CHAPTER I I I

THE TEMPLES AND THE SOCIAL ORGANISATION

OF THE CHETTIARS '

In the l a s t chapter we sav that the Ila y a t h a n k u d i

N a g arath a r emerged as a d i s t i n c t endogamous S a iv a V aisy a

sub- caste, c o n s is t in g o f the p a t r i l i n e a l groups, each

group attached to a temple lo ca ted in the v i c i n i t y of

Il l a y a t h a n k u d i , somewhere around the eig h th century A .D .

In t h i s chapter we s h a ll see that contrary to the v e h e ­

ment p r o p a ^ n d a about the r e g r e ss iv e effects of Hindu

r e l i g i o n and s o c ia l o r g a n iz a t io n on the r a t io n a l p u r s u it

of p r o f i t , w it h the C h e t t ia r s , t h e i r very'*^religious

affiliatio n and t h e i r form of s o c ia l o r g a n iz a t io n seem

to have been shaped by t h e i r economic in t e r e s t s . It is

sig n ific a n t that the s o c ia l o r g a n iz a t io n of t h is sub­

caste c r y s t a l l i z e d a t a period v^hen the Tamil Country was

rocked by a m assive wave o f Hindu r e v iv a lis m that had

a r is e n to counter the r i s i n g t id e of the heterodox f a i t h s

of Buddhism ’ and J a in is m . B u d d h ists and J a in s had f l o u ­

r is h e d am icably along w it h Hindu S ects even d u rin g the

Sangam a ge. But when Buddhism got catapulted in t o

ascen den cy, under the ’ K alabhras’ , ” a r ath er m ysterio us

and u b iq u ito u s enemy of c i v i l i z a t i o n ” , who swept over ’

the Tamil Country and ru led i t fo r over the two hundred

years fo llo w in g the close of the Sangam age in th z4 e

hurylred A . D . , a h e c t ic fu r y of r e l ig io u s hatred and r iv a l r y

67
 6^

was u n le a s h e d .^

The a c tiv e propagatio n of Buddhism by the r u lin g

K a la b h r a s, who are denounced in the V e lv ik u d i g ra n ts of

the Pandyas (n in e t h century) as e v il k in g s (k ali- a r a s a r )

who uprooted many a d h i r a j a s , and c o n fis c a t e d the pro-

2
p e r t ie s g if t e d to Gods (tem p les) and Brahm ins, provoked

the a dherents o f S iv a and V ishnu to make o rg an ized

attem pts to s t a l l the r i s i n g t id e of h e r e sy . Hatred of

B u d d h ists and J a in s was o p enly d e c la r e d . "C h a lle n g e s to

p u b lic d e b a te , com p etitions in the performance of m ir a c le s ,

t e s t s o f tru t h of d o c t r in e s by means of o r d e a ls became

the order of the d ay .

The overthrow of the K ala bh ra s in the la t e s ix t h

century d e a l t the f i n a l blowto the d e c l in e o f Buddhism

in I n d i a . The r i s e of the P a lla v a s and Pandyas once aga in

in the Tamil Country a c c e le ra te d the Hindu r e v i v a l i s t

movement. The S a iv a S a in t poets of t h i s period among

whom were the fo u r fo u n der s a in t s o f S a iv a S id d h a n ta of

the Tamil Country (A p p a r, S u n d ara r, Sambandar and

M a n ick av asag a r) a l l a c t iv e l y sought to reconvert the

r u le r s from the h e r e t i c a l f a i t h s . The great P a lla v a King

Mahendravarman I (5 ^ 0- 63 0 A . D . ) is reported to have been

reclaim ed fo r S aiv ism by Appar, who had h im s e lf been

4
reclaim ed from J a in is m e a r l i e r by h is siste r. The

Pandya King A r i k e s a r i Maravarman (6 7 0- 71 0 A .D * ) is id e n t i­

f i e d w ith the 'K u n ’ Pandya of S a iv a t r a d i t i o n who was

 69

a ls o reported to have been reconverted to S a iv is m by

Sam bandar.^ S aiv ism t h riv e d under the a c t iv e patronage

o f the Tamil r u l e r s . One important consequence of t h is

fe r v e n t H in d u .r e v iv a l is m was the growth in the number and

importance o f the tem ples in the s o c ia l and economic

life of the people o f South In d ia

Temple w orship b ein g an im portant aspect of S a iv is m ,

the c o n stru ctio n and m aintenance of tem ples and Mathas

was co nsidered a very, m e r ito rio u s act fo r k in g s and r ic h

7
men. The temple b u i l d i n g that was sta rted by the

P a lla v a s most e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y was c a r r ie d on in the same

s p i r i t throughout the p erio d o f M edieval h is t o r y . The

temples became the most n o ta b le r e c i p i e n t s of, g i f t s in

land and cash. I n d i v i d u a l s a lso donated land and cash

f r e e l y to the temples because it fetch ed them s ta tu s as

w e ll as a rem issio n in t a x . Thus the tem ples in c r e a s in g l y

n
became "t h e r ic h e s t la n d lo r d s , ov^ing p r o p e r t ie s got by

g i f t s and a ls o by purchase w ith surplus funds* The

temples a ls o protected the t en a n ts who c u lt iv a t e d t h e ir

la n d s . They a ls o served as a means o f r en d erin g r e l i e f

to the poor. They were the p r in c ip a l fe e d in g houses fo r

t h e 'l o c a l i t y ; strangers, a scetics; men of le a r n in g were

fed sum ptuously in the tem ples and on f e s t i v e o ccasions

Q

a la r g e number o f poor people were fe d .

The tem ples thus became much more than mere p la c e s

o f w o r s h ip . They came to occupy a cen tral r o le in the

 70

^ c u lt u r a l and economic l i f e of the people* T h e ir con­

s tr u c tio n and m aintenance a ffo r d e d employment to a number

of arch itects, a rtists, artisa n s, p r ie sts, m usician s

and g a r d e n e rs . The temple p r e c in c t s housed schools and

h o sp itals. They a ls o served as v i l l a g e m eeting h a l l s .

” The constant flo w o f endowments in land and cash made

it a la n d lo r d and banker, g e n e r a l l y more l i b e r a l than the

p r o f e s s io n a l s in terms i t o ffe re d to i t s tenants and

clien ts.

In the l i g h t of t h e 'g r o w in g importance of the temple

as the most a n c ie n t c r e d it i n s t i t u t i o n s of I n d i a " ^ ^ i t is

most l i k e l y that the d e c is io n of the Ila y a t h a n k u d i

C h e t t ia r s to stop m ig r a tin g f u r t h e r and to make even the

most barren land 'endowed to them by the Pandya King

t h e i r permanent home could have been prompted only by the

g r e a t e r and new er prospects o f money making they saw in

/| the tem ples. The d e t a i l s of the n in e N a g arth a r tem ples

and t h e ir p r o p e r t ie s should convince us.

I. Il a y a t h a n k u d i K o v il

T h is is the e a r l i e s t of the temples of the N a g a r th a r s ,

e s t a b lis h e d in 7 07 A .D . The d e i t y is c a lle d K a ila s a

Nathan and h i s consort N i t y a k a l y a n i. The temple was

renovated by the C h e t t ia r s in 1 9 3 9 at the cost o f R s .l 6

12
lakhs. The Pandyas of M adurai handed i t over to the

N a t t u k o t t a i C h e t t ia r s fo r m aintenance as t h e i r fa m ily d e it y

over 4 0 0 years ago. By a High Court Scheme in 1 9 2 6 the

 71

a d m in is t r a t io n of the temple is in tne nanas oi liv e

trustees, three of whom hold o f f i c e fo r f i v e years and

the other two are e le c t e d a n n u a lly every Tamil ye ar,

from the h e r e d it a r y C h e t t ia r t r u s t e e s numbering fo u r .

A l l the seven sub-groups of t h is K o v il group have

a sep arate V inayaka temple v/ith a tank in fr o n t . The

G h e t t ia r s have bought a S iv a K o v il and a Perumal K o v il

also . A very old V is h n u temple is in r u in s and has i n ­

s c r ip t io n s d a t in g Saka 1 4 ^ ^ . These contain r e g is t e r e d

g ift s of v i l l a g e s and s e r v ic e s , s ale o f la n d s , f i x e d r a te s

of taxes, rem issio n of t a x e s , p r o v is io n s f o r lamp and o i l

in the tem ple, etc.

j The s ix t y - f if t h Sankaracharya of Kanchi breathed

h i s l a s t in 1 ^ 9 0 here and a temple fo r him c a lle d Athi-

shtanam has been b u i l t , where Puja is o ffe r e d tw ice a

day d a i l y .

2. Ir a n iy o o r K o v il ^

T h is was the second K o v il to be e s t a b lis h e d in

7 1 4 A .D . T h is i s a c t u a l l y a branch of the f i r s t K ovil

set up by two b ro th ers who set up two K o v ils at Ir a n iy o o r

and P i l l a i y a r P a t t i , and hence are co n sid ered as endo-

gamous f o r m arriage purposes. M arria g e between these

K o v ils i s p r o h ib it e d . S ev eral stone i n s c r ip t io n s found

here are now in the Department of A rchaeology, Tamil Nadu

Government. The i n s c r ip t io n dated 1501 A .D . Thai month

(J a n . 15 -Feb. 15 ) speaks of the perm ission granted by

^ The Tamil New Y ear f a l l s on the 14th o f A p r il

every ye ar.
 72

the Ir a n iy o o r people to the C h e t t ia r s to b u ild an

’ Amman’ K o v il, south o f the B a d r a k a li Amman K o v il. T h is

is ca lled as devidanam . The temple was renovated by the

N a g a r a th a rs at a cost of Rs. 2 2 , 7 5 , 0 0 0 and another S iv a

K o v il Kumbabishekam was done in 1 9 4 4 at a cost of

Rs. 1 ,9 5 ,0 0 0 . N e a r ly two la k h s of rupees have been spent

a ls o on b u il d in g Brahmin quarters and another Neela~Megha

Perumal K o v il . A road from K iz h a s iv a p a t t i to Ir a n iy o o r

has a ls o been constructed by the C h e t t ia r s at a cost of

Rs. 3 0 ,0 0 0 . S i l v e r Vahanam co stin g Rs. 6 , 0 0 0 has been

donated to the temple by D ev a k o tta i A .R .M . A l. A*

C h e t t ia r and a S i l v e r Kavacham fo r 'Amman' by K i z h a s i v a ­

p atti N .S . C hokkalinga C h e t t ia r . The temple a u t h o r it ie s

have in t h e i r p o ss e ss io n palm le a v e s which are said to

be co p ie s of t h e s e . I t was renovated by the C h e tt ia r s

at a cost of R s. 1 1 ,7 5 ,0 0 0 in 1 9 4 4 . ^ ^

The K o v il i s n e a r K iz h a s i v a p a t t i in T ir u p a t t u r

t a lu k . The a d m in is t r a t io n o f the K o v il was taken over by

the Government in 1 9 4 ^ and i s not w e ll m aintained now.

There i s a ’ G urukkal’ , ’ V a i r a v i ', 'P an daram ' and a

t
’M a n ia k a r a n ’ .. The temple has 40 a cres of a g r ic u l t u r a l

land, 165 a c re s of b lack s o il and is managed by a Committee

o f tw enty e ig h t appointed by the Government, out of w hich

f i v e are the t r a d i t i o n a l C h e t t ia r t r u s t e e s .

