The Mylapore Episodes- Part 2- Mada Streets,Santhome Beach and the one and only'chakkadi santhu'

Well, I am encouraged by the kind of response for the Mylapore episode where lots of old friends have sent mails or even called up all the way from Chennai to recall those glorious days and ask for more of the nostalgic stuff.

Mylapore without the 4 majestic Mada streets and the Kapaleeswarar temple is like Vatican without the Pope. The temple has now become very commercial thanks to those endless tourist buses, guides(I still can't forget one of our friends, RP who made some quick money by taking the foreign tourists for a ride in broken English introducing the two Dwara Balakas in the entrance as the security guards of 'Lord' and the Navagrahams as 'Duumy Gods') a massive eating joint under the pretext of annadhanam, temple kulam which has dried up and seems to have lost bit of it's sanctity though it's still one of the famous landmarks of South Chennai and Mylapore in particular. My best temple moments in the years I have stayed in Mylapore was the fortnightly Pradosham festival where you could feel a sense of togetherness and joy as the Lord went around the temple three times on the majestic Nandi Vaganam accompanied by the soul stirring sound of the four Vedas and the songs from the 'odhuvars'. Come the month of December-January or the month of Margazhi' and from early morning 4-7 AM it was bhajans all the way with different troupes ranging from the classical tiruppavai/tiruvembai up to Swami Haridoss Giri's classical bhajans walking around the 4 streets. Swami Haridoss himself used to turn up on some days of the month and people from even places like Adyar and Triplicane considered it as a great honour to be just part of those troupes walking along listening to the soul stirring music in the early mornings which used to set up the day. Srivati stores with that coffee powder aroma as you passed them, Srividya kunkum, Ambika Appalam, the majestic Sampoorna Sastriar silks ( incidentally hailing from that family hierarchy) Karpagam restaurant, the endless vegetables shops of the South Mada street, the two Vaishavite temples of the Chirtrakulam on either side where people from one sub sect never used to visit the other one(vadakalai and thengalai, I suppose) were some of the memorable landmarks of the temple town. The big days of course for the Mylaporeans is the 10 day summer festival of the temple and the biggest day was the '63 moovar' function which saw huge crowds thronging the four Mada streets in an atmosphere filled with fun, enjoyment and a sense of 'de ja vu' as the Nayanamars took the limelight along with the Lord in decorated palanquins.

For me discussion of Mylapore wont' be complete without mention of Kutcheri lane or chakkadi sandhu which was a small 2/2 lane widening further just enough for a cycle to cross but must have been the busiest lane of the Mylapore as it connected the Mada streets with the arterial Cutchery Road,Mylapore Police station and Luz Corner. The lane had a small shop managed by old mama/mami selling home made norukku theeni and the ' thavala vadai' made in the afternoon was sold out in minutes since it was supposed to be the best in town and the 'hot sundal ' was a product in demand till the shop closed late in the evening. There are also some great streets like Arundale street with a small road side pillalayar, Nattu subbraya mudali street with lots of road cricket, Nadu street towards santhome with a famous dentist and the dabba chetti kadais selling every thing on earth on bazzar street from sukku, thippli, deepavali marundhu etc which were precious commodities for the US NRI's of Mylapore origin.

I will recap my other favorite places towards LUZ corner and Mandaveli in my next final episode of Mylapore!

RK