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Get Coimbatore's history in a nutshell through "Therindha Kovai theriyaadha kadhai"
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PHOTO: K. Ananthan
RICH IN HERITAGE: A book on a city with a hoary past.
Do you know how long Coimbatore has been an administrative headquarters? It completed 200 years in November 2004. You can find this and many such interesting details in "Therindha Kovai theriyaadha kadhai" authored by `Kavianban' K.R. Babu.
Here is some more information on the textile city. Coimbatore came under British control in 1799, the first railway service in the region (between Erode and Podanur) began in May 1872, the first textile mill, CS&W Stanes Mill, was started by Robert Stanes in 1888, Bhavani and Dharapuram, were the headquarters of Coimbatore district before 1804. It was shifted to Coimbatore city on November 24, 1804.
Coimbatore, once a dense forest, was formed 1200 years ago. It had four streets on the East-West and six streets on the North-South. The streets were square shaped like the ones during the Chola period.
"The book is based on information gathered from history books, interaction with people and data collected from places of interest. It is a compilation of articles and essays published in Siruvani Mail from December 2002," says the author.
Covan, a tribal chieftain, ruled Covanpathy, an area that comprised forests when Sundaramurthy Nayanar visited the Patteeswarar temple in Perur. The Chera King who accompanied Nayanar wanted the place to be converted into a town.
Thus, Covanputhur (later known as Coimbatore) came into existence in 9th century A.D. In fact, Perur has been described as `Naatu Covanputhur' in one of the inscriptions. The book has quite a few other interesting details.
Here are a few. The Siruvani scheme was originally conceived by S.P. Narasimhalu Naidu in 1889. However, it was implemented only in 1929 following acute water crisis.
Contrary to popular perception, Oppanakkara Street does not derive its name from `oppanaikkaarargal' (makeup artistes). According to the author, people who were in-charge of disbursing money during the Vijayanagar rule, inhabited the street.
Hope College (named after Arthur Hope, then Governor of Madras Presidency) is where the first government polytechnic of the region was started in 1945.
The population of Coimbatore declined in 1800 following a series of wars. Dr. Buchanan of the British Raj has documented this.
The book also details how Veerkeralam (originally Veerakerala Nallur) became the headquarters of Coimbatore for a brief period and gives an account of the irrigation tanks built during the Kongu Chola period. It also has information on Pandya rule in the region, formation of Congress Committee by industrialist G. Kuppusamy Naidu, history of Kongunadu, its temples, Poolaimedu (Peelamedu), Sulur and the streets of the city and the growth of cinema in Coimbatore.
The District Collector, S. Kosalaraman, released the book and the first copy was received by D. Srinivasan, Director, Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar Group at a function organised in the city recently.
M. ALLIRAJAN
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