Silent watch: Inside the opulent Athangudi Lakshmi Vilas, in the Chettiar town of Athangudi. With a caretaker in charge, most of these mansions remain empty through the year, except during annual family visits for Pongal celebrations
Sivaganga district, 500 km from Chennai, is home to the Chettiars, once one of the richest communities in this country. Also known as the Nattukottai Chettiars, this community of merchants was at its flourishing peak in the decades before 1950. They took risk travelling to Burma, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Malaya and other South Asian and African countries to return rich from investments in plantations and estates, the ivory, teak, timber and gemstone trades. They also offered moneylending services, which made them very affluent and respected in the South Asian countries.
The more prosperous Chettiar families turned their 70-odd villages near Karaikudi into places full of grand mansions. There are approximately 25,000 Chettiar mansions built in clusters in 73 villages. I explored Karaikudi, Kandukathan, Athangudi and Pallathur. The mansions here belonged to several influential people, including the founder of Indian Overseas Bank and Annamalai University, and the founder of Indian Bank.
Before Pongal every year, these mansions are cleaned by their caretakers, who wait eagerly for the families to arrive from around the world. The mansions are also used for other festival gatherings and weddings. Every Chettiar wedding is held in the family mansion and registered at a village temple. Chettiars prefer to marry within the community to preserve their wealth, as also tradition and culture. Most of these mansions are embellished with marble and Burma teak, the walls plastered with egg-whites to make them smooth, and lined with handmade colourful tiles exported from Athangudi. One such mansion belongs to Lakshmi Meyyappan, who has been actively involved in documenting and archiving the Chettiar heritage.
Sadly, more than half the Chettiar mansions are now gone. Many sprawling houses are now heritage hotels. The maintenance of these mansions is said to cost ₹2-3 lakh per year. In the mid-2000s, local heritage lovers stepped in to form The Revive Chettinad Development Project. Unesco has now put Chettinad on its watchlist for the World Monument Fund.
Deepti Asthana is a Mumbai-based photojournalist
Pride and glory: A portrait of Indian Overseas Bank founder MCTM Chettiar (right) hangs in his erstwhile home
Bird’s-eye view: A sprawling Chettiar family mansion in Kottaiyur, Karaikudi
The Chettiar chronicler: Entrepreneur Meenakshi Meyyappan helps showcase Chettiar heritage and culture for tourists
Living history: Annual cleaning in progress ahead of Pongal celebrations
Carved legacy: A mansion decked up in Burma teak
Forgotten treasure: At the Vadamarathar house. The Chettiar merchants brought ivory, marble and other riches from around the world to decorate their homes
Published on June 16, 2017
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.