West Mambalam, one of the oldest areas in the city, has evolved from a prominent area to a ‘submissive locale’. Heritage blogger Padmapriya Baskaran will curate a walk next week as part of the Madras Week celebrations.
CHENNAI: If you have ever been part of a heritage walk before, one advice you’d hear from the person who leads/guides the walk is to understand the history, institutions and its people in the locality we live in. “It is important to learn about the place we live in…through this, we can create awareness on the rich history and also document it for the future generation,” opines Padmapriya Baskaran, heritage blogger and founder, Aalayam Kanden Trust.
With this in focus, Padmapriya will be curating a walk through West Mambalam, as part of the Madras Week celebrations. “Mambalam is often called the ‘cousin of Mylapore’, yet it has never received as much as prominence,” she says.
West Mambalam is more than just another area for Padmapriya, as she was born and raised there. “When I was in Fatima Convent school, I remember taking the cycle-rickshaw to school everyday. The rickshaw puller would narrate stories of the MGR movie he watched the previous day, throughout the journey,” she narrates.
From watching the ‘Duraiswamy’ subway being constructed, to walking to the only ice cream shop in the locality — ‘Universal’, she had experienced it all. “The shop used to have vanilla ice cream and if we wanted a cold drink, we had to walk all the way to Salam stores. Same was the case for buying butter…we had to walk all the way till Thayar Dairy in Ranganathan street. Those were very different times,” she recalls.
Things changed over the years as more establishments came up in and around West Mambalam; it lost its prominence and became a ‘submissive locale’. “There are many things that happened in the area…it’s just that either not many want to know about it, or that people don’t talk about what
happened in this very same spot!” she explains.
A typical zamindari village, Mambalam was a hub for Kalamkari work and agriculture. In 1911, when the railway track was laid between Chennai and Kanchipuram, the Mambalam railway station was built.
Since the ticket gate was located in the west, it came to be known as West Mambalam. But interpretations on how the area got its name are aplenty In temple literature, the place was referred to as Mabilam (bilam means cave). “It is said that there was a huge grove and a cave called the Mabilam within which the Kasi Viswanatha deity resided. Yet another interpretation is that there were many Mahavilvam trees here, and so it became Mambalam. But of course, there are is no documented evidence,” says Padmapriya.
Till 1923, it was a small village. Land’s End is the present day Mount Road and the stretch from T Nagar to West Mambalam was a crescent shaped tank, called the long tank. The Mambalam village was part of the Chengalpattu district with headquarters in Saidapet and the Collectorate was located in the present Nandanam Arts College.
“So, if one had to travel to Mount Road or George Town from Mambalam, ‘Naan Madras poitu varen’ is what they used to say!” she explains.
During this period, with more people moving here, the government decided to close the long tank, to make space for people to settle down. “Since the tank wasn’t closed completely, the slush and the water still remained and it became a breeding ground for diseases.
This was once an area known for people with elephantiasis and filariasis…even Ashoka Mithran mentions about his early days here,” she shares.
With railway gates located in the present Duraisway Subway, Madeley Subway, Aranganathan Subway and Kodambakkam Bridge, open only five to six times a day, life in ‘Mambalam gramam’ was surreal. It was only in 1946 that Mambalam became a part of the Madras city. “In fact it was one of the last villages to be part of the city,” she says.
From Venkatramana Boli Stall’s jeera poli to Mamabalm Iyer ooruga, podi and dosa batter, the area has several niche specialties to offer. “The area has a significant history and a special culture that needs to be looked into,” she adds.
The walk will take place on August 12. For details, visit: the FB event page ‘A walk through West Mambalam’ or call: 43512864