Religion

Church Missionary Society begins work in Madras

After the Charter Act of 1813 allowed missionaries into India, the Church Missionary Society placed its first missionaries at Madras in 1814.

St. George's Church built in Madras

St. George's Church on the Choultry Plain was opened in 1815 and later became the cathedral of the Diocese of Madras.

Rhenius begins CMS mission in Tirunelveli

Church Mission Society missionary C. T. E. Rhenius arrived in Tirunelveli and built a large Protestant mission based at Palayamkottai.

St. Andrew's Church (the Kirk) consecrated

Built in Egmore for the Scots of Madras, St. Andrew's Church was consecrated in 1821.

Birth of Ramalinga Swamigal (Vallalar)

Ramalinga Swamigal, the Tamil saint-poet known as Vallalar, was born at Marudur near Chidambaram.

Bishop Reginald Heber dies at Tiruchirappalli

Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta and hymn-writer, died suddenly at Trichinopoly during a tour of South India.

St. Stephen's Church founded at Ooty

St. Stephen's Church at Ootacamund, whose foundation stone Governor Stephen Lushington laid, opened for worship in 1831.

Ayya Vaikundar begins his mission

Ayya Vaikundar began the teachings that gave rise to Ayyavazhi, a movement that challenged caste rules in southern Travancore.

Anglican Diocese of Madras created

Daniel Corrie was consecrated the first Bishop of Madras, and St. George's Church became the cathedral of the new diocese.

Ayya Vaikundar imprisoned by the Travancore king

Ayya Vaikundar, founder of Ayyavazhi, was arrested on the orders of the Travancore king and held at Singarathoppe jail.

Robert Caldwell arrives in Madras

Robert Caldwell, who would go on to write the Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian languages, reached Madras as a missionary.

Death of missionary C. T. E. Rhenius at Palayamkottai

C. T. E. Rhenius, the missionary known as the Apostle of Tirunelveli, died at Palayamkottai.

G. U. Pope begins mission work at Sawyerpuram

In 1839 George Uglow Pope set sail for South India and took up missionary work at Sawyerpuram, close to Thoothukudi.

Ayya Vaikundar's mission ends

Ayyavazhi tradition records that Ayya Vaikundar's earthly mission ended on 2 June 1851.

Vallalar starts the Samarasa Vedha Sanmarga Sangam

Vallalar, or Ramalinga Swamigal, formed a fellowship of devotees against caste distinctions, which was later renamed the Samarasa Suddha Sanmarga Sathya Sangam.

Vallalar opens the Sathya Gnana Sabhai at Vadalur

At Vadalur, Ramalinga Swamigal (Vallalar) opened the Sathya Gnana Sabhai, which taught compassion for every living being regardless of caste.

Disappearance of Vallalar

Ramalinga Swamigal shut himself in a room and told followers not to open it; when officials broke in that May, nobody was inside.

Robert Caldwell consecrated Bishop of Tirunelveli

Missionary and Dravidian scholar Robert Caldwell, based at Idaiyangudi, was consecrated as a bishop for the Tirunelveli mission.

Death of Shaiva reformer Arumuka Navalar

Arumuka Navalar, the Jaffna scholar who revived Shaiva Tamil learning in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu and printed early Tamil classics, died.

Theosophical Society moves headquarters to Adyar

Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott moved the headquarters of the Theosophical Society to Adyar in Madras.

Brahmavadin journal launched in Madras

Brahmavadin, a journal of Vedanta, was launched by Alasinga Perumal and fellow Madras followers of Swami Vivekananda.

Ramana Maharshi arrives at Tiruvannamalai

Aged sixteen, Venkataraman, afterwards known as Ramana Maharshi, left Madurai for Arunachala hill at Tiruvannamalai and remained there until his death.

San Thome Cathedral rebuilt and consecrated

The church over the traditional tomb of St Thomas at Santhome, Madras, was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style and consecrated on 1 April 1896.

Prabuddha Bharata journal founded in Madras

Started in Madras in July 1896 on Swami Vivekananda's encouragement, Prabuddha Bharata was an English-language journal of the Ramakrishna movement.

Swami Vivekananda visits Madras

Returning from the West, Swami Vivekananda stayed at the Ice House on the Madras beach from 6 to 14 February 1897.

Iyothee Thass founds the Sakya Buddhist Society

After embracing Buddhism in Ceylon, Iyothee Thass founded the Sakya Buddhist Society in Madras, launching a Tamil Buddhist revival among Dalits.

Chandrasekharendra Saraswati becomes head of the Kanchi Matha

On 13 February 1907 Swaminathan was installed as the 68th pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, taking the name Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.

Tambaram World Missionary Conference

Madras Christian College at Tambaram hosted the International Missionary Council's world conference, a landmark in the ecumenical movement.

Death of Ramana Maharshi at Tiruvannamalai

The sage Ramana Maharshi died at Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, where he had lived for over five decades.

Velankanni shrine raised to a minor basilica

Pope John XXIII raised the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Good Health at Velankanni to a minor basilica.

Hindu Munnani founded in Tamil Nadu

The Hindu Munnani, a Hindutva organisation set up with RSS backing, was founded in Tamil Nadu by Ramagopalan.

Meenakshipuram mass conversion

Several hundred Dalits in Meenakshipuram village in Tirunelveli district converted from Hinduism to Islam, citing caste discrimination.

Srirangam temple Rajagopuram completed

The 73-metre main gateway tower of the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam was completed after centuries.

Ram Setu affidavit controversy

A government affidavit telling the Supreme Court there was no historical proof that Adam's Bridge was built by Rama intensified opposition to the Sethusamudram canal.

Sripuram golden temple consecrated near Vellore

The gold-covered Sri Lakshmi Narayani temple at Sripuram near Vellore was consecrated on 24 August 2007.

Palani panchamirtham gets geographical indication

Palani Murugan temple's panchamirtham offering was the first temple prasadam in Tamil Nadu to receive a GI tag.