Part IV An insight into the people of Thiruchendurai (of 1940) - By Sethuraman

Just across the railway line, and right opposite to the lane leading to the Siva temple, stands ‘Madhurasundari Vilas’ a bungalow belonging to Burma M.S. Muthuswamy Iyer – MSM chose this village, for its serenity, comforts and its proximity to Tiruchi town, as his residence, after a long stint at Burma .. His was a large family, and he endeared himself to everyone for his outspokenness, and earnest desire to help and assist everyone to the extent he could. This Bungalow originally belonged to Munsif Ayya Ayyar who played a vital part in the village, particularly during the Cauvery floods of 1924.. It is said that between the two of them -- Munsif Ayya Ayyar and Venkataraman they shared the responsibility of saving the village, by arresting the water flowing into the village by building check dams with sandbags and keeping an all night vigil.



(Venkatarama Iyer in 1982 – Age did not deter him continuing his good work – well remembered by the villagers, this noble soul passed away in 1984 – photo courtesy – family)

The Bungalow had a huge backyard, where MSM planted some teakwood saplings brought over from Burma and one could see those tall trees all the time. All his children moved amongst the villagers with camaraderie, and affection, till they started moving out of the village for better prospects. Ramamurthy the eldest, moved to Tiruchi, where he worked for the Railways – M. P. Haran, also known as Chella, moved to Madras where he involved himself in marketing Insurance. Visweswaran who was friendly with other village lads, passed away in a very young age due to smallpox, as also Baby his younger brother. Patta, who had a good academic career at the Agricultural College, somehow became very quiet, and isolated himself from a family life – but was giving a helping hand in all village activities. Patta remained a bachelor till the end..
Of the daughters Raji got married and settled down in Madras, Rukku married an Engineer who was working at Lillooah (once again a Calcutta connection) but settled in T’Nagar after his retirement...

MSM married again a lady from Nilakkottai ; the family lived in the bungalow for quite a few years and when the Bungalow was sold out, they moved out of the village. .

And there were migrants to this village then, some of whom have adopted the village as their own and continue to reside here.. One such is V. Ramachandran of the Railways, a good friend of Radhakrishnan, took active part in the formation of the St. Johns Ambulance Association, as also in other activities of the village. He was residing in the Periyaam for a while and then moved over to the Keela Theru – family still resides in the village, and a grandson of Ramachandran, Sriram an engineering student at Khargpur, joining hands with Mahesh started the Jeeyapuram blogsite. Coffee Srinivasa Iyer, Panaiyur Ranganathan, were also the other migrants.

And there were some other transients too – a few of them have visited the jeeyapuram blogsite, expressing happiness on the product, and adding that they were also residents of the village for a while in their younger days.

And we also had a number of old ladies in the village, who, during their younger days, must have contributed a lot for the growth of the village in many ways. Because of the many restrictions and orthodoxy of the system, they all
adhered to the strict sartorial restrictions e.g. tonsured head, a brown colour naarpattu saree and vibhuthi on their foreheads.. While Thangammapatti, Chellammapatti, and Gnanambalpatti belonged to the ‘haves’ Pichupatti who lived in a hut just in front of the Srirangam House, under the poovarasam tree belonged to the ‘have not’ as she did not have any close kin to take care of her in her nonagenarian days. The families nearby took care of her meager needs till her death.

A noteworthy migrant in the vellala Street east of the MSM Bungalow, is the Gosain family – Hira Giri Gosain, and Gopal Giri Gosain – It is not known when they moved into the village but the they took a very active part in all happenings of the village. Hira Giri was a trustee of the Chandrasekaraswamy Temple – they must have come down from the North probably in the previous century and chose our village to settle down.

In the western side Vellala Street, the family of Mariappa Pillai and Sangiliya Pillai– later a Panchayat president, was very active in the happenings and made himself affable and friendly to one and all.. The others that are still remembered are Mason Natesan, and his assistant Marimuthu – the village’s builder and architect; Ramu Pandaram who for a long time served the Elampuli amman Temple, across the railway line (which incidentally had a grand Kumbabishegam recently thanks to the interests of all villagers led by Rangarajan) A generous contributor to this memorable event is Dr. Kamala Selvaraj, the very popular obstetrician and gynaecologist and daughter of Gemini Ganesan -- and talking about this Temple, no one will forget the awe-inspiring Potharaju, who, with just a stroke of his sword, severed the head of the lamb, when animal sacrifices were conducted,in the past.

