Discover your city through heritage walks

Travel gets a new lease of life as hodophiles take to heritage walks

As the pandemic upended the very idea of travel, enthusiasts restructured their holiday plans. Instead, people began to rediscover their city with staycations, picnics in public parks, and any excuse to embrace the great outdoors after months of lockdown was welcome.

Over a year has passed since guided walking city tours became popular. Now, these group tours which cost ₹150 (per person) are shifting their focus from the more popular heritage sites, to the re-discovery of spots that are often seen but rarely receive the respect they deserve. In Chennai, have you noticed that the General Post Office’s roof resembles that of palaces in Kerala? In Hyderabad, people are going beyond the touristy parts of Golconda Fort, exploring its different gates and the moat, which many locals don’t know exist. In Kolkata, a tour could take you to the oldest bookstore in the country or Kumartuli, the potter colony.

Information on many of these places may not be available in most history books or with tour guides, which is what makes these walks a great way to learn more about the architecture, culture and history of the city you call home. Explaining how these walks are very different from the stereotypical tour guides’ itineraries, Yunus Lasania (@Thathyderabadiboy on Instagram) who conducts heritage, food and rock walks in Hyderabad, says, “To begin with, we don’t give the usual brochure-driven information, nor do we do the usual touristy spots. I pick places that have interesting names like Parsi colony or PNT colony etc. Then go on to dissect the reason for the name and the history behind it”

Aafreen Fathima SK, a student of Architecture from Chennai (goes by @98 on Instagram), conducted her first walk at Royapuram in North Chennai in 2018. She says, “When I say I am from Royapuram, I get ‘the ghetto girl’ treatment. So I took my friends around the place; its history is overlooked because of the way it is portrayed in movies.” Many popular films have portrayed Royapuram as a hotspot for anti-social activities. She decided to share her knowledge of the heritage architecture like the oldest Railway Station in Chennai, St Peter’s Church, the Parsi Fire Temple, and Kalmandapam in Royapuram through walks. “After visiting Royapuram, their misconception was cleared,” she says.

 Aafreen was pleased when attendance for the walks increased, proof that people want to know more about different parts of their city. As lockdown restrictions eased, locals on her tours are being joined by visitors from the southern states and the occasional tourist from abroad. “Sometimes I also collaborate with the Anna Nagar social history group Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai for walks in Chennai, especially when the numbers are huge.”

In cities like Coimbatore, there is a growing interest to know more about its history and people. “The city is evolving as a metropolis,” says city chronicler Rajesh Govindarajulu who takes people on curated walks through the Town Hall circuit, one of the oldest parts of Coimbatore. The Kongu region had a brisk trade with the Romans. The name of the Kottaimedu neighbourhoodcomes from a Vijayanagara era fort, which was visited by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Eventually it was pulled down in 1973, after the Third Mysore War. Before the Europeans took over, Coimbatore was ruled either directly or indirectly by all the major dynasties in this part of the world, including the Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas, Pallavas and the Gangas of Thalakkad in Karnataka who reported to the Rastrakutas.

Rajesh packs the walk with historically documented information as well as anecdotes — Mahatma Gandhi visited the home of one of the area’s oldest inhabitants, the Korangu Seth family just round the corner, the Congress Party functioned out of a rice mandi that belonged to G Kuppusamy Naidu, who founded the textile major, Lakshmi Mills. The walk covers the revered Attar Jamath Mosque, an akhara where wrestlers of the Jatti community trained and once provided security to the city, historic residence of freedom fighter /advocate Sivakavimani CK Subramania Mudaliar (1878-1961), who wrote a treatise on the Periapuranam, old convents and churches like St Michael’s. They also make stops at Kanthan Pani Puri, one of the oldest chaat outlets in the city run by a 75-year-old, the Vasavi Kanhika Parameswari Sweet Stall, a push-cart that sells a unique melon seed mysurpa, Balaaji & Co Bakers for coconut buns and rolls, Durghalal Pickles for gulkhand and obattu, adirasam, mini jamuns and crisp mocha fry snack from a shop in one of the narrow by-lanes of Town Hall.