Victoria Public Hall, Chennai

when you get down at the Chennai Central Station and proceed towards the car parking , it would be difficult to escape a grand old building staring at you at a distance.  This building happened to be an inviting  curiosity for me even when I was a child. The need to catch a taxi to reach home quickly was so overbearing that I could never find time to go nearer to the imposing structure, except while passing by, seated in the car. Now that I have been in Chennai for a couple of months , I ventured to visit the building a couple of times with a view to gain an entry. However all my attempts were thwarted due to the Chennai Metro Rail Project. They are constructing  the underground portion of the project and the tunnelling work was in progress just adjoining the place. The area was cordoned off with corrugated tin sheets and a watchman has been posted to prevent entry to the premises. Therefore I had to satisfy myself with few snaps from outside. The building referred to is the Victoria Public Hall commonly known as the Town Hall. 

During the 1880s a need was felt to have a community hall where cultural and social programmes could be held. A meeting was organised by prominent citizens in 1882 and the participants had contributed around Rs.20,000 for the purpose. A separate Trust was also created to implement the project. The civic body i.e. the Corporation of Madras also provided land admeasuring 3.14 acres on a 99 years lease. A foundation stone was laid in December 1883 and by 1888 the construction could get completed. The architect credited to have designed this beautiful building was  Robert Fellowes Chisholm  and as with many other buildings of Madras this too was  a derivation of Indo-Saracenic architecture.  To commemorate the Golden Jubilee of queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, it was named after her.

The main building has two floors. There are four beautiful wooden staircases leading to the first floor. both floors put together has an area of 26000 square feet and every floor has a seating capacity for 600 people. Once having been opened to the public many a social organisations  jumped in. Plays were being staged every evening on a regular basis. Swami Vivekananda, Subramania Bharati, Mahatma Gandhi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel were amongst the great men of yester years who addressed public meetings at this venue. The hall was also used for screening some 10 English films in 1892 by one T. Stevenson the owner of Madras Photographic Stores. Incidentally by that time the Indian Cinema was yet to be born. The first Tamil film “Keechaka Vadham” without a sound track was produced only in 1918.

With the passage of time, the health of the building started deteriorating and by the second half of the 20th century it became critically ill due to continued neglect. There had been some attempts to rejuvenate it but they proved inadequate. For the last 45 years the hall is in a state of Coma. In between the Trust leased out the spaces around it  for commercial purposes. Taking advantage of the situation certain unscrupulous traders also made their intrusions to put up their stalls/shops. Disputes surfaced between the Corporation and the Trust when the 99 years lease term expired. Fortunately the Corporation was in a position to take over the building after eviction of all those illegal occupants. Due to continued hue and cry made by heritage lovers the Corporation sanctioned an expenditure of Rs.3.39 Crores for complete renovation/restoration of the building and work started in 2009. When the work was half way, the Metro Rail Project commenced its construction work resulting in a temporary stoppage of the renovation project. However, the Chennai Corporation has announced recently that by end of July 2013, the Victoria Public Hall would be in its original shape. At the moment we do not know whether the hall would get opened up for social/cultural purposes as was originally envisaged.

Under the Chennai Metro Rail Project, the trains are to travel over pillars and they will go underground in busy areas. As has been stated earlier, the tunnelling work is in progress near the Victoria Public Hall and they have also encroached upon the area in front of the building. A beautiful fountain which existed thereat has since been removed and moved to the right hand side of the hall. In the process some ornamentations have been broken/lost. This fountain too has a story of its own.

During the British rule, Government’s budget proposals were introduced by James Wilson in 1860 for the first time when the capital of the country used to be in Calcutta. Losses sustained during the Freedom Struggle of 1857 were sought to be bridged by taxing the personal income of citizens. Every individual with an income of Rs.200 was within the ambit of the proposed tax net. This move was highly resented and there was a hue and cry amongst the people. Charles Trevelyan who happened to be the Governor of Madras Presidency in those days, supported the people’s movement and expressed his anguish by sending a telegram to Fort William, Calcutta. As an after effect he had to compromise with his job. When Trevelyan was the Chairperson of the Madras Corporation, he made available potable drinking water for the people and also created a beautiful park in the heart of the city. A fountain was built in front of the Victoria Public Hall in his fond memory which is known as Trevelyan Fountain.

Incidentally there is another heritage building known as Victoria Memorial Hall which houses the National Art Gallery. This building too remains closed for the last 10 years or so on account of some cracks having developed inside. This building awaits restoration.

Armenians in Chennai

With a population of around 4 million, Armenia is a small Country in central Asia which once was a mighty empire. It gained independence and became a Republic after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union in 1991. India’s Armenian connection could be several centuries old for one Thomas of Cana is said to have visited South West India sometime in the 8/9th century  CE. He is said to have been an Armenian and was accompanied by several families. Though not much is known about him, he is some times referred to as a merchant and sometimes as a Bishop. A group of Catholics in Kerala also claim to be his descendents.  Incidentally Armenia happens to be the first country in the world to officially embrace Christianity way back in the 4th century CE.

