Chatrapatti
Chatrapatti is a village in Rajapalayam Taluk in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located 50 Km west of district headquarters Virudhunagar and 581 Km from State capital Chennai.
History
Rani Mangammal (Reign 1689—1704) was ruled Nayakar Dynasty from Madurai. During here reign she developed the infrastructure of many villages. Mangammal was an efficient and popular ruler and her memory is cherished even today in the rural areas of the district. Mangammal worked industriously at civil administration, trade and industry paying special attention to irrigation and communications.
Many irrigation channels were repaired, new roads were constructed, and avenue trees were planted. The highway from Cape Kanya Kumari was originally built during the time of Mangammal and it was known as 'Mangammal Salai'. She built many public works, notably the Choultries for pilgrims.
Now Mangammal Salai which is passes through Chatrapatti Village is called as Vanniyam Patti Road. That Connect Chatrapatti Village to Srivilliputtur . There was a Choultry (Chathiram)on the road way. The village have got its name from the Tamil word "Sattiram" (meaning: Choultry) and "Patti" (a suffix for a village).
Climate
The village is a region of extreme heat and low humidity. The north east monsoon provides the bulk of rainfall during the months of October and November. The north east monsoon, which starts in June and lasting until mid August, provides showers and makes the region relatively cooler than in other months.
Places
The entire village has Seven streets. They are named as
Middle street, North Street, South Street, High School Street, Gnaniyar Koil Street, New Street & Vayakattu Street. There is a huge bazaar in the Middle street which remains bundled with thousands of people in the evening as this place is the biggest marketplace east of Rajapalayam. and there are two water storage dams namely 'vagaikulam' and 'kanakulam'.
Education
The village people has been giving a lot of importance to education.
There are two government schools in the village and two matriculation school and elementary schools are there.
- Vinayagar Elementary School (The school had celebrated its platinum jubilee)
- Government Higher Secondary School (A centenary school - A number of educated people in and around Chattrapatti are alumni of this school)
The government's schools higher secondary school two in numbers one for boys and another one for girls recently. The medium of instruction is Tamil. People go to Rajapalayam for English Medium Schools.
Women's education has gained importance in the past few years due to economic reasons as wages from male members in the families of the society are not enough.
Work & Life
People of this village work in Surgical cotton industries. Bandages are the main manufacturing product. The village industrial owners has been under severe criticism for not following the minimum wage agreement signed between Unions and owners. Often there will be street protests against the industry owners. there is a large sum of exports of cotton products from this town to abroad.
People follow orthodox Hinduism. The Thai pongal, Poosam festival and the village Maari amman (a local deity - lord of rains) temple festival are celebrated with grandeur. The Maari amman festival is a grand festival celebrated for the sake of asking the goddess Maari for rain. In the very old days when people started settling in this area, farming was their main occupation. People of this village who settled in various parts of the country come to their native village on this occasion. The streets get flooded with people. Nearly 30000 to 40000 people will attend the mega festival every August.
People follow strict casteism. However, some inter caste marriages do happen occasionally.
Mulaikottu & Thai Poosam
Mulaikottu is the famous festival in Chatrapatti.This festival is celebrated every year, second week of August.This festival is celebrated to thank the Women deity Maari amman(Goddess of Rain) for rain and wealth. Women in the houses grow nine types of grams in a pot(Mulaippaari) in a completely dark room for a week before the festival. On the second day of the festival, they carry the pot in head and put it in a well at a distance away from the village. People use this festival as a family uniting festival. This festival is common in several other parts of Tamil Nadu.The festival will be celebtrated from Tuesday midnight to Friday before noon. all three days the Goddess Mariamman will be in chartiot (Sapparam) at night in all the streets. this is the largest festival of this surrounding.
The Second important festival is Thai Poosam
Vaikasi Visagam also is celebrated well
Coordinates: 9°24′55″N 77°35′42″E / 9.415278°N 77.595041°E