A Jaunt in Chettinad
For a place that does not exist on a Map , Chettinad has done quite nicely for itself , earning widespread fame for its Cuisine , Sarees and Palatial mansions. The region of Sivagangai Seemai was the Marava Kingdom of Pandyas in older times and part of Ramnad Kingdom in Colonial times . The folk lore is full of heroes of the soil , Velu Nachiar , Maruthu brothers etc. But as Chettinad today, it is all about the mercantile stalwarts , the Chettiyars , who migrated Eastward in the 19th century , seeking fortune . They wielded considerable clout in Burma , Malaya, Malacca etc . Awesome to learn that seed money for a lot of British and Chinese enterprises in Far East during late 19th and early 20th centuries, came from those enterprising Chettiyars. Fat ledgerbooks with meticulous entries , receipts, bank notes , legal papers from those times can be seen in the Chettiyar Heritage Museum. Not to forget the heavy , fire proof iron Safes that once held thei...