The Sharadhambal temple on Race Course has been a centre of faith for four decades. A huge old bungalow exists in the vicinity of the temple. This bungalow is known as ' Sulur House '. The land for the Sharadhambal temple had been donated by S.R.Nanjundiah, ( the son of S.Ramachandra Rao ) and his brothers S.R.Subbarayar, S.R.Ramakrishnan and S.R. Lakshminarasimhan. Several Pontiffs of Sringeri have visited this elegant campus.
The Sharadhambal temple on Race Course has been a centre of faith for four decades. A huge old bungalow exists in the vicinity of the temple. This bungalow is known as ' Sulur House '. The land for the Sharadhambal temple had been donated by S.R.Nanjundiah, ( the son of S.Ramachandra Rao ) and his brothers S.R.Subbarayar, S.R.Ramakrishnan and S.R. Lakshminarasimhan. Several Pontiffs of Sringeri have visited this elegant campus.
' Sulur House ' was a landmark residence and at one time, the members of this ancient family owned nearly 4000 acres on land in our region. There lived one Karnika Linga Iyer around the year 1778. He used to maintain village accounts in the Kollegal region and report to Diwan Purnayya of Mysore. The able administrator Diwan Purnayya had served Mysore during the times of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. His family moved over to the Kongu country and eventually three branches of the family settled down in Thookanaickenpalayam ( Sathyamangalam ), Kumaralingam ( Udumalpet ) and Sulur ( Coimbatore ). The grandson of Karnika Linga Iyer through his son Narasimha Iyer was known as Chinna Subba Rao and his family had registered 4000 acres of land in 36 villages in the old Avinashi Taluk.
The descendants of Chinna Subba Rao lived as a huge joint family. They belonged to the Atreya Gotram and the family deity was Lord Lakshmi Narasimha. The ' Ishta Devata ' ( favourite deity ) was Lord Subramanya. Hence several of the family members were named as either ' Lakshmi Narasimha ' or ' Subba Rao '. Diwan Bahadur Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer, Subbarayah, Srikanta Iyer and S.Ramachandra Rao were the 4 sons of Chinna Subba Rao. In spite of owning huge tracts of land, the family was extremely kind and humble. They did not behave like the polygars or the landlords of those times. The family members were kind and they would not demand the ' kuthagai ' ( rent ) from their agrarian tenants during the lean harvest periods. They used to be very liberal while selling the lands. The first offer was given to the tenant and the money was collected in instalments. If the tenant was incapable of purchasing the land, the Sulur Family used to give him a piece of the land cultivated by him as a gift and sell the remaining piece to outsiders.
Diwan Bahadur Sulur Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer was recognized by the authorities for having been the head of a family which had possessed many noble traits. He contributed towards the development of the ' Coronation Park ' ( V.O.C Park ) and the associated sports facilities during times of King George V. Those days, Trichy road was just 20 feet wide and Diwan Bahadur Sulur Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer used to own the lands on the either side of the road. The road was being widened in the year 1912 and Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer gave away his lands on the either side of Trichy road in the interest of the public. They had to construct 12 bridges on the waterways found on Trichy Road and the noble Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer gave lands for facilitating the construction. The lands were donated by him and the members of his family.
The noble man and his family helped in expediting several projects over the years. They donated land for creating four ponds in order help the people of Sulur enrich their ground water. Land was donated for creating a road to the Rayar temple and also to Kangeyampalayam. Diwan Bahadur Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer gave land for creating a path which would help people remove 'silt' from the Sulur Kulam. Land was given for the expansion of the crematorium. He gave a lot of money for the development of a school in Sulur and he invited the then Collector and other authorities for the inauguration. The Government recognized his role by honouring him with the title ' Diwan Bahadur ' and he was the first person in this region to be appreciated so.
