Inside India's 15,000 extravagant, abandoned mansions, built by spice and gem tycoons and left to decay

James PasleyApr 23, 2023, 21:18 IST

A cyclist is photographed in a blurry silhouette in front of a mansion in Chettinad in 2010.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

There are more than 15,000 elaborate mansions that are mostly decaying in a small region called Chettinad in southern India.
The average mansion in the region spans 40,000 to 50,000 square feet and has more than 50 rooms.

In Chettinad, a region covering about 600 square miles in southern India, there are more than 15,000 mansions that are, for the most part, in differing states of decay.

For about a century, rich bankers and traders poured their money into erecting the biggest, most beautiful mansions they could create. But after World War II, much of the region's wealth dried up due to people moving away and new laws imposed by the Indian government.

The mansions are still standing though. The average mansion spans up to 50,000 square feet and has over 50 rooms. They're so big that many current owners can barely afford to maintain them.

Take a look inside.

About 250 miles south of Chennai, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, there is an isolated, dry region called Chettinad, which covers about 600 square miles.

Passengers are seen inside a bus in Chettinad, India.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

On your way to Chettinad, you will pass through a typical rural Indian scene — fields, small villages, and little concrete buildings.

A person is seen guiding two cows on a farm as a storm brews in the background in Chettinad, India.Eric Lafforgue/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

But when you arrive you will see something unusual lining the sleepy streets of 74 towns — mansions, more than 15,000 of them, all in differing conditions.

An aerial view of mansions in Kanadukathan, India, in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Some of them still have residents living there, but many are now decaying, if not in ruins.

A man cycles past the shattered remains of an old mansion in Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2005.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

The mansions were built by the Nattukottai Chettiars, a clan thought to have moved to the region hundreds of years ago after a tsunami destroyed their original coastal home.

A family photograph of two Chettians wearing cultural garb taken on an unknown date.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

The mansions were built by the Nattukottai Chettiars, a clan thought to have moved to the region hundreds of years ago after a tsunami destroyed their original coastal home.

In the 1600s, they traded gems and salt, but it wasn't until they began working and trading with the British Empire that they really made their fortunes.

Two Chettians sit in a chair posing for a family photograph.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

They were primarily bankers — some lent money to kings and the British Raj — and traders, shipping spices, rice, and gems to countries like Malaysia, Burma, and Vietnam.

An Indian woman stands outside a Chettian mansion in 2022.Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty Images

They were primarily bankers — some lent money to kings and the British Raj — and traders, shipping spices, rice, and gems to countries like Malaysia, Burma, and Vietnam.

They made their fortunes and spent them building the mansions, beginning in 1850 and ending around World War II.

The white exterior of a mansion in Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, India in 2000.Parvin Siingh/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The average mansion spans 40,000 to 50,000 square feet and has at least 50 rooms.

An aerial view shows mansions in India's Tamil Nadu state in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Some also featured expansive courtyards.

The inner courtyard of a mansion in Kanadukathan, in the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu in 2006.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

The tycoons spared no expense on fittings either. They had teak shipped from Burma and glazed ceramic tiles shipped from Birmingham.

Inside a mansion in Athangudi near Karaikudi, Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, India in 2007.V. Muthuraman/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

They bought grandfather clocks from Switzerland, mirrors with mahogany frames from Belgium, and chandeliers up to 10 feet wide from Venice.

An elephant foot stool and tusks is in front of a mirror inside one of the Chettinad mansions in 2006.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

An architect named Bernard Dragon, who restores some of the mansions, told AFP that at that time, "there was a competition between the Chettiars themselves to create the most beautiful building — more beautiful than the brother, the cousin, whatever."

The exterior of a mansion in Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, India in 2000.Parvin Siingh/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

An architect named Bernard Dragon, who restores some of the mansions, told AFP that at that time, "there was a competition between the Chettiars themselves to create the most beautiful building — more beautiful than the brother, the cousin, whatever."

According to The New York Times, there was no designated style for the region either.

People ride a motorcycle past the newly-renovated CVRM Heritage House in Kanadukathan town in India's Tamil Nadu state in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Unlike the extravagant exteriors, the mansions' interiors were usually more traditional. After entering a front gate, a mansion typically had a raised and covered platform where business was conducted.

