Coimbatore is located in a rain shadow region and the monsoon-fed River Noyyal was never sufficient to address the drinking water needs of its denizens.
Coimbatore is located in a rain shadow region and the monsoon-fed River Noyyal was never sufficient to address the drinking water needs of its denizens.
People had to draw water from the ‘Ananthaiyan Kinaru’ or well named after him and use it for cooking and drinking. The Siruvani drinking water scheme changed the story overnight in the year 1929 thanks to the effective execution of the project by Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar who was wise enough to draw on the findings of S.P.Narasimhalu Naidu.
A number of families living in the Pettai area of the town were involved in providing drinking water to the people and this was financially fruitful for them.
One Ramaswamy Iyer and his wife Alamelu lived in a ‘rettai thotti’ house in Raja Street and they used to own 10 bullock carts that used to supply drinking water to the people living in the agraharam of Coimbatore.
The couple were blessed with 16 children and Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer was one of them. The family members used to draw water from the Ananthaiyan Kinaru, fill up the containers attached to their carts and then supply water door to door.
The family members thrived on the business of water supply, cooking and by officiating as priests. Duraiswamy Iyer was actively involved in the supply of water and he was a well-built person who could do this job easily.
The household had a couple of buffaloes too. He used to supply water to the people living in Sami Iyer Pudhu Veedhi, Raja Street, Karuppa Gounder Street, Sullivan Street and Telugu Brahmin Street.
It was at this time that he came across on wrestler who was known as Bayilwan Kamaluddin living in Chetty Veedhi. Kamaluddin hailed from the North and Duraiswamy Iyer got himself enrolled as a disciple of the wrestler in order to pick up the skill.
Ultimately Duraisamy Iyer became the first Brahmin wrestler in Coimbatore and he began offering his services to the movie companies which worked from the Central Studios on Trichy Road. Prior to this he managed the affairs of a cycle company and took up the business independently by running an outlet near the Pettai Visweswaraswamy Temple.
The film world gave him a number of opportunities and he served as a stunt master by training a number of artists at the iconic Central Studios. He worked with P.U.Chinnappa, N.S.Krishnan while also donning roles in movies like ' Naam Iruvar ', ' Aryamala ' etc., He used to work in food outlets inbetween movies and became a culinary expert overtime. Personal reasons took him to Madurai and he did work in Murugan Studios for some time.
At one stage he decided to indulge in the business of food and established a food business in Uppukottai. He lost money in the venture and came up with a mobile food outlet in Theni and also ran a similar business at Usilampatti. At one time, Duraisamy Iyer had 5 push carts vending food and his wife Chellammal was also involved in the running of one of the pushcarts. Finally he decided to move over to Coimbatore in the interest of his family by the year 1960.
Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer (1910 - 1975) set up a food cart business from the Sokkampudur area at a time when it was uninhabited. He used to cook the food and set up his mobile cart in the junction of Edayar and Telugu Brahmin Streets for business. Business kept him busy but he was an out and out religious person. He used pray for the wellbeing of others and give them a 'mandricha kayiru ' (a thread powered by a sacred hymn). Sacred Vibhuthi was also given to the people who were in need of the grace of God.
In spite of looking fearsome due to his huge mustache and headgear, Duraiswamy Iyer was liked by the people. He used to wear a Jubba and dhoti all his life. Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer purchased an eleven cent piece of land in Ponnaiyarajapuram and built a house cum commercial kitchen for his wife Chellammal and his six sons - Balasubramaniam, Rameswaran, Ramamurthy, Kalyanasundaram, Sivaswamy and Ananthakumar. He doted on Meera, the daughter of his younger brother Nataraja Iyer who used to supply food for the members of the Social Club in the R.S.Puram area. Later on S.Radhakrishnan, a friend of one of the sons of Bayilwan was made the son in law of the family.
Chellam Canteen was managed by Duraiswamy Iyer until the year 1970 and thereafter he handed over the push cart business to his sons. He used get up early, walk all the way to Gandhipuram, then reach V.O.C.Park and finally come to Telugu Brahmin Street via Raja Street. He was able to prophesize his end in this world and had even informed the man in charge of the crematorium about his inkling. Duraiswamy Iyer purchased jasmines for his wife Chellammal just before he passed away, made a strand and offered it to her.