3. P i l l a i y a r P a t t i K o v il

T h is was a lso e s t a b lis h e d in 7 1 4 A .D . by another

branch of Ila y a t h a n k u d i C h e t t ia r s . It is a v illa g e

about 10 km from K a r a ik u d i. As the name in d ic a t e s the '

the d e i t y here is Lord V in a y a k a r . I t i s r ic h l y endowed

as V in ay aka was the o r ig in a l d e i t y of the C h e t t ia r s .

Murugan took h i s p la ce in l a t e r y e a r s . The temple i s

rock cut and has been renovated three tim e s, the l a s t one

b eing in 1951* More than Rs. 12 la k h s were- spent in t h i s .

T h is v i l l a g e i s in the T ir u p a t t u r t alu k a about f i f t e e n

m iles from the town.

T ill 1^20 _ i t had a h ig h po p u latio n o f C h e t t ia r s

and l a t e r the epidem ics compelled them to m igrate to

M i t h i l a i P a t t i and Sevoor. The a d m in is t r a t io n o f t h is

temple i s w it h the t r a d i t i o n a l s ix t e e n f a m i l i e s who are

d iv id e d in to e ig h t groups, each group t ak in g charge o f the

temple a n n u a lly In r o t a t io n . The C h e t t ia r s o f t h i s temple

are spread over forty- three v i l l a g e s and the number of

P u l l i s b e lo n g in g to it are b elo n g in g to it are 2 4 9 2 .

The temple h e lp s to conduct m arriag es every y e a r . It

g iv e s Rs. 2 5 0 0 fo r every m arriage celeb ra te d in the K o v i l .^ ^

4. I l u p p a ik u d i K ovil

T h is was e s t a b lis h e d in 7 1 4 A .D . in Ilu p p a ik u d i

w hich i s on the K a r a ik u d i Mathoor road, about 2 km from

K a r a ik u d i r a ilw a y s t a t io n . The d e i t y ’ s name is

’ T h a n th o n e s a n ' and the consort is 'V a d iv u d a iy a m m a i’ or

'S a u n d a r a n a y a k i’ . I t has a Brahmin qu a rter, cow shed,

V id h u t h i (g u e s t house) garden and a tank. The f i r s t

 74

renov ation was done in 1 ^4 2 follo w ed by others in iBBz,

1901 , 1957 . The t r a d i t i o n a l t r u s t e e s h ip l i e s w it h the

^ \

fa m ily o f the D ev a k o tta i AR. L. fa m ily .

The 2 0 0 4 P u l l i s of the K o vil are spread over thirty-

th ree v i l l a g e s ,
c h i e f l y in D e v a k o t ta i, K onapattu, Nachia~
\
puram and Narchandu P a t t i .

5* S o o r a ik u d i K o vil

It i s in a v i l l a g e 2 km from P a lla th o o ran d one km

from K anadukathan. The d e it y is D esik a Nathan and the

consort is A a v u d a in ay a k i amman. The IO O 3 P u l l i s belong-

ing to t h is are from the M e la v a t t a g a i K iz h a v a t t a g a i and

T h e rk u v a tta g a i d i v i s i o n s of C h e t t in a d . The a d m in is t r a t io n

o f the K o v il i s done by two fa m il ie s chosen a n n u a lly from

the fo llo w in g d i v i s i o n s :

1. K is h a s i v a p a t t i , P u d uvayal, Kandanoor, V eg u p a tti

2 . K a r a ik u d i

3 . N a t t a r a s a n k o t t a , P atta Mangalam, P a lla t h o o r

and Sevoor.

The K o vil has a cocoanut gro ve, a w ell, a Ganesh temple,

cow-shed and g a r d e n , V id u t h i and Brahmin q u a r t e r s . The

v illa g e d e ity ’M unesw aran' is a ls o housed- I t was reno­

vated in 1 ^5 5 and in 1 9 7 3 .^ ^

5. Nemam K o v il

T h is K o v il is in the v i l l a g e c a lle d Nemam on the

road from Ila y a t h a n k u d i to K a r a ik u d i. It i s an a n c ie n t

temple said to be b u i l t by R aja Raja C hola. The d e it y

V a t t a g a i means a r e g io n .
 75

i s Jayankonda C h o lesar and the consort Saundara N a y a k i.

I t w a s 'r e n o v a t e d In 1907. The C h e tt ia r s of K a r a ik u d i

have spent a lo t on the tem ple. There i s a Nagara

*
V id u t h i , a cowshed garden and a P i l l a i y a r K o v il. The

temple s t a f f i s a lso provided w ith l i v i n g q u a rte r s, a

k it c h e n and a lso a s ch o o l. The to ta l number o f P u l l i s

o f the K o v il i s SkS and they l i v e in twenty v i l l a g e s .

The temple owns 500 a cres of a g r ic u l t u r a l l a n d . The

a d m in is t r a t io n o f the K o v il i s w ith tw en ty fiv e C h e t t ia r

19
f a m il ie s who take charge in a group o f 5 a n n u a lly .

7. M athoor K o v il

T h is is a lso n e a r K a r a ik u d i and a good number o f

C h e t t ia r s belong to t h is tem ple. The temple has a f in e

gopuram, a tank and a Matham* .The d e i t y here is called

A in o o r ie a s e r and the consort i s P e r ia n a y a k i.

The T rustee i s S P . M. Veerappa C h e t t ia r ,a n d h i s son.

The temple r en o v atio n was done in 1949 at a cost of R s .l 6

lakhs.

V a ir a v a n K o v il

The v i l l a g e it s e l f is c a lle d by t h is name as in

the case o f P i l l a i y a r P a t t i K o v il . It is on the road

'to K a r a ik u d i before P a l l a i y a r P a t t i . The d e it y here is

Vanavar and the consort, V a d iv u d a iy a Ammai* The C h e tt ia r s

o f t h is K o v il belong to three sub-groups. They were a lso

known as the ’ B ig G r o u p ’ . The t o t a l P u l l i s o f t h i s K o v il

are 3 ^1 1 and they are spread in f i f t y - s i x v i l l a g e s . T h is

 76

f
was bought by the N a g ar ath a rs before l S 0 2 . The a d m in is t r a ­

t io n l i e s w ith t r a d i t i o n a l t r u s t e e s of 12 f a m i l i e s who

take up the a d m in is t r a t io n in twos annually * 'I t is w e ll

endowed and the reno v atio n was done at a cost of R s .l 3

lakhs. The K o v il h e lp s stud ents w ith books and w r it in g

m a t e r ia ls . I t has a g ranary , a g arden , a cowshed and a

P a t h a s a la . The C h e t t ia r s of each d i v i s i o n v i s i t the K o v il

21
every month.

9. V e la n k u d i K o v il

T h is i s the sm allest o f the Nagara temple* It is

n e a r K ottaiyoo r* The d e it y i s known as K andeesw arar and

the d e v i i s Kamakshi Amman* I t has Brahmin q u a rt e r s, a

garden and a cowshed* I t has only thirty- one P u l l i s and

22
they are in ju s t fo u r v i l l a g e s .

The fo r e g o in g d e t a i l e d account of the n in e temples

c l e a r l y shows that the r e a ffir m a t io n o f t h e ir a l l e g ia n c e

\

to S aiv ism in the wake of i t s r i s i n g dominance and t h e ir

ado ptio n o f the tem ples (K o v i l s ) as the very b a s is o f t h e ir

s o c ia l o r g a n is a t io n are a ls o the promptings o f t h e ir

w e a lth seeking m otive. The Pandya k in g had g iv en them one

temple at Ila y a t h a n k u d i* Keen com petition f o r the o f f i c e

of the t r u s t e e s h ip of the temple funds among them perhaps

led them to seek more temples fo r them selves. R e a ffir m a ­

t io n o f t h e i r d ev o tio n to S aiv ism gave them a c c e ss to

t h i s t r u s t e e s h ip and m aking the tem ples the very core o f

t h e i r s o c ia l o r g a n iz a t io n by s p l i t t i n g up in to seven

temple groups im m ediately secured fo r them the a d m in is t r a ­

 77

t io n r ig h t s to seven tem ples. The fa c t that they pro-

life rate d in to n in e in s te a d of seven temple groups only-

f u r t h e r e s t a b l is h e s the dominance of the economic motive

in s p earh ea d in g t h e i r s o c ia l o r g a n iz a t io n . Ever s in c e ,

the temples have played a very cen tr a l part in the s o c ia l

life o f the C h e t t ia r s . What was prompted by an economic

m otive took on strong shades of in t e n s e r e l i g i o s i t y and

p ie t y because o f t h e i r constant a s s o c i a t i o n . The fa c t

that t h is g e n e s is o f t h e ir f a i t h and a s s o c ia t io n w ith the

temples is fo r g o tte n or not taken cognizan ce o f has g iv en

r i s e to the wrong im pression that t h e ir s o c ia l o r g a n iz a ­

tio n is r e l i g i o u s l y m o tivated .

Having secured the e x c lu s iv e r ig h t s to the a d m in is ­

t r a t io n o f n in e temples,- the D han av aisyas or N a t t u k o t t a i

C h e t t ia r s set about w orking out a s o c ia l o r g a n is a t io n fo r

them selves around the temples in a way that was most con­

d ucive to t h e i r r a t io n a l p u r su it of w e a lth .
The community
I
e t h ic a l code they then evolved fu r t h e r r e f l e c t s the p r e ­

dominance o f economic i n t e r e s t s . The code co n siste d of

the fo llo w in g r u l e s :

1. To respect fa t h e r , mother, guru and kula d e it y ,

2. To remain staunch S a i v i t e s ,

3* To a d m in is t e r w ith i n t e g r i t y the land and pro-

%
' p e r t i e s held in t r u s t on b e h a lf of the tem ples,

the t r u s t e e s h ip of each of the tem ples to be

w ith the members of the r e s p e c t iv e K o v ils only.

 73

Not to engage in a g r ic u l t u r e , or trade in

ho rses and p e r is h a b le conunodities,

5* Not to take up s e rv ic e under n o n- C hettiars,

iy
6 . Not to have any b u s in e s s w ith those who went
V

a g a in s t the community or s t a te ,

7. A ll d is p u t e s between C h e t t ia r s to be s e t t le d

e it h e r in the assem bly of the K o vil group or

at the M atha.

The G h e t t ia r women and men to have separate

M athas fo r r e l i g i o u s in s t r u c t io n (d ik s h a )

w ith wom en's guru a S a i v a “ V e l l a l a at the

Mathan at Thulavoor, and the m e n 's at Padarakudi-

9« M arria g e between Ir a n iy o o r K o v il group and

the P i l l a i y a r P a t t i K o v il group fo r b id d e n ,

s ince the two K o v ils have a common d e sc e n t.

M a r r ia g e s w it h in the same temple group a lso

p r o h ib it e d f o r the same reason.

