Chennapattinam
date
Jun 5, 2024
slug
chennapattinam
status
Published
tags
random
summary
madras etymology 101
type
Post
I have this odd interest in the history of Chennai. It is one of the very few cities that has been functional for around 400 years. It is also know for its intriguing neighborhoods. Each locality has a unique story, often rooted in history, geography, or local culture.
Formerly know as Madras or Madrasapattinam, Chennai has it’s name derived from Chennapattinam, which was named after Chennapa Nayakudu, a Telugu guy. Chennai has been the name since 1996.
Egmore is believed to be derived from Ezhumboor, a river that used to flow here. The English just couldn’t pronounce Ezhumboor. This will be the pattern for a lot of places in Chennai.
Teynampettai is from Thennam and Pettai. Coconut farms and groves were once present here in abundance.
Mylapore is super specific. Apparently, it is reduced from Myil aarparikkum oor, which means the land where peacocks scream. Lot of Peacocks back then, I guess.
T Nagar was named after P Thyagaraja Chetty, a lawyer and a political leader.
Pondy Bazaar also named after a politician from the same party, WPS Soundarapandian Nadar.
Usman Road named after Mohammad Usman of Madras, a man who was knighted.
Panagal Park was named after the Raja of Panagal.
Triplicane is the anglicised version of Thiru-Alli-keni, which means a sacred lily tank. This tank was in front the famous Parthasarathy Temple.
Saidapet from Sayyid Shah, who was gifted this land by the Arcot Nawab; was called as Syed Pettai which later became Saidapet.
The origin of the name Kodambakkam is hearsay. It is said that the Nawab held his horses here - called it Goda Bagh - which then became Kodambakkam. Reach, in my opinion.
Pallavaram because it was a Pallava settlement.
Guindy is interesting. Starts with a sage by the name of Bringi. This sage stayed and performed penances in a nearby hill - Parangi Malai! Imagine having a hill named after you. Anyway - this sage placed his pitcher (aka. Kindi) in a place and that place is now Guindy. Not so believable but this is, funnily, the recorded reason behind the name.
Parangi Malai is also said to have come from Firangi malai, which translates to “the foreigner's hill”, as there was an English camp up the mount.
Avadi is an acronym for Armored Vehicles And Depot of India.
Chromepet because of the Leather factory, Chrome Leathers. I remember listening to a podcast about how this factory became super successful. I’ll plug it once I find it.
Velachery was a settlement of people from the Velar community.
Chepauk anglicised from “che bagh”, which means six gardens of the Chepauk palace of the Nawabs of the Carnatic. It is also debated that there’s no space for six gardens around the palace. Person-shrugging-emoji.
Mambalam had plenty of Mahavilva maram (Wood apple tree). This led the locality to be named as Mavilam, which then became Mambalam.
Bamboo trees (Permabu) in Perambur. Some of these are very low effort, I swear.
Tambaram from the ancient name of the town - Taampuramana Gunaseela Nallur. There are different sources for the name. However, this is found to be the earliest reference to this locality - by S Ramachandran, former Epigraphist with the Archaeological Department, Government of Tamilnadu.
Chetpet is mysterious. Quoting Sriram Venkatakrishnan -
The historian K.V. Raman writes of how a noble in the camp of the Rashtrakuta King Krishna III made a gift of gold to the Tiruvottriyur temple and this was deposited with the residents of Settruppedu in Thudarmuniyurnadu. [link]
One other reason is, T Namberumal Chetty had 99 houses in this area - so Chettypettai, which then became Chetpet. This one’s believed lesser than the reason above.
Chennai's place names offer a fascinating glimpse into the city's diverse history and cultural tapestry. Each name carries a story, reflecting the geographical, historical, and cultural nuances of the region.
Presented above are only some of the more known localities in Chennai. There’s surely much more. Reach out to me and I can add more or correct any existing ones.