Sadras

Sadras
Sadurangapattinam
town

Cannon inside the Dutch fort at Sadras
Sadras

Location in Tamil Nadu, India

Coordinates: 12°31′30″N 80°9′44″E / 12.52500°N 80.16222°E / 12.52500; 80.16222Coordinates: 12°31′30″N 80°9′44″E / 12.52500°N 80.16222°E / 12.52500; 80.16222
Country  India
State Tamil Nadu
District Kanchipuram
Languages
 • Official Tamil
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 603102
Telephone code 044
Nearest city Kanchipuram

Sadras is a fortress town located on India's Coromandel Coast in Kanchipuram District, 70 km south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. Sadras is the anglicized form of the ancient town of Saduranga pattinam.

History and Etymology

An inscription found in Sadras dated to 1359 mention this place as Rajanarayanan Pattinam after a Sambuvaraya chieftain. There is a temple to Vishnu here, and because of it later the city was known as Sadiravasagan Pattinam.[1] This later changed into Sadurangapattinam, shortly known as Sadirai. Later the Dutch called it Sadras.

Dutch Fort

Entrance of Sadras fort

Modern Sadras was established as part of Dutch Coromandel in the seventeenth century, which was even before center for weaving superfine muslin cloth for export besides Pearl and edible oil.[2] The magnificent Sadras Fort, built for commercial purposes by the Dutch, is a vast compound enclosing a huge granary, stable and structures used to mount elephants; unfortunately only one of these structures survives. The fortress was raided by the British in 1818[3] and came under the control of the British East India Company. It is now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India in efforts to contain further dilapidation of this great monument. From 2003 major restoration of the damaged fort was carried out leading to may archeological findings.[4] The first battle between British East India Company and the Dutch started here as Battle of Sadras. The fort includes a cemetery with many beautifully decorated graves that date to between 1620 and 1769.[5]

A Tomb inside the fort with Coat of Arms

Location

In recent times, Sadras has found mention due to its proximity to the atomic power plant (Madras Atomic Power Station) and the atomic research centre (Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research - IGCAR) both located at nearby Kalpakkam. The village of Sadras is sandwiched between the power plant and its township. There are two bridges connecting Kalpakkam and Sadras.

The Sadras Fort also contains picturesque tombs.

References

  1. ↑ "SADRAS HISTORY & MONUMENTS". Art and Architecture Research, Development Education (AARDE). Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  2. ↑ P. Jayakumar (2001). தமிழக துறைமுகங்கள். Thanjavur: Anbu Publishers.
  3. ↑ Hussain Kodinhi (February 25, 2012). "Sadras cries for attention". Chennai. Times of India. p. 10.
  4. ↑ T.S. SUBRAMANIAN Photographs: K. Gajendran (10 May 2003–23). "Unravelling a Dutch past". Frontline. 20 (10). Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY (June 14, 2012). "Sadras musings". Times of India. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
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