1 0 . M a r r ia g e s to be announced w e ll in adv a n ce to

the r e s p e c t iv e tem ples of the boy and g iij. to

be m a r r ie d . A r r iv a l of the temple g a r la n d s

from both the tem ples on the day o f the m arriage

a must fo r the solem n izatio n o f the m arriage*

Temple g a r la n d s to be w ith h e ld f o r not c le a r in g

the temple dues or v i o l a t i n g any o f the commu­

n i t y norms.

11. A dop tion to be r e s t r ic t e d to w it h in the same

 79

temple group.

12. The territory bounded by the rivers Vellar,

V aig ai, and the sea and the P ir an M ountains

to be t h e i r home and the women and fa m ily ^n o t

to have r e s id e n c e o u tsid e t h i s . Permanent

O'!
r e sid e n c e only at C h e tt in a d .

A ll these r u le s so in t e r r e la t e d t h e i r r e s id e n c e ,

>ccupation, k in s h ip and r e l i g i o n as to promote and p r e ­

serve the w ea lth o f the community as a w h o le. The ru le

‘o r b id d in g ^the C h e t t ia r s to trade in horses and p e r is h a b le

lommodities could w e ll be the e x p ressio n o f the d e s ir e

»f the C h e t t ia r s to fo r g e t e it h e r the stigma o f t h e i r

isso ciatio n w ith the P a r a t a v a r s , a p ea rl f i s h i n g community

rho were a ls o r ic h tr a d e r s in h o rses from the days of the

24
iangam. Or i t could be the community’ s e f f o r t to dis-

-inguish them selves from the K u d ir a i C h e t t is (r i c h

;raders in h o rses) that are fr e q u e n t ly r e fe r r e d to in

.he Chola i n s c r ip t io n s of the l a t e n in e t h century on-

25
rards, f o r none o f the C h e t t ia r s we in terv ie w ed could

;ive us any e x p la n a t io n f o r t h is taboo.

The s p e c i f i c p r e s c r ip t ip n that l e f t the C h e t t ia r s

rith only trade (w it h the exceptio n o f t r a d in g in horses

,nd p e r is h a b le commodities) and the management of temples

IS t h e ir main economic p u r s u it s can be s aid to have l a i d

,he fo u n d a tio n fo r t h e ir emergence as the forem ost indi-

lenous b anking community of In d ia in Burma, M alaya and

 so

Ceylon from the l a t e n in e te e n th century onwards.

T h e ir money le n d in g o p era tio n s in Burma and other

overseas t e r r i t o r i e s achieved a s p e c ta c u la r success

through t h e i r Agency System because of the adequate sup­

port i t r e c e iv e d from i t s socia.1 o r g a n iz a t io n and commu­

n ity eth ics, in terms o f:

(1 ) A constant supply of f l u i d c a p ita l

(2 ) A smooth supply of s k i l l e d la bo u r

(3 ) In t e r n a l co h esiv en ess and is o l a t i o n from

the outer s o c ie t y
27
(4 ) In t e r n a l p r e c a u tio n s a g a in s t i n e f f i c i e n c y .

The ru le p r o h i b i t i n g farm ing and t i l l i n g f o r the

community coupled w ith the fa c t o f the b arren n ess of

t h e i r d o m ic ile land im pelled them to v ig o r o u s ly pursue

t ra d e in the p r e s c r ib e d f i e l d s , vjherever they co u ld. The

taboo on a g r ic u l t u r e and farm ing fu r t h e r prevented the

d is r u p t io n o f the fim ds of the s o c ie t y and helped in the

fo r g in g of a d i s t i n c t id e n t i t y fo r them as m oneylenders,

ever s in ce the time they took over the management of

temple fund s as t h e i r primary o c c u p atio n . T h is a ls o

ensured fo r them a supply of steady f l u i d ca p ita l, fo r ,

p a rtn er sh ip s in t h e i r m oneylending b u s in e s s were a l l from

w it h in the community.

The taboo on paid s e rv ic e under non- Chettiars

ensured fo r them a fr e e supply of s k il l e d la bo u r fo r t h e i r

m oneylending o p e ra tio n s l a t e r on in Burma and oth er coun-

tries. Every C h e t t ia r boy ir r e s p e c t iv e of the w ea lth

of h i s fa m ily s ta rted h is career in m oneylending as an

errand boy in one of t h e ir ’ k a d ais' or fir m s , and le a r n t

the trade u n t il he h im s e lf q u a l if ie d to be a p r o p r ie to r

or an agent m anaging the firm of another C h e t t ia r p r o p r ie to r.

T h is was almost a rule u n t il the Second W orld W ar, so that

there were h a rd ly any C h e t t ia r s w orking as cle r k s in any

pA
non- C hettiar b u s in e s s firm .

The r u le s p r e s c r ib in g r e sid e n c e in C h e ttin a d ,

d e v o tio n to S aiv is m and en fo rc in g the p r a c t ic e o f t h e ir

I
community t r a d i t i o n helped to n urture and promote the

strong sense of s o d a ^ t y among them, one of the q u a l i t i e s

they were noted fo r in a l l the co u n tries they went to on

b u s in e s s . The o b serv a tio n that ''the e x is t e n c e of a sm all

a l i e n group w it h freq u en t blood r e la t io n s h ip s and w ith

common economic i n t e r e s t s , d e sc e n t, la n g u ag e, w orsh ip and

all caste a s s o c ia t io n s and d iv id e d in a l l these p o in ts

from the p o p u la tio n around them v/as sure to generate a

29
feelin g of s o d a l i t y ” was as true of the C h e t t ia r s o v er­

seas as of them in I n d ia in respect of s o d a lit y .

The image of the C h e t t ia r s as a community of

relig io u s, honest and fr u g a l people a ls o d eriv ed from

t h e i r close a s s o c ia t io n w ith the tem ples. Accum ulation

of w e a lth r e q u ir e s f r u g a l i t y and a s c e t ic consumption

h a b its. W hat would have been c a lle d s t in g in e s s in a non-

C h e t t ia r came to be reco g nized and noted as the v ir t u e of

s im p l ic it y and f r u g a l i t y .

The f a c t a th at the C h e t t ia r overseas firm s were

in v a r ia b l y housed on the ground f l o o r of the C h e tt ia r

tem ple, the s im p lic it y of t h e ir w orking a t t i r e which

co n sisted o f Just a d h o ti and a v e s t , and the d onning o f

the V ib h u t i on t h e ir fo r e h e a d , all served only to take

the edge o f f t h e i r p r o fit - s e e k in g a c t i v i t y , and made them

seem more as t h is w o r ld ly a s c e t ic s r a th e r than as shrewd

c a l c u l a t in g , a v a r ic io u s m oneylenders. The fa c t that any

change in a C h e t t i a r 's r e l i g i o u s a f f i l i a t i o n meant v i r t u a l

lo s s o f a l l b u s in e s s fo r him was ,1ust fo rg o tten and

in
I s te a d was seen as h is in t e n s e d evotion to S a iv is m . In

the long run, the fa c t that t h e i r adherence to S aiv ism

and to temple w orship had been adopted as a b u s in e s s

p o lic y was a ls o fo r g o t t e n .

Honesty, another h a l l mark of C h e t t ia r v i r t u e s was

a g a in a cq u ired by them as sheer n e c e s s it y . T h is arose

out of t h e ir o f f i c e of t r u s t e e s h ip of t h e ir n in e tem ples.

S in c e the management of every one of the n in e N a g a r a th a r ^

tem ples was e x c l u s iv e l y in the hands of the r e s p e c t iv e

temple gro ups, it was im possible fo r them to be d is h o n e s t

b ecause of the close s c ru tin y of the accounts by the

members. Even a small breach in honesty w h ile h a n d lin g

the temple fund s was not t o le r a t e d and the Tamil adage

'S iv a n Sothhu Kulanasam ' meant m is a p p r o p r ia tio n o f S i v a ’ s

w e a lth w i l l v e r i ^ l y s p e ll the e x t in c t io n of the fa m ily ,

a p p lie d l i t e r a l l y in the C h e t t i a r s ' case* The in c u lc a t io n

o f the v ir t u e s that make up the e t h ic s of a r a t io n a l

p u r s u it o f p r o f it was a cq u ired by the C h e t t ia r s w h ile

they were a c t u a l l y in the p u r su it of w e a lth . These

v ir t u e s helped them amass w ealth d urin g the heydey of

t h e i r m oneylendlng o p e ra tio n s o v ers ea s. T h e ir a s s e t s

soared from Rs. 10 crores in l^ ^ o to Rs. SO crores in

30
1930* W it h the men away on long p erio d s of b u s in e s s , the
f

C h e t t la r women had to l iv e f r u g a l l y in C h e t t in a d . Even

a f t e r the barren C h ettin a d that was dotted w ith thatched

h uts was transform ed into a land studded w ith p a l a t i a l

ho uses; t h i s h a b it co n tin u ed . The C h e t t la r fa m il ie s

continued to l iv e f r u g a l l y in small huts n ea r t h e m ansions

they had e r e c te d .

The C h e t t la r community e t h ic s w h ile i t promoted a

ness
g rea t in t e r n a l cohfisi v e / : among the members o f the su b ­

ca ste, a ls o provided enough scope fo r the o p era tio n of

the in d iv id u a l motive in t h e i r economic e n t e r p r is e . T h is

a g a in we s h a ll see d eriv ed from t h e ir s o c ia l o r g a n iz a t io n

c e n t e r in g around the n in e tem ples. The e n t ir e community

of C h e t t ia r s i s , as we have said e a rlie r, were d iv id e d in to

the n in e temple (K o v il ) g ro u p s. Membership o f the temple

group i s by b ir t h o n ly . The C h e t t la r g i r l s take on the

temple of t h e i r husbands a f t e r m a rriag e. There i s no way

o f changing, o n e 's tem ple. O f the n in e Nagara tem ples,

I
only th re e , nam ely, I l a y a t h a n k u d i , Mathoor and Valravan-
 ^4

p a t t i have seven, seven and three sub-groups r e sp e c "

t iv e ly * The rem aining s ix tem ples do not have any sub­

g ro u p s. Thus in a l l we have tvienty-three sub-groups,

w hich are a c t u a lly lin e a g e groups or p a t r i l i n e a l kin

g ro u p s. A ll the members born in to the same sub-group are

'P a n g a l i s ' (P a t e r n a l kinsmen w ith the f i r s t r ig h t s and

o b lig a t io n s ). A ll the members of a l l the sub-groups of

32
a temple are ca lled Perum P a n g a lis (l a r g e r k in s m e n ).^

Thus only those three temples th at have sub-groups

have Perum P a n g a l i s . S tric tly sp eak in g, m arriage between

P a n g a lis as w e ll as between Perum P a n g a lis are p r o h ib it e d

ju s t fo r the same reason as ’ S a g o t r a ’ m arriages are pro­

h ib it e d among other Hindu castes where Gotra is the b a s is

o f t h e ir k in s h ip o r g a n iz a t io n . Thus a C h e t t ia r male from

one temple group cannot marry a p ir l from h i s own temple

group. Thus each temple (K o v il ) group o f the C h e tt ia r s

is s t r i c t l y exogamous except the temple groups b elo n g in g

to P i l l a i y a r P a t t i and V airav a n k o v il s , s in c e these two

k o v i l s have common d escen t in the T h iru v e tp u d a iy a r

brothers, who f i r s t set them up.

