The herbal route
Starting at the intersection of Kutchery road and Bazaar road, our first stop was the Dubba Chetty shop. “Started in 1885 by Krishnaswami Chetty, today the enterprise is run by Koonala Badrinath. Along with exquisite herbal powders like kilkai nelli and chithrathai , Dubba Chetty is famous for its Deepavali and post-natal legiam s,” narrates Ashmitha Athreya, leading the walk. Down the same road is the Venkataramana Ayurveda Dispensary. “It was established in 1905 by the lawyer V Krishnaswamy Iyer. They offer free consultations and subsidised medicine for the poor even today. The opening of the dispensary gave Dubba Chetty’s business a boost.” To this day, Venkataramana sources its ingredients from Dubba Chetty.
Venkataramana Ayurveda Dispensary started in 1905
Rasam at the Buckingham Palace
As the walkers stood outside what is now a multistorey apartment complex, Ashmitha explains how this used to be the PV Condiments factory. . “It is PV Condiments that took the Mulligatawny soup ( milagu rasam) to the Western world and continues to do so with its export business,” he says. P Vencatachellum Condiments set up base at 26 Kutchery Road in the 1860s. Though the relics of the enterprise have disappeared from this location, their recipes have remained unchanged. Today, the business operates as Vencat Spices — though not available locally. “They have supplied Madras curry powder to the Buckingham Palace,” says Ashmitha. They also supplied to Veeraswamy, the oldest Indian restaurant in London.
Kamadhenu Kalyana Mandapam
Skill from a century ago
With six sessions everyday, the Shorthand School, a one-of-a-kind establishment in the city, is still going strong. “Started here at this premises in 1933, by Srikanth Iyer, it catered primarily to Anglo-Indian students in its early days, because of the St Patrick’s Anglo Indian school nearby. Today students come here to study not just shorthand, but commerce and accountancy as well.” says Ashmitha. The relevance of shorthand has not diminished over the decades, feels Padmanabhan, the current owner of the institute. 2 Elaborating on the structure’s importance to the city, Ashmitha said, a market for Mylapore Thannithurai
Alive through the ages
The 250-year-old Luz House is an exemplary study in the conservation of heritage. The acres of lush forest that surrounded the house have now been reduced to a stretch of trees along the access road and along with the chirps of birds there is the whirring of the traffic on the main road, but inside the house is a different world. On how this space is important to the trade of Mylapore even today, Ashmitha says “Every detail has been scrupulously attended to: the glass door knobs, the wooden switchboards, the oxide flooring and the impeccable woodwork. Today, the Luz House is an event space for weddings, family functions and boutique expositions. Carefully preserving the history of the space, it is a model of how heritage can be relevant across ages and generate trade.”falling The last leg of the walk was breakfast at organization
A fitting finale to this walk on intangible heritage, the conversation on the layers of conservation continued as the walkers relished the Mapillai champa idlis.