The other people who were actively involved in the village were -- Vasanthu and Muthukrishna Bhattar, the archakas of the Venugopalaswamy Temple in Tiruchendurai. Though not residents in our village, they made a daily visit in the morning to perform poojas at the temple and in the month of Margazhi, and everyone would be eagerly looking forward to their dawn visits. This is the time when ‘margazhi bhajan’ would start from the temple in the wee hours, go around the village, and return to the temple at day-break.. The Bhattar would have brought an ‘arukkanchatti’ full of vennpongal, and soon after the deeparadhana this will be distributed – and it was divine to consume that prasadam.

The nearest maternity hospital was in Tiruchi and in those days most deliveries of babies would take place in one’s house itself. No one will forget Anandam, the ever smiling midwife of the village. She gave a helping hand to the physician at the Clinic, and attended to most deliveries at the village.

And there were a group of loyal lessees who made themselves members of the families of Tiruchendurai and they are – Appavu and Ganesan, who looked after the mango grove south of the railway station, and also lands of a few of the village residents, Perumal who took care of the lands, gardens of T.S.Ramanathan family – it is very difficult to find such loyal persons these days.

In the surroundings of the Railway station, there were shops but one stood out most –it was the ‘coffee club’ of a Sozhiyar family, where Ganesan worked as a ‘sarakku master’ (chef) Ganesan was an extremely nice person, and after a couple of years of hard work at the other restaurant, he opened a hotel of his own just in front of the railway station – to which most village lads were regular visitors. Onion sambar was very famous in Ganesan’s as also other snacks, ravadosai and vadai. It was a small place, with a frontage, and the canal running behind for washing vessels etc. And old residents visiting the village during their vacation made it a ‘must’ to visit the Ganesan’s.

The Municipal Clinic was located in a building opposite the railway station and was under the charge of Dr. Seshadri – in their spare time, Seshagiri and Vaithyanathan, (sons of TNRadhakrishnan), helped the doctor by volunteering themselves as compounders, and dispensed medicines according to the doctor’s prescriptions.

Adjacent to the clinic, and separated by a small stretch of rice field was another bungalow – known as Subbarao’s bungalow, a Swiss chalet type one, with lot of greenery, a beautifully flowering bougainvillea, crotons, other flowering plants and mango trees – Subbarao a retired businessman/contractor occupied this place for a longtime.

And it was here the YOUNG MEN’S ASSOCIATION flourished with most railway employees, villagers, and other office going people as members, doing their little bit of social work in the villages nearby. During the holiday season members from the YMA used to visit some far off villages, to propagate health habits, and clean living, and having a lantern show on diseases, how to prevent them, and treat them.. Sundaresan an advocate from Mall Street in Tiruchi was the president of the association at that time; and they used to stage a drama titled ‘Just a Peg’ to portray the evils of drinking, and the need for Prohibition. Apart from Ramanathan, Radha and others from Tiruchendurai village, a lot of youngsters from nearby Ammangudi, Andanallur, Karuppur and Kulumani, participated in the activities of the Young Mens Association – to mention a few, N.S. Sambasivan and Swaminathan, S. Ramaratnam, V.Ramasrinivasan, V.S.Krishnamurthy, Padmanabhan, Seppu Venkattu, A.E.S. Mani et al.



The first ever St.John's Ambulance Brigade out of Madras and in the south was established in the 1940s by the Nagarajan, Radhakrishnan brothers. Most village lads from Tiruchendurai, Ammangudi and Andanallur as also nearby villages became members of thebrigade.
S.Venkataraman, Dr.K.R.seshadri, T.S.Radhakrishnan, Dr.R.Kalamegham, Krishnaraj and V. Ramachandran were the officers. If you look closely you may find a dear one in this lot -photo courtesy T.V.Ganesan


The youngsters of the village were very active during the national movement days, having their own association, preaching nationalism amongst our own and adjacent villages. Whenever there was a national meet, or Exhibitions to propagate the national spirit, there were willing volunteers.. Later, village youngsters formed the ‘Balar Sangam’ in 1940, the forerunner of the ‘Ever Friends Association’ Balar Sangam was publishing a manuscript magazine, covering the village and national activities – introduced the villagers to Ananda Vikatan, Kalaimagal, Prachanda Vikatan and Kalki. It staged dramas at the Perumal Koil front, and its magnum opus was ‘Bhakta Ramadas’. This troupe went to other villages to stage this drama, it was that popular. When the drama was being staged in Kulumani, in an improvised stage at a Rice Mill, Ramadas was shocked to find some sixty legs dangling from the ceiling (uthiram) of the Mill – these belonged to the audience who could not get sitting accommodation in the theatre !! T.K.Krishnaswamy was the group’s director and makeup artist.



