Have you ever wondered why one end of the Chepauk Cricket stadium, in Chennai, is called Wallajah End? Your response would probably be “That’s because, that’s where the Wallajah Road is!” Yeah, so why is the Wallajah Road called so? Well, THAT requires a serious answer. Wallajah Road is so called because it leads to the Chepauk Palace of the Nawab Wallajah. And who was Nawab Wallajah? To find out, let us travel back to a time when the British were a formidable power in these parts.

In 1960, a Tamil fiction film called Raja Desingu was released, starring the swashbuckling matinee idol, MGR. It flopped. But after centuries, Raja Desingu stories continue to be told in street performances like Therukoothu, Poi-Kal-Kuthirai, and even the Burra-Katha tradition of Andhra. In fact, many boys in Tamilnadu are named Desingu even today, after the legendary hero of Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu. 

Any history textbook will tell you that Shahjahan was a great Mughal emperor. But did you know that he was neither the rightful legal heir nor a favourite son? Yet, he managed to ascend the most coveted Mughal throne.

Close your eyes and imagine a Hindu goddess. Any goddess. Parvathi, Lakshmi, Saraswathi... Did you see a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with a generous figure, dressed in a perfectly draped sari, and adorned with gorgeous jewellery? Who gave her this image? The credit for that goes to a painter from Kerala named Raja Ravi Varma, who lived in India between 1848 and 1906.