Madurai: ‘House of Pennycuick’ actually wasn’t his, say historians, fans

MADURAI: A charming cottage, with tiled roof and steps leading into it, stands amidst a cluster of tamarind and neem trees on a sprawling campus on the Madurai-Natham road on the northern side of Madurai city. It is now at the centre of a political controversy.
The site selected for the Kalaignar Memorial Library has run into controversy as it is said to be the residence of Col John Pennycuick, who constructed the Mullaperiyar dam, and is hero-worshipped by many villages in the southern districts.
But historians and even his fans say chances of Pennycuick having resided in Madurai were next to impossible. One of the first announcements made by the new government in Tamil Nadu was the establishment of the Rs 70 crore library in Madurai. The house on this PWD land, which has a quaint British-era look about it, was popularly known as the house in which Col Pennycuick lived. So, when the decision was announced to construct the library on this land, a section of the farmers, the Periyar-Vaigai Ayacut Farmers Federation, opposed it saying the house of Pennycuick should not be demolished.
The opposition parties, including AIADMK and PMK, also opposed the site selected, insisting that it was a heritage site. Madurai district collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar said the building was constructed between 1912 and 1913, after the death of Pennycuick on March 9, 1911. This information was obtained from the PWD’s building registry. PWD minister E V Velu said the AIADMK was opposing a development activity without basis.
Historian S Duraisamy, who has researched the life of Col Pennycuick in his thesis, ‘The Periyar Project A Study’, said, “I visited archives in Chennai and I have seen handwritten letters by Pennycuick and his correspondence with the British government for the construction of the dam. But nowhere was there any reference to him having lived in Madurai.” Duraisamy said the distance from Madurai to Thekkady where the Mullaperiyar dam had been constructed would have made it impossible for the engineer to set up a campsite in Madurai.
Meanwhile, his diehard fans and worshippers in Palarpatti led by O Andi, 42, who has been celebrating the birth anniversary of Pennycuick in his village since 2000, had written booklets on the late engineer. He believes Pennycuick did not reside in Madurai. Andi has named his daughter Sara Sanjugi after Pennycuick’s mother Sarah. There are many who have Pennycuick as part of their name in Palarpatti and Veerapandi villages.
The house that he lived in the Lower camp near the dam is where his belongings have been showcased. There is a memorial and bronze bust of Pennycuick too. “This is memorable enough,” said Shanmugam, a villager from Theni who worships the engineer’s photograph.