Legend of the pole

To the east of the St Thomas Basilica, just as the ground drops off to the beach, stands this wooden pole. Legend has it that this is a splinter of a colossal tree that fell across the Adyar river, causing a flood in the neighbourhood. The king (yes, this legend goes back a couple of millennia) tried sending his elephants and mahouts to move the log; no success. It was then that the wandering holy man threw his girdle around the tree trunk and yanked it out to the shore. That was St Thomas and the log has now whittled down to this pole. 

It is a nice story, but there is no way to authenticate it. The legend of Thomas is an article of faith and this wooden pole is going the same way. A more plausible explanation of this wooden structure is that it is all that remains of a flag pole from the time that the Portuguese occupied the town of San Thome. The town's fortifications extended to the beach and this flag pole would have stood on the eastern bastion. 

In 2004, when the tsunami struck the Marina, the waters did not rise up to where the pole stood. There can be many explanations for that (significantly, the pole is at a reasonably high elevation from the shore and the tsunami fizzed out at this spot), but there is only one that the faithful believe - that this pole was the only factor that stood between San Thome and the tsunami!

Holy hillock

If the Portuguese had called St Thomas Mount "El Grande Monti", it is reasonable to assume that there must have been an "El Pouca Monti" as well, somewhere. You don't have to search too hard for it, because the English equivalent of that phrase has been translated into Tamizh as well. Little Mount, or சின்னமலை, was what it is called, and it is on the wrong side of the river Adyar from St Thomas Mount. 

But the Little Mount is also associated with St Thomas, perhaps even more strongly than the larger one is. It was in a grotto in this little hillock by the river that Thomas Didymus took refuge in, when the shores of Meliapore became too warm for him, figuratively. The entrance to the grotto is now ensconced in the church you see in the centre. Built by the Portuguese in 1551, it is known as the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. In 1711, an adjunct was constructed; When the 19th century of St Thomas' martyrdom was observed in 1971, the adjunct shrine was expanded and modified into a church by itself, called the Church of Our Lady of Health. 

There are several legends of Thomas around this place. The grotto has a tiny exit on the other side, besides which there appears an imprint of a palm, which is believed to be St. Thomas'. A hop-step away from that exit, on a flat piece of rock, is a large, foot-shaped discolouration, which is believed to be a footprint of the saint. There is also the 'bleeding cross', said to have been carved in the rock by Thomas, and, where he smote the rock with his stick, there appeared a spring; that trickle of water continues to run today and is considered to have curative powers. With so much of myth around it, no wonder this place needs to be honoured with two churches, rather than just one!

Broken soldier

I will give you a clue. This is supposed to be a Roman soldier. At some point, he was flogging someone or dragging something along. And this is on a hillock close to the Marmalong bridge. 

Give up? Okay, I shall tell you now. It is - or was - part of a tableau in the precincts of the Little Mount Church in Saidapet. There is nothing else near it, so it must have been discarded. Or did he just desert the ranks?

Backstage

We had entered through the door behind the statue and we saw this. And then, it was quite unnerving, when the priests turned around and bowed to us. Of course they did not even notice us, they had better things to do. 

Somehow it felt like we were trespassing, so we got out the same way we came in!

Rest-stop

At a time when the world was a much larger place, say a couple of millenia ago, a journey from Mylapore to St Thomas Mount was considerably long-haul. Going inland from the beaches of Mylapore, the traveller would most likely find thick groves, and then the scrub jungles. Coming out of those jungles infested with leopards, wolves and snakes, the traveller would be on the banks of the mighty Adyar river, which must be forded if he was to climb up that hillock of St Thomas Mount.

Thomas Didymus, he of the famed doubt, reportedly made this journey quite frequently. And in the course of doing so, he had at least one specific resting spot, according to legend. Hearing about this, the Portugese settlers at San Thome made sure they also took time out at this spot during their pilgrimage from their seashore settlement to the hillock shrine. Over time, they built a little church here in 1650. It continues to be in use although the name has been changed from the original Portugese Descanco Church to Illaippari Madha Kovil.

Different inside

The St Thomas Garrison Church has quite a bit in common with the St Clement Danes in the Strand, London. In the first place, both churches are closely connected with the armed forces: the one in Madras was raised to cater to the military establishment between the Mount and Pallavaram and the one in the Strand is now the Central Church of the Royal Air Force. Both buildings have had some restoration done due to aircraft. Luftwaffe bombers gutted St Clements during the London Blitz; the steeple of the Garrison Church had to be reduced in height to enable planes land at the Meenambakkam airport.

Such similarities should not surprise us, because the Garrison Church was designed on the lines of St Clement Danes. However, the replication of the design seems to have been confined to the outside, unless the original was unrecognisably altered during its restoration. A significant difference is that the altar does not have a grand reredos, preferring to keep it simple with a small altarpiece. 

That altarpiece too, was not painted by any famous painter, or even a 'professional' painter. The work of Major John Robinson, it shows Jesus asking Thomas to touch his wounds. On the evidence of this painting, and a lack of any leads towards the Major's martial exploits, he was probably quite a peace-loving military officer!

371 and counting!

As Chennai turns 371 today, here's a view from the top of St. Thomas Mount. (Thomas, of course of the 'Doubting Thomas' fame). It is widely believed that St. Thomas spent his last days atop this hillock and was martyred here. Nearly 2000 years ago, he would possibly have been able to clearly see the seashore town of Mylapore where he stayed a while, but today's cloud made it difficult to sight the San Thome Basilica even from this elevation.

On a clear day, one can even see the Bay of Bengal; the Madras Roads, though they were the very devil to navigate, became the lifeline of British trade. Even after all these years, it is striking to find Macaulay's description of his first sighting of Madras - "The effect was very striking, --great, white, masses of buildings scattered amidst a rich profusion of deep dark varnished green. The sun was just about to rise. The town was quite still, and for some time we saw no signs of life" - has changed little!

Happy birthday, Chennai! And we look forward to the next 371!!

Doubting Thomas

He may have doubted the resurrection of Jesus, but there is no refuting the fact that St. Thomas the apostle travelled east, reached the shores of Kerala at Kodungalloor (or, as Ptolemy had it, Cranganore) and after many good works there and elsewhere, arrived at Mylapore around 50 CE. There he lived until the local priests were vexed with his actions, upon which he was hounded out of Mylapore, up the Parangimalai (today called St. Thomas Mount), where he was attacked with a lance and killed.

St. Thomas' life and times are too rich to be detailed here (Wikipedia does have exhaustive information) and there is considerable debate over where he actually spread the gospel. But I haven't heard of any other version of where he spent his last days. In any event, the belief that he was martyred atop St. Thomas Mount has been held over centuries - by the locals first and then by the invading Portugese and the British colonizers.

The Cathedral of St. Thomas was last re-built by the British towards the end of the 19th century. In 1956, Pope Pius XII raised it to the level of a Minor Basilica - it's proper name today is 'Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Thomas'. But I would support any argument that puts this basilica on par with St. Peter's. Come on, it is one of only 3 churches that were built over the tombs of Jesus' apostles (St. Peter's in Rome and St. James' in Galicia being the others). Oh sure, it does not have the grandeur of the other two, but that's no reason to forget what it is there for.

Even the official website of the basilica moans the fact that many are unaware of the importance of the shrine! How about you - are you a doubter, too?