Heritage walks, quizzes…Madras Week goes beyond Chennai

CHENNAI - Quizzes, debates, heritage walks, painting and photo exhibitions are some of the 150-odd programmes planned in Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai as part of the Madras Week celebrations beginning Aug 15, which will overflow to other cities as well.

Madras Day celebrations, which were started seven years back to mark the founding of Madras (now Chennai) Aug 22 ,1639 , have over the years grown manifold with programmes being held in various localities here.

“This year we have taken the event outside Madras to cities like Coimbatore, Thanjavur and Madurai with quizzes under the theme ‘Know Your Capital’,” S. Suresh, convener of the Chennai chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), told reporters here Wednesday.

“Around 50 schools and 10 corporates will also be holding events to commemorate the founding of Madras,” added Vincent D’Souza, one of the coordinators of the event.

Madras Day celebrations are the brainchild of three people - the city’s famed historian S. Muthiah, journalist Sashi Nair and publisher Vincent D’Souza.

Now they have been joined by three others - senior journalist Sushila Ravindranath, journalist and website entrepreneur Revathi R and entrepreneur and writer-historian V. Sriram.

Madras Day celebrations focus on the city, its history and its present and the core team motivates communities, groups, companies and campuses in the city to host events.

This year, the University of Madras, the Chennai Museum, the Anna University and the Archaeological Survey of India are some of the institutions that have decided to participate.