These Mansions Housed India's Wealthiest. Now They Await Restoration

Chettinad's residents belonged to a caste of Tamil merchants, and the location was an ideal staging post for a maritime merchant empire.

Thousands of mansions in a remote corner of India once housed some of the nation's wealthiest bankers and traders but a century later most of them lie abandoned, their desolate remains a mute testament to lost riches.

The tycoons of Chettinad, near India's southern tip, made their fortunes trading precious gems and spices across sprawling business empires that stretched as far as Malaysia and Singapore during the era of British colonial rule.

Much of their wealth was channelled into the construction of resplendent homes, embellished with stucco figurines, colourful glass windows and cornices.

Historians say they sourced chandeliers from Venice, giant mahogany-framed mirrors from Belgium and glazed ceramic tiles with intricate patterns from Birmingham.