Pitty Theagaraya Chetty - Senior and Sir Pitty Theagaraya Chetty-Junior, founded the North Madras Hindu Secondary School in 1897, to cater to the educational needs of the local population. For nearly 25 years, the school was nurtured under the munificence of the acclaimed philanthropists- the Pitty Brothers. After the demise of the Pitty brothers, the School was renamed as Theagaraya Chetty Hindu Secondary School. In 1931, the Pitty Family, with the approval of High Court of Madras, rightly vested the management of the school into the broader hands of a Committee constituted for the purpose.
The first correspondent of the School was the coveted personality in DEWAN BAHADUR PT. KUMARASWAMI CHETTY. Subsequently, he was succeeded by his brother P.T. Chengalvaraya Chetty in 1942. The School flourished and soared to greater heights in the field of education and by June 1947, the students’ strength fittingly increased to a laudable figure of 1600- no mean achievement, given the demographics of the location of the school, peopled by traders, artisans and daily wagers.
Fittingly, the Management realized the need to raise the School into a College, in the year 1950, to provide higher education to the residents of North Madras – a luxury offered at hand’s reach, which even the affluent could not easily dream of, in those days. The Hand of Prodigy prevailed on Sri. P.Ramaswamy Chetty, grandson of Pitty Theagaraya Chetty-Senior, a talented and visionary icon of Pammy Family. As a member for the Managing Committee, he worked relentlessly towards the establishment of an institution for higher learning- a haven for the weaker and under-privileged sections of the people in North Madras. The steady growth achieved by Sir Theagaraya College since its establishment illustrates the commitment of the Management in offering education, particularly higher education to the under privileged and the disadvantaged.
Sir Theyagaraya College which is a constituent of the Theagaraya Chetty Educational Institutions, is managed by a board comprising six trustees, of whom, two are drawn from each of the families of Pitty Theagaraya Chetty-Senior and Sir Pitty Theagaraya Chetty-Junior, one from the Chartered Accountants Association and the other being nominated by the Madras University Syndicate.