A lthough the membership of a k o v il form ally is by

b ir t h , the r e a l s ta tu s of an i n d iv id u a l member of the

k o v il a ccrues to the C h e t t ia r male only on m arriage* This

i s because o f the unique p r a c t ic e of compulsory r e g i s t r a ­

tio n of a l l C h e t t ia r male m arriages at the r e s p e c t iv e temple

^ T r a d i t i o n a l l y a Hindu m arriage has alw ays been a reli-

c o n t i n u e d /. .
 ^5

A ll the n in e N a g arath a r k o v il s m aintain a m arriage

re g ister. The r e g is t e r c l a s s i f i e s the e n t r ie s as

'p u l l i s '. A 'p u l l i ' in Tamil means a d o t, and in Chet-

t i a r parlance a m arried couple w ith or w ith out unmarried

c h ild r e n . As per the C h e t t ia r community’ s p r e sc r ib e d

no nns, no C h e t t ia r m arriage can be solem nized w ith o u t

n o t i f y i n g the temples concerned, w e ll in advance, from

I

where the g a r la n d s from the b r i d e ’ s and b rid egro o m ’ s

temples would be received on the day of the marriage-

The tem ples have the r ig h t to w ith h o ld the sending of the

g a r la n d s fo r the m arriage fo r any gro ss v io l a t io n o f the

community r u l e s . The temple g arlan d is thus a symbol

of the community consent.

In c id e n ta lly , the P u l l i System that a r i s e s out of

the temple-based compulsory r e g is t r a t io n o f a l l C h e t t ia r

male m a rriag es has f a c i l i t a t e d the C h e t t ia r community to

keep a track o f i t s p o p u la t io n , a p r a c t ic e not ob ta in ed

in many Hindu sub“ c a s t e s . We have up-to-date records o f

\
two C h e t t ia r Census tak e n , one in 1 94 9 and another more

d e t a ile d in 1 9 6 6 . The N a t tu k o tt a i N a g arath a r A s s o c ia t io n

in M adras C ity brought out a Community Census g iv in g

d e t a i l s r e g a r d in g the number o f P u l l i s , temple-wise,

t h e ir d is t r i b u t i o n in the seventy- six v i l l a g e s in Chetti-

na d , and an o c c u p a tio n a l d is t r i b u t i o n as w e l l .^ ^ ^

^ co n tin ued.
g io u s ceremony having only A gni or the S a c r i f i c i a l F ir e as
the main w it n e s s . The p r a c t ic e of form ally r e g i s t e r i n g a
m arriage as is o btained among the C h e t t ia r s or Muslims i s
conspicuous by i t s a bsence.
 A t h ir d one i s in progress a ccordin g to our i n ­

formant who is a member o f the Committee appointed fo r

t h is purpose. The only lim it a t io n of t h is system i s that

it can h elp only ” to reckon the trend o f growth or d e c lin e

and the o v e r a ll demographic strength o f the community in

34
tenns o f f a m il ie s a l o n e * ” For by i t s e l f it cannot help

to a s c e r t a in the number o f unmarried c h ild r e n , or s p in ­

sters. The knowledge of reckon ing of h a l f - P u l l is as

ela b o ra te d by Chandrasekhar is o b v io u sly lim ite d only to

those C h e t t ia r s a c t i v e l y connected w ith the Census taki|ig,

fo r most of our info rm ants were not aware of t h is concept

o f h a lf- P u lli at a l l , and a ls o the temple dues were

paid by the widow w it h h er unmarried c h ild r e n as long as

she was a l i v e .

The P u l l i System a lso d is c o u ra g e s inter- caste

m arriag es of one type, the m arriage o f C h e t t ia r g i r l s w it h

non- Chettiar boys. Many of our inform ants were proud to

say that they fo llo w ed the t r a d i t i o n a l p o lic y of ” kollvom

kodukka m attam ", meaning th at wh:i le they are not averse

to m arrying n o n - C h e t tia r ' s g i r l s , they w i l l nev e r t h in k of

m arrying t h e ir g i r l s to any otherthan a Nattukotta,i

C h e t t ia r . Fo r the' C h e tt ia r boy can s t i l l become a 'P u l l i '

even i f he m arries a non- Chettiar g i r l and h is m arriage

w i l l be r e g is t e r e d in h i s tem ple. But i f a C h e t t ia r g i r l

m a rr ies an o u t s id e r , then she lo s e s the p r iv i l e g e of

I

becoming a P u l l i . There are q u ite a few in s t a n c e s of

 S7

C h e t t ia r men ha v in g American w iv e s , and yet having had

t h e ir m arriag es r e g is t e r e d at t h e ir tem ples. But t i l l

now there has been no case o f C h e t t ia r g i r l s m arrying

o u t s id e r s . In t h e i r e x p la n a tio n f o r t h i s , they often

r e f e r to the h i s t o r i c a l m arriage of the C h e t t ia r b o ys who

were under the custody of Atmanada S a s t r y , to V e l l a l a

g i r l s in order to be able to coronate the Chola k in g ,

when they were r e s id in g in Puhar. But when we look in to

the C h e t t ia r m arriage p r a c t ic e s e s p e c i a l l y those concern­

ing t h e i r dowry, the serio us economic im p lic a t io n involved

in m arrying t h e i r g i r l s to non- C hettiars becomes very

ex p licit.

Yet another p r a c t ic e that makes the C h e t t ia r m arriage

unique among the t r a d i t i o n a l m arriage of Hindu castes is

the s ig n in g of the ' Isaikud im an e P a trik a i' or the m arriage

co n tra ct. T r a d i t i o n a l l y t h is used to be w r it t e n on a dry

palmyra l e a f c a lle d ’ o l a i ’ w it h an iron s t y lu s , imme­

d ia t e l y a f t e r the perform ance of the r i t u a l of 'T h a l i

k a t t u ’ or the t y in g of the mangal s u t r a . N o w a - d a y s there

are p rin ted forms o f the contract a v a il a b l e in t h e ir

k o v il s where only the d e t a i l s have to be f i l l e d in by the

p a rtie s. The contract runs as f o llo w s :

"T h is is w r it t e n fo r the m arriage c eleb ra te d on

___________ day between Subram anian, the son of Okkoorudaiyar

Arunachalam Chetty Ramanathan Chetty and V alliam m ai, the

d aug hter of Arum bakoorudaiyar K. I'jarayanan Chetty at the

 villa g e of ______________ • The value o f jew els g iv e n to the

g ir l i s ___________ of g o ld , s i l v e r brass an d (^3r^^an am

amounts to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ V arah an. Money fo r female servant

_______________ . S ir a t t u Chakram money ____________• Free g i f t s

o f jew els and money w o r t h _______________ . T h is Isaikud im an a

P a t r ik a i was w r it t e n by me at ____________________•

Sign ed Ramanathan Chetty

C o u n tersig n ed ; K. i^jarayanan C hetty.

T h is i s signed and countersigned by the fa t h e r s of both

the b r id e and bridegroom . In case the fa t h e r s are no

more, it is signed by the n e a r e st e ld e s t male r e l a t i v e ,

f a t h e r ’ s b ro th er, or the e ld e s t son. Two cop ies of t h is

are made, one i s g iv en to the b rid e a f t e r the m arriage

f o r s afe custody and the other is kept w ith the g i r l ’ s

p a r e n ts .

The m arriage contract we see is more o f a f i n a n c i a l

document, g iv in g a l l the p a r t ic u l a r s about the dowry given

in cash and kin d to the g i r l by her fa t h e r at the time

o f the m a rriag e. T h is ensures that the dowry the g i r l

b r in g s w ith her is e x c l u s iv e l y hers by r i g h t . T h is r ig h t

V

ju s t does no t remain as an unspoken convention but i s

contained in a w r it t e n document d e s c r ib e d above. T h is

i s a s t r ik in g p o in t e r to the preoccupation or the o b sessio n

o f the C h e t t ia r community w ith w e a lth , because in no other

Hindu community is t h is rig h t of the woman to p r iv a t e

property so fo r m a lly and e x p l i c i t e l y r e c o g n is e d . Women

 ^9

in oth er Hindu castes in c lu d in g the Brahm ins, have, as

per the law o f Manu, always been econom ically dependent

on the f a t h e r b efore t h e ir m arriag e, on the husband

a f t e r t h e ir m arriage and on the sons in t h e ir widowhood.

It is only w it h recent l e g i s l a t i o n s that t h is r ig h t has

been g iv en to the women.

Not only t h i s , but it was a lso a C h e t t ia r convention

that the property of a C h e t t ia r woman was in h e r it e d only

by her d a u g h te r s , and in the eve:*t of a w ife dying i s s u e "

^ less, h er property went back to h er p a ren ts and her s i s t e r s .

Even the bro th er o f the deceased woman had no r ig h t to

her pro p erty . An in t e r e s t in g case o f a C h e t t ia r having

, to move the court to claim h is deceased w i f e ’ s property

was n a rra ted by one o f our in fo rm a n ts. T h is is why a l l

the v e s s e ls g iv en in the dowry are even now in s c r ib e d w ith

a whole geneology o f the fa m ily i n i t i a l s from the m o ther’ s

sid e.

The cash part of the dowry to the g i r l is c a lle d

Stridhanam and is a handsome amount of a nything above

Rs. 3 5 ,0 0 0 . There is a C h e t t ia r con ventional unit to

exp ress t h i s , a ’ V a r a h a n ’ w hich is eq u iv a le n t to R s .3 > 5 0 0 .

So the dowry i s spoken o f as so many V arah an s, say ten

V arah an s. T h is amount vrhich i s e x c lu s iv e ly the g i r l ’ s

used to be in v es ted as a d e p o s it vjith a C h e t t ia r firm

d u r in g the heydey of t h e i r m oneylending b u s in e ss o v ers ea s.

Now~a~days as g leaned from our q u e s t io n n a ir e s it is in-

 90

vested as a fix e d d e p o s it w ith a bank. Even now the

C h e t t ia r men f e e l i t a great h u m ilia tio n to use t h e i r

w i v e s ’ money* They do so only under very hard c o n s t r a in t s .

