The Colonial Temples of Madras

The history of Chennai is only complete if the British era is addressed. Similarly, the travel itinerary for Chennai is only complete if its temples are included. I don't want to ignore either of them in this article. The temples of Greater Chennai can be broadly classified into three categories, the ancient temples, the British-era temples, and the later ones. This article focuses on the temples of the city that were built during the British period with their direct or indirect contributions. It was the time when the temples were patronized not by the Kings but by British agents.

The Twin Temples of Original Madras

There was a temple for Vishnu called Chenna Keshava Perumal, located at the site of the High Court. This temple was believed to be 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. It is beyond the scope of this article to analyze if this temple was built by Beri Thimanna, the Dubhashi of Francis Day, and Andrew Cogan or if it was a much older temple.

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

In December 1758 CE, the French army entered the unfortified Black Town, where most of the native population lived. The army occupied the temple. The siege was lifted in 1759 CE. The Britishers, realizing it was unsafe to have settlement near St. George Fort, moved it further north. The temple was also demolished.

Reportedly, there was a public outcry after the temple was demolished. In 1762 CE, the East India Company offered land in Petha Naickenpet. A committee under Manali Muthu Krishna Mudaliar was formed to construct the temple. Mudaliar was a chief merchant of the East India Company.

In Ganga Rama Street in Petha Naickentpet, Mudaliar started constructing the temple. The Company donated 1,173 pagodas. Mudaliar contributed 5,202 pagodas and collected the rest from the public. Totally, around 15,652 pagodas were spent on the construction of the temple.

While constructing the Chenna Keshava temple, Mudaliar built the Chenna Malleeswarar temple nearby. Thus, the twin temples of Shiva and Vishnu were erected, which share the tank and Ratha even today. The twin temples together are referred to as Pattinam Temples. The prominent temples have a simple layout and a limited number of sculptures. Finding such a calm and serene place in today's highly crowded and congested Black Town is tough.


Kanda Kottam

Today, the city has many famous temples for Murugan, fondly called the God of Tamils. However, in the original Madras, which had a shorter boundary around the fort, there was only one famous temple for Murugan. It was Kanda Kottam.

The temple's presiding deity is a small image of Kanda Swami. Although the Murti is small, the Kirti (fame) is significant. Ramalinga Adigal used to visit this temple every day. The famous devotees of Murugan, such as Variyar, playback singers Sirkazhi Govindarajan and T.M.S., were regular visitors of this temple.

Vellore Mari Chettiar served as a merchant under the British East India Company. He was a staunch devotee of Lord Murugan. He and his friend Kandappa Achari used to visit the Murugan temple at Tirupporur on the Kritikai day of every month. One day, when they were resting under a neem tree on their way to that temple, they accidentally discovered an idol of Murugan buried under a snake hole.

Mari Chettiar and Kandappa Achari took that idol along with them. They installed it in a site with a Pillaiyar temple (Rasappa Chetty Street in the Park Town area) in 1673 CE. Chettiar had to pawn the jewels of his wife to extend the temple. Fortunately, he did not have to spend to purchase the land, as Muthiyalu Naicken, the prosperous merchant, gifted it.

The temple got extended and renovated for many years by the Chettiar community.

Alingal’s Pagoda

When a person, Betha Venkatadri, became the Chief Merchant of the East India Company, two people were assigned to serve him. One among them was Alangatha Pillai. He became very popular later, and the British considered him the best Dubhashi they ever had. He also became the Chief Merchant of the East India Company after Betha Venkatadri. He was referred to as Alingal Pillai in British records.

Alangatha Pillai made a lot of money through his service to the British. He was probably too religious. He used his wealth to build a massive temple for Lord Shiva called Ekambareswarar on Mint Street. He became Dubhashi in the 1680s and died probably in 1689 CE. Hence, this temple must have been built sometime in the 1680s CE.

The temple of Ekambareswarar was very popular in Madras in those days. It was referred to as Allingal's Pagoda on a map belonging to the early 1700s.

Chintadaripet Twin Temples

The Pattinam temples were built probably due to public outcry. Kanda Kottam and Ekambareswarar temples were constructed out of devotion. But the twin temples of Chintadaripet were built perhaps due to commercial motives.

Sunku Rama Chetty, a powerful and wealthy Dubhashi, owned the locality called Sunku Ram's Garden. It was developed as Chintadaripet after the weavers settled here in 1734 CE. It seems Audiappa Narayan, who served as a Dubhashi under the British, figured out that the temples would attract the people to settle down in this locality. He was instrumental in constructing the twin temples for Shiva and Vishnu in this area. In the 1780s, the temples were built at the cost of around 18,000 pagodas. Similar to the Pattinam temples, these two temples also share a common tank. Audiappa Narayan also constructed a mosque in this area.

Thus, a Dubhashi built the temples on the land that another Dubhashi owned.

Kaladipet Perumal Temple

Joseph Collet served as the Governor of Madras between 1717 and 1719 CE. Veeraraghava, a Brahmin in a high post in the British Government, became very close to Collet thanks to his sincere work and loyalty.

Veeraraghava was a staunch devotee of Vishnu. He often used to travel to Kanchipuram to visit the famous Varadaraja temple. Due to this, he even used to report late to the office. Collet did not like this, and he wanted to stop this habit of his beloved employee.

Collet gave some money to Veeraraghava and permitted him to collect funds from the public. Thus, Veeraraghava built a temple for Lord Varadaraja in his own locality. The area was also named after the Governor, Colletpet, and the name got transformed into Kaladipet later. It was the first weaver's village outside the Black Town area.

Conclusion

These are not the only temples that had British connections. There are a few more temples that claim to have British links. But most of them are not recorded in history. They are either legendary or hearsay.

Some people strongly argue that the British shifted the Kalikambal Temple of Thambu Chetty Street to the current location from the Fort area. It is believed that the Britishers shifted the Krishna temple of Tirvanchery village near Tambaram from the space occupied by RAF station (Air Force station). It is said that the temple of Ganesha was shifted to NSC Bose Road by the British due to a religious conflict at the site where the temple was initially located.

Few historians feel that Kitti Narayana, the son of the famous Dubhashi Beri Thimanna, built the Bairagi Temple in Elephant Gate. As I disagree with that opinion, I have not included that temple as part of the Colonial Temples.

Happy travelling.