Coimbatore was a tiny town which had been endowed with a military garrison by the Vijayanagar rulers. Long ago, cornelian jewellery from the Kongu region was exported to Rome via Coimbatore. This brought in a lot of gold and silver coins from the Roman Empire. The Roman currency was used by the locals for a long time. International commerce had added to the economic well being of the populace. A few centuries later Aditya Chola (875 - 907 AD) conquered Kongunad in order to harness the elephants from the forests in the Western Ghats. The Chola kingdom became bigger as a consequence of the invasion. The Roman gold discovered in Kongunad went into hands of the Cholas. Eventually this gold entered the vaults in the Chola capital. The son and successor of Aditya Chola the conqueror was Parantaka Chola I (907 - 955 AD). He used to Roman gold to guild the gopuram of the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple in the tenth century. Quite a few of the people belonging to the yonder era used to feel that this golden gopuram was perhaps the reason for making Coimbatore the jewellery capital of the south.
Coimbatore was a tiny town which had been endowed with a military garrison by the Vijayanagar rulers. Long ago, cornelian jewellery from the Kongu region was exported to Rome via Coimbatore. This brought in a lot of gold and silver coins from the Roman Empire. The Roman currency was used by the locals for a long time. International commerce had added to the economic well being of the populace. A few centuries later Aditya Chola (875 - 907 AD) conquered Kongunad in order to harness the elephants from the forests in the Western Ghats. The Chola kingdom became bigger as a consequence of the invasion. The Roman gold discovered in Kongunad went into hands of the Cholas. Eventually this gold entered the vaults in the Chola capital. The son and successor of Aditya Chola the conqueror was Parantaka Chola I (907 - 955 AD). He used the Roman gold to guild the gopuram of the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple in the tenth century. Quite a few of the people belonging to the yonder era used to feel that this golden gopuram was perhaps the reason for making Coimbatore the jewellery capital of the south.
It took another thousand years for this to happen. Twentieth century was the time when the city emerged from the shadows once again. Modern industry, textile mills and jewellery shops began to add to the commercial lustre of the city. The pettai area was the home to a few jewelers and gold smiths. There were perhaps lesser than 100 in number. The Kulur family were among the leading jewellery businessmen. A few others used to work out of Big Bazaar Street. These tiny shops were run by small time jewelers. A tiny box containing some gold, silver, alloy material, tools, cash, weighing scale and weights used to make up the jewelers kit. The jewelers used to sit in the market area and take orders those days. Gold coins would be sold readily and these jewelers would visit shandies in order to sell gold coins. The shandy teams would consist of a big convoy of bullock carts and the merchants would be armed too. These jewelers would be found sitting in their own tiny shops or in front of textile outlets. They used to carry their mobile jewellery stores home on Vysial Street after sundown. The new moon day (Amavasya) was the monthly holiday.
Life went on and a new dawn arose in the year 1917 when the great entrepreneur P.A.Raju Chettiar (1895 - 1984) founded his novel venture - P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother : Swarna Maligai on Big Bazaar Street. Young PAR became the first jeweler to offer a guaranteed buy back for the ornaments sold by him. People could get cash at 10 percent lesser than the maximum retail price per gram of gold or they could exchange their jewellery for just a reduction of 6 percent. Business flourished and Raju Chettiar became the largest retailer cum wholesaler cum manufacturer cum bullion merchant in the Madras Presidency. The trend set by him caught on and Coimbatore became a jewellery city eventually. K.S.Pandurangan was a smart youngster and ventured into the wholesale of Jewellery way back in 1949. Those were times when Coimbatore had only a handful of wholesalers.
K.S.Pandurangan was born to Kempanaickenpalayam Sundaram Chettiar and Subbulakshmi. He had just done upto his sixth standard. Pandurangan (KSP) grew up for a while in his village, went to Gobi for some time before settling down in Coimbatore. He had worked with a couple of jewelers before venturing out on his own. His other siblings were in the business of grocery. KSP sold a bit of gold covered jewellery for sometime and later became a manufacturing jeweler. His wholesale activities covered Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamilnadu.