M arria g e occ asio n s yet another source of income fo r

C h e t t ia r women. T h is i s by way o f a g i f t to the mother

of the bridegroom from the g i r l ' s ,p a r e n t s . T h is is c a lle d

'M a n ia r S a m a n '. 'M a m iar' in Tamil means mother-in-law

and 'Sam an' g ift. T h is is g e n e r a lly in p r o p o rtio n to the

Sridhanam g iv en to the g i r l . By C h e t t ia r convention it

would be in d ic a t e d as (t e n , fo u r' varahan, meaning ten

varahans to the g i r l and fo u r to the mother of the b r i d e ­

groom. Thus i t would vrork out to in t h is case, ten times

Rs. 3 » 5 0 0 fo r the g i r l and fo u r tim es Rs* 3 ,5 0 0 fo r the

\

g i r l ’ s mother-in-law, in a l l Rs. 4 9 ,0 0 0 cash, a part of

the m arriage ex p end iture* This sum a ls o belongs e x c l u ­

s iv e l y to the C h e t t ia r women, and i s aga in invested w ith

a firm or a bank*

Thus The C h e t t ia r women or 'a c h i s ' as they are known

and ca lled have alw ays enjoyed an independent source of

income d e s p it e the la c k o f formal g en eral and p r o fe s s io n a l

education and t r a i n i n g . But we must remember t h a t t h is

was g iv en to them not out o f any i d e a l i s t i c n o tio n s of

resp ect f o r i n d i v i d u a l i t y ir r e s p e c t iv e of sex but as a

 91

p r a c t ic a l n e c e s s it y . T h e ir t r i e n n i a l system of banking

kept the C h e t t ia r men away from home fo r three year

p e r io d s of tim e, making it n e c e s s a r y fo r them to a llo w

t h e i r w ives to run the ho useho ld. T h is must have been so

even e a r l i e r . We have h i s t o r i c a l ev id en ce of the tremen­

d ous boost the in t e r n a l and ex te r n a l trade the Tamil

country rec e iv e d d u rin g the Chola Period from the la t e

n in e t h century onwards. The p o l i t i c a l u n ifica tio n o f the

Tamil country s p e c i a l l y under the Chola, Raja R aja I

(9 ^ 5 ~ 1 0 1 4 A . D . ) and the long period of peace that follo w ed

in the land a c c e le r a t e d the economic development of the

country g r e a t l y . M etal in d u s t r ie s f l o u r is h e d , j e w e l l e r 's

a rt reached h ig h p e r fe c t io n as enthusiasm fo r temple

c o n stru c tio n a ls o grew. The w e a lth of the temples a ls o

in crea sed w ith p lundered w ea lth i'rom the conquered co u n tries

flo w in g in , in the form of handsome endowments. Strong

merchant o r g a n is a t io n s or g u i l d s , lik e the N a n a d e s is ,

Manigramams and A in o o rr u v a r, who v;ere celeb ra te d both fo r

t h e i r in la n d trade and overseas commerce that extended

*
upto the P e r s ia n G u l f in the west and upto Indo-China

and China in the east came up. Tne lo c a l o r g a n is a t io n of

37
merchants in each town was ca lled Nagaram.

Thus the economic independence that was v i r t u a l l y

th ru st upon the C h e t t ia r 'a c h i s ’ only a id e d the p e r fe c t io n

o f the Agency System of money le n d in g of the C h e t t ia r s

from the l a t e n in e t e e n t h century onwards in Burma and other

 92

o v ersees c o u n t r ie s , the d e t a i l s of which we s h a ll see

in a l a t e r chapter.

The dowry in k in d , the C h e t t ia r g i r l s r eceiv e is

the g r e a t e s t h i g h l i g h t of the C h e t t ia r m arriag e. T h is

c o n s is t s of a l l the c o n ceiv a b le a r t i c l e s from brooms to

s t e e l a lm ira h s, m a ttresses and r a d io s , etc. needed fo r a

home fo r a l if e t im e and more. It is the number and v a r ie t y

o f these t h in g s g iv e n as dowry that i s most s t r i k i n g and

has to be seen to be b e lie v e d * T h is dowry c o n s is ts of

m u lt ip le s o f tens of brooms, g r in d in g stones, s to v es,

v e s s e ls of d i f f e r e n t m etals, p la stic , enamel, alum inium ,

copper, brass, bronze and s i l v e r and a ls o la c q u e r work

from Burma and M ala y a . These a r t i c l e s are c o lle c t e d a s s i ­

d u o u s ly by the a c h is from the time a g i r l i s born. The

p ilg r im a g e s w hich are undertaken by the a c h is along w ith

t h e i r men become g reat o c c a s io n s fo r purchase of the

h a n d ic r a ft s of each of the p la c e s they go to, Benaras--

B e ll m etalw ares and gold b ra id ed S a r e e s , Calcutta--bronze

m etal, Burma and M alaya-- lacquer a r t i c l e s , Nasik--copper.

In some r e g io n s of C h e tt in a d , there is a p r in te d l i s t of

dowry a r t i c l e s a v a i l a b l e at the k o v il or N a g arath a r Sangam.

T h is dowry is l i t e r a l l y a c o lle c t io n of a l i f e tim e.

The number of m a ttresses and p illo w s range from ten to

f i f t y and a s p e c ia l teak wooden cupboards are made to

store them. (The dowry o ffe r e d is la rg e enough to e a s i l y

set up a b ig departm ental s t o r e . )

 93

The even in g p r io r to the m arriage the e n t ir e dowry

i s a r t i s t i c a l l y d is p la y e d in the bridei’ s house. As -our

inform ants told us, today even sc o o ter s, electric sh avers,

fa n s , a ir - c o n d itio n e r s form part of the d is p la y * The

houses in G hettinad are p a l a t i a l fo r t h is very r eas o n .

Even the cash g i f t to the mother-in-law-Mamiar Saman is

hung on a s tr in g w ith a guard keeping watch over it.’ G r a in s ,

v e g e ta b le s and coconuts p r o p o r t io n a t e ly as g rea t in quan­

t i t i e s are a ls o g iv e n . Even here there is a share sepa­

r a t e ly f o r the mother-in-law also- T h is event of the

m arriage is c a lle d 'Saman P a r a p p u d a l' - D is p la y o f a l l the

a rticles of dowry.

The b rid e g r o o m 's pa rty w i l l have to tra n s p o r t a l l

o f t h is dowry that very n ig h t to t h e ir house i 4 t h e i r

v illa g e. F a i l u r e to do so e n t a il s a g rea t lo s s of respect

f o r the bridegroom s p a rty . Hence l o r r i e s w i l l be rushed

in to s e rv ice to tra nsp o rt the dowry. The answers to our

questio n about the dowry they rece iv e d were often as so

^ many truck lo a d s . The a v e rs io n of the C h e t t ia r s to give

t h e i r d aughters in m arriage to non- C hettiars is thus e a s il y

un d erstan dable in v ir t u e of the c o lo s s a l amount of the

dowry in v o lv e d .

The m arriage is solem nised the next day at the

b r i d e ’ s ho use. The p r a c t ic e of the bridegroom t y in g the

't h a l i ' is only about f i f t y years o id . T r a d i t i o n a l l y the

custom was fo r an old respected male member of the community

 94

OQ

to t ie the t h a l i a f t e r it was b le s s e d by other e l d e r s .

From a p erso n a l in t e r v ie w w it h the l a t e Mr. K. M an ic k a "

vasaga C h e t t ia r , son o f the ’ te x tile kin g ' of M adurai the

l a t e Karumuthu T h ia g a r a ja C h e t t ia r , t h is p r a c t ic e was

first sta rted by h is uncle Mr. Alagappa C h e t t ia r , a g rea t

e n t h u s ia s t f o r s o c ia l reform s, d urin g the m arriage of h is

d a u g h ter. H is fa m ily s u ffe re d community boycott u n t il

i t was revoked at the A l l N a g arath a r Koottam in K o v ilo o r

in 1 9 2 0 . Many C h e t t ia r r i t u a l s is s u in g from the b ir t h of

a c h ild , lik e the f i r s t b ir t h d a y of the c h ild c a lle d

’ Pudum ai’ , and other that in t e r fe r e d w it h t h e i r b u s in e s s

were done away w it h , because of I'’r. Alagappa C h e t t i a r ’ s

p e r s u a s io n , since the c e le b r a t io n s not only involved

ex p en d itu re but a ls o the absence of C h e t t ia r s from t h e ir

p la c e o f b u s in e s s . A p e c u l ia r custom that was p e r s o n a lly

n o t ic e d in a C h e t t ia r m arriage was t h e ir g r e e t in g s . The

host welcomes the g u e s t , say ing 'p l e a s e come’ , (Vanga)

and the guest r e p l i e s ’ yes' (Am.a)* The r e v e r b e r a t io n of

’ vanga’ , ’ ama’ , was something very s t r i k i n g . Perhaps it

denotes t h e i r in g e n io u s way of i d e n t i f y i n g t h e i r own

members from o t h e r s. We were a ls o told that u s u a lly not

all of the C h e t t ia r in v it e e s would accept the lunch or

d in n e r i n v i t a t i o n s , as a co n ventio n. O nly the n e a r e s t

relativ es, at the most the ’ P a n g a l i s ’ would be t rea ted

f o r lunch and d in n e r . The re st would be g iv en l i g h t r e ­

freshm ents and c o ffe e . A ft e r the m a rriag e, the b ride is

 95

taken to her h u s b a n d ’ s house i .e . fath er- in - law ’ s house,

as is customary w it h most other n in d u communities.

V o c ife r o u s p r o t e st s are b eing r a is e d by the younger

g e n e r a t io n of C h e t t ia r s , men and women, a g a in s t t h is

p r a c t ic e of dowry among the C h e t t ia r s . The in v a r ia b le

lament is that many f a m il ie s have been d riv e n to d e s t i t u ­

t io n because of t h i s m o n stro sity o f such a dowry system.

Ev ery is su e of t h e i r community monthly Nagara M ala r c a r r ie s

at l e a s t one r e fe r e n c e to the p lea fo r reforms in C h e t t ia r

dowry and m arriage p r a c t ic e s . It is e it h e r a poem, or

an open- letter to the e ld e r A ch is p le a d in g w ith them to

stop demanding such e x p en siv e and w a s t e fu l dowry, or a

letter from an^unm arried C h e t t ia r g i r l lam enting her

f a t e of ha v in g to remain unmarried because o f the heavy

dowry demanded. P le a s in t h is d ir e c t io n are a lso made by

the C h e t t ia r l e a d e r s , in d u str ia lis ts , jo u rn a lis ts , w r it e r s ,

etc. Along w it h t h i s the plea fo r g i r l s ' ed u catio n is

a lso made. But u n fo r t u n a t e ly t h is reform is reducin g the

one time pow erful e n t e r p r is in g A ch is to d o c ile g ra d u a tes

whose id e a l i s the stereotype o f tne modern In d ia n g i r l

as p ro je cted in our H in d i and Tamil m o v ie s :a h ig h ly

educated g i r l s till id e a lizin g the t r a d i t i o n a l Sati-

S av itri role of a w i f e , one who su b ju g a te s h e r s e l f com­

p l e t e l y to h er husband ir r e s p e c t iv e what kin d of a man

Nagar M glar, iv^ay 19^^<^.

 )fO

\
t
. h e’ i s . It i s thus n o t /p r o g r e s s iv e change fo r the C h e t t ia r

Achis.- A l l C h e t t ia r g i r l s §o to school today. U n t il

ri** ' ^
i 960 there were only s i x t y t w o C h e t t ia r women^ g r a d u a t e s .,
i.

Now the;j^, must be more f o r , the monthly report o f m arriages

in t h e i r community jo u r n a l, Nagara M a la r, con tains i n ­

cr e a s in g number o f g raduate b r id e s . Out o f our One hundred

and t w e n t y f i v e resp o nd ents,

onlv the w iv e s o f t h ir t e e n
“ %
reported ha v in g no formal s c h o o lin g , f o r t y reported

e d u c a tio n upto High S c h o o l. Forty- nine had f i n i s h e d M id d le

Sch o o l. The number of g raduates v;ere twenty- three, out

o f w hich fo u r were p r o f e s s i o n a l l y q u a l i f i e d teac h er s in

schools and c o lle g e s , and another was employed in a bank.

