Photo Docu on Mylapore's Mada Veedhis

If you are anywhere near Mylapore this weekend, please swing into the temple area.

And spend some time to look at a unique set of photographs, which my colleague C. P. Dhanasekar has painstakingly shot the past month.

In a quiet, old world street that goes by the name of East Tank Street, Dhanasekar, the photographer of 'Adyar Times' newspaper, is having an exhibition titled - Mylapore's Mada Veedhis.

Forty pictures that he has shot of life, people, places and things on the four streets that describe Sri Kapali Temple.

I yanked Dhana, as we all call him, from his routine beat of Adyar, to work on this assignment.

Perhaps, the annual Panguni fest of the temple triggered the idea.

Dhana has captured a few nooks even local residents were unaware of.

The FH plates on the mada streets.

Plates, which denoted the water tanks with outlets, which fire services of yore, used to tap into with their hoses to combat a fire in this neighbourhood.

Dhana has just begun what should be a long assignment.

A project to document in pictures the life of this area. And it will take him many more weeks to document just the Mada Streets.

Social documents of this kind are rarely undertaken.

Dhana was actually working on a different area.

The village of Kottur had fascinated us because here was a long line of tiled street houses, which sustained themselves as the giant apartment blocks rose all around them.

But when some of these houses were demolished, we felt we should begin a photo document on them, the people and their local lives.

Much of the heritage of Mylapore's Mada Streets is gone.

However, there is a certain life that stays on.

I experienced it this past week as the brahmotsavam events unfurled. As some of my friends here began to prepare to entertain their friends and relatives who drop by for this festival, year after year.

On Friday, cameraman Mohandas Vadakkara and I were on the mada veedhis, shooting for the web cast of the 'ther' procession.

We will go back on Saturday, to web cast the procession of the 63 nayanmmars.

For all those who couldn't soak in these events, the web casts are posted at www.kutcheribuzz.com/pangunifest2007.