Tiruchendurai and nearby Kodiyalam involved themselves in a big way in the national movement. under the leadership of Kodiyalam Vasudevan a volunteer force served any national event, exhibition, etc. Radhakrishnan and Vasudevan are seen in the picture. Kodiyalam K.S.Gopalakrishnan was another leader in this movement.

While Tiruchendurai village can boast of their ‘Sahasranamam’ meets every evening at the Perumal Koil, V.S.Krishnamurthy resident of Ammangudi started a ‘Thiruppugazh Club’ and this Club used to assemble at the Vadatheerthanathaswami Koil of Andanallur in the evenings, and sang Thiruppugazh songs. Youngsters from our village participated in these recitals.

Not many of the present villagers may know that there used to be a ‘Sandhai’ – a Market – What the present day generation calls ‘one stop shop for all your needs’ – it was indeed that and more – it was a Shop at your doorstep – Held every Wednesday in the vacant area behind the rows of the houses and parallel to the Tiruchi-Karur road it was an attraction and the meet helped all the villagers buy their needs for the week from the sandai regularly.

The binding events of the village,you will see from above, are mostly the temple festivals – starting from ‘Arudra Darshan’ in January, followed by ‘Maha Sivarathri’ in March. On the occasion of the Arudra Darshan, the ‘utsavamurthy’ will go around the village blessing the residents. (It is gratifying to note that this festival has been revived since 2004, thanks to the efforts of the villagers led by V. Srinivasan, a grandson of T.V.Subbaraman, and resident of Chennai. Looking at a picture of the procession, one feels Lord Nataraja has been orphaned, as barring the deity carriers, the street is empty!)

It is Jeeyapuram’s pride that Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam visits this village every year in the month of Panguni, and the village will be in a great festive mood on this day.. Mukkur in his book ‘Kurai Ondrum Illai’ has highlighted this festival, and ‘agathi keerai’ the offering to the Lord Ranganatha.

And there used to be a ‘Kaman Pandigai’ coinciding with the Holy Festival in the North, when Kathan and his group used to entertain the villagers with the folklore and dance.. Not to mention the thappattam and paraiattam of the village folks. During the formative days of All India Radio, Tiruchi, in 1939 the Young Mens Association presented a Folk Dance and Performance of the villagers, under the leadership of N.S. Sambasivan. The village promoted without discrimination all festive events.

Apart from the Temple festivals, there are the annual Bhajan events, the Sita Kalyanam and the Radha Kalyanam, and these have been kept remarkably alive by the youngsters of the village resident and alien. There used to be a Kolattam Jathra of the village belles, but this artful event appears to have vanished !

Reading through, you would have found out that that the very life of the village had centred around the temple festivals, and bhajans, and one is happy to learn that this tradition twinkles still because of the following elders and youngsters:
The Seniors: T.K. Balasubramanian, T.K. Nagarajan, T.K. Murali, T.V. Venkatesan, T. V. Ramakrishnan, T.M. Srinivasan, and T. M. Thiagarajan (all from the Dikshidar family) – T.V. Muthukrishnan, (leader), T.V. Ramamurthy, T.R. Subramanian, Chandrasekaran, R. Adiseshan, T.S. Venkataraman, T.V. Ganesan, Padmanabha Iyer, Ramadas Iyer, D.V.Narayan et al.

The youngsters: M. Balasubramanian (son of TVM), T.R. Venu, T.R. Seenu, T.R. Balu, Jambu, J. Murali, J. Suresh, J. Balu, Srinivasan (Vasu), and P.R. Srinivasan… A prayer and a request – keep the tradition – keep the flag of Tiruchendurai flying high and bright!!---

Just as I am going to post I heard the good news, that the Government High school in Tiruchendurai, the educational institution that had nourished you, me and all others to come up in this world, created a record for successful candidates this year and one with the top score of 481 out of 500 under the leadership of its present head of institution Mrs. Padmavathi..
Congratulations !!

