History of Madras Week and Madras Day
Posted on: 23/Aug/2018 6:23:18 AM
Today, Madras becomes 379 by age! If you are perhaps not aware, Madras is the old name of present day Chennai. There is a popular belief that 22nd August 1639 that the deal involving Nayak rulers and Francis Day, a British Administrator towards buying the land (which is the present day Fort St George) for setting up the East India Company. In the initial days, the land was called Chennaipatinam or Madrasapatnam which then got transformed to Chennai and Madras. Beginning with forts and tiny settlements, the city has now evolved as a widespread metropolis, kudos!
The then Fort St. George which takes pride of being the very first English fortress in India is currently the Tamil Nadu assembly. The Madras Presidency during old days that covers the present day Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka served to be the core place of naval activity for years. After independence, the city was given the name as Madras state which then turn into Tamil Nadu. Later, the Tamil Nadu government had renamed the city as Chennai and the colonial tag was weeded off. The official name of the city is Chennai. However, people in the city still find the name Madras nostalgic and celebrate Madras Day.
Initially, the celebrations began as a meagre affair, but has now grown into a grandeur celebration of a week long. In this year�s celebration of Madras Day, there are more than 150 events being conducted of which heritage walks, public talks, film screenings, public performances, food festivals quizzes, etc. are a part.
The history of Madras Week celebration
The reason behind this celebration of Madras Week is three people. They are S Muthaiah, a historian, and Sashi Nair, a journalist and Vincent D� Souza, a publisher. It all started back in the year 2004.
In the present year, the celebrations for Madras Day had begun on 19th August and they will continue until 26th August. Check out all the Madras Week events at www.themadrasday.in.
Happy Madras Week everyone!
