One of the earliest entrants to the jewellery trade from the Palanpuri community was Surajmal Lallubhai who set up offices in different parts of the country as well as some international centre. Diamond House in Chennai, which currently houses the well known coffee shop Saravana’s, was once the showroom-cum-workshop of the famed jeweller, and also the location from where his nephew Jaysinghlal K Mehta ran a well known music recording company.

Recently, Chennai’s well-known newspaper, The Hindu, carried an article by the convenor of INTACH, Chennai, which traces the history of the city’s landmark structure.

We reproduce the article for the benefit of our readers - Editor.

Hidden Histories: Journey from Surajmal's to Saravana's

by Sriram V.
Some of the best-known names in Carnatic music came to this building, including M.S. Subbulakshmi

I stand at the entrance to Saravana Bhavan on NSC Bose Road, opposite Law College, hoping to get a seat and then a hot cup of its famed coffee. All is hustle and bustle. I cannot help reflecting that half a century ago, the atmosphere would have been different, for this was Diamond House, showroom-cum-workshop of the famed jewellers, Surajmal's.

The eponymous founder moved to Bombay from Palanpur in Gujarat at the age of 17 and set up his own shop there by 1895. Business prospered and the firm was approved in Antwerp as a sourcing agent for diamonds. Branches were opened by 1916 in Rangoon, Tiruchirapalli, Calcutta and Madras. In our city, Jaysinghlal K Mehta, one of the founder's nephews, managed Surajmal's. Till 1925, it operated from Audiappa Naicken Street.

Success meant the necessity of a bigger showroom and Surajmal's took on lease the newly built Shankar's Building, at 313, Esplanade, standing at the corner of Umpherston's Street and China Bazar (now NSC Bose) Road. The ground floor had the showroom, the first floor the offices and the top floor the lunchroom for the staff. In the basement sat the army of craftsmen, working on silver and gold. It was to the showroom that the well heeled came to purchase and sometimes discretely sell. Among the latter would have been the formidable Bangalore Nagarathnamma, who counted Jaysinghlal a personal friend. It was through Surajmal's that she sold most of her famed jewels to fund the construction of Tyagaraja's Samadhi temple in Tiruvayyaru.