Field Trip

This Monday, since Ashwin and Priya are now on vacation, we took a trip to one of the (only) notable sights in Chennai proper - St George's Fort, and St. Mary's church. Briefly, the Fort was constructed by the British starting in 1653 with additions and modifications over the next 200 years or so. It's still being used as an active military site, so a lot of the area is off limits for tourists. However, there is a small museum there, which gave us lots of interesting information about the colonial period here. We were interested to find out that after being run out of the US by the Patriots, Cornwallis was reassigned here in Chennai and had a long, and more successful (from the British point of view) tour. There's a photo above of us with a statue of Cornwallis at the Fort Museum. We were also amazed by the dark woollen uniforms that the British soldiers had to wear - cant believe that they could even LIVE here, let alone conquer.

On the grounds of the fort is the oldest existing English church in South India, St Mary's (1680). It now belongs to the Church of South India. Besides being of historical interest, it was a sweet stone structure with a large beautiful garden. Sometimes when one finds a spot of beauty and sanctuary amid the din, dust and crowds, you just have to stop and enjoy - so included several photos.