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Origin of Chettiars
Romance of Colombo's place names


Origin of Chettiars

Chettiars are basically members of Hindu religion belonging to Southern Districts of Indian Sub-Continent. They originated from a place called Naganadu but later on moved to a place known as Kaveri Poompattinam situated on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu which was then ruled by the Cholas. Chettiars are also known as the Nagarathars which 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 the Ceremony 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 to Pandia 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 a Saiva Pillai woman from Tirunelveli district 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 the South-Eastern districts of this kingdom, presently in " Sivagangai District " of TamilNadu and settled there, which later went on to be known as " Chettinad. "
Chettinad is an area situated in the South-Eastern region of Tamil Nadu appro.. 35 Kms to the west of the coastal line of Bay of Bengal in the district of Sivagangai. It during its initial stages consist of 96 villages but now due to the movement of people out of certain villages, has diminished to about 75 villages, in the near past.

Chettinad has well planned towns provided with well defined roadways, reservoirs to store and supply water to the town, a planned market place, temples and everything, providing the basic needs of people.

But the saddest story is that Chettinad happened to be a dry land with no proper rain which was a major set back for the area. As such due to non availability of any mode of living, people were forced to leave Chettinad to various of parts of the State in search of their living.
Devakottai & Karaikudi r the two major towns in that region consisting of what is called Maximum Pullies*.

Art & Architecture

To speak of Chettiars, in reality were rich people. This could been seen in their Art & Architecture. They spend lavishly, I think in building their houses and temples. Huge houses to visit. Their engineering skill are just something to be noted. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century there were no cement in use for construction. The Chettiars built huge Bungalow type houses in those days using Lime, Sand and u won't believe Egg yoke. Does that sound weird ?

Other then Spending on Houses and Temples they also backed the growth of Music and Art. This is known to us from the painting that have been tinted on the walls of the Temples, Marriage halls etc. It is believed that we are the only community still to have in store the Painting of Ravi Verma.

Don't you all feel that its our duty to preserve these ancestoral property before they turn out to be history. Now a days most of the people, finding it difficult to preserve them sell it at outrates to businessmen who then make it a profitable business by selling them in the world market as antique pieces.


Coming to music, even today all their functions in chettinad are carried on only on the arrival of Mela Kaaran (Musicians) They encouraged music and dance to flourish in their olden days. All function in chettinad start off with Music i.e. Music is considered to announce the beginning of any function in the house or in town. The Chettinad people are very well known for the Peocock Dance. Dances are conducted for all temple functions in Chettinad. Panaiyapatti Vinaitheerthan Chettiar, S.V.S. Alagappan, Sangeethabhooshanam Soma Ramanthan Chettiar, Mr.Lakshmanan (Mridungum - Pallathur) were few of the prominent figure from the Nagarathar Community in Music and Mr. Lakshmanan ( Devakottai ) was considered to be the Best Peocock Dancer in Town.

Now taking up acting and drama. Nagarathars use to stage dramas for all temple functions and had really very well talented actors and directors. Nagarathars happen to shine in all the fields of Film making i.e. Direction, Distribution, Screening, Production etc. Most of the Film Production Companies in the olden days were run by the Chettiars in the Tamil Industries. The famous once among them are A.V.M ltd, A.L.S Films, Chettiar Films, Madras Films, Ajantha Pictures etc. and some of the famous studios in town were A.V.M studio, Saradha Studio, Shyamala Studio etc. Few famous cine directors from Nagarathar community are A.K.Chettiar, A.V.Meyyappa Chettiar, Muthuraman etc.

I would be not fair to the Achis if I don't mention about them in this page. With their husbands out of the country in foreign land for business, the Achis looked after the household work, along with which they managed to even spend time for weaving, knitting and other curricular activities. The ladies in Chettinad were real famous for their hand work. They used to weave out baskets made of Cane, Wire etc and also practised knitting on the cloth which now a days is commonly termed as Cross stitch, half stitch etc.


Want to know about Chettinad People, Check this out ....
Nattukottai Chettiars are God fearing people, well known for their Hospitality. They are followers of Hindu religion, who worship Lord Shiva and Lord Muruga. They belong to the Business Community, who in olden days moved out of India to foreign lands like Burma, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, Singapore & Vietnam (Siagon) and spread their Culture in those lands.


Nattukottai Chettiars are basically Bankers who lend money at nominal interest. They are considered as the Pioneers of Modern Banking. They are the first to introduce what is called as " Pattru (debit), Varavu (credit), Selavu (expenditure), Laabam (profit), Nashtam (loss) " which r all known together as " Iynthogai (trial balance). "

In a particular Nattukottai Chettiar family Appachi (Father) is considered as the Kartha for all the activities assisted by his Sons. Attha (Mother) looks after the family affairs including the day to day activities of the Vidu(House) in consultation with her Kanavar (husband).

The Nagarathar society is divided into Koil Vazhi Nagarthar consisting of Nine Koil (Temple). This division in the society is for the purpose of chosing their alliance and nothing else. Bride and the Bridegroom cannot be from the same Koil as they are considered to belong to the same family and treated as Annan-Thangai (Brother-Sister


The Nine Koil are as follows :


· Illaiyathangudi
· Mathur
· Vairavankoil
· Nemamkoil
· Illupaikudi
· Surakuddi
· Velangudi
· Iranikoil
· Pillaiyarpatti

Out of these nine Koil Illaiyathangudi, Mathur & Vairavankoil have further Pirivu (Divisions) in their respective Koil.