I am grateful to T.M.Srinivasan, V.Srinivasan, N.S.Jayaraman, T.R.Gurumurthy, K.Ganesh, Ramanujam, Mohan, Venkattu, Rajam, R.Sridharan, Ramamurthy and Chandru for their assistance/photographs and contribution in preparing this article

- Sethuraman



The Venugopalaswamy Temple in the Agraharam adjacent to the Judge’s house. The Nandavanam (flower garden is located between the temple, and the house. The Vilva maram appears to be there, but not the Thangarali tree under which we used to play handball (village version of the base ball!)

Note: Click on the photos to enlarge.

P.S: With this entry, "An insight into the people of Thiruchendurai (of 1940)" by Mr.Sethuraman ends. More interesting articles are in the offing, keep visiting.

Part III An insight into the people of Thiruchendurai (of 1940) - By Sethuraman

Just as Tiruchendurai Vaidyanatha Iyer and members of his family brought fame to the village by their professional eminence as Judges, Advocates, Administrative Officers and Engineers, another family which contributed to the growth, popularity, and religious upbringing of the villagers was that of the illustrious Dikshidhars of the Keela Theru. According to T.M.Srinivasan, himself a grandson of this great family, the three eldest members were Venkataramana Dikshidhar, Narayana Dikshidhar, and Ayya Dikshidhar.

(Venkataramana Dikshidhar, one of the triumvirate, and doyen of the Dikshidhar families. His contribution to the village is immeasurable. Photo courtesy – T.R.Gurumurthy, Chennai)

(Akhilanda Narayana Dikshidhar (also known as Ayya Dikshidhar), one of the Dikshidhar triumvirate. An erudite Sanskrit scholar - Photo courtesy – Mr. R. Sridharan – Advocate - Dindigul)

Venkataramana’s family consisted of six daughters and four sons. Two of the daughters and their children were very much involved in affairs of the village – Chella, whose son T.N.Ramamurthy of Trichy, was a regular visitor to the village during the Bhajanotsavams, particularly Sita Kalyanam – when he donned the role of a Sakhi in the Bavvalimpu, with T.M.Krishnaswamy mostly, as his partner. Ramamurthy was well known for his Marathi ‘abhangs’ .. (see post on Sita Kalyanam for their roles).

The other daughter was Sambhu, and her sons were the popular Krishnaswamy and Vaidyanathan brothers (Kitta and Vaitha), whose progenies have a cent per cent involvement in the bhajan activities even today. The four sons of Venkataramana were Swami, an ardent participant in the village activities including the bhajans,T.V.Subramanian (Suppa Mama), T.V.Krishnaswamy (Pichamama), a teacher by profession) and T.V. Ramamurthy. Venkataramana took ‘sanyasam’ in his old age and his ‘samadhi’ is located in front of the Chandrasekaraswamy Temle, well visible from the road side. The Samadhi is maintained by one of his great grandsons, T.S. Venkataraman.

(Venkataramana Dikshidhar’s Samadhi in front of the Chandrasekaraswamy temple and by the roadside –the photo taken long before the Kumbabishegam - the visitor is T.V.Ramamurthy son of T.R.Venkataramaiyer – photo courtesy – TV Ramamurthy)

And the first house in this part of Keela Theru, adjacent to the Lane, is said to have belonged to Ayya Dikshidar, one of the three Dikishidhar brothers, and later passed into the hands of others. Ayya Dikshidhar was a Sanskrit Scholar, and his sons T.A.Subramanian and T.A. Ramachandran went into the legal profession, the former practicing at Palani and the latter at Dindigul.

It is in this house the Manavasi Family resided for a long time -- K. Venkatasubba Iyer and Lakshmi a very quiet, unassuming couple – their eldest son Srinivasan died young, and the second son Ramani settled in Pudukottai starting a music school there. Ramani used to participate in the village festivities including the bhajans. Krishnamurthy their other son, after education here, moved to Vridhachalam, and the youngest Chandrasekaran continued to remain in the village for some years. Prior to the Manavasi family, Subbaiyer of the Postal Department , father of T.S.Kuppuswamy (affectionately known as Kuppa Bhattar) who gave regular attendance to the Bhajans , for nearly sixty years without a break, till his death few years ago. TSK and his family settled in Manali near Madras, and he was a regular visitor to the village.

