Madras Musings

01/12/2025

Umpherston Street in George Town is now Umbarson Street. Do we need to commemorate an obscure coach builder when a greater business success came from there?

https://sriramv.com/2025/12/01/when-umpherston-transforms-to-umbarson-in-chennai/

25/11/2025

Reading the tributes that have appeared in the press following his passing, I was surprised that no mention was made of Meena Kumari's great love for Dharmendra and how their relationship helped him in honing his acting skills, and also furthered his career to an extent.

https://sriramv.com/2025/11/25/meena-kumari-in-dharmendras-life-and-career/

25/11/2025

Badrian's Garden commemorates a dubash. Its history is interesting.

https://sriramv.com/2025/11/25/a-lost-garden-and-a-forgotten-square/

19/11/2025

From Madras to Lucknow and back

A Week in Lucknow Last week I was in Lucknow and as always, I enjoyed wandering around the monuments large and small that dot that Nawabi city. And as always, I learnt a few new things, some with a Madras connect. It was news to me that the smooth texture of the walls at the Bara Imambara and La Martinere, owed much to Madras chunam!...

Last week I was in Lucknow and as always, I enjoyed wandering around the monuments large and small that dot that Nawabi city.

19/11/2025

Museums All – In Letter and Spirit

A City in Constant Evolution You cannot deny, that ours is a city that is most dynamic. And in the eyes of The Man from Madras Musings nothing can be more representative of this than the current craze to develop museums among the various government departments. They seem to have come a long way from the time when they wanted to demolish and destroy anything of heritage value that they possessed to now when they not only want to restore but also convert them into museums....

You cannot deny, that ours is a city that is most dynamic. And in the eyes of The Man from Madras Musings nothing can be more representative of this than the current craze to develop museums among the various government departments.

18/11/2025

The Six Pillars of The Esplanade – A heritage walk with Sriram V on Sunday, November 23,2025

Dear Friends, We’re delighted to share that our heritage walk will be on Sunday, Nov 23,2025! Wearying of repeated attacks by the French, the British in the 1770s took up several security measures that included a boundary for Black aka George Town. Six pillars were erected of which one survives next to Dare House. Where were the other five? Join Sriram V on this fascinating journey of discovery....

Wearying of repeated attacks by the French, the British in the 1770s took up several security measures that included a boundary for Black aka George Town.

17/11/2025

Thanjavur with Muthuswami Diksh*tar – A Heritage Tour, January 8 to 10, 2026.

Join us as we explore during the 250th birth year of Muthuswami Diksh*tar, his time in Thanjavur and Thiruvaiyyaru, the temples that inspired his raganga raga-s, and the legacy of the Thanjavur Quartet.With Sangita Kalanidhi Dr S Sowmya, Vidvan Ashwath Narayanan, and Sriram V bringing these compositions and stories to life. Dates: January 8 to 10, 2026Stay: Great Trails River View Resorts by GRT, Thanjavur.

Join us as we explore during the 250th birth year of Muthuswami Diksh*tar, his time in Thanjavur and Thiruvaiyyaru, the temples that inspired his raganga raga-s, and the legacy of the Thanjavur Quartet.With Sangita Kalanidhi Dr S Sowmya, Vidvan Ashwath Narayanan, and Sriram V bringing these composit...

13/11/2025

Protecting Heritage in Tamil Nadu: A Changing Landscape In the last decade or so, successive Governments in Tamil Nadu have done their bit for protecting public heritage. And by this we mean heritage of more recent provenance, the kind that was dismissed as colonial till then, and therefore robbed of basic maintenance and condemned to demolition. But, of late, there has been a change of heart....

In the last decade or so, successive Governments in Tamil Nadu have done their bit for protecting public heritage.

11/11/2025

Why Chennai’s Victoria Public Hall deserves to be restored

Despite questions about the money being spent on its restoration, the city’s hall deserves this work. Some symbols must be preserved, and this is one of them.

03/11/2025

A Forgotten Spiritual Link The Ramayana’s links with Sri Lanka are well-known across India. Not so celebrated, however, is the connection that Tevaram — a collection of devotional hymns to Shiva — has with that country. Of the 275 Padal Petra Sthalams revered in the Tevaram, the collective name for the works of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar, two are in Sri Lanka....

Long before modern diplomacy, devotion built bridges — the Tevaram’s verses echo in two Sri Lankan shrines.

27/10/2025

Rather than perpetually be in a. fever of changing names, the Greater Chennai Corporation should correct the numerous typos that abound in the signboards.

https://sriramv.com/2025/10/27/street-name-first-casualty-in-chennai-history/

24/10/2025

The Govt. is back with changing names of streets!

https://sriramv.com/2025/10/24/street-name-changes-on-the-cards/