Just into his teens, TSR spotted a business opportunity in the Devotional Space and launched a range of products that soon became a household name
TS Rajagopalan Iyengar hailed from Thittai ((https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/02/thittai-navaneetha-krishnan-temple.html), a small hamlet about five kms from the renowned Thanjai Maa Mani Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/08/thanjai-maa-mani-divya-desam.html) on the outskirts of Thanjavur. Born in 1894, he was a child prodigy. Driven by entrepreneurial instincts, he made his way to Kumbakonam and began his family’s diversification into manufacturing.
The Thanjavur – Kumbakonam belt 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. Not a day passed without them invoking the blessings of the Lord.
Devotional Products
Set against this backdrop of devotion, the enterprising Rajagopalan Iyengar just into his teens began working on products that would cater to this devotional audience. He was just 15 years old when he rolled out his offerings in 1909. He started out in Moorthy Chetty Street and then moved to a shop on Bazaar Street, West of Sarngapani Koil(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/06/sarangapani-koil-thiru-kudanthai.html). Once the business came to scale, he built a factory on Nageswaran Thirumanjanam Veethi from where a range of products that included Chandan (used for Thirumanjanam and Abhisekam), Panneer, Agarbathi, scented Chunnam, Gulkand and Thailam were manufactured.
He launched the products under the brand name of TSR & Co and soon TSR, as he came to be lovingly called by the residents of Kumbakonam, became a household name. Everlasting fragrance was a hall mark of his pooja items. He also created the trademark ‘Aalilai Kannan’ logo of child Krishna on plantain leaf.
Personally, he was deft in making sweet paan and had this special knack of finding the right mix. The customers simply loved it from his hands and they would queue up to pick up the tasty paan. He later sold the betel nuts products business and focused on pooja products.
87 year old Kalyani Krishnaswamy, a distant relative of TSR who has lived the last 40 years in a remote village near Therazhundur(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html), stayed in TSR's house in Kumbakonam for a whole year during her childhood. She remembers sandalwood being brought from Mysore, and physically well built workers ground these into Chandan powder by hand. She says that by the 1930s, the products were much sought after by the people in the region. One could sense the fragrance even as one entered the street such was the quality of the product. He always told his workers that the product had to be of the highest class. She also recalls the presence of TSR at her wedding in the mid 1940s “He brought a huge box of TSR products and presented it to me as his gift.”
Promotion of products at Temple Festivals
In addition to his entrepreneurial skills in creating products, he was also deft at marketing. He promoted the pooja products at the famous Chitrai Festival in Madurai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/07/azhagar-koil-thiru-maliruncholai.html) and would display his range of products at the festival. He also promoted it at the popular Brahmotsavam in Mannargudi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/05/mannargudi-rajagopalaswamy-temple.html).
The Next Big Product – Talcum Powder
Late VK Rajagopalan (VKR) Iyengar, a Central Bank auditor and first cousin of TSR was to play a key role in the roll out of the next big product. His son 74 year old R Sampath says that the elder of TSR’s two sons TR Kannan was inclined towards expanding the product range and began to do some early experiments and that it was his father 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.
“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” remembers Sampath of those times around seven decades ago.
The terrace invented talcum powder is now popular across the country as TSR Gokul Santol. The elder son Kannan 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 2nd son TR Raghavan) and TSR & Co Madras ( launched by his 1st son TR Kannan - he passed away in 1970) that is into Gokul Santol talcum powder and soap, among other cosmetic products.
TSR – A Household Name
The products had become so popular that there was a time when the demand for agarbathis outshot the
supply. There were several 100s of workers at the factory in Gokul Gardens and the business had grown manifold. 84 year old Chartered Accountant G. Kunchithapatham worked in the firm that audited the accounts of TSR & Co and remembers him from his childhood days “TSR & Co had started small but by the time I was growing up in Kumbakonam, TSR had already built a brand. The factory had been mechanized and the shop had become much bigger. TSR was top of mind recall for anyone interested in Panneer, Chandan and other pooja products.”
