Elur Chetty (also called Elur Chettu or Ezhur Chetty or Ezhoor Chetty) is a [Tamil/ Malayalam] speaking Hindu community in South India. They are said to have migrated from Kaveripoompattanam in Thanjavur District and settled in Kanyakumari District. They come under the common name of Chetty which includes other communities such as Kottar Chetty, Parakka Chetty, Vellalar Chetty, Pathira Chetty, Valayal Chetty, Pudukottai vallanattu Chetty, Nattukkottai Chetty etc. They were once a trading community and were distinct from the other Chetty communities. The name is derived from "Ezhu ooru" meaning "seven towns". The seven towns were in and around the Kanyakumari District in South Tamil Nadu, India, namely Eraniel, Thiruvithancode, Padmanabhapuram, Colachel, Ganapathipuram, Midalam, and Parakkai. They are called Keezhatheru Chetty. Later Kottar, Thiruvananthapuram, Therusanamkoppu, Nagercoil, Chennai, Thalakkulam, Eraniel (Melatheru), Tiruchchirappalli, Coimbatore and Madurai. History Ezhur Chetty community were originally residents of Kaveripoompattinam, part of the Chola empire, and were an affluent community involved in sea trade. This ancient town was destroyed by tsunami around AD 79 August 23/24 and the community members started migrating to other areas after this event. The trading community left their properties and wealthy life, took their family deities' (Vinayaka & Nagaramman) idols, left the Chola empire and migrated to the Pandiya and Chera Empires across the river Cauveri. Some of the migrated people settled in around 93 places including Karaikudi, Devakkottai, Thiruppur, Kovilpatti, Thazhayoothu, Valliyur and Kottar. The people who reached Kottar did pooja for the Vinayaka idol. After the pooja, when they tried to remove the idol, they were unsuccessful. People who stayed back in Kottar are called Kottar Chetty. Later the Kottar Pillayar Temple was built there. The rest of them reached Eraniel (formerly Hiranyasimhanallur) near the shore of Valli river. That day was the last Sunday of Chithirai month of Tamil Calendar during the day of aayilyam nakshatra. They placed the Nagaramman (the snake goddess) idol and also idols for Thangammai and Thayammai there. On that night, They made nivedyam (a sweet offering for God) from a mixture of raw rice flour, banana (Matty) fruit, cardamom, dried ginger, coconut and jaggery. This mixture was pressed to form a solid rectangular shape (like a brick), which was then covered using banana and coconut leaves and tied using Kaithai (a plant which produces a very fragrant flower) root. This was baked using coconut husk and served to the god. This came to be