 

Unlike Jews and Parsees, the Armenians did not look to India for asylum or shelter, they came in  to trade and  make money.  During the 16th century CE, Mughal Emperor Akbar invited Armenians to settle down at Agra with all trading rights. Over a period of time the population grew and  Agra had a sizeable Armenian population. They also settled down at Surat and became renowned merchants. Likewise they spread to other cities as well,  trading mainly in precious stones, jewellery, silk and spices.

 

Chennai has an Armenian Street and still is known by that name. However there are no Armenians to be found as such. All that remains is a beautiful Church dedicated to St. Mary, reminding their glorious past. In this business area of George Town they lived peacefully, with their own houses,  lower portion of which served as a store house for their merchandise. The said Church is amongst one of the heritage buildings of Chennai. During 1668 they had a temporary Church built of timber within the precincts of Fort St. George. In 1712 they had a permanent structure but immediately thereafter the city of Chennai came into French possession for some time. During the French reign the Armenian Church is said to have been demolished but some say that it was done by the British. Eventually in 1772 the present Church came to be constructed on a piece of land belonging to a wealthy Armenian.   It had his private chapel and cemetery. It is only because of the existence of this Church that the City could connect to those Armenians who once roamed around. Incidentally their population all over India is around 350 only and the largest number being at Kolkata. It is their Church at Kolkata which takes care of the Chennai Church and its upkeep through a resident care taker.

 

Existence of an Armenian Street and a Church thereat was well known to me and possibly I have passed through the street many times  when I was young. But then I did only loafing around. Peeping into the past as an obsession developed much later. But even when that dawned, my stays in Chennai used to be too short and confined in a particular area. This time, I had plenty of time and could bank on my brothers help to move around with a personal conveyance. I landed on the Armenian Street one day and looked around. Yes there were the doors that lead to the Armenian Church as I could gather from what was written above. Unfortunately the door was closed. On enquiry a pavement vendor asked me to come at 5.00 PM but while I was conversing I found the door being opened and a watchman coming out. On enquiry the watchman told that I need to come between 9.30 AM and 2.30 PM. He frustrated all my pleas and attempts to get in. Incidentally the door and the walls were so high that one can not get even a glimpse of the Church behind.

A week later I once again visited the street but this time the doors were pretty open and I was well within the time span prescribed for visitors. A gentleman who was sitting inside welcomed me with all courtesies. He was Mr. Trevor Alexander, the caretaker belonging to the local Anglo Indian community.

 

The above one is the Bell Tower

This is the Church  (from Wikimedia)

Immediately upon entry, the imposing structure that greets you is that of the Bell Tower and it is the one  which gets portrayed to denote the Church. The real Church is a humble one with practically a flat roof just on its right side. There was a wooden ladder leading up to the tower but people are not being allowed for fear of the ladder crumbling down. Mr. Alexander took pains to restrain me suggesting that apart from being old, the ladder is too steep and one may encounter fatal falls due to giddiness. Perforce I thought it would be wiser to go by his words.

 

Erected in memory of Mrs. Coromsimee Leembruggen

On the right there is a corridor adjoining the Church. Some wall hangings could be seen with a marble plaque embedded into the wall to commemorate the visit of their Patriarch in 1963. It was serene inside the Church with St. Mary at the Altar and a candle kept burning. I was at peace with myself and relished the quietness. Beneath the Altar there were miniature paintings depicting the scenes from Jesus’ life. At the other end there was a balcony for the Church Choir group to be seated.

 

Once again outside the Church, the area is covered by a number of Frangipani trees bearing large white flowers. Probably the decomposed bodies of around 370 Armenians buried under the soil are providing extra nutrients to the trees there to grow so well. All the graves are at the ground level and it would be difficult not to walk over them unless some one cares to see the inscriptions they contain. As an exception there is a well elevated and well maintained grave of Reverend Harutyum Shmavonian who breathed his last in 1824. It was he who brought out the first Armenian journal in the world  "Azdarar" in 1794. I was curious to have a look at that journal, alas!, not a single copy exists at least at the Chennai Church. It was here that the Armenians of that time prepared a draft constitution for an independent country in 1781. Ironically  Armenia became independent only after the dismemberment of the Soviet Union in1991.

 

It would be of interest to learn that Armenians unlike other Christians do not celebrate X’mas on the 25th of December. They are Eastern Orthodox Christians and claim to have been celebrating X’mas on the 6th of January much before the date was prescribed  in 325 AD. They continue that tradition. So are the  Orthodox Church of Russia but their date being 7th of January.

While returning home, I was too sorry for not having climbed the Bell tower which still has 6 large bells weighing between 150 to 200 kgs. The oldest one was cast at London in 1754 by the makers of Big Ben which was recast at Chennai (known as Madras at that time) in 1808. This bell is said to bear an inscription in Tamil. 

Incidentally the Armenian Association of India is planning to celebrate the 300th year of the Church during this year.