A number of well meaning jewelers understood the abilities of K.S.Pandurangan and began giving him business. The famous P.A.Raju Chettiar was his client. He gave a lot of gold in advance to KSP and ordered jewels for his shop. KSP used to travel by bus and train. There were times when he had to rush and get into the unreserved compartments of trains. Hard work and quality assurances helped him to grow in business. His younger brother K.S.Govindarajulu was with him for a long time and both the brothers hit along very well. KSP got married to SriLakshmi and the couple had 5 sons and 2 daughters. The sons happen to be Sampathkumar, Ramachandran, Radhakrishnan, Venkateswaran and Suryaprakash.
KSP believed in quality and did not want to shortchange his clients. Several of clients were leading jewelers. Veekamsey, GRT, Kopparam Family, Abaran of Mangalore, Bhimas, C.Krishniah Chetty of Bengaluru, Ganjam of Bengaluru, Bapalal & Co of Chennai were among his leading clients. "Father used to tell me that quality was the foundation. He lived at times when checking products more cumbersome than now. However he wanted to live and breathe quality. I am fortunate to have been blessed with a pleasant and amicable person to be my father. He would not get irritated with us. I still remember the day when I got angry and argued with him. He told to come back the next day and argue once again too. There was a lot of kindness and emotion when he uttered those words," stated K.S.P.Radhakrishnan, Director - Thulasi Pharmacy & promoter Jewellers KSP. The pioneering wholesaler was well built and would sport his thick hair properly. He was known for his well thought plans. A lot of good was possible under his guidance.
Pandurangan could have made more money but he did not prefer to compromise on commercial principles. He used to state that it was unethical and would not reflect well on the life of his kids. KSP never regretted for being honest. He was the President of Sri Kannika Parameswari Devasthanam and also worked for the development of Meenskshisundareswarar Hall on Sami Iyer New Street. The Vasavi Temple Kumbabishekham took place during his tenure. He was on the committee of the Coimbatore Jewellers Association, Tamilnadu Jewellers Federation etc., KSP was in the Tamilnadu Jewellers Federation at a time when people were disheartened because of the evils associated with the Gold Control Act. He encouraged and supported the nomination of K.Govindarajulu for the top position (President) in the Tamilnadu Jewellers Federation. KSP had worked a lot for the Vasavi Mudhiyor Illam.
This early wholesaler had people like M.Ramalingam for company. KSP was good in public relations and negotiations while his brother K.S.Govindarajulu was good with workshop maintainance. They made a good combination. This helped them to part ways peacefully and happily. The cordial relationship continues between the families. The cousins like each other and here is one family which is free of jealousy. KSP & KSG succeeded due to family unity. Some of his shop staffers became wholesalers and began competing in business. He never felt bad about these developments. KSP used to state that it was a matter of pride for him. He used to state that if his boss Kothandarama Chettiar had thought that way, he would not have reached the heights in business and in life. "Father used to send items by post parcel. Our staff began to deliver goods later. Both my father and uncle KSG (K.S.Govindarajulu) used to deliver items too." added Radhakrishnan.
"I remember my father telling me about the purchase of our house. Decades ago the big jeweler P.A.Raju Chettiar put up Surya Prabha Mills in Kuniamuthur. He sold a few of his properties in order to fund the construction of his mill. My father was very hesitant to approach the great man and get to buy one his properties. Somehow he gathered himself and went to PAR for moving forward. He bought the house and it is still with the family. Father used to tell me that he learnt much about public life from PAR. The grand man had been the tallest jeweler in the south. All the jewelers of the south would respect and regard PAR. They followed him for he was the undisputed leader among the jewelers. He told me that his association with P.A.Raju Chettiar (PAR) helped him to move in the social space," smiled the son K. S. P. Radhakrishnan. The Jewellers among Coimbatoreans produced many stalwarts and KSP was tall among them.
Wholesalers like K.S.Pandurangam were among the early birds in their line of activity. Their good work was emulated by many and today Coimbatore is the jewellery capital of the south.