Education
“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.” — Swami Vivekananda
Karaikudi is eternally indebted to one man — Padmabhushan Dr. RM. Alagappa Chettiar, called Vallal, the philanthropist, who gave all his wealth to create an educational empire in pure nobility, and without whom Karaikudi would have been a trivial town.
He founded the Alagappa Chettiar Educational Trust to develop what was then a backward area into a centre for higher education. The work reached its peak around 1947 with the Alagappa Arts College, the Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology and the Alagappa technical institution and school; and in 1948 he was the key person in bringing the Central Electro Chemical Research Institute to Karaikudi, providing both the land and the funding. Karaikudi and its adjoining places now hold a growing array of educational services from pre-kg to doctorate.
Karaikudi · founded 1947
The educational empire raised by Vallal Alagappa Chettiar to bring affordable, quality education to the rural masses — the Arts College, the Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, and the technical institution and school, grown since into a university.
Karaikudi · established 1948
C.E.C.R.I. came to Karaikudi in 1948 on land and funding provided by Vallal Alagappa Chettiar. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid its foundation stone on 25 July 1948, and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan dedicated it to the nation on 14 January 1953. Its Open Day each February is one of the town's fixtures.
Karaikudi
A society of long standing in the town. Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathiyar visited it in 1906 and sang a poem praising the good work done by the Chettiar youths of Karaikudi; the photograph taken on that visit remains an invaluable reminder.
Koviloor
A Saiva monastic seat at Koviloor, long a keeper of Tamil scholarship and Saiva Siddhanta teaching for the Chettinad region, and attached to the Kotravaleeswarar temple there.
Kalaiyarkovil
A math at Kalaiyarkovil, the town of the great Kalaiyarkovil temple, holding to the study and teaching of Vedanta in the district.
Pillaiyarpatti
The vedagama padasalai at Pillaiyarpatti, beside the rock-cut Karpaka Vinayakar temple, where the vedas and agamas are taught in the traditional way.
Karaikudi and its adjoining places have a growing array of educational services and facilities, right from pre-kg to doctorate. The fuller account is on the heritage page.