Indians have always celebrated art, culture, literature and philosophy… History is full of associations and forums that took this preoccupation seriously. When India witnessed a cultural renaissance between the mid-19 and 20th centuries, it gave rise to several movements.
Coimbatore was no exception. The growth of the city saw a parallel growth in social organisations. Of the many social activists, S.P.Narasimhalu Naidu of Coimbatore was known as Raja Ram Mohan Roy of South India. Another stalwart was Dewan Bahadur Rubgunday Raghunatha Rao (1831 - 1912) a nineteenth century bureaucrat and later the Dewan of Indore (who spent some years here in Coimbatore). They played a major role in shaping the mindset of the city.
In 1956, an association called the Nanneri Kazhagam was formed and T.Bapuraju (1911 - 1995 ) was its conscience keeper. The objective of the association was to imbibe the noble ideals as espoused by the elders to everyone irrespective of religion, caste and language. The association was called NANNERI KAZHAGAM by Kaviyarasu Ku. Natesa Gounder who was a nephew of Kovai Khadar Ayyamuthu.
Nanneri Kazhagam was inaugurated on the 26th of August 1956 by Kundrakudi Adigalar and its patrons, office bearers and members included leading citizens, scholars and philanthropists.
In a 1958 souvenir there is a list of its members that mentions C.M.Ramachandran Chettiar, V.C.Subbiah Gounder, P. A. Raju Chettiar, P.S.Narayana Iyengar, S.N.R.Chinnaswamy Naidu, P.R.Ramakrishnan, S.R.P. Ponnuswamy Chettiar, P.S.S.Somasundaram Chettiar, Dr.T.V.Sivanandam, T.R.Sundaram Pillai, K.Venkataswamy Naidu S.Bheemiah Chettiar, Seth Abhaichand Vendravan and K.Ramakrishna Pillai.
P.S.G.G. Govindaswamy Naidu, A.M.R. Kalingarayar, C.R. Natarajan,T.S. Ramarathnam and S. Padmanabhan were its early office bearers. Janab Justice Bhasheer Ahmad Sayid was the Chief Guest for Nannari Kazhagham’s celebrations that year.
The guiding force of the association was T. Bapuraju, who was from Thanjavur. He began his career as a clerk of advocate C.V. Venugopal Naidu and after the latter’s untimely demise joined P.A. Raju Chettiar & Brother. In spite of his humble beginnings Bapuraju created a vast network of contacts and through them did much for society. Several other stalwarts such as N.V. Naidu, Dr. Thuljaram Rao, N. Parthasarathy and Pa. Kuppuswamy (he was the President for 25 years ) steered Nanneri Kazhagam.
Nanneri Kazhagam held its monthly meetings at the C.S & W Mills Kalyana Mandapam. And several eminent scholars and citizens of repute addressed its members every month. The speakers included Ra.Pi. Sethu Pillai, A. Srinivasaraghavan, M.P. Sivagnanam, A.Sa. Gnanasambandam, Justice Maharajan, Justice Kailasam, T.M. Bhaskara Thondaiman, Kambanadipodi Sa.Ganesan, Thirumuruga Kripanandha Variar, Irusu Pillai, Ma.Ra.Po. Guruswamy, K.A.P. Viswanatham,
Mu.Varadarajanar and others from all over Tamil Nadu. G.K. Sundaram, Dr.N. Mahalingam and Bharat Ratna Dr.C. Subramaniam participated regularly in the deliberations. D. Ramaswamy Iyengar, an advocate from Chennai attended the Prabhanda Vizha every year and distributed books to the audience free of cost. In 1983, the then Governor S.L. Khurana took part in the Silver Jubilee celebrations. Senior Rotarian V.V. Sriraman officiated as the Secretary for a number of years. Perur. K. Jayaraman a renowned Historian and Tamil scholar is also closely associated with the institution. Special Awards and citations were given away to renowned personalities such as Ki.Va.Jagannathan and Dhandapani Desikar.
Impressed by the good work of the Nanneri Kazhagam, the Municipal authorities took the extraordinary step of naming a street as NANNERI KAZHAGAM STREET in the Flower Market area.
Bapuraju ensured the resources were used properly. Schools and Colleges were encouraged to participate in the events. Every year, Bapuraju held a Thondaradipodi Alwar festival in the memory of his wife. He organised felicitations in order to celebrate special occasions associated with the members. Bapuraju lived in an old age home till the end and gave away his wealth to temples and educational endowments. Today, Nanneri Kazhagam still functions with Iakoka Subramaniam at the helm of affairs.
