Christine Grandy-Dick, wanders around Madurai and is fascinated by the interesting mix of architectural styles: the indigenous tradition of Hindu architecture and the Raj era colonial architecture. She takes a look at the magnificent British era colonial buildings such as the Madura Mills, American Madura Mission, American College, Collector's Office, and the Government Rajaji Hospital. She traces the historic past of these buildings and says that it is imperative to preserve and honour the past because the future is the past in perspective
When I was strolling through Madurai, I was instantly captivated by the interesting mix of architectural styles – be it the enormous, colourful Meenakshi Amman Temple, the Thirumalai Nayak Palace built in 1636 in an Indo-Saracenic style, constructed entirely of brick and mortar, but without the support of a single rafter or girder, as opposed to the rustic buildings of the Raj Era between 1857 and 1947.
In the 16th century when the Nayaks gained independence and ruled Madurai, the ancient city was laid out in a lotus-like pattern around the Meenakshi Temple. After the mid 19th century, the British razed down the fortress of Madurai and filled up the moat, which led to the four Veli-streets which nowadays serve as the borders of the old city.
Mr. M. Ganapathy, the well-known Madurai-based architect and interior designer, who with his wife Chitra also founded Kadambavanam, a centre to celebrate Tamil culture, located 25 km from Madurai, shared his immense knowledge on colonial architecture in Madurai.
Madura Mills: Looming Large
In the 1880s, two brothers from Scotland, Andrew and Frank Harvey, came to southern India and started a huge steam-powered spinning mill dominating the north-west skyline of Madurai. Situated next to the then newly laid railway tracks, the mill grew rapidly. The well-lit, well-ventilated, spacious buildings, spread out like wings, were constructed with heavy stone blocks and large louvered windows with frosted glass panes. The Harvey brothers ushered in sweeping changes and a new ethos to the concept of labour employment. Caste barriers were weakened or eliminated. They also built a separate colony named 'Harveypatti', a few miles south of Madurai near the railway line, for their workmen's families, and the village 'Kochadai' for higher officials, which today is the “Heritage Hotel”. In the 1900s, the mill became Madura Coats and later Madura Viyella. Those responsible for the manufacturing and technical functions of the company operate out of here, from where one can oversee all the thread mills in Madurai.
From a Hill Village to a Premier Hotel
During the mid-19th century, Pasumalai (meaning 'cow hill') village, on the fringes of Madurai, took on a Christian flavour when the American Madurai Mission was established there and began to have an impact on local society. An American College followed in the mid-1880s. At the same time, the entire hillock was acquired by the giant Madura Mill. The company laid a proper road to the top of the hill', planted trees all over the hill and built a large house on the summit as the official residence of the Scottish managing director of the mill. This enabled Sir William Harvey – the first chief executive to move into the house – and other British magnates who followed him—to live relatively close and yet far away from the jostling crowds of Madurai and the din of the mill, in a realm under their total control.
From this vantage point, a managing director must have felt as grand as a White Pandian or White Nayak! A time came when this building was too large for one household and too unwieldy for installing modern amenities. Martin Henry, one of the managers of the mill in the 1970s, decided to use the building as a school, at first exclusively for the children of company officials and later for outsiders.
One of the first of these outsiders was M. Ganapathy, whose father – despite being poor – wanted to provide the best possible education for his son. “In 1970 at the tender age of four, I learned swimming at the pool located in the school and went in and out of the prestigious homes of my classmates,” recounts the architect. This school, Vikaasa, which Ganapathy attended from 6th grade onwards, outgrew the Pasumalai village and in the 1980s, moved from the Pasumalai hill into larger premises in Madurai itself.
Today, the former hill village is a premier hotel after major changes and additions to the structure. For example, the guest block of 1906 opposite to the reception, housing rooms like No.16, where I am currently staying. It certainly captures the Raj era ambience!
Monuments in Stone
The Government Rajaji Hospital, the Albert Victoria Bridge and the Collector's Office, built during the Raj era, reveal a classical influence in their layout as well as Islamic details in mouldings and open, arched balcony windows. The Rajaji Hospital was the first hospital in Madurai. Therefore it needed to be spacious. Every institutional building or college of that era by European colonists was monumental in scale and impressive. Materials and the costs of labour would have been much cheaper than today. At the Rajaji Hospital, I discovered three plaques set in grey brick stones. One tells about a foundation in 1940, followed in 1958 by an outpatients' department.
A solid brick castle built in 1916, houses the Collectorate of Madurai with its undeniable British origin, with low towers on its edges and terraces along the first floor, where well-ventilated offices with high, dark brown wooden doors, that you ascend by means of an elegantly-carved wooden staircase. So far, due to its perfect technical quality, no restoration has been necessary. But now, the first signs of erosion are visible. When you take a look from the outside up to the white painted ceiling, interrupted by wooden beams, the joints alongside the thick brick walls display a long crack: nevertheless, the present condition is quite commendable for a structure almost 100 years old.
The 105-year-old Albert-Victoria Bridge is still one of the strongest, with its sturdy, grey granite stones fused with cement. The TVS Cooperative building marks the end of the British architectural age in Madurai, according to Mr. Ganapathy. Although I couldn't enter the famous American College Campus because of a confrontation between students and the college management, the British architectural influence was visible even from the black iron gate. One section in warm red bricks and classical style; another block, square and functionally shaped, to the left of that. Going around Madurai I feasted my eyes on several buildings from the colonial era. It reminded me that the past and present can comfortably coexist. What is more important is to remind ourselves that the past has several lessons for us. For one, we need to preserve and honor the past because our future is nothing but the past in perspective.