The next was a fairly big house, then called Kannambadi House, originally belonging to T.V. Venkataraman, brother of Judge Seshagiri.. This house was occupied by Dr.K.M. Meenakshisundaram, a physician, of Kulumani in the south, practicing in our village. Dr. KMM apart from his role as a physician took keen interest in the village affairs, and the bhajans as long as he was resident in the village. His family consisted of Ambalmami, Babu, Sankaran and Angachi who interacted with the villagers in a great way. Sankaran left the village to join the Air Force in the forties, and later the family itself moved out of the village. The Doctor was a pious, kindly person, and the villagers well remember his person with the ‘spatikamani malai’ and silver ‘vetrilaipetti’.

After the doctor’s family moved out, for a short while a Madhwa family resided in this house – the tall, sturdy Rangavittal, a sportsmanlike figure and after this Kannambadi Subramania Iyer himself moved into the place.

And we move into another Dikshidhar family house next, a twin house as was common in the village – the western part of which belonged to Sita, the only daughter of Narayana Dikshidhar. Sita had two sons Seshagiri and Muthukrishnan. Seshagiri went into medicine, and was practicing in Kattuputhur. Muthukrishnan remained in the village, looked after the family interests , children’s education, and agriculture.

Seshagiri’s son Krishnamurthy was a great exponent of the bhajan sampradhaya – he moved out to Chennai where he was working in the Government, but was a regular visitor to the village on festive occasions. Krishnamurthy was known as ‘Gurudasan” and the following introductory note in one of his many publications highlights his eminence in the field.

Bhagvatha Ratnam, Gurudasan T.S. Krishnamurthy – born 29 Nov 1928 – parents Dr. T. V. Seshagiri Shastri and Seethalakshmi -- graduated B.Sc. 1948 – employed Tamil Nadu Government Public Works – soil research, gold medalist 1976.

Disciple of Triplicane Panduranga Bhajana Mandali T.V.Narayana Sastri introduced hundreds to the Nama Sankeerthanam – titles ‘Bhagavatha Ratnam’, Bhaagavatha Choodamani, Bhagavatha Sironmani but prefers to be called Gurudasan.

Gurudasan T.S.,Krishnamurthy,( a popular exponent of Bhajana Sampradaya and Divyanama Sankeerthanam,and an invaluable gift from the dikshidhar family) and his disciples during a Pada Pooja.(photo courtesy - Ganesan, and Ramanujam of the Panduranga Bhajan Mandali, Madras.

(Bhagavatha Rathna Gurudasan T.S.Krishnamurthy from the Dikshidhar family of Tiruchendurai. Photo courtesy-N.S.jayaraman, chennai)

Krishnamurthy’s family resides in Chennai these days. His brothers do participate in the Sita Kalyanam festival.

Muthukrishnan resided in the house for many years, till he breathed his last; he was an active participant in the village activities. His two sons, Srinivasan (popularly known as TMS) and Thiagarajan resided in the village between 1953 and 2002. Srinivasan, a teacher by profession, the Headmaster of the E.R.Higher Secondary School, after retirement, now resides at Tiruvanaikoil but is a frequent visitor to the village and an active participant as all the other Dikshidhar family members. Thiagarajan, also a teacher by profession, is as keen as his brother is, and was a member of the youth brigade of the sixties (see photograph in Part I). TMT, as he is known is also a qualified Cricket Umpire, and has participated in the matches of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. It will be interesting to know that for more than a century this family has been the donor (mandaga padidharar) for the ‘Anchaneya Utsavam’ the eleventh day festivity of the Sita Kalyanam.

Now we go to the eastern part of this twin house, where stayed the brothers T.V.Subramaniam, T.V. Krishnaswamy and T.V.Ramamurthy, all sons of Venkataramana Dikshidhar. TVS bought the plot adjacent to the perumal koil, and moved in there while TVK and TVR continued in this house. TVK another teacher in the family, and TVR did participate in village activities to the extent they could.

House opposite, a tiny one, was that of Swami Dikshidhar, eldest son of Venkataramana Dikshidhar, who lived with his wife Bhagi.. Swami was a very quiet type and engaged himself in all religious activities of the village – be it a festival of the Perumal Koil, or Siva Temple, regular Ekadasi bhajans and other divine marriage festivals e.g. Sita kalyanam and Radha Kalyanam. His grandson T.S. Venkataraman is now a resident of the village, and has truly taken after his grandfather in involving and interacting with the villagers in all the activities.

Back to the northern row, to the house of K. Ramachandran, known as Pichumama, a staunch congressite, always known to wear khaddar, president of the Panchayat Board etc. etc. The village consisted mostly of vadama families, except the three families in this part of the village, who belonged to the ‘vathimas’.