A gate to the Chettinad Mansion opens in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Unlike the extravagant exteriors, the mansions' interiors were usually more traditional. After entering a front gate, a mansion typically had a raised and covered platform where business was conducted.

The families held their ceremonies in interior courtyards. Unlike Western mansions, there was little furniture for comfort.

Ornate portraits and furniture are seen inside a Chettinad mansion in 2000.Parvin Siingh/India Pictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Despite all of the rooms and space, there was also little privacy. Families traditionally slept together, bringing out bedrolls every night.

Armchairs, a coffee table, and several dining tables are seen inside a Chettinad mansion.Parvin Siingh/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

As the tycoons traveled for work and saw international trends — for instance, in the 1930s, art deco had become popular — they replicated the styles back in Chettinad.

An art-deco-style Chettinad mansion in 2022.Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty Images

As the tycoons traveled for work and saw international trends — for instance, in the 1930s, art deco had become popular — they replicated the styles back in Chettinad.

But the boom didn't last. Everything changed around World War II as the region was occupied by the Japanese and many Chettiars were forced to leave their mansions and their fortunes behind.

A dog stands in front of a dilapidated mansion in Tamil Nadu in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

But the boom didn't last. Everything changed around World War II as the region was occupied by the Japanese and many Chettiars were forced to leave their mansions and their fortunes behind.

Things didn't improve after the war either. Across India, independence movements surged, and the government implemented new policies limiting foreign trade.

A boy looks out at a row of Chettinad mansions in India.Gireesh Gv/The The India Today Group/Getty Images

Soon, mansions were being abandoned and became rundown and dilapidated. Some mansions were torn up by wreckers who profited off the expensive trimmings.

A village girl walks past an old Chettinad mansion, dismantled for the antique trade in Karaikudi, in the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu in 2006.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

Other mansions remained with the same families who had originally built them.

One of the keys to a Chettinad mansion.Eric Lafforgue/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

But in the following years, many of the owners struggled to afford the upkeep, or they got locked in family disputes about what should be done with them.

Visitors sit at the front entrance of the Raja of Chettinad's mansion, open for public viewing, in Tamil Nadu in 2005.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

The mansions are now seen as comparable to England's castles: not particularly useful, but an important emblem of the past. The New York Times described them as "status symbols of staggering heft, worrisome expense, and emotional attachment."

A dilapidated mansion in Tamil Nadu in 2022.Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty Images

The mansions are now seen as comparable to England's castles: not particularly useful, but an important emblem of the past. The New York Times described them as "status symbols of staggering heft, worrisome expense, and emotional attachment."

Most of the more wealthy owners don't live in them full-time. They live in Chennai and return regularly for celebrations, like weddings or funerals.

Visitors arrive at a Chettinad mansion in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Not everyone can afford to move away. One mansion owner named Rama Kumarappan lived with his wife, two kids, and an aunt in a 63-bedroom mansion, where black mold covered the walls.

A man stands in an open area of the mansion where he lives.Eric Lafforgue/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Not everyone can afford to move away. One mansion owner named Rama Kumarappan lived with his wife, two kids, and an aunt in a 63-bedroom mansion, where black mold covered the walls.

In the last few decades, to deal with costs, some owners have rented their mansions to film studios, where they're often used as a setting for traditional wedding scenes.

Wooden pillars inside a Chettinad mansion in 2000.Parvin Siingh/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

In the last few decades, to deal with costs, some owners have rented their mansions to film studios, where they're often used as a setting for traditional wedding scenes.

Other mansions have been converted into luxury hotels. Meenakshi Mayappan, the owner of a hotel called the Bangala, told The New York Times in 2017 that she thought about her mansion's fate constantly.

Owner Annamalai Chandramouli poses for a photograph outside his family mansion in 2006, which was converted into a hotel.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

Other mansions have been converted into luxury hotels. Meenakshi Mayappan, the owner of a hotel called the Bangala, told The New York Times in 2017 that she thought about her mansion's fate constantly.

There aren't many other options left to owners. Selling up isn't really an option since there's little demand for an old mansion in a remote area that costs so much in upkeep.

A woman walks past a derelict Chettinad mansion in 2006.Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

There aren't many other options left to owners. Selling up isn't really an option since there's little demand for an old mansion in a remote area that costs so much in upkeep.