He says that the big growth of TSR could also be seen from the fact that he and his firm had become big income tax assessees “They had already started exporting the products. TSR would often go to Ceylon on business trips.”
His devotional association with temples
TSR was also an ardent devotee and would often be seen at the temples in Thiru Kudanthai. He was also the trustee at Sarngapani and Chakrapani temples. He was also on the board of the renowned Banadurai School in Kumbakonam, one where the famous Tamil Nadu fast bowler B Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html?m=1) studied in the 1950s.
81 year old 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 Sarngapani Koil. “’Pushpa Pandhal’ - a grand flower decoration was organised along the entire path from Moolavar to Desikar Sannidhi. And the King of Mysore was accorded a grand welcome into the temple.”
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 Ghosti. The entire temple wore a grand festive look that day.
Exquisite Attire
TSR was also known for his exquisite attire and was always seen in a Panchakacham and a white shirt with 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 provided Dasankam, Santhanathi Thailam and other pooja items in sufficient quantities to the Thiru Kudanthai temples. At the Chakrapani temple(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/02/kudanthai-chakrapani-koil.html), his was the Ubayam on the third day of the Brahmotsavam, when the Lord goes around the streets on a Sesha Vahanam, one that continues to this day.
Significant contribution to temples
Just prior to his death, he made a significant contribution to the renovation exercise at the Sarngapani temple and was an integral part of the committee that planned the renovation. At the over 1000 years old Varadaraja Perumal temple on the banks of the Cauvery, TSR restored the temple by contributing in big measure. 100 years ago, he began supporting the Navarathri Utsavam at the temple that has continued to this day. He also supported the grand conduct of the Vaikasi Utsavam.
85 year old V Seshadri, an adyapaka at the Therazhudur 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 pooja items that were required for the daily poojas. The entire temple would be transformed with beautiful fragrance emanating from his products. His very presence brought positive energy among the service personnel at the temple.”
Municipality Chairman and Underground Drainage System
In light of the background of him having built a trusted brand as well as him having become a well respected personality in Kumbakonam, VK Rajagopalan Iyengar suggested to TSR to contest the election and try for the Municipal Chairman’s post in Kumbakonam. VKR Iyengar was confident that as the Municipal Chairman TSR could do a lot of good to the temple town. Though initially reluctant, TSR heeded to the advice of his cousin brother 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.
89 year old former District Revenue Officer (Thanjavur), K Ramanarayanan has seen TSR from close quarters “From small beginnings, 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. TSR Panneer and Agarbathi were unmatched at that time. To him goes the credit for creating an identity for Kumbakonam. He was also a big philanthropist and did a lot for the society.”
Soon after TSR’s death, it was VKR Iyengar who was instrumental in getting TSR’s second son TR Raghavan to talk to the officials at the Municipality to have the Big Street in Kumbakonam named after the legendary manufacturer and philanthropist. And soon, the street was named as the ‘TSR’ Big Street.
Since then, his sons, grandsons and now the great grandsons have been taking forward the great legacy of TSR. Over the last six decades, his birthday has been celebrated with the TSR family feeding 2000 people at the factory in Gokul Gardens, Kumbakonam which was also his home till his death.
Genius at work
It was a truly pioneering initiative for a young teenager to get into manufacturing by creating a labour pool and to run a business away from the family’s stronghold in agriculture. More interesting was the way he spotted an enterprise opportunity in the devotional space. To roll out pooja products catering to the devotees was out of the box thinking for one not yet 15.
TSR was truly a child genius who broke away from the shackles of centuries old tradition of being an agricultural family. By the time he passed away at the age of 67, having handed the baton to his two sons, Quality and Trust in Pooja Products had become synonymous with TSR. And he had left behind a great legacy of a remote village boy having built an enduring and a trusted indigenous brand.