Chettinad Jewellery Museum: On Finding Unique Preservations through Community's Stories

A lot is said about the regional flavours, fashion, and rituals, yet very few are preserved in actuality, going beyond the conversations and discussions. Chettinad jewellery finds mention in the second century CE in the Tamil epic, Silappatikaram, where Kannagi and Kovalan’s lives witness upheaval because of an anklet to the jewellery finds its place in the private museum; it can be called quite a journey. In a quest to find the community-based preservations, we landed upon this and on landing in Tamil Nadu, this should be on your radar as well.

In Tamil Nadu’s Karaikudi, which is popular for its grand mansions and intricately designed courtyards, a museum opened last week, which must be on your radar if you are a culture-lover. Situated in the narrow SRM streets of Karaikudi, this is a brainchild of Meenu Subbiah and her decades of efforts aiming to revive a jewellery tradition that, reportedly, once defined the "prosperity and travel history of Nagarathar (Nattukottai Chettiar) community in the southern part of the state".

Nagarathar community and its journey via jewellery

This community once comprised fearless traders who are said to have carried the culture of Chettinad to foreign shores through sea routes, which brought it global recognition. As per Subbiah, even the museum is an ode to the community.

The jewellery kept in the museum is a glimpse of the Chettinad culture of the Nagarathar community. The Nagarathars, who, reportedly, rose as traders and financiers from the early medieval period, were influenced by their travel to Burma, Sri Lanka, and other Southeast Asian countries. 

The name of the museum, Pettagam, has also been borrowed from the community’s tradition, where every Nagarathar household would keep a “pettagam”(locker), an iron strongbox, which the community would use to store gold, diamonds, and other pearls bought domestically and from abroad.

The museum's design boasts the typical Chettinad style, where the ground floor embraces the history of the Nagarathars and their jewellery. At first, on the display here are the most important ornaments in the Nagarathar tradition, the Kazhuthuru, which is said to be a heavy gold bridal necklace made of 34 interlinked pieces, along with the Gauri Shankaram, a ceremonial jewel that men of the community wear at old age.

Reportedly, as seen in the 19th-century photographs of the elderly in the community, the museum also displays necklaces studded with rubies and emeralds, and even bangles designed with crab and conch patterns.

The community's journey is reflected well by the use of the imported gems, including Burmese rubies. However, these rituals soon converted from ritual and identity markers to cultural archive.

Meenu Subbiah, after studying Chettinad jewellery for about 30 years, launched her jewellery business before delving into the plans for the museum. She has even travelled abroad several times in search of the ancient jewellery of Chettinad.

The founder, reportedly, also travelled to different temples to know the jewellery made for deities and tried learning from the black and white photographs available in the temples and from the community elders.

In an interview, she mentioned that the whole process of stitching the fragments of temple jewellery, faded photographs, oral histories from the community elders and some give-away jewellery for preservation has together formed the museum.