A goat needs no beard, the State needs no Governor -- that was the refrain of former chief minister and DMK founder C N Annadurai, making it clear that the DMK did not approve of the post which the DMK charged was intended to curb the powers of an elected government. The DMK, in the sixties and...
V K Sasikala, who wielded enormous power as aide of former chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, begins her struggle to gain control of the party with a week-long tour of her home turf, the Thevar-dominated southern districts of Tamil Nadu. While arch rival former CM Edappadi K...
Media outlets devote much space to Fort St George. But, more than 2,500 years ago, in the Chennai metropolitan region, Kurumba kings built 24 forts in as many divisions and ruled the region, vanquishing other kings. The Mackenzie manuscripts give us details about the Kurumba kings, their...
In a symbolic move indicating that Jayalalithaa's aide V K Sasikala was preparing herself for a legal and perception battle for control over the AIADMK, she pulled off a coup by unveiling a plaque at MGR's T Nagar residence calling herself 'party general secretary' and spent time at his...
It seems ancient Chennaivasis believed in reincarnation. Their burial monuments testify to this. They didn’t cremate the dead but buried them. On top of the burial ground, they raised the stone monuments. Recent research has shown that Chennai has been continuously inhabited for thousands of...
The success of the ruling DMK in the local body elections in nine districts has not come as a surprise. But the real surprise package has been actor Vijay's Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam which has quietly picked up seats in various districts, indicating that Tamil Nadu has to brace itself for...
Like Manmohan Singh, Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan has learned quickly that good economics is bad politics. Much of the promises in his White Paper on the state’s financial position, regarding re-structuring and minimizing the amount of freebies and subsidies, would...
Today marks the 25th year of the change in name of Greater Chennai city from Madras to Chennai. This historic announcement, a celebration of Chennai and Tamil Nadu's culture and civilisation as opposed to being a legacy of British rule, was made by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M...
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan who has been strident in his criticism of DMK's political enemies has now crossed swords with DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan. When Elangovan told a journalist that PTR should have attended a recent GST meeting that he skipped, and that his...
Several Alvars record references to ancient Chennai in paasurams from 5th century References in Hymns of Alvars to ancient Chennai (Chennai Maadham series) In tracing the antiquity of the Chennai region subsequent to the second century A.D., we have to rely on the works of the early Vaishnavite...
