Once the prime abode of opulent Nattukottai Chettiar mansions, Kanadukathan now lies desolate and ostensibly abandoned. Vibrantly painted doors and windows, weathered and beaten by times gone by, remain blocked or locked, sometimes eerily open but without anyone in sight. The paved and symmetrically laid out roads and muddy pathways are unfilled with an occasional vehicle cruising along, a few passersby and more often, cows and dogs wandering, fearlessly lazy. Dim voices can be heard escaping from old mansions, otherwise trapped within their aged walls. In spite of the deafening quietness around us, Kanadukathan felt at peace with its predicament.

While the early history of the Chettiars as traders and moneylenders has been traced back to the rein of the Cholas, the modern-day rise of the Chettiars is attributed to British colonial expansion in India and other parts of Asia, including erstwhile Ceylon, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. The fortunes of the Chettiars simultaneously found its way back to their native villages in India. Thousands of large, ostentatiously built mansions dotted the arid and remote region of the Chettinad, presently in the Sivagangai District of Tamil Nadu, even while their business operations flourished in cities and towns across major trading centers of the East.

By the mid-twentieth century, however, a shadow crept over the glory days of the Chettiars. Slowly, the once glorious mansions were, and continue to be dismantled for their valued wood, ornate artefacts, exquisite antiques and mundane objects, turning Kanadukathan into an ethereal village.

A walk down the streets of Kanadukathan draws us into history, overwhelming even the outsider with nostalgia and a step closer to a home we yearn for.

I???ll be back ??? one day.