Chettinad’s revival fuels both restoration and dismantling of historic mansions

Chettinad is undergoing a revival. Its mansions are paying the price.

As travellers, architects and designers observe the region’s unsocial aesthetic via festivals and curated holidays, luxury homes and hotels crossed the state are progressively being outfitted with Burmese teak doors, granite pillars, vintage tiles and adjacent carved woody roofs retrieved from century-old mansions. “Entire houses are being cannibalised,” says Chennai-based designer Sujatha Shankar. “Wares from these homes substance a thriving antique market, drafting buyers successful India and abroad.”