Sunday, April 1, 2018, Chennai (Madras), India

Formerly known as Madras, Chennai is the cultural center of Southern India. This fascinating coastal city is a heady blend of ancient and sacred structures, stately colonial-era buildings and churches, and modern-day sensibility. By many accounts, Chennai was founded as a British city as the fortifications of Fort St. George were built in 1650 on uninhabited land and only later surrounded by the structures of old Madras. The British remained in the fort until India’s independence in 1947. Today, the fort’s walls enclose government buildings, the historic St. Mary’s church, and a museum. A highlight of Chennai is the brick-red Madras High Court, a splendid example of Indo-Saracenic architecture with Mughal touches and domed cupolas.

One of our three stops on today's shore excursion was at the Santhome Church. Built in 1504 and rebuilt in 1893 in the neo-Gothic style, it is said to contain the remains of St. Thomas the Apostle. Because of the number of pictures and length of text, a separate blog will follow regarding this stop.

City Tour & Fort St. George Visit

On our excursion today we visited Chennai’s most treasured monuments during a fascinating city tour. We explored Fort St. George, said to be the first British settlement in India. It only took about 15 years to build in the mid-1600s. We browsed its rich collection of memorabilia from the British and French East India Companies and the Raj and Muslim administrations. Later, we visited St. Mary’s Church. India’s oldest surviving British church and the first in Madras, it was built in 1680 to serve the needs of the colonists.

Pictures taken from top of cruise ship after docking. A busy sea port.

Very dangerous red carpet rolled out for us; the surface under was very uneven. One lady broke her foot which ended her cruise.

Very old submarine; must be ready for scrap yard or used for training somehow.

Two tugs pulling freighter out from dock and turning it around in a very small space.

Easter decoration on Deck 1 in the atrium.

On our way to today's shore excursion, the St. George Fort and museum, along with St. Mary Church.

Moat surrounding fort. High and dry and littered.

Fort St George is the name of the first English (later British) fortress in India, founded in 1644 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally an uninhabited land. Thus, it is a feasible contention to say that the city evolved around the fortress. The fort currently houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly and other official buildings. The fort is one of the 163 notified areas (megalithic sites) in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The East India Company (EIC), which had entered India around 1600 for trading activities, had begun licensed trading at Surat, which was its initial bastion. However, to secure its trade lines and commercial interests in the spice trade, it felt the necessity of a port closer to the Malaccan Straits, and succeeded in purchasing a piece of coastal land, originally called Chennirayarpattinamor Channapatnam, where the Company began the construction of a harbor and a fort. The fort was completed on 23 April 1644 at a cost of £3000 coinciding with St George's Day, celebrated in honor of the patron saint of England. The fort, hence christened Fort St George, faced the sea and some fishing villages, and it soon became the hub of merchant activity. It gave birth to a new settlement area called George Town, which grew to envelop the villages and led to the formation of the city of Madras. It also helped to establish English influence over the Carnatic and to keep the kings of Arcot and Srirangapatna, as well as the French forces based at Pondichéry, at bay. In 1665, after the EIC received word of the formation of the new French East India Company, the fort was strengthened and enlarged while its garrison was increased.

St. Mary's Church, located at Fort St George, is the oldest Anglican church (Church of South India) East of Suez and also the oldest British building in India. The church is popularly known as the 'Westminster Abbey of the East.'

From 1639, when Madras was founded, until 1678, when Streynsham Master was appointed the English East India Company's Agent at Madras, religious services were conducted in the dining-room of the Factory House. It was at Master's initiative, and without the sanction of the Directors of the Company, that a subscription was started for the construction of the church.

The sum collected amounted to 805 pagodas with the Governor and other officers contributing. Construction was started on 25 March 1678 - Lady Day, whereby the church acquired its name. The church was rendered the only bomb-proof building at the time, in the Fort, on account of a peculiarly designed roof, details of which are provided under Architecture.

Construction was completed in the course of two years and the church was consecrated on 28 October 1680 by the chaplain Rev. Richard Portman. The ceremony was marked by the firing of small arms and cannon by the fort's garrison.

On account of its peculiar roof-structure, the church was used as a barrack and granary between December, 1758 and January, 1759 during the Second Carnatic War, when the French besieged Madras and again when Hyder Ali invaded the town in the late 18th century.

Old officer's mess.

Look familiar? Maybe Tomas Jefferson memorial in DC?

On our way to next stop, Santome Basilica (St Thomas church) that will be the subject of a subsequent blog post. Newer government housing building (above).

Artificial waterfall along beach front.

Our tour guide said this is the second longest beach in the world, 13 kilometers (eight+ miles).

Major fishing beach with boats along water, nets above for cleaning and repair, huts. Substandard dwellings were on opposite side of road we traveled.

Our guide took us to the old Indian district. Walking in area on way temple.

Flower stand, one of many.

Here, we visited the quarter’s beloved temple. Out of respect, shoes are not worn inside temples.

Vivekanandar Illam is a structure at Chennai, India, used by the British to store ice brought from North America for about 30 years. Ice King Frederic Tudor built an ice house at Madras facing the Bay of Bengal in 1842 as part of his ice business. Interestingly, ice was brought from Massachusetts to, we think we remember, New Zealand at about the same time period.