The Coimbatore Municipality was a forerunner in more ways than one. The 'Father of Modern Coimbatore' Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar ( 1886 - 1956 ) was the iconic Chairman ( 1921 - 1936 ) who was responsible for creating the infrastructure which continues to hold the growing city. He built the 'Municipal Market' which was the first one of its kind in the country. A number of traders put up shops in the market which is known as the 'Thyagi Kumaran Market'.
The Coimbatore Municipality was a forerunner in more ways than one. The 'Father of Modern Coimbatore' Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar ( 1886 - 1956 ) was the iconic Chairman ( 1921 - 1936 ) who was responsible for creating the infrastructure which continues to hold the growing city. He built the 'Municipal Market' which was the first one of its kind in the country. A number of traders put up shops in the market which is known as the 'Thyagi Kumaran Market'.
K.Swaminatha Chettiar ( 1903 - 1998 ) and K.Sethuraman Chettiar ( 1909 - 1981 ) founded a 'Paathira Kadai' ( vessels store ) around 1930 in one of the line shops in the market. They hailed from Karukampalayam near Avinashi and their Kuladeivam happened to be 'Kondathu Kaliamman' in Perumanallur. The brothers belonged to the 'Ainoottravar' community and being vegetarian was part of their identity. They were into the manufacture of vessels traditionally and therefore indulged in trade connected with the same. The people belonging to this background used to manufacture and market their metal ware.
" We came to Coimbatore at a time when the city lived without electricity. My uncle and father used to sell household utensils made of copper and brass to the clients of their times. Pooja and temple items were also sold in a lesser quantity for the focus was on vessels. Copper and Brass sheets were the raw materials those days. The lamps were molded and they were made completely by hand. Finished products used to be sourced from places which included Kumbakonam, Tirunelveli, Tirupur Anuparpalayam, Rajamundry and Moradabad. Our elders used to place the orders through a letter and the goods used to arrive by train or lorry thereafter.
The suppliers used to visit us for collection or my father K.Sethuraman Chettiar used to personally settle the amount due in the course of his visits. Uncle used to be ' forever ' in the shop and father was the traveler. Our customers belonged to all the segments of the society. The people who worked for mills like Pankaja, Rajalakshmi, Krishnaveni, Saroja, Vasantha, Sri Hari, Cambodia and Kadri used to be our regular clients. The mill owners were our clients too, "stated C.S.Vijaykumar who manages the store at Srinivasa Raghavan Street while his brother C.S.Murugesan looks after the outlet at Big Bazaar Street.
The firm,' K.Swaminatha Chettiar' was famous for its andas, paanais and kudams ( containers )." We used to produce kudams and pair pitchers which were used by people to carry water for their household purposes. They had to travel 2 kilometres to collect drinking water. We used produce and pair pitchers of the same weight in order to make it easy for the people while loading and moving on the the cycle. Our idli paanais, plates and tumblers were very famous. The Rajamundry Kooja was much preferred and my father K.Sethuraman Chettiar was the first to introduce brass tiffin carriers in Coimbatore.
Earlier the mill workers used to carry their food in 'thookkus' ( small buckets with tight lids ). Even today, the slightly larger buckets with ' Kumizh ' lids from Tirunelveli are used by temples for offering prasadam to the deities. The ' Pongal Paanai ' was from Anuparpalayam and items like Agarbatti stands, bowls and plates used to be sourced from Moradabad. The lamps from Kumbakonam were among our bestsellers. Generations of people have purchased lamps for their daughters at the time of their marriages or house warming ceremonies. Though we were happy with the vessel business, satisfaction came when we began selling pooja items in a big way after 1980. It was when I began to work in ' K.Swaminatha Chettiar '. We are now retailers and a few of our relatives have manufacturing units near Kumbakonam," added C.S.Vijaykumar while showing a fine looking coffee filter made of brass. The store has a number of display items which include tiny auto rickshaws which look cute.
K.Swaminatha Chettiar was married to Unnamalai Ammal. He had been a devout person and used to sport a ' kudumi ' ( tuft ). K.Swaminatha Chettiar wore the dhoti in the ' panchagachcham ' style and used to apply vibhuti throughout his body. A daily visit to a temple was part of his schedule. He was deeply religious and used to perform pooja everyday for a long time. Lord Shiva was the deity. The businessman and his brother led a spartan life and used to undertake pilgrimages to Tiruvannamalai and Tirupati often. They never had a car and were content with a house which belonged to them and regular visits to the Perur Patteeswarar Temple used to give them enormous joy. The household used to enjoy the South Indian food and they used to prefer Indian vegetables. The family members used to enter the kitchen after a bath for they considered hygiene to be important. The shop used to be open by 6 AM and used to function until 8 PM. Lunch used to be had at the shop itself and Sunday was the only holiday. They followed the old joint family system. The younger brother K.Sethuraman Chettiar, his wife Sivakami Ammal and their children stayed in the same home as K.Swaminatha Chettiar.
" Central Theatre V.Ramaswamy Naidu was our important customer and he used to spend a lot of time in our shop regularly. Vanitha Mohan of Siruthuli and M.Krishnan of Sri Krishna Sweets are our regular customers. The 'Kalanji' ( cash container ) in the first outlet of Sri Krishna Sweets had been from our shop. N.K.Mahadeva Iyer, the Founder of Sri Krishna Bhavan and father of M.Krishnan of Sri Krishna Sweets was well known to us. The ' Kalanji ' or ' Padikkam ' at ' Original Viswanatha Iyer was also from our store. Even today, every outlet of Sri Krishna Sweets is home to the pooja sets got from our shop. The KG family are our customers too. We make kavachams, vigrahams and our shop is an one stop point for about 1500 types of items. You name it and we can make it available. We have done a lot of work with the Sharadambal Temple over the years. Quality and prompt payments are the key to our success. Of course we keep innovating. We take steps to restore old items. Recently we restored an old ball shaped hanging lamp for the Palani Ankala Parameswari Amman Temple. The lamp had been offered by the famous jeweler P.A.Raju Chettiar in the year 1924 to the deity. My son and nephew are software engineers and the next generation want to be involved in our family business. Hence we started the second outlet at R.S.Puram, " added the energetic and committed retailer C.S.Vijaykumar.
'K.Swaminatha Chettiar' has supplied materials to a number of mutts in this part of the country. They have supplied goods to temples all over Tamilnadu. Many of their clients have taken items from them and donated to temples around the world. Nowadays, a number of ' coffee outlets ' are sourcing their davaras and tumblers made of brass from ' K.Swaminatha Chettiar '. The brass measure known as ' Padi ' is still being purchased from the same store for sentimental reasons. " I love this business and it is my passion, the grace of God and the blessings of our elders are the reasons for our success, " smiled C.S.Vijaykumar.
Firms like ' K.Swaminatha Chettiar ' have added to the business lustre of Coimbatore by offering good quality products backed by service with a smile.