India’s crumbling Chettinad mansions and their faded opulence offer a glimpse of past glories

In Chettinad, a region covering about 1,500 square km (600 square miles) in southern India, there are more than 15,000 mansions that are, for the most part, in differing states of decay.

For about a century, rich bankers and traders poured their money into erecting the biggest, most beautiful mansions they could create. But after World War II, much of the region’s wealth dried up due to people moving away and new laws imposed by the Indian government.

The mansions are still standing though. The average mansion spans up to 50,000 sq ft (4,650 square metres) and has more than 50 rooms. They’re so big that many current owners can barely afford to maintain them.

About 400km (250 miles) south of Chennai, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, there is an isolated, dry region called Chettinad, which covers about 600 square miles.

On your way to Chettinad, you will pass through a typical rural Indian scene – fields, small villages, and little concrete buildings.

But when you arrive you will see something unusual lining the sleepy streets of 74 towns – mansions, more than 15,000 of them, all in differing conditions.

Some of them still have residents living there, but many are now decaying, if not in ruins.

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The mansions were built by the Nattukottai Chettiars, a clan thought to have moved to the region hundreds of years ago after a tsunami destroyed their original coastal home.

In the 1600s, they traded gems and salt, but it wasn’t until they began working and trading with the British Empire that they really made their fortunes.

They were primarily bankers – some lent money to kings and the British Raj – and traders, shipping spices, rice, and gems to countries like Malaysia, Burma (now Myanmar) and Vietnam.

They made their fortunes and spent them building the mansions, beginning in 1850 and ending around World War II.

The average mansion spans 40,000-50,000 sq ft and has at least 50 rooms. Some also featured expansive courtyards.

The tycoons spared no expense on fittings either. They had teak shipped from Burma and glazed ceramic tiles shipped from Birmingham.

They bought grandfather clocks from Switzerland, mirrors with mahogany frames from Belgium, and chandeliers up to three metres (10 feet) wide from Venice.

An architect named Bernard Dragon, who restores some of the mansions, told AFP that at that time, “there was a competition between the Chettiars themselves to create the most beautiful building – more beautiful than the brother, the cousin, whatever.”

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According to The New York Times, there was no designated style for the region either.

Unlike the extravagant exteriors, the mansions’ interiors were usually more traditional. After entering a front gate, a mansion typically had a raised and covered platform where business was conducted.

This was an exclusively male zone; women were not allowed at the mansion’s entrance.

The families held their ceremonies in interior courtyards. Unlike Western mansions, there was little furniture for comfort.

Despite all of the rooms and space, there was also little privacy. Families traditionally slept together, bringing out bedrolls every night.

As the tycoons travelled for work and saw international trends – for instance, in the 1930s, art deco had become popular – they replicated the styles back in Chettinad.

But the boom didn’t last. Everything changed around World War II as many Chettiars were forced to leave their mansions and their fortunes behind.

They moved to places like the United States, Singapore, and Mumbai.

Things didn’t improve after the war either. Across India, independence movements surged, and the government implemented new policies limiting foreign trade.

Soon, mansions were being abandoned and became rundown and dilapidated. Some mansions were torn up by wreckers who profited off the expensive trimmings.

Other mansions remained with the same families who had originally built them.

But in the following years, many of the owners struggled to afford the upkeep, or they got locked in family disputes about what should be done with them.

The mansions are now seen as comparable to England’s castles: not particularly useful, but an important emblem of the past. The New York Times described them as “status symbols of staggering heft, worrisome expense, and emotional attachment.”

Most of the more wealthy owners don’t live in them full-time. They live in Chennai and return regularly for celebrations, like weddings or funerals.

Not everyone can afford to move away. One mansion owner named Rama Kumarappan lived with his wife, two kids, and an aunt in a 63-bedroom mansion, where black mould covered the walls.

“When you tell people outside here that you are a Chettiar they assume you are rich,” he told The New York Times. “I love this house but to keep it up is an impossible thought.”

In the last few decades, to deal with costs, some owners have rented their mansions to film studios, where they’re often used as a setting for traditional wedding scenes.

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Other mansions have been converted into luxury hotels. Meenakshi Mayappan, the owner of a hotel called the Bangala, told The New York Times in 2017 that she thought about her mansion’s fate constantly.

“My son tells me to take things day by day, but that is impossible for me,” she said. “There is too much at stake.”

There aren’t many other options left to owners. Selling up isn’t really an option since there’s little demand for an old mansion in a remote area that costs so much in upkeep.

And often a sale isn’t even the point. The mansions are famous across India. To own one is to own a symbol of wealth and prestige. Some owners think this is worth paying for, even if the region’s glory days are now over.