Street became Devraja Mudali Street, North Mada Street became Netaji Bose Road, West Mada Street became Nainiyappa Naicken Street, and South Mada Street was renamed Rasappa Chetty Street.

The twin temples together are referred to as Pattinam Temples.

Even before the original temple was demolished due to fear of Hyder Ali's invasion, it is believed that the Utsava Murti (processional deity) of Chenna Keshava was moved to Tiruneermalai temple. After the old temple was demolished and the new temple was constructed, the utsava deity of Tiruneermalai temple was brought down by mistake. Even today, the utsava deity from Tiruneermalai is reportedly found in the sanctum of this temple. 

Temple Layout

Entrance

The east-facing temple has a big front-side mandapa. This mandapa has a few pillars with some beautiful carvings. Many shops, mainly photo frame shops, are located in this mandapa. 

There is no tower for this temple. Instead, a lintel with images of Vishnu and his two consorts is found at the entrance.

Chenna Keshava

The east-facing sanctum enshrines the small images of Chenna Keshava in the standing posture. He is found along with his two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi.

The flag staff, bali peetha and Garuda are found in the courtyard facing toward the direction of the sanctum.

The front side mandapa located outside of the Maha Mandapa has a lot of pillars with interesting sculptures.

Chenkamala Valli

The temple's Goddess is Chenkamala Valli, found in a separate east-facing shrine in the prakara.

Maha Mandapa


There are a few beautiful mural paintings found in Maha Mandapa. There are six east-facing sub-shrines located in this area. They are Alavandar, Senai Mudali, Periyalvar, Mudaliyandan, Koorathalvan and Ramanujar.

Major Shrines

A sub-shrine of big and beautiful Kodanda Rama, along with Sita and Lakshmana, is found in the prakara. Opposite this shrine, Hanuman, with folded hands, is found in a separate sub-shrine.

Andal, Venu Gopal-Rukmini-Bhama and Sudarshan with Narsimha on his back are some of the prominent deities located in different sub-shrines in this temple. The mandapa where Andal's shrine is located is called Kili Mandapa, where sculptures of beautiful parrots are found. 

Other Deities

Near Kodanda Rama shrine, the following sub-shrines are found:

• Poigai Alwar, Pei Alwar and Bhootat Alwar
• Tirumazhisai Alwar, Kulashekhara Alwar and Tondaradi Podi Alwar
• Tiruppan Alwar and Tirumangai Alwar
• Bhattar, Nambi and Vedanta Desikar
• 4 pillared mandap with beautiful sculptures
• Vaikuntha Vasal
• Rama Padam

At the north-east corner of the temple, the following shrines are located:

• Manavala Mamuni - Pillai Lokacharya
• Madurakavi Alwar, Nammalvar and Nathamuni
• Kannadi Arai (Room full of mirrors)

There are many attractive and interesting carvings on the pillars all over the temple.

Happy travelling.

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