4.1 Cadavasal House and Thoppu Vattaram
Cadavasal and Thoppu Vattaram
Ramadorai Iyer, father of Senior Kunjithapatham Iyer (CRK and CRN’s great grandfather) lived in Cadavasal. He had extended landed property as far as Karunthattangudi near Tanjavoor. Ramadorai Iyer had property in Nelpathur and Toppu Vattaram, Kuriyampallam, Vadhanoor etc. etc. Cadavasal house was occupied by Natesa Iyer aka Nataraja Iyer, an elder brother of Kujithapatham Iyer. (It is not known if Nataraja Iyer is CRK's blood brother or once removed. (Natesa Iyer's daughter Mangalam was married to Sama Atthan,- this is described in the latter part )
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| L-R: Shri S Jagadeesan, Shyam , Shri Chandrasekaran, Chi Apoorva in CDL home |
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| Cadavasal House |
Cadavasal and Thoppu Vattaram
There was some sort of living quarters in Toppu Vattaram and Kunjithapatham Iyer, demolished it and built what in those days was called "Kaatthu" bungalow i.e. a sort of summer home. The pond adjacent and trees all round provided the comfort of cool air in extreme heat. The original house in vattaram had a central hall, a Thavaram and kitchen, perhaps a bedroom. All round was the verandah. A "kottah" with coconut 'keethus" formed the entrance. Cadavasal Ramaiyer (grandson of Ramadurai Iyer) moved to Toppu vattaram, even when his father was alive. Senior CRK Iyer used to visit the village during the recesses in the courts and enjoyed the walks and his property. Cadavasal Ramaiyer’s brother was Sivaswamy Iyer (Sivasmay Iyer was also called as Vattaram Sivaswamy iyer) When the property was pationed, Sivaswamy iyer took the Thoppu Vattaram house and property and settled there.
What remains of the old Cadavasal house are the two freestanding protrusions, the garage that was the "kamera Ull" aka bedroom and the bathroom. Between, the two rooms must have been a connecting verandah leading up to the main street entrance, probably in line with the Northern walls ie the walls adjoining the street.The main structure was demolished and the present day Cadavasal house was built. Namasivayam Aachari from Nagapattinam supervised the construction.
The partition between Cadavasal Ramaiyer and Sivaswamy Iyer was pretty smooth and very amiable. Ramaiyer and Lokanayakki (cadavasal patti) moved to cadavasal sometime in 1916
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| (sitting L to R) Directors of the Indo-Commercial Bank R. Viswanatha Aiyar, T.R.V. Sastriar, Rao Bahadur C.S. Subramaniam Pantulu, Rt. Hon. V.S. Srinivasa Sastriar, S.N.N. Sankaralinga Iyer,V. Venkatarama Iyer, K. Sivaswami Aiyar |
Shri Sivaswamy Iyer was known as Vattaram Sivaswamy iyer. He was a persona of courage and confidence. He had a commanding presence and at the same time a very pleasant mannered man. He was so forward thinking back in times and had such high level connections (S.Y. Krishnaswamy, S. Venkatesan to name a few). Mr M C B Komm, a district judge used to be his guest in Vattaram house. He nurtured a philanthropic mind set. He used to buy medicines in the Spencer Medical shop in Madurai and distribute it free of cost to the villagers!! .
Shri Sivswamy Iyer was one of the founder members of Indo Commercial bank Ltd headquartered in Mayavaram (Mayiladuthurai). The above photograph was published in Hindu under the caption "An intriguing conundrum"
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| Cadvasal Rama Iyer & Thoppu Vattaram Sivaswamy Iyer with family members |
3 comments:
Received via email from Shri CRN
At least a few of us have memories and pride that goes with it. ICB was a counter to Indian Bank founded by Rajah Sir Annamalai chetiar, funded and founded by the brahmins! ICB collapsed in 1954 or so and just before that Hanuman Bank, another Brahmin Tanjore combine collapsed. I knew Gopala Iyer who was virtully the CMD of Indian bank and Rajah Sir had great confidence in him. He was one of the few vintage Brahmins who used to visit Europe often. His only daughter was married to a hostel mate of mine V Subramaniamm who was dubbed Sir VS Iyer. There is a reference to C R K iyer of Nagappattinam, our forefather. in Rt. Hon, Sasthri's memoirs. My father Cadavasal Rama Iyer met him in Annamalai Nagar and he was fondly reminiscent.
CRN
Please get your facts right, The first two pictures are of Vattaram house and not Cadavasal house as mentioned.
Hope you correct the mistake which I assume was not intentional.
Hi,
The photographs are of the erstwhile Cadavasal house belonging to Shri Cadavasal Ramadurai Iyer. I do not know your motivation or intention to dispute and make fabricated claims and asking me to verify my records. The 2 elderly gentlemen sitting in the porch in the photograph were born in that house and their visit to their grandparents abode were myriad. I was physically present in the location when the photograph was taken and definitely do not think, I need education on Cadavasal house.
Regards,
Sundaresan
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