

Rohit Panikke
What we call Chennai today has a past that has been collectively enriched by a diverse group of people – the English, Jews, Portuguese and the Armenians, among others.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there existed a flourishing colony of Armenians, which was well-established in local and overseas trade. But all that remains of the Armenian connection to the city are a white edifice in a street named after them, a bridge to their credit and few other noteworthy legacies including a current population of three.
These bells were cast in Whitechapel, England, by wealthy Armenian merchants to Madras and donated to the church; and they have been used to announce the commencement of prayers every Sunday since 1772 (the year the church was rebuilt after being demolished during the French siege of Madras in 1746). Still making the call, the chimes serve as a poignant reminder of a once-prominent diaspora of people in this city.