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Friday, October 22, 2021

Vellikizhamai Thayar purappadu .. .. History of Madrasapatnam !!

Today 22nd Oct 2021 is 5th day of Aippaisi .. .. and being Friday –there would be purappadu inside the temple precincts for Sri Vedavalli thayar.  Here are some photos of Sri Amruthavalli thayar purappadu during Navarathiri on 12.10.2021 at Thirumylai Sri Madhava Perumal thirukovil. 

Mylai Sri Madhavar Rajagopuram view from inside

History is what was written by some vested interests !  - the villages of MYlapore, Thiruvallikkeni, Elumbur, Puliyur, Thiruvottiyur, Poovirunthavalli and more existed centuries before the Chennapatnam or Madrasapatnam was referred in the annals of British history.  But we read about Madras, Francis Day as History books taught us the acumen and governance of people like : Warren Hastings, Cornwallis, Wellesley, Minto, Dalhousie, Canning, Mayo, Ripon, Irwin, Linlithgow, Mountbatten .. .. ..  more than what we should have read about Thondaimandalam, Chera, Chozha, Pandiya, Pallava, Chalukya, Guptas, Pulikesis  and more

Government of India Act 1833 (Nation was recognized at that time itself by British !) (also Saint Helena Act 1833) re-designated the office with the title of Governor-General of India. Lord William Bentinck was first to be designated as the Governor general of India in 1833.  Closer to the bay of Bengal, British set foot as traders. 


Mylai Sri Amruthavalli thayar vimanam

It is an old story that on the east coast of India, the Dutch in the early part of the 17th century showed an enterprise in starting and a skill in pushing trade that put their British rivals to blush.  The Dutch founded a settlement at Pulicat, which obtained a large measure of prosperity while the English settlement at Masulipatnam was struggling for existence.    It was then thought desirable to go farther afield and Francis Day embarked at Armagon and proceeded further down the coast to search what was wanted.   He then wended his way a little farther Norty and made a friend of the Naik Damarla Venkatadra, the Lord General of Carnatica and Grand vizier to the King of Vizianagar at Wandiwash ( the scene of Coote’s victory over Lally) and also established friendly relations with Naik’s brother Ayjapaneyik Naik who resided in Poonamallee

He as vicegerent of Damarla was induced to grant him a firman authorizing erection by the English of a fort at port of Madraspatnam and the firman further stated that English Company would be allowed to conduct an import and export trade free of customs duty; that if goods were transported upto or through my country, the company shall pay half the duties charged to other merchants; that the Company shall perpetually enjoy the privilege of mintage, free of dewes or duties and that Naik would be responsible for payment made by the Company to ‘merchants, painters, weavers etc.,’ – there were to be few more conditions that blindly were in favour of the trading East India company.

Like Great Britain, the Fort constructed at Madras has been governed during two epochs by men of the name Pitt – Thomas Pitt, Governor from 1698 to 1709 and his second cousin once removed, George Morton Pitt who held the position from 1730 to 1735.   

Thomas Pitt (1653 – 1726) of Blandford in Dorset, is the one commonly referred as Governor Pitt,  posthumously, as "Diamond" Pitt  was an English merchant involved in trade with India who served as President of Madras and six times as a Member of Parliament. He was the grandfather of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ("Pitt the Elder") and was great-grandfather of Pitt the Younger, both prime ministers of Great Britain.

In 1674, Pitt came to India with the East India Company, and soon began trading for himself as an "interloper" in defiance of the East India Company's legal monopoly on Indian trade. Upon his return to England, he was fined £400 for his actions, although by that time he was already very wealthy and could easily afford the fine. He then proceeded to buy the manor of Stratford, Wiltshire and its surrounding borough of Old Sarum. With that acquisition he gained a seat in the House of Commons, as it was a rotten borough, although his first seat was as the member for Salisbury in the Convention Parliament of 1689. The purchase of Old Sarum would have a significant effect on English history, as the seat would pass to Pitt's rather influential descendants. Pitt returned to India and eventually was hired by the East India Company.

In August 1698, Pitt arrived at Madras as the President of the East India Company and was entrusted to negotiate an end to the Child's War with the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In August 1699, he had been appointed as the Governor of Fort St. George. In 1702, when the fort was besieged by Daud Khan of the Carnatic, the Mughal Empire's local subedar (lieutenant), Pitt was instructed to seek peace. He later bought out some of the Carnatic region. He began garrisoning East India Company forts by raising regiments of local sepoys.  Pitt became the President of Madras  in 1698 and remained in his post till 1709.

On 4 December 1700, the Government of Fort St George banned cock-fighting and other traditional games, regarding it as the foremost reason for the poverty of the inhabitants of Madras. Pitt fortified the walls of Black Town and organised an accurate survey of the city. Pitt is best known for the acquisition of the Five New Towns: Tiruvatiyoor, Kathiwakam, Nungambakkam, Vyasarpady and Sathangadu. In need of money after making gifts to his family, he gave up his seat in parliament in 1716 in favour of the position of Governor of Jamaica. However, his finances were restored by the sale of a large diamond (later known as the Regent Diamond) and he resigned the position the following year without ever going there.  

Enough of history .. .. Thirumylai is a famous place dating back to centuries – Sri Madhava Perumal Temple and Sri Kesava Perumal thirukovil near Chithirai kulam have existed for close to 1000 years, if not earlier. 






மாதவன் எம்பெருமானை தாள்  தொழ நம் தீவினைகள் எல்லாம் ஓய்ந்து, கொடியன அனைத்தும் தூசாக பறந்து ஓடும்எம்பெருமானையும் அளவில்லா கருணை கொண்ட தாயாரையும் இந்நாளிலும், தினந்தோறும் தொழுவோம்இதோ இங்கே சுவாமி நம்மாழ்வாரின் பாசுரம் :

கடிவார் தீய வினைகள்நொடியாரும் அளவைக்கண்*

கொடியா அடு புள் உயர்த்தவடிவார்  மாதவனாரே.

பாம்பு மற்றும் நச்சு பகைவரைக் கொல்லும் கருடப்பறவையைக் கொடியாக உயர்த்தியவரும்அழகு பொருந்திய பெரிய பிராட்டியாருக்குக் துணைவருமான எம்பெருமான் மாதவனை நினைக்கும் மனது உடையார்க்குநொடிக்கும் அளவைக்குள் தீய வினைகளை எல்லாம் போக்குவார், நம்மால் ரக்ஷிப்பார் நம் எம்பெருமான் ஸ்ரீமன் நாராயணன்.

Here are some photos of the gracious most  benevolent  Sri Amruthavalli thayar   at Thirumylai Sri Madhava Perumal thirukovil. (taken during Navarathri uthsavam on 12.10.2021)

adiyen Srinivasadhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
22nd Oct 2021. 






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