The Chett:^ar fa m ily o r g a n is a t io n shares many f e a t u r e s

in common w it h the dominant s tr u c t u r a l type of the Indian-

j o in t fa m ily . It is p a tr ilin e a l in d esc e n t, p e t r il o c a l

in r e s id e n c e , has common w o r s h ip , and is governed by a

rule of in h e r it a n c e that makes the sons coparceners

in the p roperty w it h the f a t h e r . That such a fa m ily s t r u c ­

ture should a lso be geared to encourage the in d iv id u a l

motive in economic e n t e r p ris e d e r iv e s a g a in from the very

t

in g e n io u s C h e t t ia r custom of the compulsory r e g is t r a t io n

o f a l l male C h e t t ia r m arriag es and the P u l l i system

a ccru in g from i t . T h e 'P u lli* mode of reckon ing m arriages

V t
i s a v ir t u a l adm issio n of the^ n u c le a r fa m ily as the unit

o f the C h e t t ia r fa m ily o r g a n is a t io n . The r e c o g n itio n of

the independent sta tu s of |the new ly m arried couple in the

 97

l a r g e r fa m ily does not obtain in most other Hindu commu­

n i t i e s .. Every m arried couple in a C h e t t ia r fa m ily i s an

in d ep end ent p u l l i , and i s l i a b l e to pay the ’ P ulli v a r i’

to h is k o v il* Thus i f a C h e t t ia r has f i v e m arried sons

l i v i n g w ith him. in the same house then the c o n tr ib u t io n

from t h is house to t h e i r k o v il w i l l be of f i v e plus one,

six 'p u l l i v a ris’ . Each o f the m arried sons as w e ll as

the p arent are d i s t i n c t separate p u l l i s and are l i a b l e to

pay the l e v i e s in d e p e n d e n tly . The c o n tr ib u t io n i s thus

not from the fa m ily o f the fa t h e r but from the n u c le a r

u n it s making up the h o useh o ld.

The i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y or sep ara ten ess of the ’P u llis’

in a C h e t t ia r household i s m aintained c o n s is t e n t ly in t h e ir

every day l i v i n g p r a c t ic e s . Most s t r i k i n g l y d i f f e r e n t is

the C h e t t ia r h e a r t h . Every p u l l i of the household has

a separate k it c h e n . Thus d e s p it e jo in t r e s id e n c e , liv in g

i s e x c l u s iv e l y s e p a r a te . The income i s not pooled and

the expenses are not shared . In ste a d every C h e t t ia r male

on m arriage g e ts an annual allow ance of cash and kin d l i k e

g r a in s and c e r e a ls , and cooking i s done s e p a r a te ly fo r

each o f the m arried son by h i s w i f e . Even the mother

would not serve the son. T h is p r iv il e g e or duty d evolves

s o l e l y on the s o n ’ s w i f e . I f the couple incurred expenses

beyond t h e i r a llo w a n ce, the extra allow ance g iv en to them

would be t rea ted as d e b it s to the s o n ’ s account.

T h is concept of i n d i v i d u a l i t y of the n u c le a r fa m ily

is in stitu tio n a lise d in the r it u a l of ’V e ru v a ith al’ .

 9a

veru - in Tamil means separate ana -vaiLnax- means s e t "

t in g up. Thus the s e tt in g up of a new establishm ent by

the new ly m arried cpuple i s a recog nised and s o c ia l l y

approved custom among the C h e t t ia r s . The mother-in-law

w i l l g iv e g i f t s to the b rid e in the form of gold b raided

sarees c a lle d ’ Kandangi S e l a i ' from the amount she r eceiv ed

as M arm iar Saman. In some r e g io n s of C h e ttin a d , l i k e Deva-

*
k o t t a i the p r a c t ic e i s fo r the mother-in-law to take back

the g i f t s a f t e r a period of a year or more. Many of our

respo nd ents said th at the mother-in-law would e it h e r

p reserve the g i f t s fo r a fu t u r e ’ V e r u v a i t h a l ’ or s e ll

them and convert them back to cash fo r investm ent as

d e p o s it s .

I t i s t h is f a c t of a c c e p tin g the le g it im a c y o f the

in d iv id u a l and the n u c le a r fa m ily as a b a s is of fa m ily

o r g a n is a t io n that has "c o n t in u o u s ly nurtured the sp irit

of in d iv id u a l in itiativ e in economic e n t e r p r is e ” even

w it h in the t r a d i t i o n a l framework.

T h is p r a c t ic e of l i v i n g s e p a r a te ly as n u c le a r h o u se ­

hold even under the same roof has a lso co n trib u ted to the

growth o f a c er ta in amount of im p e r s o n a lis a tio n in t h e ir

fa m ily r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The m arried son d e s i r i n g to set

up h i s own home in d e p e n d e n t ly i s most o ften an occasion

fo r g re a t em otional s trife and te n s io n among the fa m il ie s

o f no n- C hettiar Communities. T h is is because the r e l a t i o n ­

sh ip in the fa m ily are very perso nal and c e n t r a liz e d

 99

there i s a h ig h degree of em otional in t e g r a t io n . But

in the C h e t t i a r s ’ case from the very young the boys are

taught to be s e lf- r e lia n t and independent and the emo­

t io n a l in t e g r a t io n to the fa m ily is r e l a t i v e l y l e s s . T h is

was expressed by many o f our respondents ” the sons are

ju s t pushed away and become str an g er s soon a f t e r m a rriag e.

Our C h e t t ia r world is world of a c h is and fo r & c h is o n l y . ”

The problem of the m aintenance of old p a ren ts a lso

nev e r
i s most r a t i o n a l l y s o lv ed . The old p aren ts h a v e /b e e n

f i n a n c i a l l y dependent on t h e i r sons; even the widowed mother

kZ
l i v e d a lo n e . To the questio n "how do you prevent the

usual q u a rr e ls between mother-in-law and daughter- in- law

i f they are l i v i n g in the same h o u se” , many answers were

to this e f f e c t . ” The questio n does-not a r is e so much w ith

us C h e t t ia r s , because now-a-days we are a l l forced to

liv e s e p a r a te ly in d i f f e r e n t c itie s away from the p a re n ts .

We meet only fo r fa m ily o c c a s io n s . In old days m arried

sons had separate k it c h e n s in the same h o u s e .”

In the case of the C h e t t ia r i n d u s t r i a l i s t s in M ad u ra i,

the m arried sons liv e d in separate b u il d in g s w it h in the

same compound. In one case the old fa t h e r s t i l l continued

to l i v e in h is own mansion in the compound w h ile two of

h i s three sons l iv e d in another b u il d in g , one occupying

the ground f l o o r and the other the f i r s t floo r. The

t h ir d son has a separate bungalow fo r h im s e lf in the same

compound. T h is i s the p attern found among a l l the C h e t t ia r

 100

in d u strialists. The same plan is follo w ed in M adras

a lso . The ten sio n between mother-in-law and daughter-in-

la w that takes h id eo u s p r o p o rtio n s in other communities

i s r e l a t i v e l y l e s s among C h e t t ia r s . The C h e t t ia r g i r l s '

do not s u f f e r the p h y s ic a l c r u e l t ie s i n f l i c t e d by mothers-

in-law that we hear of in other communities. T h is a g a in

d e r iv e s from the p erso nal w ea lth a C h e t t ia r a ch i p o s s e s s e s .

The houses of C h e t t ia r s in C hettinad are rem arkably

su ite d in t h e i r stru c tu r e and c o n stru ctio n to accommodate

t h e i r unique form of fa m ily o r g a n is a t io n . They are

m assive s tr u c tu r e s made of the f i n e s t teak brought from

Burma and a s p e c ia l p l a s t e r c a lle d C hettinad p l a s t e r ,

that g iv e s a marble g lo s s and f i n i s h to the w a lls and

p illa rs.

The barren regio n of C h ettin a d i s studded w ith

numerous p a l a t i a l houses w hich cost on an average

Rs. 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 each to b u i l d . In Devakottah alone there are

many such h o u se s . The t o t a l investm ent in houses and

je w e ls i s estim ated at about Rs. 14 crores. ^ Such houses

sprang up d u r in g the days of the period of t h e i r h is t o r ic

a f f l u e n c e that started from the l a t e n in e t e e n t h century

onwards. W h il e the s ize and g rand eur of the houses

changed t h e i r structure e s s e n t i a l l y catered to the s t r u c ­

t u r a l needs of t h e i r fa m ily o r g a n iz a t io n . The C h e t t ia r

mansions i l l u s t r a t e v i s i b l y the unique fa m ily o r g a n is a tio n

o f the C h e t t ia r s . Every C h e t t ia r house has an im posing

C275 .
 101

entrance w it h e la b o r a t e ly carved wooden doors and p a n e ls .

On e it h e r sid e of the entrance are two huge r a is e d p l a t ­

forms c a lle d ’ T h in n a i’ . The door opens into a m assive

p illa re d h a ll. The w a lls and the p i l l a r s a l l p la s t e r e d

w ith the s p e c ia l G hettinad p la s t e r that g iv e s a marble

e f f e c t to the su rfa ce and most su ite d fo r the t r o p ic a l

44
c lip a t e and they r e f l e c t l i g h t b e t t e r . T h is h a l l is

s t r i c t l y the m e n 's quarters^n the regio n around D evakottah.

The h a l l opens out in to a r e c ta n g u la r open space lin e d

w it h two or three rooms on e it h e r s id e . These rooms are

very la rg e and o ften have ju st one v e n t i l l a t o r . These

are the rooms where the d o w r ies, the daughter^-in-laV

b r in g are sto red , and ^ I s o it i s here that the dowry fo r

the d au g h ters are c o lle c t e d . One courtyard le a d s out

in t o another r e c t a n g u la r h a l l fo r the l a d i e s . T h is h a l l

has a s id e entrance a ls o and t h is i s c a lle d 'V a l a i v u '.

The h a ll le a d s to a set of k it c h e n s one fo r each m arried

son. U s u a lly there are about fou r k it c h e n s . The same

s tru ctu re is repeated on the f i r s t flo o r. The m assive

p i l l a r s are u s u a lly covered w it h ch in tz or coarse m a ttin g .

T h is part of the house is not in use o r d i n a r i l y . They are

used only on fa m ily o c c a s io n s . O r d i n a r i l y the fa m ily

l i v e s in the backyard in a small hut using only cla y

pots and pans.

Such a system was most su ited to the manner of t h e i r

economic a c t i v i t y . During the heyday of t h e i r m oneylending

 102

a c tiv ity , from the l a t t e r h a l f of the n in e t e e n t h century

\

to the f i r s t h a l f o f the tw en tieth century the b u s in e s s

was conducted by paid 'a g e n t s ' who were most often men

from t h e ir own community. The owners c a lle d p r in c ip a l s

or p r o p r ie to r s stayed m ostly in C h ettin a d making only

p e r io d ic a l v i s i t s o v ersea s. The woman g e n e r a lly follo w ed

the p r e sc r ib e d community norm and stayed in C h e t t in a d .

According to Somalay, the C h e t t ia r h is t o r ia n and jo u rn a lis t,

f i f t y per cent of the C h e t t ia r men stayed in C h ettin a d

w h ile the other f i f t y in overseas d u rin g the pre-war d ay s.