Sulur Subba Rao was also a member of the Sulur family and he was the only odd person from this family. He led a life of pleasure and was extravagant. Subba Rao lived in Trichy road in a huge bungalow which covered an area of 40 acres. The Highways department on Trichy road is located in the same place. He was the owner of the 'Judge bungalow ' in Race Course and had a farm house at his farm in Kannampalayam. Subba Rao was known for drinking and womanizing. He was murdered and the ' Sulur Subba Rao ' murder case was much talked about those days. Even Sulur Subba Rao had been a kind landlord and had not given trouble to his agrarian tenants. He had sponsored a football team and the team used to go all the way to Bengaluru in order to participate in events.
The land housing the Cosmopolitan Club on Race Course was purchased for Rs400 ( four acres ) from the Sulur Family in the year 1891. The lands near the Thomas Park and Abdul Rahim Road in Race Course used to belong to them and the old house inside was known as the ‘ Elandhai Kottai ‘ Bungalow.
The family had constructed ' Ramachandra Kulam ' at the conjunction of three waterways which was found on the boundary of Kannampalayam. They gave lands for the ' Bhoodan Movement ' of Acharya Vinobha and also to the Sankara Mutt of Kanchipuram. The family gave land while also extending help to the villagers of Neelambur in order to facilitate the construction of ' Achankulam '. The City Club owes a lot this family. S.R. Lakshmi Narasimhan had been closely associated with the institution during the time of its founding. They had given land and financial support for creating the infrastructure. Grey Town used to be known as ' Srikantapuram ' due to its association with this noble family. Tennis came up in Coimbatore because of the interest and efforts of the Sulur Family.
' Avinashi Charities ' was founded by the Sulur Family and has been serving the society for more than 170 years. S.K.Mohanram, the trustee of this old charitable organization shared some nuggets, " Avinashi Charities was started by Annaji Rao and later he left it with his younger brother Narasimha Iyer. We are all the descendants and a big Annadanam ( free food distribution ) is done at the time of the Avinashi Car Festival during the Tamil month of Chithirai. Earlier, the ' Padhayatris ( walkers ) to Palani were using this facility. Thousands used to have food once upon a time and the expenses were met out of a 150 acre landbank created by our elders. Free marriages used to be conducted and free group ' Upanayanams ' ( sacred thread ceremony ) for Brahmins are being carried out. Clothes, food and transportation expenses are paid. Priests belonging to the respective faiths conduct the ceremonies. There was a time when we had to chip in for the tenants would not help us in this regard. We give the boys an ' Upanayanam ' set every year. The Annadanam was a big success this year and about 2000 part took the food. All of us want to ensure that the above mentioned deeds are carried on for ever."
S.R.Nanujundiah of the Sulur Family was closely associated with the Sringeri Mutt and he was the ' Dharmadhikari ' of the Sharadhambal Temple for a long time. The Pontiffs of the Sringeri Sharadha Peetam held him in high esteem. His son Narasimhamurthy created the ' bar coding ' system. Devotees who have been visiting the Sharadhambal temple would remember the fair complexioned, tall and stately S.R.Nanjundiah .He continues to be revered. S.R.Ramakrishnan ( son of S.Ramachandra Rao ) was an office bearer of the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club for a long time. The fourth son of Diwan Bahadur Sulur Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer, S.L.Rama Rao had pursued his education from the London School of Economics.
The records pertaining to the land holdings of Chinna Subba Rao ( 1879 ) and his sons beginning with Diwan Bahadur Sulur Lakshmi Narasimha Iyer ( 1914 ) list lands in Sulur, Kannampalayam, Kangeyampalayam, Oddarpalayam, Kalangal, Irugur and other villages. In all the family held 3265.09 acres besides temple endowments totaling to 564.92 acres. These allotments were connected with Sulur Thiruvenkataswamy temple and the Sulur Vaidyanathaswamy temple. Lots of these lands were given on lease to the small farmers.
Avinashi Charities, the Shardhambal temple in Race Course, the gowshala in the residence of S.R.Subbarayar, the wide Trichy road and its old bridges, the school at Sulur, the noble acts of the kind members of the Sulur Family and the water bodies will forever remind the people of this region about the marvelous legacy left behind by the SULUR FAMILY.