Black Town, now George Town, in Madras, was once a Paracheri, a Dalit hamlet.With the arrival of other communities in Madras, the Paracheri moved to the corner of Black Town, and got the name ‘Big Paracheri’. This Big Paracheri which can be seen in official documents and maps until the early 20th century, no longer exists.In 1772, a part of the Big Paracheri was acquired for the construction of the seven wells of a water pumping station which was to provide for Fort St. George. Since then, the Big Paracheri has been appropriated for public purposes and for private greed, part by part. By the turn of the 20th century, its inhabitants became refugees in their own land.A map of Madras from 1733.Nothing remains in George Town to show that there was once a Big Paracheri there, except the gods of the Dalits. They are still there.One is the goddess of the Madras-Egattal Amman Temple on Amman Koil Street, and the other, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Assumption (which was popularly known as the Portuguese Church) on Portuguese Church Street. Both are located near Seven Wells in George Town. The Portuguese Church stands opposite the Stanly Medical College Hospital. Amman Koil Street runs from Broadway to Mint Street. The temple is close to Broadway.Also read: Remembering the Spirit of Madras, 377 Years OnThe templeEgattal Amman Temple, now called Egavalli Amman Temple hosted the deity called ‘goddess of Madras’. The Sessional Papers of the House of Lords (1839) makes a mention of the temple and the annual event connected with it.The inscription to mark the consecration of the temple recognises that the deity is the goddess of Madras.“The idol was removed out of her room to the outer verandah, where flower garlands were presented to each of the following persons: first, to the Governor, that is any person belonging to the government, and after the necessary ceremonies were performed there the procession moved, and stood near the north gate of Fort St. George, when the Collector of Madras sent a gold talee (necklace), and a piece of red cloth called ‘cooray‘ with doopa deepam which were given to the goddess, and at the same time the Collector presented a red scarlet cloth to the oocher (attendant priest), and seventeen rupees and eight anna to the bearers of the conveyance…”Expenses for the entire festival was borne by the government.Numerous anthropological studies of the time, such as Indian Antiquary (Volume 3, 1884) and Gustav Oppert’s The Original Inhabitants of Bhartvarsa (1874) point out that the person who ties the talee to the idol is a member of the Pariah (a Scheduled Caste community).Robert Caldwell in Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian family of Languages (1856) writes, “Thus, at the annual festival of Egattal, the only mother, a form of Kali, and the tutelary goddess of the ‘Black Town’ of Madras — when a tali, or bridal necklace (answering to our wedding ring), was tied round the neck of the idol in the name of the entire community, a Pariah used to be chosen to represent the people as the goddess’ bridegroom.”Historian Susan Nield Basu, quotes a concurring passage from the Madras District Records of November 1819 in Madras in 1800: Perceiving the City (1993).“…she had been the protectress of the site and its inhabitants from time immemorial; and the Pariahs, who claimed to be the original children of the soil, were entrusted with ensuring that she received her due respects.”Also read: In Andhra Village, Ten Generations of Dalit Priests Offer a Lesson on Social HarmonyThe annual festival is still celebrated, but the rituals listed above are not performed. There are no records to show from when these customs and rituals ceased to exist. There is no record to show that this temple was owned by Dalits, but it is clear they enjoyed a certain privilege as the original inhabitants of Madras.The churchPortuguese Church, or the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Assumption, as it is officially called, was built in 1640. Locally, it is known as the Mathura Nayagi Church. This building is on the street named after it, Portuguese Church Road, opposite Stanly Medical College Road.This area was once part of the Big Paracheri. In the words of the Madras chronicler S. Muthiah, the Church is “old as the city of Madras (founded 1639)”.Also read: S Muthiah, the Historian Who Had Chennai Take Pride in MadrasIt was built by native Christians (who were possibly Dalits as a deposition before the Madras high court will show us) with the assistance of Capuchin missionaries.The Portuguese Church today.By many accounts this is the oldest church in British India. The original church was demolished in 1993, and the present building came up in its place later in the nineties.A committee of Dalit parishioners had managed the church and handled secular matters since its inception.The ecclesiastical matters would be handled by a vicar appointed by the Bishop of Mylapore. The role of the committee had been generally accepted by the Church but disputes arose now and then, finally culminating at the Madras high court in 1894 in the case of Marian Pillai vs Bishop of Mylapore.In the suit, the Bishop of Mylapore alleged that the defendants, who claimed to be hereditary “dharmakartas,” had taken forcible possession of the church and its property. Meanwhile, the dharmakartas, represented by the Dalit headman, claimed the right to dismiss the vicar, appoint a priest and exclude the Bishop of Mylapore and the vicar from the functionings of the church. The Dalits also argued that the proprietary right of the church is vested in them, and that the building is their own property.Evidence presented by both parties to the court included petitions of the Dalits of Big Paracheri to the Episcopal Governor of Madras, the King of Portugal, and to the Vicar General at various times.The Church’s information board.In one petition, resisting the transfer of jurisdiction of the church from the Bishopric of Mylapore to that of Madras, the village headman Marian Pillai threatens, “You must know that any interference with the church and its property will be legally proceeded with. For this I must inform you that as soon as the orders for the removal of the priest are known here, the church will be closed.”The petition was successful and the church was re-transferred to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Mylapore.The court finally concluded, based on evidence adduced by the Bishop of Mylapore and the defendants that, “(it) is evident that for more than a century – at any rate from 1792 – some of the native Christians, under the designation of headmen, dharmakartas or directors, have been associated with the priest in charge in matters relating to the upkeep of the fabric and the keeping of the accounts of the church”.But the court held, “(they have) no right to close the church or to oust the Vicar, and still less to appoint a schismatic priest not under discipline and obedience to the Church of Rome.”The Church is now administered by the Bishop of Madras-Mylapore.A.B. Rajasekaran is a Chennai-based lawyer with a deep interest in social history.