Karaikudi is a city and a municipality in Sivaganga District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the largest city in Sivaganga district, and is known as the capital of Chettinad region, which comprises Karaikudi and 74 other villages. Chettinad is the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars (Nagarathar) a prosperous banking and business community, many of whose members migrated to nearby Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Karaikudi got its name because the area is famous for the type of houses built with limestone called 'karai veedu' and also may be due to a plant called "Karai" which is widely spread over this area.
