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(ARCHIVE) Vol. XX No. 18, January 1-15, 2011
Colletpet – Tiger's lair
(By SRIRAM V.)

Colletpet, or Kaladipettai, its present name, is a neglected suburb of Chennai. It is a small but historically significant settlement located between Tondiarpet and Tiruvottriyur. To reach it, you drive to Royapuram and past Tondiarpet. One of the numerous lanes on the left is Sannadhi Street and it takes you to the Kalyana Varadarajaswami shrine, once the heart of the locality. It acquires significance in the world of Carnatic music, as it was the birthplace of ‘Tiger’ Varadachariar and (presumably that of his) musically-talented brothers, K.V. Srinivasa Iyengar and ‘Puliyodarai’ Krishnamachariar.

Colletpet owes its existence to two men, Joseph Collet, Governor of Madras from 1717 to 1719, and Veeraraghava, a Brahmin rather unfortunately referred to as ‘Virago Brahminy’ in the East India Company records. Veeraraghava was the son of Venkatapathy, the agent of the East India Company at the court of the Nawabs of Golconda. In 1675, Venkatapathy died and his son succeeded him to the post. But he was shortly thereafter dismissed for being ‘unduly close’ to Podala Lingappa, the Governor of Poonamallee, who was inimical to British interests. Later, Veeraraghava was reinstated and by 1717 or so he held the high post of Brahman Writer at the East India Company in Madras. He had to interact frequently with Collet and the two formed a close relationship.

The main shrine of the Kalyana Varadarajaswami temple.

Collet, however, was often put out by Veeraraghava’s habit of frequently undertaking journeys to Kanchipuram (some say he went every day in the morning and reported late for duty). On learning that this was due to the Writer’s devotion to Lord Varadaraja Perumal of that town, Collet, in jest, asked Veeraraghava, who claimed that his mind was ever in Kanchipuram, to tell him what was happening there at that very moment. The devotee immediately replied that he could see the deity being taken around the town in a chariot and that at that precise moment, the wheels had sunk into mud and attempts were being made to extricate them. Collet made enquiries and found that what Veeraraghava had said was true. Impressed, he decided to bring the Lord to his devotee. He offered to build a temple for Lord Varadaraja close to where Veeraraghava lived.

Cloth being the chief business of the East India Company at the time, Collet, with the promise of special concessions, encouraged weavers and ‘painters’ (those who printed or drew designs on cloth) to settle in the environs of Tiruvottriyur. By 1718, the new settlement had ‘104 houses, 10 shops, a temple and contained 489 adult inhabitants’. The temple referred to was the Kalyana Varadarajaswami Temple or, as the East India Company records refer to it, the Colleana Verdaraja Swaminee Covela. Collet had made good his promise to Veeraraghava.

Veeraraghava lavished money and love on the temple. He was allowed by Collet to collect “a small duty on imports and exports for the maintenance of the temple.” After his death, his son Kolacherla Papiah Brahminy petitioned the Company that his father had “expended his whole estate on the pagoda.” The Company settled the management of the temple as a hereditary right on Papiah. Many years later, today the temple is maintained by the HR&CE Department of the Government.

The Kalyana Varadarajaswami Temple is a small shrine. It was till recently fronted by a gopuram that had become dilapidated with time. This gopuram too was demolished as a safety measure recently and efforts are now on to collect funds to build a new one. Today, the temple is fronted by ugly galvanised sheets which hide the huge gash in the earth where the tower once stood.

The deity here is an exact replica of the Varadarajaswami at Kanchipuram. On the left of the Perumal shrine is a separate shrine for Perundevi Thayar. On the right is a shrine for Andal. Close to the entrance, at the left are shrines for Anjaneya and Chakrathalwar. The temple has a large tank with steps providing access.

Being in the centre of a thriving business and residential locality, the temple has a steady stream of devotees. And what makes up for the tackiness of the shrines is the remarkable elegance with which the youthful priests decorate the deities with flowers. Saturdays are when the temple sees a throng of devotees.

