[3][5] He was born on 5 August 1905, son of Dr. Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar, the Raja of Chettinad and a distinguished member of the Nattukottai Nagarathar community.

[3] He became a member of the Madras Legislative Council, representing the South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with which he was associated for 50 years, and was elected its President in 1941.

While pursuing his political career as Chief Whip and Legislative Assembly Chairman of the Justice Party, he retained his interest in education.

In 1936 he was appointed Minister-in-Charge of education, Public Health and Excise, and was also the pro-Chancellor of Madras University for over a year.

In 1948 he became Pro-Chancellor of Annamalai University which expanded to include the faculties of Education, Fine Arts, Culture, Law and Medicine.

[3][5] He earned the reputation of being a sensitive Parliamentarian, impartial and balanced, as a leader of the opposition in 1939 and when he held charge of Local Administration and Hindu Religious Endowments.

[8][9] He also had the rare honour of hosting a lunch in the Chettinad House for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.