Mylapore-where the old and the new coexist

MYLAPORE, also called Mylai and Tirumylai, was a beautiful village long before it became a part of the city of Chennai or Madras around the eighteenth century. Stone Age settlements flourished here ten thousand years before Christ. Apostle St. Thomas visited Mylapore in the latter half of the first century C.E. 

When he died around 72 C.E., he was buried within the Santhome Basilica which was then a small chapel.  Tiruvalluvar, the author of the treatise Tirukkural, is believed to have resided in Mylapore around this time. Those days, Mylapore included present-day Santhome and thus, extended up to the Bay of Bengal. The port of Mylapore was one of the bustling ports, along the Coromandel Coast, engaged in trade with the Roman Empire. Later, Mylapore, under the Pallava kings, flowered into a flourishing religious centre. 

During this period, Peyalwar, one of the 12 Vaishnavite saints, was born in Mylapore, near Arundale Street. And renowned saints like Tirugnanasambandar and Appar visited Mylapore. The Pallava kings proudly called themselves Mylai Kovalan (Protector of Mylapore). Around the year 1522, the Portuguese occupied parts of Santhome-Mylapore. They renovated the Santhome Basilica and built new churches including the Luz Church and the Church of the Holy Rosary. The present Kapaleeswarar Temple was built around the sixteenth century to replace an earlier temple, located closer to the sea. 

During the last two hundred years, several educational and cultural institutions were established in this area, making Mylapore the intellectual hub of the city. Mylapore is a unique and fascinating example of a tightly packed dense residential settlement that has been in continuous occupation for thousands of years. It is dotted with numerous religious institutions, tanks or cisterns and traditional markets, many of which have been in existence for at least the last thousand years. Most of the houses and streets are, however, of the Vijayanagar-Nayak and British periods (sixteenth to early twentieth century). 

Several of these traditional houses are low-slung tile-roofed structures with rooms opening into a central courtyard. The streets, especially those around the Kapaleeswarar Temple, are long and narrow. Mylapore is now witnessing the inevitable developments linked with contemporary lifestyles. Several old lime-plaster buildings have been renovated or expanded using modern construction techniques and materials including cement concrete. Many other buildings have been demolished to be replaced by skyscraper-like apartment blocks. 

Simultaneously, ultramodern commercial outlets for mobile phones, pizzas and acid-washed jeans have sprung up. These developments are not in harmony with the traditional streetscape of this historic area. 

Moreover, the narrow streets, with their decades-old electrical and drainage systems and no space for vehicular parking, are totally unfit to house such gigantic residential and commercial complexes Now, how far modern developments can be allowed to change the unique flavor of a very ancient and historic part of the city? Heritage lovers feel that at least a few of the traditional streets and structures of Mylapore should be preserved as vibrant reminders of a glorious bygone era. Such protected heritage zones within historic townships exist in the USA and in several European countries. Besides their historic and academic value, such heritage zones would also emerge as attractive tourist destinations.

—The author is a well-known archaeologist and Tamil Nadu State Convener, INTACH