Today, November 11, is Peelamedu Day and we take this opportunity to look at its origin and early days.
Today, November 11, is Peelamedu Day and we take this opportunity to look at its origin and early days.
Early History
Circa 1311, Malik Kafur invaded the south on behalf of Alauddin Khiji, the Sultan of Delhi , and exterminated the Yadavas of Devagiri, the Kakatiyas of Warangal, the Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra and the Pandyas of Madurai. He killed over 12,000 people in the temple town of Srirangam and not only the Ranganatha temple but also the Meenakshi temple at Madurai was in operation for decades. The timely intervention of Saint Vidyaranya of Sringeri laid the foundation for Vijayanagar and the kingdom came into being in 1336 under Harihara and Bukka on the banks of River Tungabhadra. The son of Bukka, Kumara Kampanna redeemed the south by marching ahead with a cosmopolitan army with his wife Gangadevi, the author of Madura Vijayam. He cleared the south by 1371 ousting the Sultan of Madurai who was known for his tyranny and established peace, a rarity those days. According to lore Meenakshi, the presiding deity at Madurai had given the ancient Royal sword belonging to the Pandyas to Kumara Kampanna and Princess Gangadevi. Subsequently the greatest ruler of Vijayanagar Sri Krishnadeva Raya (1509 - 1529) anointed Viswanatha Naick as the Viceroy of Madurai with the intelligent Ariyanatha Mudaliar as his Dalavoy.
The rule of Vijayanagar created prosperity for the Coimbatore region which had lost its lustre after the end of Roman trade which had existed during the Sangam era and thereafter. They established a military garrison in Coimbatore and the fort was an outcome.. In fact, the tax collector or Oppanavaru stayed put at the place which is now Oppanakkara street. A number of people belonging to all the classes migrated to Coimbatore then and some of them during the heydays of the Vijayanagar Empire while some followed later. Some of the black cotton farmers moved from Chandragiri to Coimbatore at the time when Chennapattnam was given away to the East India Company. Ultimately the Naicks introduced the Polygar system of administration and Coimbatore was the headquarters for a number of Palayams in Western Tamil Nadu.
A number of black cotton farmers from Andhra Pradesh had settled down in the region known as Krishnarayapuram near the Sanganoor pallam 500 years ago and they had added much to the seed diversity of the region. Then Coimbatore began to see a steady climb in cotton cultivation. Meanwhile the Coimbatore region went into the hands of the Wodeyars of Mysore during the reign of Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673 - 1704) due to the support he had from the Kalingarayars of Uthukuli. It was during the reign of his successor Kanthiraja Narasaraja Wodeyar (1704 - 1714) that the area around Sanganoor pallam got flooded and made it impossible for the black cotton farmers to live there. Therefore they approached the ruler who was guided by the wise Tirumala Iyengar and permission was granted to establish the new Telugu villages at Pappanaickenpalayam and Peelamedu.
Peelamedu got its name because of Poolai flowers. The black cotton farmers slogged in the dry lands of Peelamedu and during the early 20th century the PSG brothers, Venkataswamy Naidu, Rangaswamy Naidu, Ganga Naidu, Narayanaswamy Naidu and also V. Gopal Naidu and V.Rangaswamy Naidu used to cycle to Erode and beyond to trade in cotton. They amassed a huge fortune and established Sri Ranga Vilas (1922) and Radhakrishna Mills (1924) thereby ushering in industrialisation and employment to the doorsteps of Peelamedu. Finally the sons of P.S. Govindaswamy Naidu set up the PSG & Sons Charities by giving away a fifth of their wealth in 1926. The Sarvajana School they set up was the place where Rabindranath Tagore sang the National Anthem before Independence. A lot of growth took place and thanks to the PSG and Radhakrishna Mills families, who prayed at the ancient Renuka Devi temple in the village, Peelamedu became an international centre for education and industry.
P.S.G. Narayanaswamy Naidu could cultivate 100 acres with one well and Chinnammal the lucky mascot of the Radhakrishna Mills family, who happened to be the wife of V. Rangaswamy, was immensely capable with her farms. The PSG family purchased the ancient Gandamanaickanur Zamin in Theni while also establishing mills and farms in Coimbatore and in the suburban Vedapatti. The farm belonging to Diwan Bahadur P.S.G. Rangaswamy Naidu was the best for he had synchronised its functioning with that of the P.S.G Industrial Institute and the Agricultural College. Peelamedu produced several noble sons who included the doyen of industry R. Venkataswamy Naidu (1910 - 1994) of the Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO in Mettur) and Prof.G.R. Damodaran, the father of technical education in Tamilnadu. The Members of Parliament from Peelamedu, Prof.P.R. Ramakrishnan, G. Varadaraj and R. Prabhu did their bit for Coimbatore. The people here did much for the freedom movement.
G.V. Doraiswamy Naidu, G. Ramaswamy Naidu, G.R. Govindarajulu and others from Peelamedu contributed a lot and Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu was the pioneer among women. The PSG educational institutions and the Coimbatore Institute of Technology have put Coimbatore on the educational map of the world. Today from P.S.G.R. Krishnammal College for Women, K.K. Naidu school to Vidya Niketan Peelamedu is a home to change and innovation.
Cotton spinning is still part of the life for the descendants of the old black cotton farmers of Peelamedu and mills like Sri Varadaraja Textiles and Kumaran Mills continue to do well. The fourth generation texpreneur and grandson of R. Venkataswamy Naidu, Santossh .R, is a model textile leader due the innovation done at Lambodhara Textiles managed by him. The Formula One Racer Narain Karthikeyan , Pulavar P.S.G.G. Govindaswamy who did much for the publication of Kamba Ramayanam and the sugar baroness Rajshree Pathy hail from the P.S.G family. Traders like Nammalwar, the Founder of the 75 year old firm Radhakrishna & Company hailed from Peelamedu. Peelamedu was the home to Nava India , a leading newspaper of the yonder era and the Anglo Mysore conflict was immortalised by entreprenuer, advocate and author A.Balakrishna Naidu in his serialised novel " Danaicken Kottai" who happened to be the first graduate of Peelamedu.
Peelamedu is today an international centre for many things which helps Coimbatore gallop in commerce and enterprise. Today, thanks to the initiative of Industrialist Ravisam (grandson of Rao Bahadur V.Gopal Naidu) of the Adwaith Lakshmi Group of Industries the history of Peelamedu has been enshrined with a small inscription in a public park. Today Peelamedu is the home to Pazhamudir Nilayam, Vijay Elanza and many others who prosper thanks to the inputs of the old denizens who lived in streets like Kankallar street which was among the ones named after the kulams of the black cotton farmers. Enterprising Peelamedu is sure to add to the wealth and diversity of Coimbatore during the times to come.