Declare Tiruppullani Sethupathi Palace as monument, Heritage Club urges TN

MADURAI: The Heritage Club of Suresh Sudha Azhagan Memorial Government Higher Secondary School has urged the government to protect the Sethupathi Palace at Tiruppullani in Ramanathapuram district.

The club, which has been functioning since 2010 under the chairmanship of Headmistress R Bruna Rethnakumari with 55 students as members, led by its secretary V Rajaguru and teacher Gowri visited the palace on Tuesday.

Rajaguru recalled that in 1759 AD, the Dutch obtained permission from King Chellamuthu Sethupathy to set up a weaving factory at Keelakarai and tried to convert the edifice into a fort.

By the time the king decided to build a fort at Tiruppullani for their safety, Chellamuthu Sethupathi died. When Muthuramalinga Sethupathi became the king at the age of two, his commander Damodaram Pillai built this palace. After the treaty of 1767 AD, the Sethupathis came to terms with the Dutch.

It was in 1772 AD, after the British conquered Sethu kingdom, Muthuramalinga Sethupathi used this palace in a hidden forest area as an arms factory and armoury to eliminate their dominance.

“It has two entrances one on the south side and the other on the east. There are four square-shaped buildings inside the premises. Each has four rooms with doors in the corner and four long corridors, making a total of 16 rooms and 16 corridors. Each building has a pond in the middle. The ceilings and some of the walls have crumbled and vegetations have grown on the buildings,” he said.

The presence of stairs leading up to it, a soldiers’ stand at the top, and ponds inside prove that it was an ordnance factory.

A similar ordnance factory palace has been left derelict on the premises of the Regunathapuram, Government Model Higher Secondary School. Its base and part of the compound wall still exist.

Citing these, the Heritage Club requested the government to protect the palace by declaring it a ‘state monument’.