Chennai

September 21, 2017 Thursday

We checked out of our hotel in Kochi, and went to the airport for our last inter India flight. Our destination is Chennai. Formerly known as Madras. 

The first stop on our tour was St. Mary's Church.  It is a decent walk. The bus could not make it through the maze of streets in front of the government offices.

A monument to Lord Erskine.

It is a pretty church

History bit:

From 1639, when Madras was founded, until 1678, when Streynsham Master was appointed the English East India Company's Agent at Madras, religious services were conducted in the dining-room of the Factory House. It was at Master's initiative, and without the sanction of the Directors of the Company, that a subscription was started for the construction of the church.
The sum collected amounted to 805 pagodas with the Governor and other officers contributing. Construction was started on 25 March 1678 - Lady Day, whereby the church acquired its name. The church was rendered the only bomb-proof building at the time, in the Fort, on account of a peculiarly designed roof, details of which are provided under Architecture.
Construction was completed in the course of two years and the church was consecrated on 28 October 1680 by the chaplain Rev. Richard Portman. The ceremony was marked by the firing of small arms and cannon by the fort's garrison.
On account of its peculiar roof-structure, the church was used as a barrack and granary between December, 1758 and January, 1759 during the Second Carnatic War, when the French besieged Madras and again when Hyder Ali invaded the town in the late 18th century.

 Interior, here we could take photos

The stained glass was gorgeous

The beach at the Bay of Bengal

All these boats are newer than 2004. The Boxing Day Tsunami that devastated Thailand also came ashore here. They told us over 400 people were killed in India.

St. Thomas Cathedral. This is the burial place of the Apostle Thomas. Doubting Thomas.

Information Bit:
San Thome Basilica (Tamil: சாந்தோம் பசிலிக்கா, Cān-Tōm Pacilikkā; Portuguese: Basílica de São Tomé) is a Roman Catholic (Latin Rite) minor basilica in Santhome, in the city of Chennai (Madras), India. It was built in the 16th century by Portuguese explorers, over the tomb of Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. In 1893, it was rebuilt as a church with the status of a cathedral by the British. The British version still stands today. It was designed in Neo-Gothic style, favoured by British architects in the late 19th century. This church is one of the only three known churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus, the other two being St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain.

It is a very big church

The teak looks beautiful against the white walls

It is a beautiful church

Jesus, but presented in a more Indian way with lotus and peacocks

We went down to the tomb, under the church, and we were not allowed to take photos. We stayed and prayed for a little while.  Then got back on the bus

Flower sellers.  I would have loved to buy some but they did not stop

The roof top bar, called Above Sea Level.

It was all open, and the pool was on the other side.

You could get food up there too. Which we did

Mark was enjoying himself too!

We could not figure out the Cricket Match on the big screen. India Vs. Australia. Australia had 176 and India had 8.  But the waiters said India would win, and India did win. I have no idea how.  The waiters tried to explain, I still did not understand. All about wickets and run and some other stuff. Baseball I understand, cricket, not so much.