Illaiyathangudi :


· Okkurudiayar
· Pattanasamiyar
· Kazhanivasakkudiayar
· Kingginikkurudiayar
· Perasenthoorudaiyar
· Perumaruthoorudaiyar
· Sirusethoorudaiyar


Mathur :


· Arumbakkoorudaiyar
· Kannoorudaiyar
· Karuppoorudaiyar
· Kulathoorudaiyar
· Manaloorudaiyar
· Mannoorudaiyar
· Uraiyoorudaiyar


Vairavankoil :


· Periya Vahuppu
· Pillaiyar Vahuppu
· Theyyanar Vahuppu


In Illaiyathangudi and Mathur Koils the people are permitted to have alliances among the Pirivus and not like the other Koils which are not permitted to have alliance within their Koil. This is because if all these 14 pirivu people move out of their Koil in search Brides and Bridegrooms it is difficult to find themselves one hence the exemption.



Romance of Colombo's place names
Andrew Scott
Colombo has served the needs of many generations and it has a simple beginning dating back to the colonial era. The very beginning of Colombo dates back to 1505 when the militant Portuguese invaded the island and constructed a fortress in the city. It was primarily due to its strategic position that the invading Portuguese selected Colombo as their capital. Subsequently during the Dutch occupation Colombo was re-structured to serve their aesthetic and military needs.


The British who followed the Dutch took every step to modernize this city and some of their art and architecture could be seen in Colombo as well as in other parts of the country even today.


Colombo has undergone a tremendous change now and this change is reflected everywhere while over the past few years some of the popular place names in Colombo have been replaced with names with a Sri Lankan flavour and before all these names are changed it is worthwhile to probe the history and legends behind at least some of them.


Many of the place names in Colombo such as Queen's Street, Prince Street, Duke Street have a royal flavour and they remind us of the colonial connections we have had.


The bridge which leads into Colombo is called the Kelani Bridge now. Earlier this very same bridge was called Victoria bridge, named after one of Britain's most famous Queens.


Albert Crescent was named after prince Albert and Edinburgh Crescent was named after the first Duke of Edinburgh. Colombo's Queen's Street got its name because the Queen's representative lived there. Not only the British but also the Dutch named some of the places in Colombo after their royalty.


For example Keyzer Street was named after their emperor whom they called 'Kaiser.'There are many places in Colombo named after some of the past English Governors who served here. These include Maitland Crescent, Paget Place, Barnes Place, Campbell Place, Ward Place and Macarthy Road. Guildford Crescent was also named after a governor. Earlier this was named as Frederick North Road, after the first Governor of Sri Lanka. Later Governor North became the Earl of Guildford and the road was renamed accordingly.


Similarly Rosmead Place was originally called Robinson Street which was named after Governor Hercules Robinson. Later Sir Hercules Robinson became Lord Rosmead and thereby Robinson Street was renamed Rosmead Place. Chalmer's Granaries was named after Sir Robert Chalmers and Manning Town, Manning Place and Manning Market are all linked up with the name of Sir William Manning.
Some of the street names in Colombo take our memories back to the names of some famous road builders and their names have become immortalised in the nation's history.


Dawson street is named after Captain Dawson whose name is perpetuated by Kadugannawa's Dawson tower which has become a permanent landmark on the Colombo Kandy road. Major Skinner, another road builder, has the road past the Technical College named after him. The name of another road builder, Captain William Gregory, is remembered by Gregory's road in Colombo.


Some other road names in Colombo such as Wolvendhall Street, Messenger Street, Korteboam Street, Grandpass and Dam Street take us back to the Dutch period.


The Portuguese too left behind some interesting place names such as Mattakkuliya and Kollupitiya. Mattakkuliya is a Portuguese name which means "where the cooly was killed." Kollupitiya was a great plain where the boys played. It had first been called 'Koan Pitiya' which later became Kollupitiya and during the time of the British occupancy it came to be called 'Colpetty.'


They often gave names of Saints to whom the churches in the vicinity were dedicated. San Sebastian Hill and St. Joseph's Road are examples of these and Milagiriya had the church of Our Lady of Miracles.


During the early days Pettah was a highly residential area and it had many streets shaded by trees. Messenger Street was called 'Rue de Massang' by the Dutch because there were many Massang trees and even today it is called Masang Gas Vidiya. Earlier Dam Street was called 'Damba Street' as Damba trees grew there. Bloemendhal Street meant Vale of Flowers and Korteboam means short trees.


The Beira Lake, one of Colombo's most prominent landmarks, was named by the Dutch after the Dutch engineer Johann de Beer. Pettah too was named by the Dutch and Hulftsdorp was named after the Dutch General Hulft.


It is interesting that nearly every British Governor is remembered by a street or another place name in Colombo. Some of the well-known roads in Cinnamon Gardens which was a fashionable residential area even then was named after Governors Sir Edward Barnes, Sir Robert Horton, Viscount Torrington, Sir Henry Ward, Sir Charles MacCarthy, Sir Hercules Robinson and Sir William Gregory.


However, it is rather surprising to recall that no street or other place has been named after the last three British Governors of Sri Lanka, Sir Andrew Caldecott, Sir Monk Mason Moore and Lord Soulbury. Today it is seen that even though some people like new names there is always a preference for old place names which have a history and a charm of their own.

Thanks to : Daily News - Sat Jan 5, 2002