This is the story of an enterprising entrepreneur, whose forays began in his teens, his start-up growing into a flourishing company of a century and more, making itself a household name. The story of T.S. Rajagopala Iyengar and TSR are synonymous and indeed fascinating. Hailing from Thittai, a small hamlet about 5 km from the renowned Thanjai Maa Mani Divya Desam on the outskirts of Thanjavur, Rajagopalan born in 1894, was clearly a precocious child.
Driven by entrepreneurial instincts, he made his way to Kumbakonam, where the seeds of the saga were sown. The Thanjavur-Kumbakonam belt on either side of the Cauvery was home to a large number of temples — Vaishnavite Divya Desams and Saivite Paadal Petra Sthalams. While agriculture was the main occupation, devotion was integral to the daily lives of people in the region. Rajagopalan, just into his teens began working on products that would cater to this devotional clientele. He was all of 15, when he rolled out his first offerings in 1909.
He started out in Moorthy Chetty Street and then moved to a shop on Bazaar Street, West of Sarngapani Koil. Once business stabilised, he built a factory on Nageswaran Thirumanjanam Veethi from where a range of products that included sandal, (used for thirumanjanam and abhishekam), rosewater (panneer), incense sticks (agarbathi), scented lime (chunnam) and rose extracts (gulkand and oil) were manufactured. He launched the products under the brand name of TSR & Co, with Aalilai Kannan (baby Krishna on the banyan leaf) as logo. Soon TSR, as he came to be lovingly called by the residents of Kumbakonam, became a household name. Everlasting fragrance was a hallmark of his puja items.
He was a specialist in making sweet paan. Customers simply loved the mix and would queue up to pick up the tasty paan deftly made with his hands. He later sold betel products even as the focus was on puja items.
A distant relative, 87-year old Kalyani Krishnaswamy, who stayed in his house in Kumbakonam for a whole year during her childhood, remembers sandalwood logs being brought from Mysore, and well-built workers grinding them into powder.
By the 1930s, the products were much sought after. One could sense the fragrance even as one entered the street. He always told his workers that the product should be of the highest quality. She also recalls the presence of TSR at her wedding in the mid-1940s. “He gifted me a huge box of TSR products.”
Expert at marketing, TSR never failed to occupy vantage positions to display his products at festivals outside Kumbakonam, such as the Madurai Chitirai festival and Brahmotsavam in Mannargudi.
Equally close to people’s heart is Gokul Santol Talc, from the TSR stable. R. Sampath, whose father was the late V.K. Rajagopala (VKR) Iyengar, a Central Bank auditor and a first cousin of TSR, played a key role in this project, when T.R. Kannan, elder of TSR’s two sons, wanted to expand the range. It was VKR Iyengar, who gave Kannan the space and freedom in his house on Pachaiappa Street in Kumbakonam and motivated him to carry out the experiments before arriving at the ideal formula. “Kannan came to my father’s house to conduct his experiments. Each day, he would sit on the terrace of our house and try out different combinations. It was a very tedious process and required a lot of patience and perseverance but Kannan was relentless in his pursuit,” says 74-year old Sampath.
Birth of Gokul Santol
Kannan eventually moved to Madras and opened the talcum powder factory in Ramapuram in 1965. And thus TSR & Co diversified into two separate firms — TSR & Co home needs manufacturing pooja products in Kumbakonam (headed by his second son T.R. Raghavan) and TSR & Co, Madras, which manufactures Gokul Santol talcum powder and soap, among other cosmetic products.
At one point of time, the demand for agarbathis outstripped the supply. Several hundreds of workers were engaged at the factory in Gokul Gardens and business had grown manifold. The 84-year old chartered accountant G. Kunchithapatham, who worked in the firm that audited the accounts of TSR & Co reminisces: “TSR & Co had started small but by the time I grew up, TSR had already built a brand in Kumbakonam. The factory had been mechanised and the shop had become much bigger. TSR was top of mind recall for anyone needing panneer, chandan and other puja products.”
Steeped in devotion, TSR was a trustee at the Sarangapani and Chakrapani temples. Seshadri Bhattar of Parthanpalli Divya Desam, who spent his entire childhood in Kumbakonam and performed archaka service at Thiru Kudanthai temples for several decades, remembers the mega arrangements made by TSR ahead of Mysore Maharaja’s trip to the Sarangapani Koil. “Pushpa Pandhal” — a grand floral canopy was erected along the entire path from Moolavar to Desikar Sannidhi. And the King of Mysore was accorded a grand welcome into the temple,” he recalls.
Till his death in 1961, TSR’s ubayam on Desikar Satrumurai at the Sarngapani temple was one that everyone looked forward to as it was one of the biggest festival days at the temple with a vibrant Prabhandham Ghoshti. The entire temple wore a grand festive look that day.
TSR was also known for his exquisite attire — always seen in a Panchakacham and a spotless white shirt — and sporting a bright Thiruman on his forehead. Everyone at the Sarngapani temple would line up as he made an impressive entry into the temple in his majestic walk on the Desikar Satrumurai day. Till his final days, he made sure that sufficient quantities of Dasankam, Santhanathi Thailam and other puja items reached the temples of Kumbakonam. The third day of Chakrapani Brahmotsavam was TSR ubayam — a tradition that continues.
Sri Sarangapani temple at Kumbakonam.
Just prior to his death, he made a significant contribution to the renovation exercise at the Sarangapani temple and was a member of the committee formed for the purpose. For a century now, the TSR family has been patrons of the Navaratri festival at the 1000-year old Varadaraja Perumal temple on the banks of the Cauvery, which they also helped restore.
V. Seshadri, an adyapaka at the Therazhundur Divya Desam for over three decades, remembers TSR participating in and supporting the Brahmotsavam at this temple “He would present the temple with large quantities of puja items, whose fragrance would fill the air. His very presence brought positive energy among the service personnel at the temple,” he says.
The Moolavar deity, Navaneetha Krishnan, at the ancient Perumal temple in Thittai, TSR’s home town, is seen in a special dancing posture with his left leg slightly bent and placed on a pedestal with the right leg on a lotus stalk. His left hand stretches to balance, while the right palm holds a ball of fresh butter. Sri Jayanthi Utsavam and Garuda Sevai on Panguni Uthiram are celebrated in a grand way at this temple. On Chitra Pournami, special donation from the Navaneetha Krishnan temple is handed to the Siva Temple for the Thiru Kalyanam there that day.
Community Service
Coaxed by his cousin, V.K. Rajagopalan, T.S. Rajagopala Iyengar contested the election and became the Municipal Chairman in 1958. In the period that he was at the helm, he created a modern underground drainage system in Kumbakonam. K Ramanarayanan, 89- year old former District Revenue Officer (Thanjavur), has seen TSR from close quarters. “Starting on a modest scale, he built a brand that has stood the test of time. A stout man with a tuft, he was one with progressive views. At a time when we were still reeling under the British rule, he brought a name for indigenous products and created a brand that remained entrenched in the minds of the people. To him goes the credit for creating an identity for Kumbakonam. He was also a large-hearted philanthropist, who did a lot for society.” Aptly, Big Street is named after TSR.
The family — TSR’s sons, grandsons and now the great grandsons — is taking forward his great legacy. Over the last six decades, his birthday has been celebrated with the TSR family feeding 2,000 people at the factory in Gokul Gardens, Kumbakonam, which was also his home till his death.