Chatrapatti

Chatrapatti is a town in the district of Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu. It comes under the Taluk of Rajapalayam. The village is in the geographical coordinates of 9°24'52"N 77°35'28"E. The village is characterized by a large number of surgical cotton industries.

History

The exact history of this village is unknown. The village might 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 hotness 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 Six streets. They are classified as

North Street, Middle Street, South Street, High School Street, Gnaniyar Koil Street, New 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.

Education

The village people has been giving much importance to education.

There are two government schools in the village and two matriculation school and elementary schools are there.

• Vinayaga Primary School (The school has seen a 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^[when?]. 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.

Colleges in chatrapatti

• Sri Balakrishna Arts and Science College
• Suran College of Nursing(for women)

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.

Hindus and Muslims live together in the village. There is a mosque in one of the streets. 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.

There exists a mutual harmony among Muslims, Hindus and other minorities. Nevertheless, inter caste and inter religious marriages are considered as non social. People follow strict casteism. However, some inter caste marriages do happen occasionally.

Mulaikottu & Thai Poosam

Mulaikottu is the famous festival in Chatrapatti. Every year august second week, this festival is celebrating. 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 in a completely dark room for a month before the festival. On the third 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 famiy uniting festival. This festival is common in several other parts of Tamil Nadu.

The Second important festival is Thai Poosam

Vaikasi Visagam also is celebrated well