CHENNAI: What comes to your mind when you think of Chennai Central? The towering red-brick clock tower that chimes every hour, with a bustling crowd of cars, buses weaving through luggage-laden people, in the background? What about Thousand Lights? The medieval multi-dome mosque standing reticently as unforgiving traffic horns pass it? Each area in Chennai brings a visceral memory to mind, and often, a heritage building is in the background.
The chariot in Valluvar Kottam, the white-pillared Higginbothams building in Mount Road, Karl Schmidt Memorial in Besant Nagar — How many times have we zoomed past these landmarks with little to no knowledge of their historical relevance?
Vaishali Jewels, a traditional jewellery brand, Manjal Couture, a fashion brand, and N Karthik, photographer, put their heads together for a photo series titled, ‘Saahithya — A Madras Story’. Lavanya Kasilingam, of Vaishali Jewels, says, “I see a lot of images of heritage buildings from Jaipur, Udaipur etc. Chennai too has a lot of monuments that are overlooked. I grew up going to Higginbothams every month. But now, it seems like no one notices it!”
Lavanya is currently based in the US, where she takes her sons to museums often. This prompted her to think of the heritage back home. She got together with Vinodini Sekar, danseuse, and founder of Manjal Couture, also in the US, and they conceptualised and organised the entire shoot from there. “We’d stay up all night — to balance the time-difference, and take turns in overseeing the shoots through virtual communications,” Vinodini says.
A dozen locations in Chennai were finalised, and an equal number of models were chosen through an Instagram shout-out. Shooting began mid-January this year, after Karthik did a complete recce of all locations, deciding shoot timings and gathering required permissions. When the D-day arrived, each model was ready at the crack of dawn for make-up, and was adorned in clothes and jewellery inspired by the location.
Kapaleeshwarar temple, Mylapore, is complemented by a slender model in a traditional green brocade outfit; Karl Schmidt Memorial is the backdrop for women sporting ripped-jeans and casual kurti; a model in pink skirt adds colour to the stark-white Napier Bridge and so on. “Since distractions in the background were inevitable, I chose bright-coloured clothes,” explains Vinodini.
Karthik found this series enlightening to work on, though there were challenges in the form of overcrowded backgrounds, in areas like Chennai Central. “We had to wrap the shoot by 7 am to avoid harsh light and crowds. Personally like the Napier Bridge shoot,” he says.
The team plans to organise an online awareness campaign regarding Madras’ rich heritage. The photographs present an interesting juxtaposition of historical backdrops with contemporary fashion, appealing to both nostalgic Madras patrons and present-day millennials alike. “We essentially want all generations to respect these historical monuments and landmarks in our city,” Lavanya says.
Featured landmarks
● Chennai Central, built in 1873
● Egmore Museum, built in 1800s
● Higginbothams, Mount Road, the oldest surviving bookstore in India, built in 1844
● Kapaleeshwarar temple, built in 7th century CE
● Thousand Lights Mosque,
built in 1810
● Valluvar Kottam,
built in 1970
● University of Madras,
built in 1857
● St. Thomas Mount Church,
built in 1523
● Sri Ramakrishna Math (present building),
built in 1917
● Vivekanandar Illam (aka Ice House), built in 1842
● Karl Schmidt Memorial, Besant Nagar Beach,
built in 1931
● Napier Bridge,
built in 1969