Sannadhi Street is no longer a quiet thoroughfare with tile-roofed houses as it must have been during Tiger’s time. It is today a bustling bazaar with lorries offloading several goods. Concrete buildings of various shapes and sizes have taken over and only a couple of old houses still hang on. Certainly none has heard of Tiger and his brothers. But at one time, if we are to go by what Tiger had said in a radio interview, the place breathed music. Here are some extracts that prove that this was indeed a Sangeetha Sthalam, even if not sanctified by a composition, then at least by the way it fostered the arts.

Tiger’s elder sister was renowned for her repertoire of songs and if there was any wedding in the neighbourhood, she would be pressed into service.

Next in line was an elder brother, Ramanujam, who was “proficient in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit and very good in music. He could play on the veena and the sitar”. Yet another brother was Krishnamachariar who, thanks to the sponsorship of Dharmamurthi Rao Bahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty, was able to train in music under ‘Panchataleswara Pritankita’ Veena Nilakanta Sastry. An equally talented brother, K.V. Srinivasa Iyengar, published several music books within a short life-span.

The temple of Varadarajaswami was the hub for the fine arts. Here Tiger feasted his ears on the music of Kakamma, a woman “who could sing 500 to 600 songs beautifully. My sister and I would follow her in an attempt to grasp her style.” While festivals here attracted nagaswaram artistes from outside, the local troupe was no mean outfit. The percussion artistes too were of great quality. And on the days that the deity went around in a procession, the Nathamuni Band of Madras would be in attendance. The star of this troupe was Clarinet Abbayi.

Dance was another feature. Tiger states that many women were attached to the temple and that they organised dance and music performances comprising all-women ensembles.

Harikatha was a third element.

If all this was not enough, there was music outside the temple as well. The local bhajana mandiram had group- singing on all auspicious days. Street theatre was popular too. And Tiger has reminisced about the performances of Kuchipudi and Gangapuram troupes and various plays.

Today, music or any form of fine art would be the last thing you would associate with Colletpet – (Courtesy: Sruti).


C. Seshachalam, proprietor of Curzon & Co., Mount Road, writes that Colletpet played an important role in the musical moulding of Krishnamacharya. According to him, Krishnamacharya’s (and Tiger’s) parents were Uttama Bhagavata Matam Sri Ramanujachariar Swamy who lived with “his good lady who was endowed with an uncommonly high musical talent”. They lived in Kalathur near Tiruvallur. And when Krishnamacharya and his brothers were young, the family migrated to Colletpet which was then “a quiet agraharam, set in a sea of calm acres of swaying and soughing coconut palm groves,” with the Kalyana Varadaraja-swami temple in its centre.

Seshachalam adds: “As a near-at-hand tranquil oasis, many of the progressive and prosperous Arya Vysya merchant princes found in Collet Pettah a desirable haven for weekends, away from the noise and bustle of metropolitan Chennapatna. Many were the houses with traditional inner courtyards, sheltered koodams and shady pyols, flowing with holiday hospitality and cultured leisure. The wealthy Calavala family was prominent in this circle, as also their nephews, my forebears, the not-so-wealthy Chimata Brothers – Namberumal, Alavandar and Ramanujam – familiarly known as ‘Wenlock’ and ‘Curzon’ Chettiars. They were fine connoisseurs and generous devotees of music, which characteristic they obviously inherited from their father, Chimata Krishnaswami Chetty who, for the pure pleasure of it, was cello instructor in Fort St. George!”

Among the Chimata Brothers, Namberumal was a vainika and helped the Tachur Brothers in bringing out their books. It was thanks to him that Krishnamacharya’s musical talents were discovered and he was apprenticed under Pancha Tala Neelakanta Sastry, an expert in the field.

Krishnamacharya later settled in Bangalore where he ran the Arya Gana Vidyalaya. He is said to have been proficient in handling a variety of musical instruments also till he suffered a paralytic stroke. In later years he was with Kalakshetra where he set the Kutrala Kuravanji to music. Krishnamacharya passed away in 1957. (Courtesy: Sruti)


In this issue

Metro may threaten heritage buildings
The zoo that Balfour developed
Colletpet – Tiger's lair
Donovan of MMC
Why does LIC treat its Chennai buildings thus?
Other stories

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