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Chettinadis a region of theSivagangadistrict of southernTamil Nadustate,India.Karaikudiis known as the capital of Chettinad, which includes Karaikudi and 74 other villages. Chettinad is the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars (Nagarathar), a prosperous banking and business community, many of whose members migrated toSouthandSoutheast Asia, particularlyCeylonandBurma, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The people of Chettinad speakTamil. Today there is aDiasporaof Chettinad people, who live in theUSA,Singapore,Malaysia, among other places.Chettinad is well known for its Chettinad cuisine, Mansions, and Temples.Chettinadis rich in cultural heritage, art and architecture, and is well known for its houses, embellished with marble and Burma teak, wide courtyards, spacious rooms, and for its 18th century mansions. Local legend has it that their walls used to be polished with a paste made out of eggwhites to give a smooth textureChettinad is known for itsCulinary delicacies. Chettinad food now, is one of the many reasons why people get to know Chettinad. Chettinad food is essentially spicy, with a standard full meal consisting of cooked dhal,eggplant(brinjal) curry, drumsticksambar,gheefor flavouringrice, and sweet meats likepayasamandpaal paniyaram. "Kara kolambu" is a highly regarded south Indian sambar.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chettinad

A palatial house of Chettinad

A Chettinad house courtyard

Chettinad cuisine, usually eaten on a banana leaf.

Origins of the ChettiarsChettiars are basically members of Hindu religion belonging to Southern Districts of Indian Sub-Continent. They originated from a place calledNaganadu but later on moved to a place known asKaveri Poompattinamsituated on the eastern coast of Tamil Naduwhich was then ruled by theCholas. Chettiars are also known as theNagaratharswhich means "People living in Towns."Chettiars are considered as the Pioneers of Modern Banking. They introduced a new concept of "Double Entry Bookkeeping" commonly termed as "Pattru Varavu" in Tamil, known to all of us as Debit & Credit respectively in English. During the Chola reign Chettiars were asked to carry on theCeremony of Coronation of the Chola Kings. They were given lot of respect and privileges in the kingdom. But this did not last longer as the Chettiars decided to leave this land and move on further south toPandia Kingdom. This was because one of the Chola Kings fell in love with one of the Chettiar girl. But refused to marry her. Thus the Chettiar Ladies in the region, to protest this, burned themselves alive. This got the Chettiars to move out of this Kingdom. The Pandia Kings invited the Nagarathar Community to their Kingdom with honor and respect. The Nagarathar Community accepted the invitation and settled in the Pandia Kingdom. But as there existed no woman now in their community they decided to marry aSaiva Pillai woman from Tirunelvelidistrict for further growth of the community.But they put up a condition that they will not have any alliance with the Saiva Pillai community in future. They selected the place in theSouth-Eastern districtsof this kingdom, presently in " Sivagangai District " of TamilNadu and settled there, which later went on to be known as "Chettinad. "

Want to learn more about Chettinad houses and temples ah...These houses are a real piece of Workmanship and a feast to ones eyes. Massive structures to visit that cover anapproximate.. land area of about 25,000 sq. feet. Amazing to hear that, right !These houses in Chettinad happened to be built say about 100yrs back and still many stand erect. Isn't that a astonishing fact? In those days, you won't believe, the houses were made ofLime, Sand and Egg Yoke.Now the most interesting fact is that, to build these houses, the eggs were imported fromRangoon (Burma). Doesn't that sound interesting to hear ? Also the wood used for construction i.e. Teak was also all imported from Burma. Now coming to the import of these Teak wood, there is afascinating storyof how they were imported from there.In those days the Roadway was not so developed and from Burma to Chettinad is quite a long distance to travel. So these wood logs were tied !!! on to the Merchant Ships coming to India and made to float to their destination. On reaching the shore, Chettinad being not far from the seashore, it was easy for them to transport these lumbers to the respective villages.

Chettinad houses aresigns of successful joint familiesthat existed in olden days. Each house in Chettinad is made ofMugappu, Valavu, Irandankatu, Moonakatu & Thotham. Now as you walk through a Chettinad Vidu you will first findMugappu, the entrance to the house, I think we could call it the Reception. Then comes theValavu, the living area of the house. In the Valavu generally there are four Platforms that are called asPattalai, each at four corners of the Valavu. These Pattalai act as the living hallsof each family. Along with the Pattallai, Valavu is made up of numerousIrattai Vidu. TheseIrattai Vidu are roomsused by each family to keep their belongings and etc. Irattai vidu got its name so becauseIrattai in Tamil means Two and Vidu means Houseand as its name suggests, it is made of two rooms connected by a single door. Then as you walk through the Valavu using theNadai (Corridor)you will reach Irandankatu.Irandankatu is used for dining purposeand have store rooms in them for storing all kitchenware. Further down if you walk you will find yourself in atypical Chettinad kitchen. This region of the house is called asMoonakatu. All the cooking in the house is done here. And walking a little more will lead you to theGarden known as Thothamin Tamil. Thotham is essentially used for little bit of gardening, stabling the cow up and then for bathing. Now i forgot to tell you earlier that each house in Chettinad in the olden days had enough cows to supply milk for all their needs. And yes each house in Chettinad also had, provision for parking their vehicles i.e. it could be a car, or a horse chariot, etc. depending upon the status of the family.