Thus here was a community occupying a d e f i n i t e t e r r it o r y

and l i v i n g on the income earned by t h e i r agents abro a d.

The p r o p r ie to r s who formed only a small group became a

r e n t i e r c la s s s in ce t h e i r b u s in e ss d id not c a ll fo r much

perso nal a t t e n t io n by the p r i n c i p a l s . The agents were

trustw o rthy b eing o f t h e i r own community and the b u s in e ss

h a v in g been r o u t in is e d to a g rea t exten t d id not need a

close watch as t r a d in g or m anufaci:uring would r e q u ir e .

The C h e t t ia r s in C hettinad devoted t h e i r time to b u il d in g

p a l a t i a l houses, ren o v a tin g and m a in t a in in g temples in

C h ettina d and other im portant s h r in e s a l l over I n d ia at

a g reat cost. Thurston g iv e s an e x te n siv e account of

t h e i r temple renov ation rem arking that ” The amount spent

w it h in the l a s t t h ir t y years alone amounts to a crore of

r u p e e s .” The law and order e n su in g from the B r i t i s h

c o lo n ia l rule b e n e fit t e d t h e ir f i n a n c i a l in t e r e s t s even

 103

more* W it h the r e s u l t that the C h e t t ia r s soon started

a c q u ir in g the t r a i t s of the newlv rich conspicuous con­

sumption, o s t e n t a t io u s l i v i n g , s e e k in g t i t l e s from the

B r i t i s h Government. W h ile in t h e ir perso nal l i v e s t h r i f t

and f r u g a l i t y rem ained, they were generous hosts and were

noted fo r t h e i r h o s p i t a l i t y . M arriag e became an occasion

fo r d is p l a y of w e a lt h . Many of the le a d in g f a m i l i e s took

to E n g l is h ed u c a tio n , had European 'n a n n i e s ’ to look a f t e r

t h e ir c h ild r e n . There was a ls o a craze fo r the B r i t i s h

title s . However, though the community as a whole was

rated h ig h fo r i t s w e a lth , there v/as in r e a l i t y no e q u it ­

ab le d is t r i b u t i o n o f w ea lth w it h in the community i t s e l f .

I

The m a jo r ity o f the C h e t t ia r s sought emplo 3nnent as paid

agents ,under the small group of r ic h p r o p r ie t o r cla ss of

C h e t t ia r s . The c l e f t between the very r ic h and the not-

so-rich C h e t t ia r s grew as the w ea lth of the community

grew. The power o f the p r o p r ie to r s over the agents was

q uite a b s o lu t e . No agent could go home a f t e r the e x p iry

of the contract w ith o u t p e r s o n a lly c a l l in g on the boss

w it h a l l the t h in g s he had brought from the fo r e ig n coun­

trie s, and subm itting a s t r i c t account o f t h e ir a s s e ts

and the l i a b i l i t i e s d urin g t h e i r period o f o f f i c e .

During the leave p eriod he could not do m oneylending b u s i ­

n ess on h is own. The r e l a t io n s h ip between the p r o p r ie to r s

and the ag en ts became fe u d a l d e s p it e the prevalence

s p i r i t o f in d iv id u a l e n t e r p r is e , because o f the unequal

 104

advantages the p r o p r ie to rs en jo y ed .

B efo re we conclude t h is chapter we s h a ll d e s c r ib e

the a d m in is tr a tio n of t h e i r n in e temples and the tradi~

t io n a l manner of s e t t l i n g d is p u t e s among the C h e t t ia r s .

Every Nagara temple is u s u a lly iranaged by two f a m il ie s in

annual r o t a t io n from a comm.ittee o f eig h t to s ixteen

fam ilies. U s u a lly these f a m il ie s are t r a d i t i o n a l t r u s te e s .

The tem ples are m a in ta in ed from c o n tr ib u t io n s from members.

These are both compulsory and vo-luntary. As said e a r l i e r ,

every C h e t t ia r on becoming a p u l l i of the k o v il a f t e r

h i s m a rriag e, i s lialole to pay tv/o l e v i e s to the temple

%
'p u l l i v a r i ' and ’ A s t i v a r i ' . From the answers o f our

respondents we f in d that these are now very nominal but

yet p a id . They range from Rs. 1 to Rs. 1 .2 5 a year and a

few m easures of r ic e * Lap ses in t h is payment lea d to

d e b it e n t r ie s in the temple accounts w ith in t e r e s t ch arg e"

able. The temple g a r la n d s fo r the m arriage may be w i t h ­

h eld u n t il a l l the d u t ie s w ith in t e r e s t are c le a r e d . The

tem ples a ls o ask fo r c o n tr ib u tio n fo r s p e c ia l occ asio n s

l i k e kumbha-abhishekam to purchase p r o p e r tie s fo r p u b lic

cause. I t i s 'e i t h e r a uniform amount from each p u l l i , or

t
i s p ro p o rtio n a te to t h e ir w e a lt h . Here w ea lth is d e fin e d

as net excess of a s s e t s ove-r l i a b i l i t i e s . The e v a lu a tio n

i s done v o l u n t a r il y by the head of each o f the fa m ily

g enerally , but i t i s not uncommon fo r a committee to be

appointed to estim ate the w ea lth by secret b a l l o t .

 105

F a m ilie s whose w ealth is below the f ix e d minimum are

exempted.

O verseas C h e t t ia r firm s had two p r in c ip a l forms o f

compulsory c o n tr ib u t io n fo r temples and c h a r it y ca lled

’ M a g a m a i'. Every C h e t t ia r firm was req u ired to pay a

percentage o f t h e i r p r o f i t s to the tem ple. These were of

two k in d s , one c o n s is t in g o f g i f t s to the temple and another

one set f o r p r iv a t e c h a r it y , the temple expenses l i k e the

payment to the s t a f f are met from these c o l l e c t i o n s . The

payments are f ix e d a cco rd in g to the b u s in e s s done. In

Burma there was one rate fo r lo a n s and another f o r property

taken over fo r d e b t . The r a t e s were something l i k e annas

14 (^ 5 p a is e ) per Rs. 1000 lo a n s and annas 9 (5 5 p a is e )

per Rs. 1 0 0 0 fo r pro p erty , the value of the p roperty b eing

reckoned alw ays as the p r in c ip a l money o u tsta n d in g o f the

debt. R e «l per Rs. 1 0 0 0 was the maximum. The second

form of ’M agam ai' was d e riv e d by a sort of a cess upon

c e r ta in k in d s of b u s in e s s done. At the end of each y e a r ,

each C h e t t ia r b u s in e s s s t r ik e s a balance o f the sums

rem itted by i t to each other shop and the sums r e c e iv e d

by i t from oth er shops and a rate lik e q uarter of an anna

per Rs. 1 0 0 i s le v ie d upon the n et b ala n ce received-

I

T h is is pa id by the r e c e iv e r to the other and is used as

p r iv a t e c h a r it y fu n d . In a d d it io n to these r e g u la r con­

t r i b u t i o n s s p e c ia l c o lle c t io n s were made as when i t was

done in May 1 9 3 0 by the Rangoon C h e t t ia r s to r a is e a

 106

fund fo r the victim s of Pegu earthquake and t h e ir g i f t

to the Rangoon U n iv e r s it y , and the Kanbe S c h o o l. The

Rangoon temple was m a in ta in ed by the fo u r o ld e s t fir m s .

The t r a d it io n a l way of s e t t l i n g d is p u t e s among

C h e t t ia r s was by a communal m eeting. This was conducted

e it h e r at a temple or the Matham. The communal m eetings

d i f f e r e d acco rdin g to the extent and m agnitude o f the

d is p u t e . I f the d is p u t e was con fined to members of just

one ftovil it was c a lle d a 'Vaguppu Koottam ’ ' Vagappu’

meaning one c la s s , 'koottam '- - m eeting. If it invo lved

in t e r k o v il groups i t was held in the 'M atham ' and so

c a lle d Madhathu V a y il Koottam.

I f the d is p u t e or problem in q uestio n a ffe c t e d an

e n t ir e reg io n i t was ca lled V a t t a g a i Koottam. There were

f i v e V a t t a g a is . If it was an a l l C h e t t ia r problem then

a m eeting of a l l the C h e t t ia r s of a l l the n in e tem ples

c a lle d Nagara Koottam was convened. There was a A k ila

Dhana V anig a Maha Nadu held on 14-11-1936 at K o v ilo o r

under the le a d e r s h ip of M .R .M .M . Meyappa C h e t t ia r . T h is

was a m eeting of C h e t t ia r s of a l l the n in e tem ples.

A nother was convened on 2 5 “ 2 * 1 9 4 2 at K o v ilo o r. We have

a ls o a record of a r e g io n a l Koottam--Karaikudi N agarathu

Koottam on 29- 6- 1949.

Nagara V id u t h is are t y p ic a l C h e t t ia r i n s t i t u t i o n s .

It i s a community guest house found in a l l the important

p la c e s . For example a l l the n in e v i l l a g e s where the n in e

 107

Nagara temples have a V id u t h i each. These are a ttach ed

to the temple and are e s t a b lis h e d and m aintained by the

r e s p e c t iv e K o v il g ro ups. The K o vil group Kottams are

h e ld h e r e . In some p la c e s women have t h e ir ovm V id u t h i s .

C h e t t ia r s on p ilg rim a g e to these temples a lso lodge h e r e .

The V id u t h i accounts are m a in ta in ed s e p a r a t e ly .

V id u t h is have been b u i l t by C h e t t ia r s in a l l the

p ilg rim centres. These are b u i l t out o f the fu n d s c o lle c te d

from the C h e t t ia r s o f that place or from a l l the C h e t t ia r s .

There a re many cases of in d iv id u a l fa m il ie s supportin g

the same, the famous b ein g Chatram Somasundaram C h e t t ia r

o f the ARAR fa m ily o f D ev a k o t ta i. The V id h u t h is are

a ls o c a lle d chatram s. A N a t t u k o t t a i N a g arathar Chatram

was set up in 1 ^ 6 2 at K a s i (V a r a n a s i) by the C alcutta

N a t t u k o t t a i C h e t t ia r A s s o c ia t io n . The C alcutta N a g a r a th a r

A s s o c ia t io n set up chatrams in Gaya, Prayag, Tharakesuru

and other p la c e s also * The a d m in is t r a t io n o f these

passed on to the Rangoon N a t t u k o t t a i C h e t t ia r s in 1925

and from 1 9 3 4 i t has been under the purview of a M anaging

S o c ie t y . These serve as guest houses fo r a l l C h e t t ia r s .

These chatrams have p r o p e r t ie s a l s o , the income from w hich

is u tilise d to run them.

There are N a g a r a th a r V id h u t h is in port towns l i k e

C a lc u t t a , M adras, T u t ic o r in , Rangoon, and Colombo. These

are set up by the funds c o lle c te d from the b u s in e ss

firm s o p e ra tin g in the r e sp e c t iv e c itie s. The Burma

 10^

C h e t t ia r s set up the Rangoon Nagara V id u t h i at the

Coral Merchant S tr e e t in M adras. The Nagara V id h u th i

in T u t ic o r in was set up by the C h e t t ia r s d o ing b u sin e ss

in Ceylon. The Nagara V id h u t h i in Nagapattam (Nagapattnam )

was set up by the C h e t t ia r s who had b u s in e s s in M alaya

and S in g a p o r e . These V id h u t h is are e x c l u s iv e l y fo r men

fo r they are e s s e n t i a l l y fo r b u s in e s s purposes. These

act as t r a v e l agen ts fo r the C h e t t ia r s . They keep

s t a t io n e r y m a t e r ia ls and p r in te d s t a tio n e r y fo r safe l a n d ­

in g . The V id h u t h is act a lso as sto rages and v a u lt s .

