N.R.Karuppanna Nadar was born in the year 1863 at Velliyampadhi Village near Kinathupadi as the great-grandson of agrarian Chinnappa Nadar.
N.R.Karuppanna Nadar was born in the year 1863 at Velliyampadhi Village , Kinathupadi as the great-grandson of agrarian Chinnappa Nadar.
The people of the Kongunad region suffered at the times of the famine which occurred during the second half of the nineteenth century. The inexperience and lack of sensitivity which existed during the rule of the British colonizers accentuated the worries of the local populace.
The family of Chinnappa Nadar sold their lands and moved over to work in the farms of Nanjundapuram Periya Mirasdar Ramaswamy Nadar by the year 1865. The Eswara Varudathu Panjam (1877) was one more hurdle for the people of this region. Karuppanna Nadar married his relative Karuppayammal in the year 1887. Eventually, the youngster took a grove on lease and began to produce jaggery with the "padhaneer" that was tapped by him personally.
The visionary Karuppanna Nadar teamed up with W.V.Ramaswamy Chettiar (grandfather of Dr.R.K.Shanmukham Chetty, the first Finance Minister of independent India) and began taking 'toddy shop contracts' along with him.
The partnership with W.V.Ramaswamy Chettiar ushered in prosperity and this enabled Karuppanna Nadar to construct his own house by 1900. The wise entrepreneur invested in a lot of lands, properties within Coimbatore and also used his wealth to get both his sisters married off with lots of property as gifts on his behalf. Karuppayammal and Karuppanna Nadar were blessed with Kuppayammal, Rangaswamy Nadar, and Sankarammal.
Unfortunately, Karuppayammal passed away when her last daughter was just 7 years old.
However, Karuppanna Nadar decided to stay as a widower in order to bring up his children. The charitable gentleman began his act of charity by sponsoring the creation of a well in the Paalamarathu Karupparayan Temple for his wife had suffered due to an excruciating stomach pain in that area. Thereafter the N.R.Karuppanna Nadar Dharmasthapanam has been offering prayers and abhishekham during the annual Panguni festival in the temple.
The charitable Karuppanna Nadar got the Nanjundapuram Karivaradaraja Perumal Temple constructed in the year 1914 and also contributed 3 huge doors for the temple belonging to Kollvaithoppu Palaniappa Thevar. The planner in Karuppanna Nadar ensured that endowments were created in the form of agricultural lands in order to conduct temple prayers and festivals.
The Thirumurugan Poondi Muruganathaswamy Temple near Tirupur was known for curing people with mental ailments and N.R.Karuppanna Nadar contributed much by constructing a choultry along with a well for the people staying over in search of relief from such issues. He contributed three wooden cars for the temple festivities and also a nice stone shed with a metal roof in order to ensure that they could withstand the vagaries of the weather. Additionally, gold ornaments were contributed by him and the annual 'Maasi Madha Mandabha Kattalai' is done in his name.
N.R.Karuppanna Nadar got his son K.Rangaswamy Nadar married to Parvathi Ammal, the daughter of Nanjundapuram Nanjaiya Nadar and this matrimonial relationship enabled both the families to team up and do a lot of good for the people of Nanjundapuram. The descendants of both the families continue to do a lot of good for the temples and institutions in Nanjundapuram.
' Periyavar ' N.R.Karuppanna Nadar responded to the clarion call of the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Karmaveerar K.Kamaraj by establishing a school at Kunnathur for which he purchased land with his own money in the year 1956 and N.Govindaswamy Nadar, the son of Nanjaiya Nadar contributed a sum of Rs.10000 towards the same. The ' N.R.Karuppanna Nadar Kalvi Nilayam ' was inaugurated by Chief Minister K.Kamaraj in the presence of the Pattakarar of Palayakottai Nalla Senathipathy Sarkarai Mandradiar. Karuppanna Nadar left behind a number of endowments for the maintenance of the school and a number of students from here have done really well for themselves and the society. He was quite close to the Dewan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar, Dewan Bahadur C.V.Venkataramana Iyengar, V.S.Sengottiah, P.S.G family, S.N.R family and he had won over their friendship along with unstinting support. He chose to stay away from the toddy shop auctions for a year on the request of V.O.Chidambaram Pillai.
‘Periyavar ' lived a life of charity and piety throughout his life. He used to ensure that 10 people were fed every day before having his own meal at his house in Nanjundapuram. Those days a pilgrimage to the holy city of Kasi was the aim of every single person and N.R.Karuppanna Nadar undertook 2 visits to the sacred place along with his near and dear. He booked a complete compartment along with helpers and cooks at his own cost and successfully undertook the pilgrimages. This way he ensured that the wishes of many a devout in his circle were fulfilled. N.R.Karuppanna Nadar lived a frugal life in spite of possessing a huge fortune. He believed in charity every day and gave away half of his earnings for charitable purposes. The people of Nanjundapuram used to call him ' Periyavar ' and his house used to be known as ' Nadaiveedu ' for it had 5 ' Nilaipadis ' which would take one to the other street.
Surrounded by pianos and books on music, N.R.Sankaranarayanan and his wife Vatsala recall N.R.Karuppanna Nadar vividly, “We used to live in Trichy Road and my grandfather lived at Nanjundapuram. My son Manivannan was born in his centennial year and he came over to see him in our car. I still remember my grandfather placing his great-grandchild on his lap while taking a large number of chocolates and putting it into his coat pocket in order to celebrate the birth. He ate a couple of chocolates while enjoying the moment with the great-grandchild on his lap. Now both our sons - Manivannan and Sanjai live in Trichy Road while our musician daughter Umarani lives with us at Nanjundapuram." The sylvan setting added flavor to the fabulous story of N.R.Karuppanna Nadar.
N.R.Karuppanna Nadar (1863 - 1963), the Periyavar of Nanjundapuram was one of the rare philanthropists who gave away half his wealth for charity. His endowments are still being maintained by his descendants and they continue to serve the people with sincerity of purpose.
The story of N.R. Karuppanna Nadar reminds one of Avvaiyar who had eaten the life-prolonging gooseberry and lived long in the interest of the people.