Postcard series roots locality names to its native plants, trees

Anita Mahadevan, the co-founder of Design Foundry, says, “It is believed that the first toponymists (a person who studies place-names) were storytellers and poets who waxed eloquently about the beauty of a place and its soul through the flora and fauna that thrived there. They crafted poems and built myths around the fruits and flowers that the land bore. In Chennai too, this tradition lives on through the names of its many villages and streets. We have illustrated a few postcards to honour our city’s legacy of nurturing nature.” 

Locals are unaware that the names of many places in Madras are rooted in the native plants and trees of the locality. “For eg, it is believed that a lot of jasmine flowers used to grow in Poonamallee. Likewise, Pulianthope had a tamarind grove and Mangadu had a mango forest. Through the postcard series, we wanted to find out more such details about Madras. We are going beyond what is popularised already,” she adds 

The postcards illustrations include places like Pelathope, Mangadu, Mambalam, Triplicane, Teynampet, Purasawalkam, Vepery, Koyyathoppu, Pulianthope, Panayur, Athipet, Poonamallee, Perambur, Alandur, Thiruvalangadu, Iluppai Thoppu, Irumbuliyur, Thiruverkadu and Thirumullaivoyal in Chennai.