6 months ago
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On Kutchery Road successful Mylapore, wherever galore of the aged buildings of Madras person fixed mode to new ones, the past inactive lingers successful quiescent corners. Amid this blend of aged charm and caller structures stands a modest, two-decades-old location that draws quiescent attention. A plaque astatine its entranceway reads ‘Santiniketan’. The sanction recalls an earlier time, and an older location that erstwhile stood connected the aforesaid spot. It was the residence of Justice T. Muthuswamy Iyer (1832-1895), the archetypal Indian to service arsenic a justice of the Madras High Court during the British period. More than a period ago, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore stayed present during his sojourn to Madras.
In his publication Tagore: Vangathu Meegamanin Vazhkai Chithiram, writer V. B. Ganesan recounts the poet’s sojourn to the metropolis successful 1919. Between the instauration and opening of Visva-Bharati University (1918-1921), Tagore travelled crossed India, Europe, and the United States to rise funds for his institution. His archetypal fundraising travel took him to the southbound of India, wherever helium visited Bangalore (now Bengaluru), Mysore (now Mysuru), Madurai, Madras (now Chennai), and Madanapalle.
Taken to ‘Ranganadha Vilas’
According to a study published successful The Hindu on March 10, 1919, Tagore arrived successful Madras the erstwhile time from Bangalore. He was received astatine the Central Railway Station by T. S. Ramaswamy Iyer and G. S. Arundale, among others. Amid cheers, helium was garlanded and taken to ‘Ranganadha Vilas’ connected Cutchery Road (as the thoroughfare was past spelt), the residence of Justice Muthuswamy Iyer. “The Indian writer of planetary estimation volition reside present during his enactment successful Madras,” noted the report. That evening, Tagore delivered a lecture connected the topic, ‘National Education’, astatine Gokhale Hall astatine the Young Men’s Indian Association. “The Hall and the galleries were filled to their utmost capacity,” reported The Hindu the adjacent day.
Everywhere Tagore went, helium was greeted with large warmth, peculiarly by assemblage students. His meetings with young minds filled him with renewed vigor and optimism. His speeches, which emphasised the transformative powerfulness of education, made a lasting content connected the students who came to perceive to him, Mr. Ganesan writes. Following requests from respective students, Tagore agreed to widen his enactment successful Madras for a fewer much days to present a bid of lectures. Between March 13 and 16, 1919, helium addressed students astatine Presidency College, Madras Christian College, Pachaiyappa’s College, and Law College. His lectures touched upon subjects specified arsenic ‘Folk Religion successful India’ and ‘The Message of the Forest’. The lecture bid reflected Tagore’s vision for Visva-Bharati and his broader ideals of acquisition and taste exchange. After helium completed his engagements, Tagore’s health declined slightly, and connected March 16, 1919, helium near for Bangalore to rest. Three days later, a representation of Tagore was unveiled astatine the students’ hostel of Madras Christian College. The ceremonial was presided implicit by S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, the doyen of Indian journalism and erstwhile Editor of The Hindu. Poet and state combatant Sarojini Naidu delivered an code celebrating Tagore’s ideals.
Old location rebuilt
The house, other the Mylapore Police Station, connected Kutchery Road wherever Tagore once stayed nary longer exists. Only the chromatic plaque bearing the sanction ‘Santiniketan,’ fixed to the residence successful representation of his visit, remains. In 2005, the location was purchased by S. H. Mohideen and his household from the descendants of Justice Muthuswamy Iyer. The aged operation was aboriginal rebuilt, but the household chose to clasp its historical name.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Mohideen, a question agent, recalled the aged location with emotion. “It had a tiny beforehand hallway wherever astir 8 to 10 radical could beryllium seated and was built with achromatic lime plaster. It is simply a substance of large pridefulness for our household to beryllium surviving successful the location wherever Tagore once stayed.” H. Venkatesan, an electrician known among locals arsenic the 1 who had worked successful the aged building, remembered its graceful charm. He fondly recalled the mango and guava trees that erstwhile shaded its garden.
Though Rabindranath Tagore, fondly remembered arsenic Gurudev, visited Madras connected respective occasions during his lifetime, including the historical gathering with the expansive aged antheral of Tamil lit U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer in 1926, the tiny plaque connected Kutchery Road stands arsenic a quiescent reminder of his archetypal sojourn to the city.
