' Padma Vilas ' is located on Ansari Street in Ramnagar. V.Narasimha Iyengar had acquired the land and built a house for himself about 100 years ago.
' Padma Vilas ' is located on Ansari Street in Ramnagar. V.Narasimha Iyengar had acquired the land and built a house for himself about 100 years ago. The old house has now been replaced by a nice apartment building. N.Krishnakumar, the great great grandson of V.Narasimha Iyengar has used the best technique to harvest the rainwater and it has been commissioned with the technical support of Siruthuli.
V.Narasimha Iyengar B.A was the son of Revenue Inspector Venkatesa Iyengar. This graduate was born in 1858 and was educated in Coimbatore. He passed his first examination in Arts in 1878. Later on he was admitted to the B.A. Degree in the Presidency College, Madras in 1881. He started his life as a school teacher at the Government School in Udumalpet. Narasimha Iyengar served for three years in the Registration Department and subsequently joined the Revenue Department by 1884. He entered the Collectorate as a clerk and rose to the rank of a Taluk Sheristadar and went on to become a Tahsildar in the old undivided Coimbatore District. Before his retirement in 1913, he acted as a Deputy Collector for 3 years. The family used to live in Jail Road earlier.
The work of V.Narasimha Iyengar was highly regarded by his superior officers, as he discharged his duties conscientiously and efficiently. He was especially interested in Hinduism, the oldest religion of the world and he used to devote a lot of time to the study of the same post retirement. V.Narasimha Iyengar was listed as an important personage in the publication - Encyclopedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. The family deity or Kula Devata was Lakshmi Narasimha and the family was attached to the Ahoiba Mutt. They belong to the Bharadwaja Gothram.
V.Narasimha Iyengar was married to Ranganayaki and their only son was V.N.Srinivasan.
The son had done his law but he was not interested in taking up the same as a profession. V.N.Srinivasan got married to Soundarammal, the youngest daughter of S.Kasthuriranga Iyengar ( The gentleman who owned ' The Hindu ' ). Kasthuriranga Iyengar had once been a Coimbatorean and he had lived on Raja Street. He was one of the 15 Founders of the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club.
V.N.Srinivasan moved over to Chennai and purchased the Huxley Press on Armenian Street. It used to be a leading press in the region. The press had printed all kinds of works - from question papers to the Ramayanam. V.N.Srinivasan used to write reviews for The Hindu and a number of other publications. Soundarammal and V.N.Srinivasan had been blessed with 3 sons and 4 daughters. "My great grandmother the learned Soundarammal was an orthodox lady. She led a very austere life. Her activities included prayer and meditation. She used to cook her own food and also wash her clothes. Her brothers were K.Srinivasan ( Managing Editor of The Hindu and the publication grew substantially under him ) and K.Gopalan, the person who started the religious column in the paper. My great great grandmother Ranganayaki used to like coffee. However my orthodox great grandmother Soundarammal never drank the beverage. Therefore the mother in law used to drink coffee in utmost secrecy. My great grandmother Soundarammal used well water ' only ' for her cooking. Therefore she would stay in our house only during the months when water was found in the well. Otherwise she stayed with her other son. " shared N.Krishnakumar of Akarsh Advertising. The firm had been ceremoniously inaugurated by G.K.Sundaram of Lakshmi Mills in 1986.
S.Rajagopal Iyengar, the first son of V.N.Srinivasan was initially managing the press in Madras and he moved over to Coimbatore in the year 1934. Rajagopal Iyengar was married to Pattammal of Dindigul. She hailed from the family - T.Rajagopal Iyengar & Sons. This 100 year plus firm has been in the petroleum business for over a century. They began as kerosene dealers for Asiatic Petroleum. Companies had evolved and changed over time but the old firm continues to be in the same line of activity.
Added N.Krishnakumar, " My grandfather Rajagopal Iyengar began acting as the agent for Hindu in the year 1934 and it was a time when the circulation was just 42 copies in Coimbatore. The paper used to be collected from the Podanur station and distributed much later. His good work resulted in the circulation becoming 25,000 later. The strong foundation laid by him impelled the management to start a separate facility in Coimbatore and it was the first outside Chennai."
" My father Rajagopal Iyengar was an avid sportsman. He used to play tennis and bridge at the Cosmopolitan Club. During his younger days, he used to compete with S.R.P.Ponnuswamy Chettiar ( Former Municipal Chairman & Industrialist ) for the 100 metres dash. Those were times when Hindu did not have an office in Coimbatore and my father was practically representing it. He was also keenly involved with the Kothandaramaswamy Temple as a trustee. Industrialists V.N.Ramachandran, G.K.Sundaram and L.G.Balakrishnan were among his good friends. He was also in the Coimbatore Thiruppavai Committee and used to host a number of pontiffs in our house. In fact, the great Pontiff Thirukudandhai Andavan had stayed in our house ' Padma Vilas ' at the time of the first discourse under the auspices of the Coimbatore Thiruppavai Committee. The 44th Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt His Holiness Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar - Srimate Srivan Satagopa Sri Vedanta Yatindra Mahadesikan ( The Jeer who constructed the Rajagopuram at Srirangam ) had stayed in our residence ' Padma Vilas '. Quite a few Vaishnavaite scholars were also hosted by him. He was a deeply religious person and he supported a number of religious causes. Father was a voracious reader and he used to walk to the Kothandaramaswamy Temple even during his ripe old age. He used to watch the World Cup matches ( Football ) even after the age of 90, " stated R.Narasimhan.
Octogenarian R.Narasimhan began his career with Gestetner in Chennai. He moved to over to Coimbatore. Chinthamani of Mayavaram became his life partner in 1959. She happens to be the daughter of V.Swami Iyengar a landlord and leading Congressman. Her great grandfather V.V.Srinivasa Iyengar was a luminary. Narasimhan had been an agent for Southern Roadways ( TVS ) in Coimbatore. While his Vysial Street office was inaugurated by P.A.Raju Chettiar, his Sathy Road office was declared open by M.K.Krishna Chetty ( Founder - Asoka Betelnut Company ). N.Krishnakumar ( the son of R.Narasimhan ) is married to Sandhya and their son Shyam performed the ' Kanakabishekam ' to his great grandfather S.Rajagopal Iyengar. The youngster is now a consultant for Vision India Foundation ( A Policy Think tank ) and he writes for publications like Swarajya. His great grandfather had witnessed his Upanayanam too.
" Great great grandfather V.Narasimha Iyengar had been an honest officer. Our house used to have 3 hurricane lamps those days. We would use the 3 of them for 10 days, it will followed by 2 for the next 10 days and only 1 hurricane lamp would be in use for the last 10 days in the month. He would never use his influence or privilege to get more oil for the lamps. V.Narasimha Iyengar was a sincere and upright officer, " added N.Krishnakumar while sharing details about the life and times of his family in Coimbatore. The family had hailed from the Vedic Vangipuram, an old village in the Madras Presidency.
Sixth generation N.Krishnakumar is an active Rotarian and is associated with a number of social service organizations. The family continues to be associated with the Ahobila Mutt and the current Jeer His Holiness Ranganatha Yathindra Mahadesikan had recently visited ' Padma Vilas ', the home acquired by V.Narasimha Iyengar. Its interesting to learn that all the seven generations have been graduates. They had embraced the modern form of education without compromising on the ancient Indian value system, culture and tradition.