Railways were the most important infrastructure development in British India. From the later nineteenth century, the construction of railways made it easier for people and goods to move freely from one locality to another; this opened up new possibilities for trade and communication in the small villages as well.
In 1896, the Tanjore district board decided to build its own railway line.
The Nadar estate of Porayar, the Pandarasanidhi of Thiruvadathurai and the S. A. Saminatha Iyer – T. S. Sivaswami Odayar alliance (Saminatha Iyer discovered a mutual interest in routing the proposed line through their Mayavaram properties, teamed up with their rival Sivaswami Odayar, (see temple entry for more info) began to campaign publicly against each other to win the Collector’s support for a railway project. [1]
Economic and political considerations were inextricably involved; certainly, the caste issue was perceived more.
The Nadar were rated favourites. Rao Bahadur T. Rathinaswamy Nadar of Poraiyar Nadar estate played a vital role in bringing in the railway line for Tranquebar. The Nadar estate family had donated the stretch of land to the British to lay tracks from Mayavaram to Tranquebar. [2]
This railway line to Tranquebar helped the emergence and enlargement of the region with was previously dispersed localities.
In 1926 the train services started from Mayavaram to Tranquebar, to honour Rao Bahadur T. Rathinaswamy Nadar’s efforts, the first train from Mayavaram to Tranquebar carried a garlanded portrait of Rathinaswamy Nadar in the front of the train. [3]
Distance from Mayavaram to Tranquebar is 30 km, there were 6 trips for passengers and 4 for transporting goods. The line had stations in Mayavaram Town Manampandal, Sembanarkoil, Akkur, Thirukkadaiyur. Thillaiyady and Porayar In between.
In 1926, in appreciation for the efforts by Rathinasamy Nadar, his friends erected a memorial pillar in the front of Tranquebar towns entrance gate. The pillar was declared open on 25th November 1926 by Honourable J.A. Thorne ESQ. ICS, the district magistrate of Tanjore.
When the government decided to build a hospital in Tanjore, Tanjore-Maratha Queen Kamatchi Amba Bai donated her 40-acre property to the British Collector Henry Sullivan Thomas in 1878 to build the hospital and the charity of the Tanjore Raja’s family contributed Rs. 30,000. The collector than contacted famous landlords (mirasdars) of Tanjore to donate to build the hospital.
Thavsumuthu Nadar of Nadar estate made a generous donation to build the hospital. Several other mirasdars of Tanjore including Thiruppanandal Adheenam, Veeraiya Vandayar of Pundi estate, Duraisamy Moopanar of Kabisthalam estate and Mr Gopala Krishnan Pillai also donated for the hospital.
Since the donation was received from both the Raja’s family and mirasdars, the hospital was named as “Raja Mirasdar Hospital”. [4]
Earlier, Vellaiya Nadar donated his Tanjore Bungalow to the British government when they wanted to build a railway station in Tanjore, the Bungalow which was in the southern entrance of the station, was used as railway hospital by the British.
The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 June 1887.
In 1906, Nadar estate’s T. Guruswami Nadar built the hostel building for Kumbakonam Arts and Science College and dedicated it to the memory of his father V. Thavsasmuthu Nadar and named the hostel as “Queen Victoria” to commemorate her Golden Jubilee. [5]
In 1855, Vellaiya Nadar built chatrams (choultry) in Melamaruthur and Karaikal and donated lands for the choultry’s maintenance.
These chatrams provided shelter and food for free to travellers and pilgrims. [6]
Later, Thavsumuthu Nadar built a chatram in Mayavaram in the name of his wife Sowindharathammal near the Mayavaram railway station and penned properties and buildings for the maintenance of the chatram.
Comments 3
March 3, 2021 at 11:17 am
This is a commendable work. Combining and compiling all these details a book should be published with these rare photos at a subsidised price. Details should be collected by interacting with all families of Nadars and their associated non-Nadar families.
September 6, 2021 at 12:01 pm
Great works
June 30, 2023 at 2:57 am
Good service.