2016-08-23 Tue

Ever thought that cities would have days celebrating their establishment? Well...Madras or today’s Chennai has a day celebrating its establishment!

The founding day of Madras is considered to be August 22, 1639. It is widely agreed that on 22nd August 1639, Francis Day and Andrew Cogan of the East India Company purchased the village of Madraspatnam or Chennapatnam from Damerla Venkatapathy, the local Naik or a viceroy of the Vijayanagar Empire.

This three square miles of land given to the East India Company grew to become the city of Madras where more than four and a half million people live today. In 1644 the British built the Fort St George around which the city and later the presidency of Madras grew.

The reason why Francis Day chose this spot is interesting as the main reason for the establishment of the city of the city of Madras could have been due to its proximity to San Thorne where Francis Day’s mistress was supposed to have lived. Today Chennai stands a proud place full of its famed history, literacy, health and hygiene tourism, auto industries, and etc.

The celebrations of the Madras day are filled with activities that motivate community and groups to focus on its rich past and present. The celebration includes various events like heritage walks, public talks, exhibitions, poetry reading, music and dance concerts, food festivals and special local radio programs.

Various Special Covers celebrating Madras Day have been issued depicting the places of importance in and around the city. These covers have special “Madras Day” cancellations.

To view Madras Presidency coinage click here .