Satappa Ramanatha Muthiah Chettiar (died 1900) was an Indian merchant, banker and philanthropist known for his work in renovating Saivite temples in India. He was the patriarch of the S. Rm. M. family. The M. Ct. family has descended from Muthiah's first son, S. Rm. M. Chidambaram Chettiar.

Early life

Muthiah Chettiar was born in

Kanadukathan Kanadukathan is a Town Panchayat in the Karaikudi taluk of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics In 2001, Kanadukathan had a population of 4,795 people. Of these, 10% were under 6 years of age. The town is evenly split between mal ...

in about 1840 to Ramanathan Chettiar, an important leader of the

Nagarathar The Nagarathar (also known as Nattukottai Chettiar) is a Tamil people, Tamil caste found native in Tamil Nadu, India. They are a mercantile community who are traditionally involved in commerce, banking and Money-Lending, money lending. They u ...

community of

Chettinad Chettinad (also known as Chettinadu) is a region located mainly in the Sivaganga district historically ruled by Ramnad kingdom of Pandya Nadu and has a small portion extending into the Pudukottai District in Tamil Nadu, India..Karaikudi and ...

. Muthiah Chettiar had little education.

Work

At an early age, Muthiah Chettiar entered the family profession of banking. He extended his activities to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

and made a huge fortune.

Philanthropy

Muthiah Chettiar is remembered by most other member of the S. Rm. family for his philanthropical activities. He spent

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

s of rupees to renovate the Nataraja Temple 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 ...

. He financed the construction and maintenance of the Arudra Dharsanam choultry in Chidambaram. He also constructed the Nagarathar choultry near the Dasaswamedha Ghat in

Benares 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 tr ...

Death

Muthiah Chettiar died in about 1900.

Family Tree

References

* 1840 births 1900 deaths Indian bankers Indian merchants 19th-century Indian philanthropists {{India-business-bio-stub