Tamil coolies in chequered cloth (kain pelikat)

Crowding the pier are a Chinese man in a bowler hat (right) and Tamil coolies in chequered cloth (kain pelikat). Written Dated 1907 from Colombo to England.

Batu Cave old Post Card - Holy cow 5 legged

Batu Caves (Tamil: பத்து மலை), is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, located in Gombak district, 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of the nearby village.
The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia.


The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli).
As early as 1860, Chinese settlers began excavating guano for fertilising their vegetable patches. However, they became famous only after the limestone hills were recorded by colonial authorities including Daly and Syers as well as American Naturalist, William Hornaday in 1878.
Batu Caves was promoted as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader. He was inspired by the 'vel'-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga within the caves. In 1890, Pillai, who also founded the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, installed the murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Subramania Swamy in what is today known as the Temple Cave. Since 1892, the Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai (which falls in late January/early February) has been celebrated there.
Wooden steps up to the Temple Cave were built in 1920 and have since been replaced by 272 concrete steps. Of the various cave temples that comprise the site, the largest and best known is the Temple or Cathedral Cave, so named because it houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100 m vaulted ceiling.
(By :- http://collectorchain.blogspot.com)

Rubber Factory Workers!!!

Rubber factory with Indian workers as a labourer. Took in year 1960's. Rare Collection.

Indian Body Guards, Kuala Lumpur

Post Card by G.R Lambert & Co. Ltd in 1884, the Selangor Police was enlarged by raising a Sikh contingent of 40 men who served as static guards at government offices when not required as a standing force.

Batu Caves 60's View

Batu Caves, is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and has a temple, located in Gombak district, 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur. Its name was named after Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of a nearby village.

The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is a focal point of Hindu festival called Thaipusam in Malaysia (Source by: Wikipedia). The interesting part of this postcard, if we notice clearly, we can see two cows in this postcard. The first cow 5 legged belong to Batu Caves temple seen in this picture leading his calf for a stroll, this cow died in 1970's and a statue of this cow is still there for visitor view. This cow considered as a holy cow and special for the temple itself. This postcard is a picture in 60's era Batu Caves. It was purchased in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaya Barber

This postcard originated from Penang, It shows one of the oldest and early traditional profession by the Tamil community in Malaya. Those days, there is no shop available for them to run their business, so their will look for a place to be used for cutting customers' hair. The location on this postcard is actually located in Market Street, Penang, opposite the now Anandha Bhawan Restaurant.

Today, the barber business is not only owned by Tamil community but also by other community in the current era. A lot of changes was made in this profession especially in tools being used and methods. There is a long history about this barber profession.

Tamil Stage Drama Actors and Actress

This postcard came from Singapore in 1950 - 60's. It portrays Tamil actors on stage dramas. It is a very interesting postcard. Some source mentioned that stage drama was an important entertainment and also as a messenger from community to community to pass the current news to them. In the entertainment business, they tell old stories about their tradition and culture.

Tamil "Administrator" & Tamil "Coolies "

This postcard was printed during the FMS 1895 to 1946, according to wikipedia source. This postcard portrays the Penang Tamil, Malay administrator and Tamil Coolies. If we look closely, it shows their life and culture (attire) and even it is even can be seen on their jewellery. This Tamil administrator was called as "KANGGANI" in that era.

This postcard also addressed to the Tamil people not only as coolies but also as a administrators to certain traders.

There is no information about the place it was printed. This is one of the rarest postcard collection!!!

Tamil Beauty

It is an interesting postcard that was printed in Germany in 1930's. It was about promoting Tamil culture & tradition. This postcard shows a Tamil lady from Penang to be portrayed on the postcard.

The portray of this Indian lady shows the beauty of Tamil community and the conservative culture that it is now hardly to be seen elsewhere. As the saying goes, "picture paints a thousand word".

The postcard was bought in Kuala Lumpur and this was one of my first range of Tamil Treasure collection.