Madras Then, Chennai Now by Sriram V
Walk through the lanes of British-era Chennai with historian Sriram V and rare photographs from the Sarmaya collection
Madras Talkies
Memories of the Water Bearer
To a weary traveller or parched soldier in 19th-century India, there was perhaps no sight as welcome as the approach of a bhishti. A quick untwisting of the mouth of the mashaq slung over his shoulder, and cool clear water would splash into a grateful cupped palm.
Madras Talkies – Reading List
Titles from the Sarmaya library that will draw you further into the heart of Tamil Nadu’s culture through music, architecture, photography and art
Thanjavur – Country of Gods & Kings
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Thanjavur welcomed large communities of Telugu and Marathi speakers as a consequence of Nayaka and Maratha conquests in Cholamandalam. The result was a slow mingling and simmering of cultural influences, resulting in the unique artistic heritage of this temple town
Postcards from Madras
Postcards began at the end of the 19th century as a new kind of crossover between photography and the popular print market. In a collaboration with Picture Postcard Empire, we bring you a virtual exhibition of intriguing postcards from the city of Madras
Pondicherry Dreaming – Inside French India
How native Tamil and colonial French influences come together in the charming melting pot of Puducherry
The Curious Case of Chennai’s Elleesan & the Dravidian proof
A story about Francis Whyte Ellis, a British linguist whose study of law, land and language in the 1800s would influence the Dravidian politics of the 1900s
Madras Talkies
In 1639, a British trading company got permission from the local rulers to set up a factory on a thin strip of the Coromandel coast. Measuring about three square miles and lashed by the fury of the Bay of Bengal, Madraspatnam gave no early signs of the historic metropolis it would soon morph into
Madras Chic: Textiles and jewels of Tamil Nadu
Temple jewellery, Kanjeevaram silks, pure cotton lace and the ever-chic Madras check—come with us on a style journey through the Madras Presidency
Remembering Cholamandalam – The cultural legacy of the Cholas
The imperial Cholas patronised all manner of visual, literary, architectural and textile arts, in essence imprinting their larger-than-life personalities on every realm that they touched
Divine Doorways – Gopurams of South India
Exploring the towering gopurams of south India through rare photographs of temples across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala
The Making of Madras
The history of the Madras Presidency is also the history of an embryonic nation finding its identity under colonial rule. We take you through some key moments, movements and personalities that shaped Madras and what would in time become India