What unites Melotha Krishnan Nambyar, eminent constitutional lawyer; Marudur Gopala Menon Ramachandran, iconic film star and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; and Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, a famous agricultural scientist with roots in Kerala? The answer is Kumbakonam, the historic temple town of Tamil Nadu. Although they came from families with roots in Kerala, each of these high personalities spent a formative part of their lives in Kumbakonam. Known for its rich cultural heritage, temples, educational institutions and vibrant intellectual climate, the city shaped their lives before they achieved national prominence in law, politics, cinema and science.
Nambyar, who appeared for communist leader AK Gopalan in India’s first constitutional case in 1950, belonged to the Meloths, a powerful and wealthy Tharavada family in Kerala. Born in 1898, he completed his SSLC at St. Aloysius High School in Mangalore and then joined the Government Arts College in Kumbakonam after his brother Kunhambu Nambyar secured a civil service post in the city’s agriculture department.
Biography of Meloth Krishnan Nambyar. Studied at Government Arts College, Kumbakonam. | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
Discriminatory treatment
His biography, MK Nambyar: A Constitutional Visionary, written by his son and former Attorney General KK Venugopal, along with Suhrith Parthasarathy and Suhasini Sen, recounts an incident during a visit to a restaurant that illustrates the social climate of the time. “Three of his friends who were Brahmins were accommodated in the canteen while he and his non-Brahmin friend had to sit on a platform built on the verandah of the restaurant. He did not take it badly as one had to adapt to this discriminatory treatment,” the book says. Although Nambyar left Kumbakonam to study at the Madras Law College, he maintained his association with the town.
In 1957, when the Deputy Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department tried to take over the Varadaraja Perumal Temple and Sri Vedanarayana Perumal Temple managed by the Sourashtra community, Nambyar appeared in the Sourashtra Dharma Paripalana Committee. He successfully argued before the Madras High Court that the Sourashtra community constituted a religious denomination and was therefore protected by Article 26 of the Constitution.
According to his biography, the trustees were deeply grateful to Nambyar for winning the case without charging any fee. Every year on Onam, gifts were sent to him: an eight-foot silk dhoti, a four-foot silk angavastram and a six-foot white silk saree for his wife, Kalyani Nambyar. The tradition continued until his death. Even today, Nambyar’s portrait adorns the office of the Sourashtra Dharma Paripalana Committee in Kumbakonam.
School in Anaiadi
The opening line of Mogamul, T. Janakiraman’s novel that immortalized Kumbakonam in modern Tamil literature, begins with Anaiadi, a locale in the city. It was at a school in this area that MG Ramachandran studied after his mother moved to Tamil Nadu (then Madras) from Ceylon (Sri Lanka). According to his biography by renowned epigraphist S. Rasu, MGR’s family was supported during these years by Velu Nair, a well-known theater personality and tantric practitioner, as well as MGR’s uncle Narayana Nair, who sang in theater productions. Reminiscent of the theater culture of the time, the legendary mridangam maestro of Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman recently spoke about Velu Nair’s powerful stage presence. “Velu Nair excelled in his role as Yama Dharmana. Old-timers told me that pregnant women were forbidden to watch his performances as his looks and dialogues were so terrifying that they might give birth,” he told this correspondent.
While still in school, MGR swam in the Cauvery and started acting in stage plays. He was also a devotee of the Mariamman temple located along the road to the river. His early stage career began when he joined the Madurai Sree Original Boys Company in Kumbakonam, owned by MS Satchidanandam Pillai. He later performed with theater troupes led by Kandasamy Mudaliar, father of actor MK Radha, and also with the Uraiyur Mohideen theater company.
It was perhaps sheer coincidence that MS Swaminathan, one of the key architects of India’s Green Revolution, was born in Kumbakonam, then part of the composite Thanjavur district, a region known since ancient times as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu.
MS Swaminathan had his early education at Native High School and Little Flower High School in Kumbakonam. | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
The village as a gift
MS Swaminathan: The Man Who Fed India by Priyambada Jayakumar notes that Swaminathan’s ancestor, Enji Venkatachella Iyer, was an educated and respected Tamil Brahmin scholar at the Thanjavur court. He later moved to the court of Ambalapuzha at the request of its king, who was impressed by the scholars of the Hanjavur court. The king gifted him vast lands, including the beautiful village of Monkombu. Swaminathan’s ancestors then became known as the Monkombu Swamys and his father Sambasivan was born there.
After completing MBBS, Sambasivan moved to Kumbakonam and started a hospital. He later became the chairman of Kumbakonam village. When Mahatma Gandhi visited Kumbakonam in 1933-34, he stayed at Swaminathan’s house; family members donated gold ornaments at his request.
As a six-year-old boy, Swaminathan once jumped into the fast-swelling Cauvery to test his swimming skills and was nearly swept away by the current. “His mother rushed after him, but she too was caught in the currents. Fortunately, men standing on the banks saw them in time and saved them,” writes Priyambada Jayakumar.
Swaminathan and his siblings had their early education at Native High School and later at Little Flower High School. After schooling in the city, he moved to Thiruvananthapuram to pursue higher education at Maharaja’s College.
Published – 06 March 2026 05:30 IST