The next day he went out for a walk but returned immediately, told his family about his departure and passed away all of a sudden. His bachelor son Sivaswamy who has turned into a monk stated some facts, " Father told us that in spite of having been born with 15 siblings, the family did not come up well and therefore he wanted all of us to stay in the house built by him forever. We are still living here in spite of carrying out different vocations. My elder brother Rameswaran runs a restaurant from home and the other brother Ramamurthy, a Bayilwan himself runs the food outlet from a push cart at the interjection of Karuppa Gounder Street and Raja Street at the age of 68 years. He was trained to be so by Mysore Bhoja Rao who used to manage Udupi Ganesh Bhavan on Mill Road.
Our father did his last gusthi or wrestling with cine fame Shyam Sundar at Madurai in the year 1959. He had been to Sri Lanka and Singapore those years and a silver gadhayudham (mace) was presented to him abroad. Our other brother Kalyanasundaram who is a graduate does the final rites for the departed without making any demands and this service was offered earlier by just one lady, Gomathi Mami. As priests we are not supposed to make demands from the public at any cost. Father was a mature man who gave away all his gold rings to his children at the right time. We have installed his statue at home and are very proud of him. Bayilwan mixture and thayir vadai are favourites with the customers".
The family shared an interesting episode connected with the family of Chellammal whose parents had lived near Ponnoothu in the neighbourhood of Chinnathadagam. Interestingly Chellammal was born to another Ramaswamy Iyer and Alamelu who had a horse in their household. One day she discovered a bright stone in the horse dung and began using it as a toy. One man had offered her two rupees and she refused to part with it. Eventually one person offered fifty and another offered hundred immediately. Ultimately the offer went up to a thousand rupees and Chellammal's father Ramaswamy Iyer took it to the jeweller P.A.Raju Chettiar who identified it as a gem stone and purchased it for one thousand five hundred rupees. This incident took place more than eighty five years ago. The lucky stone was said to be a bestower of good fortune. It was perhaps the Syamantaka Gem of Coimbatore.
People had to draw water from the ‘Ananthaiyan Kinaru’ or well named after him and use it for cooking and drinking. The Siruvani drinking water scheme changed the story overnight in the year 1929 thanks to the effective execution of the project by Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar who was wise enough to draw on the findings of S.P.Narasimhalu Naidu.
A number of families living in the Pettai area of the town were involved in providing drinking water to the people and this was financially fruitful for them.
One Ramaswamy Iyer and his wife Alamelu lived in a ‘rettai thotti’ house in Raja Street and they used to own 10 bullock carts that used to supply drinking water to the people living in the agraharam of Coimbatore.
The couple were blessed with 16 children and Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer was one of them. The family members used to draw water from the Ananthaiyan Kinaru, fill up the containers attached to their carts and then supply water door to door.
The family members thrived on the business of water supply, cooking and by officiating as priests. Duraiswamy Iyer was actively involved in the supply of water and he was a well-built person who could do this job easily.
The household had a couple of buffaloes too. He used to supply water to the people living in Sami Iyer Pudhu Veedhi, Raja Street, Karuppa Gounder Street, Sullivan Street and Telugu Brahmin Street.
It was at this time that he came across on wrestler who was known as Bayilwan Kamaluddin living in Chetty Veedhi. Kamaluddin hailed from the North and Duraiswamy Iyer got himself enrolled as a disciple of the wrestler in order to pick up the skill.
Ultimately Duraisamy Iyer became the first Brahmin wrestler in Coimbatore and he began offering his services to the movie companies which worked from the Central Studios on Trichy Road. Prior to this he managed the affairs of a cycle company and took up the business independently by running an outlet near the Pettai Visweswaraswamy Temple.
The film world gave him a number of opportunities and he served as a stunt master by training a number of artists at the iconic Central Studios. He worked with P.U.Chinnappa, N.S.Krishnan while also donning roles in movies like ' Naam Iruvar ', ' Aryamala ' etc., He used to work in food outlets inbetween movies and became a culinary expert overtime. Personal reasons took him to Madurai and he did work in Murugan Studios for some time.