http://chettinad.itgo.com/ht.htmNow defining the Chettinad House sounds real easy but it is not so when you happen to visit it.Have you ever thought of counting the number of rooms in a house in Chettinad, or have you visited every part of a house in Chettinad? Apart from the ground floor theChettinad houses also have a first floorto add to its massive construction. These first floors are also made of rooms meant for Storage of things, so from this you could imagine how much would have our ancestors had to store.A big Chettinad house consist of atleast 60 to 70 rooms. Isn't that an interesting fact to look at ?Now I think that's a lot on Chettinad houses. But whats being done to conserve these houses, safe guard them? These houses now a days are slowly vanishing due to lack of maintenance and something should be done to preserve ancestral properties like these in existence for posterity. Or we will have to consider ourselves lucky to have at least seen such massive houses because soon,there may be none to show our kids anything apart from a few CDs which may contain a glimpse of what our houses looked like.

The Chettinad houses are built on a rectangular, traversal plot that stretches across two streets,with the front door opening into the first street and the back into the second.

A fine carving in one of these buildings. A century ago artisans, craftsmen, sculptors and wood-carvers brought their creative skills to bear on these buildings.

Looking in from the main threshold, your eye travels in a straight line across a series of inner courtyards, each a diminishing rectangle of light, leading out to the back door.

Most of the Chettiyars house in Chettinad consists of thousands of windows, hundreds of wooden pillars.

These pillars are coated with egg white stand tall in marvelously big dinner hall called Kalyana Kottahai. These houses may also contain raised platform known as Thinnai used to protect from sun and rain.

First comes an outer thinai Large raised platforms on either side of the central corridor, where the host would entertain male guests. The platforms lead off on one side into store rooms and massive granaries and on the other, into the ( Kanakupillai ) or Accountants room. This area also usually leads off to the mens well.

From here, the huge elaborately carved teak front door, with image of Lakshmi carved over the head and navaratna or nine precious gems buried under the ( Vasapadi) threshold.

The door leads into the first open air courtyard, with pillared corridors running on each side that lead into individual rooms, each meant for a married son, each with a triangular slot cut into the wall for the evening lamp. Then comes the second counrtyard with large dining spaces on either side. The third courtyard was for the women folk to rest and gossip, while the fourth, or nalankattai comprised the kitchens, leading out to the backyard with its womens well and grinding stones. The wealthier the merchants the larger the house, often spreading out to a second floor.

Chettinad Palace in KanadukathanThe 110-year-old Chettinad Palace in Kanadikathan village is the oldest surviving building of this style, built by Dr Annamali Chettiyar, founder of the Indian Bank and the Annamalai University in Chidambaram.

Entrance of the PalaceThe basic style of architecture is that of traditional Chettinad, while the construction material, decor items and furnishings were mostly imported, from east Asian countries where the Raja had spread his sprawling business and also from Europe.

Dining hallDining hall where at least 250 people can dine in the traditional style, that is, by squatting on the floor. Two massive mirrors fitted to the walls are meant to help those who are serving to find out who needs more helpings, without actually walking up the length of the hall to the guest.

Marble from Italy, wall-to-wall mirrors from Belgium, crystals from Europe ...... The woodwork and stone work were inspired by what Dr Chettiyar had seen in France and other European destinations.

EntranceThe hall leads to the central courtyard used for weddings and religious ceremonies.This is what a new married couple see when they leave the palace after they got married

Third courtyardThe third courtyard has numerous small rooms surrounding it, meant to store crockery, food and other kitchen items, and there are also two kitchens here. The servants' quarters are situated at the far end which is a suitable distance from the residential area of the family and yet close to the kitchen where the ladies of the house would need their services.

door frames with Goddess Gajalakshmi whosymbolizes wealth and a Kumbam(brass pot) with sprouting leaves engraved on them to symbolize wealth.

other examples of Chettinad housesmost could do with some fresh coats of paint & better maintenance!!!

Trinity October 2009Images from the net & Flickr