Chettinad

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Chettinad is a region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu state, India. Karaikudi is 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 to South and Southeast Asia, particularly Ceylon and Burma, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The people of Chettinad speak Tamil. Today there is a diaspora of Chettinad people, who live in the USA, Singapore, Malaysia, among other places.

Chettinad is well known for its:

Culinary delicacies: Chettinad is known for its culinary 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, drumstick sambar, ghee for flavouring rice, and sweet meats like payasam and paal paniyaram. The classical "kara kozhambu" is widely regarded as the best tasting south Indian sambar.

Mansions: Chettinad is 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 texture.

Temples: Originally built by early Tamil dynasties like the Cholas, the temples of Chettinad stand testimony to the spiritual beliefs of its denizens. Scattered over the whole place, each temple has its own tank called oorani where water lilies are grown, and used for holy rituals. Even today much of Chettinad's daily tidings are centered around the festivities around the temple. Among the many famous temples, a few are Vairavan Kovil temple, Karpaga Vinayakar temple, Kundrakudi Murugan temple, Kottaiyur Sivan temple.

The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli airport, 100 kilometers away. The largest town in the area is Karaikudi. Trains that run from Chennai to Rameshwaram stop at Karaikudi and Kottaiyur.

Karaikudi is also known for CECRI, a CSIR laboratory specialising in electro-chemical research. The lab has been operational for more than forty years, and has produced patents and inventions in the areas of battery research, corrosion prevention, and paints among others.

The Chettinad Sari: This cotton sari is unique in the dramatic and spontaneous use of colour and pattern with bold checks, stripes and contrasting hues. Its vibrance and its weight are its distinguishing factors. The thickness of this sari and changing demands have kept this sari out of production for nearly a hundred years. Records and old photographs show the use of this sari by previous generations, before the advent of blouses and underskirts, worn rather differently from the regular sari.

[edit] Well-known people

Dr Alagappa Chettiar, the founder of the various educational institutions in Karaikudi and its surroundings. Alagappa University, Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, and Alagappa Government Arts College are a few institutes named in his honor. A friend of Jawaharlal Nehru, he brought CECRI to Karaikudi, by donating large tracts of land.
M. A. Chidambaram Chettiar. The M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is named after him.
Kaviarasar Kannadasan. Famous Tamil poet.
P. Chidambaram. current (2007) Union Minister for Finance under Manmohan Singh, Congress M.P., former Minister of State for Commerce under PV Narasimha Rao, former Union Minister for Finance under H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral.
Raja Muthiah Chettiar of Kanadukathan - a great Bibliophile and founder of one of the world famous Libraries with more than 100,000 books, journals, drama notices, wedding invitation, and other materials that normally do not find place in a library. The University of Chicago acquired the collection in 1992 after his death and moved the collection to Chennai and is functioning in Taramani, Chennai as Raja Muthiah Research Library.
Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar of Chettinad. The famous Annamalai University bears his name.