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| The name Madras is derived from Madraspatnam,
the site chosen by the British East India Company
for a permanent settlement in 1639. Another small
town, Chennapatnam, lay to the south of it. In due
course the two towns were merged, and the term Madras
was favoured by the British. However locals used
to refer to it as Chennapatnam or Chennapuri. The
city was renamed Chennai in August 1996 as the name
Madras was perceived to be of Portuguese origin.
(A number of other Indian cities have enacted similar
name changes.) It is believed that the original
Portuguese name is Madre de Sois, named after a
Portuguese high authority who was one among the
early settlers in 1500. There have been however
been suggestions that Chennai may not be a Tamil
name while Madras may be of Tamil origin. |
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Bogi is celebrated to rid the society
of evil. People clean up their houses of junk material
and old clothes. Houses are painted white. Farm
animals are given a bath and are decorated with
colored powders and paints. Read
more......
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| The temples of Chennai are the peepholes
into the splendor of culture, religion and architecture
of Tamil state. The Chola and Pallava art and architecture
dominates the skyline of the entire state. The Chola
kings of the 9th century AD built temples of modest
height in granite. Special attention was paid to
the sanctum sanctorum where deities were placed
in niches as prescribed in the ritual treatises.
Rajaraja Chola constructed the most grandiose of
the south Indian temples, 85 m in height, which
is a marvel of symmetry and structural design. 5
m high dwarapalas (guardians) stand at the entrance.
From the 16th century AD, the gopurams (entrance
towers) under the Vijayanagar King Krishna Devaraya
spiraled to greater heights as much as 60 m. They
came to be known as rayagopuras (royal towers) after
his name. The bases of these towers were built of
stone and the entire superstructure was of brick
and mortar, painted and studded with hundreds of
stucco figures. Read
more... |
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