When we arrived in Chennai in the late evening, we went to a supermarket, the first normal supermarket we have seen in our trip. When I saw all the spices on the shelves, I wanted to buy them all. I did stick to masala powder, cardamom seeds and powdered ginger.
The swastika on the shop (as a character 卐 or 卍) looked suspicious to us from the beginning of our trip, until we found out that it isn't the Nazis' symbol but an ancient religious icon used in the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and Southeast Asia, where it has been and remains a sacred symbol of spiritual principles in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Why the name changed from Madras to Chennai
The city was called Madras by British but it was also called Chennaipattinam by the local population. After independence Madras presidency was reorganised in four southern states based on languages spoken there, namely Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra and Karnataka. The city of Madras still remained the capital of Tamil Nadu. Later when all over India the official names of cities were being changed to those used by the local population like Bombay became Mumbai and Calcutta became Kolkata, the politicians also decided to change Madras to Chennai.
However the name Chennai has been used for last three hundred years by the local population and now it has become official. Many people still call it Madras. Even though Government tried, they could not legally force institutions like Madras University to change their names since they were established under a charter of the government.
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