-
Your One Stop for Experiential Tours of Historic India
Join us on our historic walks of Chennai that was Madras. Led by the city’s favourite historian, Sriram V. On the third Sunday of each month.
Join us on our tours of various parts of India. Announced at periodic intervals, these will give you an insight into India’s history and culture as never before.
Listen to Sriram V, hold forth with his characteristic humour and storytelling skills, bring alive a slice of India’s history.
Put together by well-known writer and historian Sriram V, Past Forward specialises in heritage tours and trails. Each of these is crafted to suit a wide variety of interests – temples, stately homes, great personalities, scandals, music, dance, intrigues and plenty of humour.
Beginning with walking tours and trails in and around Madras that is now Chennai, Past Forward has since gone on to curating heritage experiences in other parts of Tamil Nadu and the rest of India.
Watch out for our announcements each month.
And in case you are in a hurry, do give us a shout. We will do a tour specially for you, with one of our trained docents.
Register For Walks
Heritage sail - Madras Week 2018 with Sriram ! It was perfect — Fun Sunday, loads of history interspersed with humorous anecdotes and absolutely perfect weather !!!
Dear Mr Sriram and Mrs Sarada,It is in fact we who should thank you for giving us the incomparable experience. After everyone of the tours with you, I come back wondering how come I knew so little about a place I had already been to many times.For the young and intelligent musician whom you bring along on the tours, there is learning which perhaps would have been available only in a gurukulam. It is a divine experience for us to hear kritis chosen for the context and live without accompaniment.Both of you are also great hosts. In fact, both of you hardly rest and, therefore, it will be nice if you allow us to do volunteer work in future tours.Looking forward to the next trip and, in the meantime, thanks once again
The very fact that my wife and I are addicted to the tours undertaken by Sri Sriram must speak volumes about the quality of these tours. They are so well managed, filled with splashes of history, great comfort and good cheer.
The very fact that my wife and I are addicted to the tours undertaken by Sri Sriram must speak volumes about the quality of these tours. They are so well managed, filled with splashes of history, great comfort and good cheer.
Our first walk with Sriram was gosh, I think about 15 years ago and I remember even today how he traced the musical heritage of Mylapore walking us past the streets and homes linked with the musical heritage of the city. With a style that is uniquely his, Sriram holds our attention and impresses us as he rolls of the dates and names with such ease. As he builds the narrative through his walks, he helps us visualise the way things were eons ago.As we went along with him and explored parts of the city, we learnt enough to see where the stories intertwined and got to see some buildings and sights we never knew existed. Initially sporadic the walks became a more frequent monthly feature. over the years, the only sad feelings were when we went back to an area after a gap of few years to find some heritage homes gone.From a smaller number, the group that ``pessara Iyer`` drags out early morning on Sundays has grown to nearly 85 ... and with the introduction of the headsets, the growing numbers have been accommodated very well and Sriram’s voice strain has reduced as well!Going out of town with Sriram and Sharada is a unique experience that we would recommend to anyone interested in culture and history. They take care to choose the places of stay and the hospitality is excellent.
What do you get by joining Past Forward on its tours/walks or attending a talk organised by it?
This is a country that is not uni-dimensional. Its history is so multilayered that it is only by experiencing it that you can comprehend the country. That is what we offer.
The history of India is not the dry-as-dust writing that you find in textbooks. It is a dramatic past, full of sacrifice, greed, love, hate and just about anything else that makes humankind so interesting. We recreate this through our tours.
To us, culture is not something in a museum. It needs to be soaked in. Our offerings give you just that.