When I was strolling through Madurai, I was instantly captivated by the interesting mix of architectural styles – be it the enormous, colourful Meenakshi Amman Temple, the Thirumalai Nayak Palace built in 1636 in an Indo-Saracenic style, constructed entirely of brick and mortar, but without the support of a single rafter or girder, as opposed to the rustic buildings of the Raj Era between 1857 and 1947.
In the 16th century when the Nayaks gained independence and ruled Madurai, the ancient city was laid out in a lotus-like pattern around the Meenakshi Temple. After the mid 19th century, the British razed down the fortress of Madurai and filled up the moat, which led to the four Veli-streets which nowadays serve as the borders of the old city.
Mr. M. Ganapathy, the well-known Madurai-based architect and interior designer, who with his wife Chitra also founded Kadambavanam, a centre to celebrate Tamil culture, located 25 km from Madurai, shared his immense knowledge on colonial architecture in Madurai.
Madura Mills: Looming Large
In the 1880s, two brothers from Scotland, Andrew and Frank Harvey, came to southern India and started a huge steam-powered spinning mill dominating the north-west skyline of Madurai. Situated next to the then newly laid railway tracks, the mill grew rapidly. The well-lit, well-ventilated, spacious buildings, spread out like wings, were constructed with heavy stone blocks and large louvered windows with frosted glass panes. The Harvey brothers ushered in sweeping changes and a new ethos to the concept of labour employment. Caste barriers were weakened or eliminated. They also built a separate colony named 'Harveypatti', a few miles south of Madurai near the railway line, for their workmen's families, and the village 'Kochadai' for higher officials, which today is the “Heritage Hotel”. In the 1900s, the mill became Madura Coats and later Madura Viyella. Those responsible for the manufacturing and technical functions of the company operate out of here, from where one can oversee all the thread mills in Madurai.
From a Hill Village to a Premier Hotel
During the mid-19th century, Pasumalai (meaning 'cow hill') village, on the fringes of Madurai, took on a Christian flavour when the American Madurai Mission was established there and began to have an impact on local society. An American College followed in the mid-1880s. At the same time, the entire hillock was acquired by the giant Madura Mill. The company laid a proper road to the top of the hill', planted trees all over the hill and built a large house on the summit as the official residence of the Scottish managing director of the mill. This enabled Sir William Harvey – the first chief executive to move into the house – and other British magnates who followed him—to live relatively close and yet far away from the jostling crowds of Madurai and the din of the mill, in a realm under their total control.
From this vantage point, a managing director must have felt as grand as a White Pandian or White Nayak! A time came when this building was too large for one household and too unwieldy for installing modern amenities. Martin Henry, one of the managers of the mill in the 1970s, decided to use the building as a school, at first exclusively for the children of company officials and later for outsiders.
One of the first of these outsiders was M. Ganapathy, whose father – despite being poor – wanted to provide the best possible education for his son. “In 1970 at the tender age of four, I learned swimming at the pool located in the school and went in and out of the prestigious homes of my classmates,” recounts the architect. This school, Vikaasa, which Ganapathy attended from 6th grade onwards, outgrew the Pasumalai village and in the 1980s, moved from the Pasumalai hill into larger premises in Madurai itself.
Today, the former hill village is a premier hotel after major changes and additions to the structure. For example, the guest block of 1906 opposite to the reception, housing rooms like No.16, where I am currently staying. It certainly captures the Raj era ambience!
Monuments in Stone
The Government Rajaji Hospital, the Albert Victoria Bridge and the Collector's Office, built during the Raj era, reveal a classical influence in their layout as well as Islamic details in mouldings and open, arched balcony windows. The Rajaji Hospital was the first hospital in Madurai. Therefore it needed to be spacious. Every institutional building or college of that era by European colonists was monumental in scale and impressive. Materials and the costs of labour would have been much cheaper than today. At the Rajaji Hospital, I discovered three plaques set in grey brick stones. One tells about a foundation in 1940, followed in 1958 by an outpatients' department.
A solid brick castle built in 1916, houses the Collectorate of Madurai with its undeniable British origin, with low towers on its edges and terraces along the first floor, where well-ventilated offices with high, dark brown wooden doors, that you ascend by means of an elegantly-carved wooden staircase. So far, due to its perfect technical quality, no restoration has been necessary. But now, the first signs of erosion are visible. When you take a look from the outside up to the white painted ceiling, interrupted by wooden beams, the joints alongside the thick brick walls display a long crack: nevertheless, the present condition is quite commendable for a structure almost 100 years old.
The 105-year-old Albert-Victoria Bridge is still one of the strongest, with its sturdy, grey granite stones fused with cement. The TVS Cooperative building marks the end of the British architectural age in Madurai, according to Mr. Ganapathy. Although I couldn't enter the famous American College Campus because of a confrontation between students and the college management, the British architectural influence was visible even from the black iron gate. One section in warm red bricks and classical style; another block, square and functionally shaped, to the left of that. Going around Madurai I feasted my eyes on several buildings from the colonial era. It reminded me that the past and present can comfortably coexist. What is more important is to remind ourselves that the past has several lessons for us. For one, we need to preserve and honor the past because our future is nothing but the past in perspective.
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