The Chettinad Palace is located in Kanadikathan (Kanadukathan) village in
Tamil Nadu. This 110 year old palace was built by Dr Annamalai Chettiyar, founder of the Indian Bank and the
Annamalai University at
Chidambaram.
Dr Chettiyar was given the honorary title ‘Raja’ (King) as he owned 90 villages in the Chettinadu region. He was a visionary as well as a business tycoon.
The Chettinad Palace conforms to the Chettinad architecture. The construction material, decor items and furnishings had been mostly imported, from East Asian countries and also from Europe. The Palace boasts many artifacts from various countries. The patterns on the ceiling are done in vegetable dye, and plates on the roof are made of copper soldered with a special variety of aluminum. Cement was not used in the construction of the palace. Instead, the bricks are stuck together with a paste made of egg white, lime grind, and the extract of an unripe medicinal fruit found on the hills of Kadukkai.
