Places we will visit…1) Chennai

PHOTOS Clockwise from top: Chennai Central, Marina Beach, Kapaleeswarar Temple, Santhome Basilica, Bharata Natyam recital.

PHOTO The Ripon Building, commissioned in 1913

PHOTO "The Incredulity of St Thomas" by Caravaggio

THE CITY STATS  We arrive in Chennai, also known as Madras, is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, South India. According to 2011 census, the city had 4.68 million residents making it the sixth most populous city in India. As of 2012, the city is India's second largest exporter of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. A major part of India's automobile industry is based in and around the city thus earning it the nickname "Detroit of India"

HISTORY The Portuguese first arrived in 1522 and built a port called São Tomé after the Christian apostle, St. Thomas, who is believed to have preached in the area between 52 and 70 AD.

The name Chennai is a shortened form of Chennapattanam, the name of the town that grew around Fort St. George, which was built by the English in 1639.Chennapattanam was named after the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple; the word chenni in Tamil means face, and the temple was regarded as the face of the city. The city's colonial name, Madras, is believed to have been derived from Madraspattinam, a fishing village north of Fort St. George. It’s possibility is that the village's name came from the prominent Madeiros family of Portuguese origin, which consecrated the Madre de Deus Church in the Santhome locality of Chennai in 1575.The British East India Company arrived and the establishment of Fort St. George in 1644. The British defended several attacks from the French colonial forces, and from the kingdom of Mysore.

ADMINSTRATION Chennai city is governed by the Chennai Corporation (formerly "Corporation of Madras"), which was established in 1688. It is the oldest municipal corporation in India and the second oldest corporation in the world.

ST. THOMAS born 1^st century AD in Galilee and died 21.12.0072 at Mylapore,Chennai,  India, is traditionally believed to have sailed to India in 52AD to spread the Christian faith among the Jews, the Jewish diaspora present in Kerala at the time. He is supposed to have landed at the ancient port of Muziris (which became extinct in 1341 AD due to a massive flood which realigned the coasts) near Kodungalloor. He then went to Palayoor (near present-day Guruvayoor), which was a Hindu priestly community at that time. He left Palayoor in AD 52 for the southern part of what is now Kerala State, where he established the Ezharappallikal, or "Seven and Half Churches". These churches are at Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam (Niranam St.Marys Orthodox Church, Nilackal (Chayal), Kokkamangalam, Kottakkayal (Paravoor), Palayoor (Chattukulangara) and Thiruvithancode Arappally – the half church. The Acts of Thomas identifies his second mission in India with a kingdom ruled by King Mahadwa, one of the rulers of a 1st-century dynasty in southern India. It is most significant that, aside from a small remnant of the Church of the East in Kurdistan, the only other church to maintain a distinctive identity is the Mar Thoma or “Church of Thomas” congregations along the Malabar Coast of Kerala State in southwest India. According to the most ancient tradition of this church, Thomas evangelized this area and then crossed to the Coromandel Coast of southeast India, where, after carrying out a second mission, he died near Madras.

Near Chennai (Madras) in India stands a small hillock called St. Thomas Mount, where the Apostle is said to have been killed in AD 72 (exact year not established). Also to be found in Chennai is the Dioceses of Saint Thomas of Mylapore to which his mortal remains were supposedly transferred and his burial place was situated in the right hand chapel of the church or house known after his name. No archaeological evidence support these claims though.