Chettinadu the Land of Heritage and Devotion

The origin of the Nagaraththar or the successful Trading Community of Chettiars, also called as the Nattukottai Chettiars begins in the 13th century when the Nattu Kottai Chettiars migrated from the Kaveripoompattinam presumably after a massive and devastating flood . The new settlement became the Land of Chettiars with 96 villages spreading over 1000 Sq.miles. Currently it has shrunk to 56 villages in Sivagangi and 20 villages in Pudukottai Districts totaling 76 villages. By virtue of their business activities, in the 19th Century, they travelled extensively and settled in the nearby countries of Sri Lanka[Ceylon], Java, Sumatra Islands, Singapore, Myanmar[Burma], Cambodia, Vietnam[Saigon] and Malaysia. They grew wealthy and became a powerful community in India.

Abundance of money made the Nagarathar to concentrate in the activities of Religion, Education and Finance. Nagarathar’s were the one who had dedicated the Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Madura and also the United India Insurance as private banking and Insurance establishments to the country. Large number of this community’s population is settled in West Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States too. Chettinad is known for its unique art and architecture, Nagarathar temples and Aromatic and tasty local cuisine.

Chettinad is famous for its tourist attractions -the traditional palaces and mansions that will help one to understand the simple, yet classy life of the wealthy Chettiar community. Some of the interesting tourist attractions in Chettinad are the museums-the Kamban Mani Mandapam and the Kaviarsar Kannadhasan Mani Mandapam, both built in honor of late poet-laureates. The latter has a museum with an amazing collection of artefacts -traditional jewellery, clothing, huge copper vats and grain bins. Visit to Devakottai , where the streets of Devakottai afford one the pleasure of walking through a typical Chettiar lane lined with old mansions, the most famous being Periya Minor's Veedu. The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Devakottai is famous for the 108 statues of Vinayakar.

Chettinad Houses: The Chettinad region is most popular and adored for its 18th century mansions, unique and ornamented palatial houses , with wide courtyards and spacious rooms embellished with marble and teak. Beautiful front court yard with wide and lengthy corridors on all four sides lined with ornamental pillars and antiques are a part of the Chettinad Houses. These palatial houses are found in the villages of Kaanadukathan, Aathangudi, Kandanur, Kad-iyapatti. Many of these mansions were built using a type of limestone known as karai hence they are also called as Karai[limestone] veedu. Local legend narrates that the mansion walls were polished with a paste made out of egg whites to give them a smooth and shiny texture.