KR’s house was very spacious, with a big hall, and an ‘oonjal’ - and the kindly hosts Gnanambal Patti and Kamalam Mami took great care of visitors to the house - there will always be something for one to munch – some homemade tidbits, or the tiny banana fruits grown in their own backyard garden. KR took part in a great way in the village affairs, and his son Venkataraman and family continue to live in his house, and give staunch support to the village. KR was one of the bold warriors, and it is said, when there was a problem with the farmers, KR and children went into the field and worked themselves the whole day – that is a true agriculturist.

Sathabishekam of K.Ramachandran -- In the picture are, Mama, Mami, Venkattu, and R.Ramakrishnan. KR was the president of the Panchayat Board, Trustee of the Temples, and a philanthropist. His contribution to the welfare of the village is commendable. RRamakrishnan was the erstwhile owner of Judge TVS's house presently with TVChandru. He has helped many people from the village to get a job and settle down in Madras. -- photo courtesy - T.R.Venkataraman)

Police Narayana Iyer owned the house next – he was the guru in the Bhajana sampradaya for many youngsters – a very kindly, noninterfering person . Narayana Iyer involved himself in the bhajan activities for many decades, taught and guided willing youngsters into tradition. His rendering of the Ashtapathis and Tarangams was well known – and on the Sita Kalyanam night, well into the dawn of the next day – All of us used to sing that song from Rama Nataka Keertanai of Arunachala Kavirayar - just before the Deeparadhana – commencing ‘Rama Rama Rama Rama’ -- Tears will swell in ones eyes.

Narayanaiyer’s only daughter Kunju was given in marriage to Venkataraman popularly called “Mappillai” for his looks and style – Mama, Mami and Kunju passed away in due course; Venkataraman married a second time, continues to reside in the village involving himself even today in activities of the village..

Next is Munsif Duraiswamy Iyer’s house – his son Chandrasekaran resided in the village in his younger days, later moved over to Tiruchi where he practices as an Advocate . Chandru was a keen participant in all activities including the youngsters’ association and other cultural events.

Mill Narayana Iyer owned the house next – since his business interests and sons were in Trichy, did not very actively participate in the village affairs, as most of the time he would be away in Trichy. Later on the Panchayat office was located in this house.

Twin Houses next belonged to T.M.Krishnaswamy and T.M. Vaidyanathan of the Dikshidar family, grandsons of Venkataramana Dikshidar, and sons of Muthuswamy and Sambu. TMK was a Teacher and the TMV a Railway employee.. Both devoted themselves to the Bhajan activities of the village in every respect till their demise. TMV had a melodious voice, and one song that we loved most was his ‘Pakkala Nila pati’ sung at the Bhajan soon after the ‘deeparadhana’ – learn, this divine gift has now been showered on a granddaughter of TMV, Sangeetha Swaminathan who is making a name for herself in the U.S.A.

As the village’s luck would have it, TMK’s sons Balasubramanian, Nagarajan, and Murali – and TMV’s sons Venkatesan and Ramakrishnan involve themselves in carrying on the tradition, in a big way in the Sita Kalyanam – which is a binding event that makes all those who had gone out of the village to gather in the village those ten days. The only other place such a bond still exists will be Melattur near Tanjore where all present and past residents of the village gather during the months of May/June for the famous ‘Bhagvatha Mela’ when the Prahlada Charithram is enacted in all its glory! Balu also followed his father’s footsteps in becoming a Teacher.

And the last house in this row, belonged to Kuppuswamy Iyer – whose son Ramanathan was very active in his younger days.. he left the village for work in Bangalore. Ramanathan and Mani used to coach youngsters of the village for examinations and these coaching classes were conducted in the terrace of the house, now in possession of Dr. Sundaram.

Justice T.V.Seshagiri Iyer

(Justice T.V.Seshagiri Iyer and others – photo taken in the 1920s. Muthukrishna Iyer is standing to the right of TVS. – Photo courtesy Mohan V.M.Ramalingam, Chennai



Judge T.V.Seshagiri Iyer’s house in all its glory. Huge compound, the spiral staircase, the balcony and its beautiful columns, the French ornamental grill – it is the village’s pride. R.Ramakrishnan bought it from the TVS family, and then sold it to T.V.Chandrasekaran. (photo courtesy – T.V.Chandraselaran)