Vallal Pachaiyappa Mudaliar (1754–1794) or Arcot Pachayyappa Mudaliar was a

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

merchant, philanthropist, and

dubash Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous interp ...

of the 18th century. Commemorative stamp on Vallal Pachaiyappa was released 31 March 2010.

Early life

Vallal Pachaiyappa Mudaliar was born to Visvanatha Mudaliar of Tuluva Vellala (Agamudaya) community in Periyapalaiyam in Thiruvallur district. Invited to Madras by dubash Narayana Pillai, he became a ''dubash'' at the age of 16 and amassed a fortune by the time he was 21.

Ramanuja Kavirayar Ramanuja Kavirayar (1780, Ramanathapuram – 1853, Madras) was a Tamil savant and poet. Living in Madras, he dominated the world of Tamil letters and had several eminent Tamil scholars as his students. Ramanuja Kavirayar pioneered the work of ...

had written Pancharatnamala on Pachaiyappa Mudaliar.

As dubash

A protégé of Narayana Pillai, Vallal Pachaiyappa Mudaliar rose to dubash-ship soon after the demise of his mentor. During the same time, his employers the Powney family comprising the brothers Henry Powney and Thomas Powney rose to Mayorship of Madras. This increased the stature of Vallal Pachaiyappa Mudaliar and he emerged as one of the richest and most powerful men in Madras city.

Lifestyle

Despite being one of the richest men in the city, Pachaiyappa Mudaliar led a simple and austere lifestyle. He built a house at No. 26, Pagoda Street in the year 1790. There, he lived until his death. His life has been the subject of a detailed biography by one of his contemporaries. Witnesses recall that Pachaiyappa Mudaliar would bathe in the Coovum every day along with his affluent neighbours before worshipping at the temple at Komaleeswaranpet. He was a frequent worshipper in Kanchipuram Ekambaranatha Temple, and contributed for Temple renovation at his own expense. His statue could be seen in Kanchi

Ekambareswarar Ekambareswarar Temple (Ekambaranathar Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in the town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, India. It is significant to the Hindu sect of Saivism as one of the temples associated with the fi ...

temple's pillar. A similar Ekambareswarar temple was built in Parry's corner (Old: George Town), Chennai to reduce the travel time to Kanchi. He divided his time between Chennai and

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

and used to travel to his village, Periyapalayam (Today: Tiruvallur district) regularly. During the journey, he used to stop for days at

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be of si ...

to pray at the famous Hindu temple.

Death

Pachaiyappa Mudaliar's health deteriorated rapidly and one such visit to Thanjavur in 1794 he fell ill at

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

and died at

Tiruvaiyaru Thiruvaiyaru (also spelled as Tiruvaiyaru or Tiruvayyaru) is a panchayat town in Thanjavur District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Etymology Thiruvaiyaru means ''Five Rivers around the city''. The Five Rivers are Vadavaar, Vennaar, Vett ...

on 31 March 1794.

Will

Pachaiyappa Mudaliar was one of the first Indians to leave a will. He had set aside Rs. 450,000 of what he had left to be spent on Hindu religious institutions and the remaining Rs. 700,000 on providing an English education to Hindu youth. ("At the time of his death his fortune was estimated at five lakhs of pagodas or 1.7 million rupees" Reference: The Dubashes of Madras by Susan Neild-Basu (1984)). The bequests, however, remained contested even after that and it was 1909 before the courts appointed a board of trustees and formulated a scheme for the smooth running of the trust. As the 1990s dawned, it was reported that the Trust was worth over 45 billion, one of the biggest in that part of the world. Apart from administering religious charities from

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, it ran six colleges, a polytechnic and 16 schools in Tamil Nadu, helped several medical facilities and owned several properties in the State. The

Pachaiyappa's College Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In addition, it is the first sole Indian college in Madras Presidency. History Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai is the resul ...

is one institution for which Pachaiyappa Mudaliar became well known. This college was established as Pachaiyappa's Central Institution at Popham's Broadway on 1 January 1842 from the funds, Pachaiyappa Mudaliar had allocated to charities as per the contents of his will. In 1856, the institution shifted to its own premises at China Bazaar. It became a school in 1850 and a college in 1889. The Pachaiyappa's Central Institution is the first non-missionary, non-British-financed education institution in South India.

References

External links

* * ''Madras Rediscovered'' by S. Muthiah {{DEFAULTSORT:Mudaliar, Pachaiyappa 1754 births 1794 deaths People of British India History of Chennai British East India Company people People from Thanjavur district