Monk in the city

Like many other great personages, this man shed his mortal coils before he turned forty. Born this day in 1863, Vivekananda took "Hinduism" to the centre stage at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893. It took Vivekananda nearly four years after that speech to return to his native land; he arrived at Colombo on January 15, 1897 and then, traversing the route from Pamban to Madras, arriving in the city on January 20. Though he lectured at Colombo and several other stops on the way, Madras was the focus of this return trip.

The place that he stayed in was then known as Castle Kernan, or alternately the Ice House. It was not meant to be a residence, but then, it was spacious, on the Marina, and could accommodate the hundreds of visitors who wanted to meet this monk seemed to have strengthened their belief in themselves. The Madras Reception Committee said, in its welcome address, "...we come to offer you the love of our hearts and to give expression to our feeling of thankfulness for the services which you, by the grace of God, have been able to render to the great cause of Truth by proclaiming India's ancient and lofty religious ideals." So tumultuous was that reception that Vivekananda's words could not be heard by many of the nearly 10,000 strong crowd that attended. Their consolation was that they could look forward to a few more opportunities to listen to him over the next few days in their city. 

Vivekananda stayed in Madras for nine days. The enthusiasm which he generated was reason enough for an enterprising publisher from the city to put together a volume of his lectures. And somewhere in those lectures, he exhorted the young men of the city to build their strength, for a life of religiosity needed a strong body. He said, "First of all, our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita." Wonder which of those approaches have gained popularity now!

Breaking the ice

There is a kind of reassuring permanence to some of the names of Chennai's landmarks. Attempts at renaming them only lead to bestowing another handle, while the older one is also used, equally validly. And so it is with this building, Vivekanandar Illam or Vivekananda House, on the Marina Beach.

There was a temptation to make this post on 9/11: the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic address at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, in 1893. He stayed at this building for a few days after his return to India and that is the reason for its current official name. But close on the heels of 9/11 comes another anniversary, which is the reason for this building to be constructed in the first place. It was on September 13, 1833 that the first shipment of river ice - about 100 tonnes of it - landed up in Calcutta, from Boston. Business was good enough for a regular ferry service of ice from Massachusetts' rivers into the Presidency towns of the Raj and each of them built storage facilities for the landed ice. 

Of the others, there is no trace these days. Vivekananda's name has ensured that the building stays in good repair and is put to good use. But it still cannot stop the Madrasi from referring to it as 'Ice House'!

An icy heritage

Fredric Tudor, a Boston native, could smell a business opportunity half-a-world away. Learning that the heat in India was causing acute discomfort to the British, Mr. Tudor packed a ship with tons of ice cut from New England's rivers and sent it off to Calcutta - a journey of about 25,000 km, which took over 3 months to be completed. This test run was so successful that he built an 'Ice House' in each of the 3 Presidencies - Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

The business didn't last for too long and the Ice House in Madras was bought by Biligiri Iyengar, a senior advocate of the Madras High Court. Designed to store ice, the building was ill-suited as a residence. Though Biligiri Iyengar tried various things, such as adding a verandah and renaming the building 'Castle Kernan', he could not live in it. However, it was a wonderful location to host Swami Vivekananda, returning to India in 1897 from his triumphant tour of the Western world. That was probably the high point of the building's history.

By 1963, Castle Kernan was in the hands of the government; the building was renamed Vivekanandar Illam (House of Vivekananda) to mark the Swamiji's birth centenary. In 1997, the building was leased to the Ramakrishna Mission to set up a permanent exhibition on Swamiji's life. But this permanent exhibition is on a lease that runs out in 2010 - hopefully, it will be renewed before that, and the diverse history of the building preserved for a long, long time.