At one stage he decided to indulge in the business of food and established a food business in Uppukottai. He lost money in the venture and came up with a mobile food outlet in Theni and also ran a similar business at Usilampatti. At one time, Duraisamy Iyer had 5 push carts vending food and his wife Chellammal was also involved in the running of one of the pushcarts. Finally he decided to move over to Coimbatore in the interest of his family by the year 1960.
Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer (1910 - 1975) set up a food cart business from the Sokkampudur area at a time when it was uninhabited. He used to cook the food and set up his mobile cart in the junction of Edayar and Telugu Brahmin Streets for business. Business kept him busy but he was an out and out religious person. He used pray for the wellbeing of others and give them a 'mandricha kayiru ' (a thread powered by a sacred hymn). Sacred Vibhuthi was also given to the people who were in need of the grace of God.
In spite of looking fearsome due to his huge mustache and headgear, Duraiswamy Iyer was liked by the people. He used to wear a Jubba and dhoti all his life. Bayilwan Duraiswamy Iyer purchased an eleven cent piece of land in Ponnaiyarajapuram and built a house cum commercial kitchen for his wife Chellammal and his six sons - Balasubramaniam, Rameswaran, Ramamurthy, Kalyanasundaram, Sivaswamy and Ananthakumar. He doted on Meera, the daughter of his younger brother Nataraja Iyer who used to supply food for the members of the Social Club in the R.S.Puram area. Later on S.Radhakrishnan, a friend of one of the sons of Bayilwan was made the son in law of the family.
Chellam Canteen was managed by Duraiswamy Iyer until the year 1970 and thereafter he handed over the push cart business to his sons. He used get up early, walk all the way to Gandhipuram, then reach V.O.C.Park and finally come to Telugu Brahmin Street via Raja Street. He was able to prophesize his end in this world and had even informed the man in charge of the crematorium about his inkling. Duraiswamy Iyer purchased jasmines for his wife Chellammal just before he passed away, made a strand and offered it to her.
The next day he went out for a walk but returned immediately, told his family about his departure and passed away all of a sudden. His bachelor son Sivaswamy who has turned into a monk stated some facts, " Father told us that in spite of having been born with 15 siblings, the family did not come up well and therefore he wanted all of us to stay in the house built by him forever. We are still living here in spite of carrying out different vocations. My elder brother Rameswaran runs a restaurant from home and the other brother Ramamurthy, a Bayilwan himself runs the food outlet from a push cart at the interjection of Karuppa Gounder Street and Raja Street at the age of 68 years. He was trained to be so by Mysore Bhoja Rao who used to manage Udupi Ganesh Bhavan on Mill Road.
Our father did his last gusthi or wrestling with cine fame Shyam Sundar at Madurai in the year 1959. He had been to Sri Lanka and Singapore those years and a silver gadhayudham (mace) was presented to him abroad. Our other brother Kalyanasundaram who is a graduate does the final rites for the departed without making any demands and this service was offered earlier by just one lady, Gomathi Mami. As priests we are not supposed to make demands from the public at any cost. Father was a mature man who gave away all his gold rings to his children at the right time. We have installed his statue at home and are very proud of him. Bayilwan mixture and thayir vadai are favourites with the customers".
The family shared an interesting episode connected with the family of Chellammal whose parents had lived near Ponnoothu in the neighbourhood of Chinnathadagam. Interestingly Chellammal was born to another Ramaswamy Iyer and Alamelu who had a horse in their household. One day she discovered a bright stone in the horse dung and began using it as a toy. One man had offered her two rupees and she refused to part with it. Eventually one person offered fifty and another offered hundred immediately. Ultimately the offer went up to a thousand rupees and Chellammal's father Ramaswamy Iyer took it to the jeweller P.A.Raju Chettiar who identified it as a gem stone and purchased it for one thousand five hundred rupees. This incident took place more than eighty five years ago. The lucky stone was said to be a bestower of good fortune. It was perhaps the Syamantaka Gem of Coimbatore.