The dawn of the Vijayanagar Empire in the year 1336 ushered
in a lot of migrations all over the south. A large number of Telugu and Kannada
speaking people migrated to the Tamil speaking parts of the country. The black
cotton soil farmers of Andhra Pradesh moved over to the black cotton soil
regions of Tamilnadu along with their seeds. This added to the seed diversity
of the region in a big way. The Rasakondalar clan from Andhra had migrated to
the Coimbatore and made it their home for ever. The clan has been ensconced in
Pappanaickenpalayam for a few centuries.
Periya Govindaswamy Naidu of the Rasakondalar clan was born
in the year 1858 at Coimbatore. He was known to be a content person who accommodated
his siblings well. In fact when the properties of his family were partitioned he
took ones the discarded by his brothers. He was a peoples' person and took a
keen interest in the affairs of his neighborhood all his life. Periya
Govindaswamy Naidu participated in the joys and sorrows of the people who lived
in Pappanaickenpalayam. His humanitarian approach made him an endearing person
in his village.
Periya Govindaswamy Naidu attended each and every wedding in
Pappanaickenpalayam. He was given the honour of garlanding the bridegrooms of
his village at the time of the wedding. His fair complexion and well-built
personality were further enriched by his massive head and bushy moustache. He
had a full attire for both the bride and groom with him. It consisted of a dark
coloured alpaca coat, an embroidered dhoti, an angavasthram and a turban for
the groom. He had a complete set of jewellery for the brides to wear at the
time of the wedding and also a fine white horse with brown spots for the grooms
as part of his possessions. The horse was trained to behave in a calm and
composed manner during while transporting the bridegroom who rode on it to the
bride's place to take the hand of the obliging lady.
Medical relief work was carried out by Periya Govindaswamy
Naidu in full gusto. He had a working knowledge of native medicine and he used
to offer remedies for the poor. He had medicines for eczema and cure from
poisons with him at all times. This was prepared by him at the time of Solar
Eclipses and the activity was accompanied by prayer. His home was a dispensary
for the locals. The roofs of the houses were made of tiles and they harbored
snakes, scorpions, rats and lizards of all kinds. Rats used to drop from the
ceilings of houses, spin around and stop dead at the times of plague. The
homemakers used to pour kerosene on the rat, burn it and apply kerosene on the
limbs for safety. Plagues were common then due to lack of hygiene and it broke
out once in the year 1903. The local Government ordered the people to quit with
the aid of a ' Dandora '. Periya Govindaswamy Naidu was against this evacuation
for he felt that would cause a greater danger for want of proper sanitation in
the new place. He asked people to pretend as though they had left the places by
living silently. Naidu used to attend on the afflicted day and night. He took
the help of two native doctors - Sodalamuthu and Bhashyakarulu to take care of
the task of attending to the medical needs of the sick. A Dalit assistant was
his other aide in this regard. He was fined a sum of Rs.50 for not complying
with Government orders. The fine was paid with a smile. The people of
Coimbatore used to move out on pilgrimages during plague. They had get a '
passport ' in order to leave Coimbatore and had to register themselves with the
authorities in the place of arrival. Authorities used to pay the people in
order to get them vaccinated. The spotted white horse used to take Periya
Govindaswamy Naidu from one place to the other. He believed that his prosperity
and happiness in life were because of the horse. The horse passed away in the
year 1916 and Naidu told his friends that he would not live long. He passed
away in the same year.
Periya Govindaswamy was blessed with the birth of a son
Kuppuswamy in the year 1884. The son founded the Lakshmi Mills Company in the
year 1910 and became a legend in his lifetime. Periya Govindaswamy Naidu had
married Ammaniammal alias Eantammal, the sister of the R.Bhima Naidu in the
year 1880 and this played a very vital role in the life of the son Kuppuswamy
later on. Ammaniammal alias Eantammal who happened to be the mother of
Kuppuswamy Naidu hailed from an illustrious family of Uppilipalayam. On growing
up to be a young lad, Kuppuswamy Naidu wanted to take over the family lands
from the tenants and cultivate them himself. However Periya Govindaswamy Naidu
was not agreeable to send the tenants out. He told his son that the tenants
were poor people and had enjoyed a long connection with him. The son was also
told that if the poor tenants were sent away, they would economically find it
difficult to earn their meals. Therefore he told his son Kuppuswamy that he
could cultivate on the lands vacated by the tenants voluntarily for he did not
want to forcibly break the association with them. Young Kuppuswamy decided to
venture into the world of commerce thereafter. The keen father Periya
Govindaswamy got his son Kuppuswamy married to Lakshmii Ammal, the daughter of
Periya Veedu Ramaswamy Naidu of Vaiyampalayam who belonged to a prominent
family. G.Kuppuswamy Naidu and his wife Lakshmi Ammal were blessed with the
famous B.R.Ranganayaki Ammal ( wife of B.Rangaswamy Naidu of Rajalakshmi Mills
), G.K.Devarajulu ( Founder Lakshmi Machine Works and South India Viscose ),
G.K.Sundaram ( Former Member of Parliament and Chairman - Lakshmi Mills ),
G.K.Govindaswamy ( who went along with a number of Coimbatoreans around the
world in the year 1949) and G.K.Rajagopal (who dedicated a lot of his time and
energy to put Coimbatore on the golfing map of the country). G.Venkataswamy
Naidu was the second son of Periya Govindaswamy Naidu.
The religious minded Periya Govindaswamy Naidu took a keen
interest in the religious life of people around him. He built a choultry at the
self manifested or Swayambhu Venkatesa Perumal Temple at Mondipalayam and
arranged for the feeding of the poor in a large scale on the third Saturday of
the Tamil month of Purattasi every year. He built and maintained a Vinayakar
and Mariamman Temple at Pappanaickenpalayam in co operation with the members of
his family. Periya Govindaswamy Naidu played an important role in the annual
Mariamman festival and he was responsible for the establishment of the Sri
Srinivasa Perumal Temple along with the members of his family at
Pappanaickenpalayam. The temple of Lord Srinivasa Perumal has become a great
place of pilgrimage in Coimbatore.
The life of Periya Govindaswamy Naidu throws much light of
the positive attitude and the living conditions of the people of Coimbatore
over a hundred years ago.
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