மயிலாப்பூரின் கதை- சென்னையின் மிகப் பழமையான பகுதி | History Times with Historian V Sriram

Long before Madras came into existence in 1639, Mylapore was already a thriving town with centuries of history behind it. In his detailed writings, historian Sriram V traces Mylapore’s antiquity to ancient Tamil Sangam literature, where it finds mention as a prosperous port town, famed for its trade, culture, and spirituality. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea a 1st-century CE Greco-Roman travelogue refers to "Maliarpha", believed by many scholars to be Mylapore, as a coastal hub with active trade links to the Roman Empire. Sriram points out that Mylapore was once ruled by the Pallavas, followed by the Cholas, Vijayanagar rulers, and later the Portuguese, who built the San Thome Basilica over what they believed was the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle. The Kapaleeshwarar Temple, central to Mylapore’s spiritual landscape today, is actually a relatively newer structure rebuilt in the 17th century after the original was likely closer to the sea. Through Sriram's lens, Mylapore comes alive not just as a sacred space but also as a lively urban settlement with its agraharams, music sabhas, literary salons, and vibrant festivals like the Arupathu Moovar Ther Thiruvizha, which continue to draw lakhs of devotees. To walk through Mylapore, as Sriram V would say, is to walk through layers of living history from Sanskrit scholars and Carnatic musicians to colonial encounters and Tamil poets, all leaving behind their mark in this remarkable neighborhood that predates Madras itself. . . . . . . . . . . . . #Mylapore #OldMadras #MylaporeHistory #KapaleeshwararTemple #SanThomeBasilica #Sriramv #HistoryOfChennai #PastForward