Gravestones speak of lives lived, pathways traced and choices made. They give us the stories behind a person and his life as seen by his loved ones. Chennai is full of abundant history - stories of men and women who built this city, which are now etched onto the crumbling ruins of Chennai’s old cemeteries.
There are numerous cemeteries where one can spend an entire evening and not even realise the time passing. The St Mary’s Church, tucked away in a corner of Fort St George has, according to the caretaker, not only the distinction of being the oldest Anglican church on the east of the Suez, but is also the resting place of the oldest British tombstone, dating way back to 1652.
Elizabeth Baker, the wife of the first president of the Madras Presidency, Aaron Baker, died when she was on her way to meet her husband. Her tombstone, lying near the entrance, weathered and cracked, is a testimony to the upheaval they were all put through. The 104 tombstones were used as shields by the invading French forces in 1758. They were originally buried in the ‘Guava garden,’ on top of which the law college currently stands.
Once the law college came up, the cemetery was shifted near the Metropolitan Transport Corporation on Pallavan Salai, where it currently stands. An article by historian S Muthiah talks about an old description mentioning boundary hedges filled with jasmine, shady trees, patches of lawn and beds of bright flowers. But it is a sense of desolation that coats the cemetery today. Plants have run wild, resembling a scene out of a jungle, while patches of lawn are more patches of debris than green grass.
The graves themselves are undecipherable, some having crumbled due to natural elements, others covered by weeds and creepers that have run amok. Still, if one has the patience and a certain disregard for snakes, perusing the names on the tombs and gravestones would pass for a very pleasant pastime.
In stark contrast, the two corners of the cemetery wear a fresh look. Lined with neatly-pruned hedges and padlocked, one contains the graves of the Commonwealth soldiers who died during Second World War, while the other constituttes the Roman Catholic part of the cemetery.
Speaking of stark contrasts, the unassuming Armenian Church in Georgetown with its fresh white paint, neatly cut grass and a serene atmosphere, is quite a sight. Turning 300 this year, it has about 350 Armenian tombstones in its floors, some even dating back to 1740. A majority of them have inscriptions in Armenian with a smattering of English and Latin.
The most ornate one is the grave of Rev Haruthiun Shmavonian, founder of the first Armenian journal who died in 1824. The journal, Azdarar, came out in 1794, while Shmavonian was the priest in-charge of the church.
Similar to the tombstones in the Armenian Church, the St Thomas Mount Church too hosts Armenian tombstones. According to ‘Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India’, some of them are as old as 1707.
The Luz Church in Mylapore also bears tombstones of early Portuguese settlers. The church, the oldest in the city, has tombstones as early as 1600 lining the entrance and the walls. In addition, the Quibble Island Cemetery has a small number of old tombstones, dating back to the latter half of the 1800’s. An evening stroll through the shady, green-leafed contours of the cemetery might prove to be just the stress breaker. one’s looking for.
Comments
0 comment