Bernard Dragon News Today

The area used to be dominated by a wealthy group of Indian bankers and spice tycoons, but after World War II much of the area fell into disrepair.

Resplendent homes that once belonged to Chettinad tycoons now lie dilapidated and overgrown with vegetation, but the descendants of these owners as well as architects are taking an interest in preserving this built heritage.

Time has not been kind to the nearly 11,000 palatial homes built across the Chettinad region for tycoons who made their fortune trading gems and spices during the era of British colonial rule.

NEW DELHI, Feb 5 — Thousands of mansions in a remote corner of India once housed some of the nation’s wealthiest bankers and traders but a century later most of them lie abandoned, their desolate remains a mute testament to lost riches. The tycoons of Chettinad, near the country’s southern...

Thousands of mansions in a remote corner of India once housed some of the nation’s wealthiest bankers and traders but a century later most of them lie abandoned, their desolate remains a mute testament to lost riches.

Thousands of mansions in a remote corner of India once housed some of the nation's wealthiest bankers and traders but a century later most of them lie abandoned, their desolate remains a mute testame…

Many of the palatial homes now appear dilapidated and overgrown with vegetation

Chettinad's residents belonged to a caste of Tamil merchants, and the location was an ideal staging post for a maritime merchant empire.

Thousands of mansions in a remote corner of India once housed some of the nation's wealthiest bankers and traders but a century later most of them lie abandoned, their desolate remains a mute testament to lost riches.

Thousands of mansions in a remote corner of India once housed some of the nation’s wealthiest bankers and traders but a century later most of them lie abandoned, their desolate remains a mute testament to lost riches.