Janmashtami was last week when much of India celebrated the birth of Lord Krishna. Madras that is Chennai has its share of Vishnu temples where this event must have been observed with customary gaiety. The Thiruvallikeni Parthasarathi Temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna, is perhaps the best known. But tucked away in George Town is a tiny shrine to the Lord, which also deserves attention. Krishnan Koil Street cuts east-west across George Town, culminating in Coral Merchant Street. At this intersection is the lovely temple that gives the street its name. The sanctum has Krishna in standing posture, wielding the flute and with legs crossed. It is one of the few temples of Town for which we have reasonably accurate information about its provenance. And that is thanks to some caste-related disturbances in 1790.
Two vertical divisions
That was the period when Madras had two vertical divisions in society — the Left and Right-Hand castes and they frequently quarrelled. The East India Company had to frequently adjudicate. Matters came to a head over the organisation of temple festivals and in 1790, the root cause was the Janmashtami celebration at this Krishna shrine. On September 5, the Right-Hand caste hoisted a flag at the temple with the colours usually associated with that of the Left Hand. Riots ensued, houses were plundered, and each group had at least one member shot dead. The Company arrested practically everyone in sight, old men and young boys included, and had them sequestered at the Main Guard. Leaders of both communities were ordered to assist the Governor’s Council in its inquiry. On the Right were Balakrishna Chetty and Sunku Krishnama Chetty. On the Left was Thambu Chetty, he after whom the eponymous street probably gets its name (I say probably because there was more than one Thambu Chetty in Madras history).
The depositions state that the “Krishnaswamy Pagoda...has been built within these few years and the Feasts there at began to be performed only for these three years past.” The temple must therefore date to around 1787 or so. It is not clear as to who funded it. The Company ruled that thereafter the two caste groups could not hoist flags of their own design but only those of St George! The same solution would later be applied when similar riots broke out at the Kapaliswarar Temple, Mylapore. Our Gods therefore came out with the flag of St George slaying the dragon for some time.
The depositions also highlight another George Town custom, now associated only with the Kalikambal temple — a chariot festooned with brass cups and locally known as the ‘Kinni Ther’. The Right-Hand caste members accused “those of the Left Hand of using brass cups over their carriages, which they complain as an innovation”. Clearly then, the ‘Kinni Ther’, now spoken of as being unique to this temple, was once a practice in George Town, with its origins in the 18th Century.Peace returned to the Krishnaswami temple and there are no further records of rioting. Today, when you visit the place you can hardly believe that this quiet cloister was once the reason for communal disturbances. George Town has other shrines with similar histories — the Patnam temple, the Katchaliswarar temple and the Chintadri Pillaiyar temple are the examples. The Company at one stage even contemplated a ban on further temple building, but never implemented it.
(V. Sriram is a writer and historian)