The V id h u t h i has an investm ent account w it h it s

trustees. A nom inal rent is co lle cted from the users and

is c a lle d the d a i l y Magamai. It is not uniform fo r a l l

V id h u t h is . A convention that was q uite s t r i c t l y fo llo w ed

j
t i l l 1 9 4 0 was f o r a l l incoming C h e t t ia r s to r e g i s t e r

them selves f i r s t here and then go to another place o f t h e ir

choice to s ta y . So the Magamai v;ill a lso be c o lle c te d from

those who do not a c t u a l l y stay t h e r e .

The le a d in g C h e t t ia r fa m ily then was that o f the

Zam indar of Devakottah (D e v a k o t t a i) A .L .A .R . Arunachalam

C h e t t ia r . I t may be remembered th at D ev a k o tta i was the

Centre o f C h ettin a d c o n ta in in g many of the le a d in g fa m ilie s *

B efore t h e ir en try in to Burma they were in C a lc u t t a , as

e a r ly as iS O O , o p era tin g export trade in r ic e and other

g r a in s from C a lc u tta to Burma and C eylon. There were 1 2 0

fir m s a l l lo ca ted in 40 Canning S t r e e t of w h ic h more than

 109

h a l f of them belonged to D e v a k o t t a i. A * L .A .R « Arunachalam

was the Chairman of the a l l N a g a r a th a r Koottam in 1 9 2 0 .

H is b ro th e r Zamindar A .L . A . R * V e lla iy a n C h e t t ia r was

e q u a lly wellknown fo r h is c h a rity w orks. He has spent

la k h s of rupees on the Siva temple at Mayuram in T anjavoo r

d is tric t. He had e x te n siv e m oneylending b u s in e s s in

C a lc u t ta , Burma, Ceylon, M alaya, Indo-China and was a

le a d e r of the community b efo r e the r i s e of S i r M .A . Annam alai

C h e t t ia r as the R aja of C h e t t in a d . A .L .A .R . fa m ily was

the f i r s t to enter in d u s t r y in In d ia . During the p erio d

1 ^70- 1900 they along w ith a fa m ily from Travancore set

up the M ala b a r S p in n in g and l e a v i n g C o ., Ltd. at C a l i c u t .

The M anaging Agency came in the '/ands of A . L . A . R . Soma~

sundaram u n t il h i s d e a th . M r. Sathappa C h e t t ia r , h is

son continued it a f t e r him. There were a ls o p io n eers

in Sugar (1 ^ 9 5 ) and r ic e m ill in d u s t r y . The fa m ily t r a d i ­

t io n is c a r r ie d on by the A . L . A . R . Somanathan C h e t t ia r who

is a learn ed s c h o la r and i s in t e r e s t e d in the Tamil S a i

Movement

Even more famous was the A . L . A . R . fa m ily of Deva~

ko ttah ( D e v a k o t ta m ). It i s known as the 'E r a t i Ana

Ru n a ’ because of t h e i r i n i t i a l s two AR. The most

famous member of the f a m i l y was Chetram Somasundaram

Ana Runa: The f i r s t two s y l l a b l e of the Tamil name

Arunachalam .
 110

C h e t t ia r who d ie d in the e a r l y t w e n t ie s . The term

Chatram got attached to h is name because of the la r g e

number o f Chatrams or free f e e d in g p la ces he supported

in a l l the sacred s h rin e s of the former Madras State*

ARAR fa m ily a ls o had e x te n siv e b u s in e s s in C a lc u t t a , Burma,

M alaya and C eylon. They a lso entered the Sugar In d u s t r y

along w it h ALAR fa m ily .

O th e r w ellknown f a m i l i e s of t h is p e r io d are SPN

Shanmugam C h e t t ia r , Muthu Karuppan C h e t t ia r , R . M .A .R .A .

V en ka ta ch a la C h e t t ia r and ML MN Ramanatha C h e t t ia r .

T .S . Nagappa C h e t t ia r and h is son M uthiah C h e t t ia r of

Ramachandrapuram who was bestowed the t i t l e of Dharma

Bhooshanam, M .S . N . Meyappa C h e t t ia r of K a r a ik u d i who con­

t r ib u t e d to p r o v id in g urban f a c i l i t i e s to K a r a ik u d i town

and KVLRM Dr. Alagappa C h e t t ia r of K o tta iy o o r. Dr. Alagappa

C h e t t ia r was a b a r r i s t e r and wellknown fo r h is m u n ific e n t

g ift? . He was c a lle d in Tamil 'K o d a i V a l l a l ' - King of

g ift s . He e s t a b lis h e d the Alagappa C olleg e of Technology

and an A rts C o lleg e at K a r a ik u d i. he endowed s u f f i c i e n t

fu n d s to the M adras U n iv e r s it y w hich opened the Alagappa

C o lleg e of Technology in G uind y, M adras.

 Ill

REFERENCES

(1 ) S astri, K .A . N ila k a n t a . The C ulture and H isto ry

of the T a m ils , C a lc u t t a , 19&4, p. 79*

(2 ) I b i d ., p. 19.

(3 ) I b i d ., pp. 10^- 1 09 .

(4 ) I b i d ., p. 21.

(5 ) I b i d ., p. 23 .

(6 ) I b i d ., p. 1 4.

(7 ) P illa i, G. Subram ania. "I n t r o d u c t io n and H is to r y

of S a iv a S id d h a n t a ” , C o lle c te d L e ctu res on S aiv a

S id d h a n t a , 1 94 6- 19 5 4. Annam alai U n iv e r s it y , 1965,

pp. 50 and So.

(S ) S astri, o p .c i t ., p. S 7.

(9 ) Iy e r , V .G . Ramakrishna* The Economy of a South

In d ia n Tem ple. Annam alai U n iv e r s it y , 1946, p. 10.

(1 0 ) S astri, o p .c i t ., pp. 99- 100.

(1 1 ) A p p ad u rai, A. Economic C o n d itio n in Southern Indig

1936, pp. 2^S-2&9 and 434-43 5-

( 1 2 ) K ad iresa C h e t t ia r , P a n d ita m a n i. N a t t u k o t t a i Nagar-

th a r V a r a l a r u , M adras, 1953, P* 5 0.

( 13) D istric t G azetteer. Tamil iMadu S t a t e , Ramanatha-

puram D i s t r i c t ; M adras, 1972, Ch. X IX .

(1 4 ) K a d ir e s a C h e t t ia r , o p .c i t ., pp. 48- 49.

( 1 5 ) T ham izhannal. "Onbadu N a g a r a k o v ilk a l” , Nagara

M alar, A p ril, 1979.

(1 6 ) I b i d ., J u ly , 1979 .
 112

(1 7 ) I b i d ., Jan. 1979-

(IS ) I b i d . , O ct. 1979.

(1 9 ) I b i d . , Dec. 1979.

(2 0 ) I b i d . , March 1 9 7 9 .

(2 1 ) I b i d . , S e p t. 1979.

(2 2 ) I b i d . , Nov. 1979.

( 23) K ad iresa C h e t t ia r , o p .c i t ., pp. k2-kj>.

(2 4 ) M aloney, C la r e n c e . "T he P a r a t a v a r ” 2 0 0 0 years of

C u ltu r a l Dynamics of a Tamil C aste” , Man in In d ia .

S ep t. 1969, p. 235 .

( 25 ) S astri, o p .c i t ., p. 92.

(2 6 ) Burma P r o v in c ia l Banking En quiry Commission Report.

Rangoon, 1930* V o l. Ill, p. 1^6, herein a fter

r e fe r r e d to as B . P . B . E . C . R . ; Madras P r o v in c ia l

Banking En quiry Commission Report. M a d r a s ,1 9 3 0 ,

V o l. I, pp. 1^5 - 1 ^7 , h e r e i n a f t e r r e fe r r e d to as

M .P .B .E .C .R .

(2 7 ) M a s te r s , A lle n e . ’’ The C h e tt ia r s in Burma ~ An

Economic Survey of a M ig ran t Community” , P o p u la tio n

R e v ie w , Jan. 1957, V o l. II, p. 27.

(2 ^ ) Somalay: P e rso n a l in t e r v ie w .

(2 9 ) B . P . B . E . C . R . , V o l. I, p. 195.

( 30 ) M .P .B .E .C .R ., V o l. Ill, p. Il7g .

( 31 ) From p erso n a l in t e r v ie w s of those non- Chettiars

who had l iv e d in C h ettin a d and from C h e t t ia r r e s ­

pondents, we contacted.
 113

(3 2 ) Perso n a l in t e r v ie w s of Sornalay and other C h e t t ia r s .

( 33 ) From Many C h e tt ia r s we contacted in M ad u ra i.

( 34 ) Chandrasekhar, S. "The N a g a r th a r s , the Land, the

People and t h e i r M arriage (and P o p u la tio n ) R e g is ­

t r a t io n Sy stem ", P o p u la tio n R e v iew . V o l. 20, 1976,

p. 31 .
( 35) T hurstone, E. C astes and T r ib e s of Southern I n d i a ,

M adras, 1909, V o l. V, p. 267.

( 36) B . P . B . E . C . R . , V o l. I, p. 222.

( 37) S astri, o p . c i t . , p. 92.

( 3^ ) Perso n a l in t e r v ie w s w ith Somalay.

( 39 ) T hurston, o p .c i t ., p. 265 and a ls o confirm ed by

many C h e t t ia r s we met.

(4 0 ) B .P .B .E .C .R ., V o l. I, p. 1 9 2 ;J a i n , o p . c i t . , p. 37.

(4 1 ) S h o ji Ito . "B u s in e s s Combines in In d ia w it h S p e c ia l

R eferen ce to N a t t u k o t t a i C h e t t i a r s " , D eveloping

Eco no m ics, 1 9 6 6 , p. 370.

(4 2 ) Jain , o p .c i t ., p. 3I .

( 43 ) Thomas, P .J . "N a t t u k o t t a i C h e tt ia r s - T h e ir Banking

S ystem ", Raja S i r Annamalai C h e t t ia r Commemoration

Volum e, Annam alai U n iv e r s it y , 1941, p. 841.

(4 4 ) S .K .N .N .N .M . “ an a r t i c l e on C h e tt in a r

and Somalay.

(4 5 ) B .P .B .E .C .R ., V o l. I, p. 207.

(4 6 ) T hurston, o p . c i t . , p. 254.

(4 7 ) B .P .B .E .C .R ., V o l. I, p. 193-
 114

(4 S ) I b i d ., p. 193-

(4 9 ) Sharraa, A. S. N a g arath a r 'faralaru Vanath:i_,

M ad ras, 1970, pp. 745- 262.

(5 0 ) From p erso nal in t e r v ie w w it h the l^lanager of the

Madras Nagara V id h u t h i Coral Merchant S t r e e t .