And often a sale isn't even the point. The mansions are famous across India. To own one is to own a symbol of wealth and prestige. Some owners think this is worth paying for, even if the region's glory days are now over.

A man walks through a Chettinad mansion in 2021.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

And often a sale isn't even the point. The mansions are famous across India. To own one is to own a symbol of wealth and prestige. Some owners think this is worth paying for, even if the region's glory days are now over.

Vibrant photos give a rare look into the Lower East Side's thriving immigrant communities in the 1980s

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Inside India's 15,000 extravagant, abandoned mansions, built by spice and gem tycoons and left to decay

About 250 miles south of Chennai, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, there is an isolated, dry region called Chettinad, which covers about 600 square miles.

On your way to Chettinad, you will pass through a typical rural Indian scene — fields, small villages, and little concrete buildings.

But when you arrive you will see something unusual lining the sleepy streets of 74 towns — mansions, more than 15,000 of them, all in differing conditions.

Some of them still have residents living there, but many are now decaying, if not in ruins.

The mansions were built by the Nattukottai Chettiars, a clan thought to have moved to the region hundreds of years ago after a tsunami destroyed their original coastal home.

In the 1600s, they traded gems and salt, but it wasn't until they began working and trading with the British Empire that they really made their fortunes.

They were primarily bankers — some lent money to kings and the British Raj — and traders, shipping spices, rice, and gems to countries like Malaysia, Burma, and Vietnam.

They made their fortunes and spent them building the mansions, beginning in 1850 and ending around World War II.

The average mansion spans 40,000 to 50,000 square feet and has at least 50 rooms.

Some also featured expansive courtyards.

The tycoons spared no expense on fittings either. They had teak shipped from Burma and glazed ceramic tiles shipped from Birmingham.

They bought grandfather clocks from Switzerland, mirrors with mahogany frames from Belgium, and chandeliers up to 10 feet wide from Venice.

An architect named Bernard Dragon, who restores some of the mansions, told AFP that at that time, "there was a competition between the Chettiars themselves to create the most beautiful building — more beautiful than the brother, the cousin, whatever."

According to The New York Times, there was no designated style for the region either.

Unlike the extravagant exteriors, the mansions' interiors were usually more traditional. After entering a front gate, a mansion typically had a raised and covered platform where business was conducted.

The families held their ceremonies in interior courtyards. Unlike Western mansions, there was little furniture for comfort.

Despite all of the rooms and space, there was also little privacy. Families traditionally slept together, bringing out bedrolls every night.

As the tycoons traveled for work and saw international trends — for instance, in the 1930s, art deco had become popular — they replicated the styles back in Chettinad.

But the boom didn't last. Everything changed around World War II as the region was occupied by the Japanese and many Chettiars were forced to leave their mansions and their fortunes behind.

Things didn't improve after the war either. Across India, independence movements surged, and the government implemented new policies limiting foreign trade.

Soon, mansions were being abandoned and became rundown and dilapidated. Some mansions were torn up by wreckers who profited off the expensive trimmings.

Other mansions remained with the same families who had originally built them.

But in the following years, many of the owners struggled to afford the upkeep, or they got locked in family disputes about what should be done with them.

The mansions are now seen as comparable to England's castles: not particularly useful, but an important emblem of the past. The New York Times described them as "status symbols of staggering heft, worrisome expense, and emotional attachment."

Most of the more wealthy owners don't live in them full-time. They live in Chennai and return regularly for celebrations, like weddings or funerals.

Not everyone can afford to move away. One mansion owner named Rama Kumarappan lived with his wife, two kids, and an aunt in a 63-bedroom mansion, where black mold covered the walls.

In the last few decades, to deal with costs, some owners have rented their mansions to film studios, where they're often used as a setting for traditional wedding scenes.

Other mansions have been converted into luxury hotels. Meenakshi Mayappan, the owner of a hotel called the Bangala, told The New York Times in 2017 that she thought about her mansion's fate constantly.

There aren't many other options left to owners. Selling up isn't really an option since there's little demand for an old mansion in a remote area that costs so much in upkeep.

And often a sale isn't even the point. The mansions are famous across India. To own one is to own a symbol of wealth and prestige. Some owners think this is worth paying for, even if the region's glory days are now over.