The Melaka Chetti, Hindu Peranakans of Melaka

Descendants of Tamil traders who settled in Melaka during the Sultanate. We kept the Hindu faith, took up the Malay language and made a cuisine of our own. The village is still home, and visitors are welcome.

Book a village tour Buy the cookbook

1781Our oldest temple, Sri Poyatha Vinayagar Moorthy → 500+ yearsof family recipes in The Melaka Chetti Kitchen → Naik Bukit & ParchuAncestral prayers kept only by our community →

Get involved

Visit the village, cook from our book, eat with us or join the association. Each one helps keep the community going.

Visit Village tours Guided tours of Kampung Chetti with members of the community. A traditional meal can be arranged. →Enquire

Cook The cookbook The Melaka Chetti Kitchen, endorsed by the UNESCO Malaysia Chair. →Buy a copy

Dine Donate & Dine Dinners that raise money for education and welfare in the community. →Register interest

Belong Membership Open to Melaka Chetti families and to friends of the community. →Join

Our history

A short outline of how the community came to be. The history page goes into more detail.

Read the full history →

Melaka harbour, in the style of an early European engraving

Before 1400 Tamil merchants from the Coromandel Coast trade across the Malay Archipelago.
c. 1400 Parameswara founds Melaka. Traders waiting out the monsoon settle and marry Malay, Chinese, Javanese and Batak families.
15th c. Naina Chattu serves as Bendahara and reputedly mints the city’s first coins.
1511 → Portuguese records count 300–400 Chetties in Campon Chelim, Tranqueira.
1888 Sri Anggalaman Temple is built at the edge of the village.
Today Kampung Chetti in Gajah Berang remains the centre of the community.
Families of the village: Pandaram, Neiker, Raja, Pather, Pillay, Chitty, Padiachee.

The Melaka Chetti Kitchen

Our cookbook records recipes that families have passed down for generations, some for more than 500 years, together with the stories that go with them. It is endorsed by the UNESCO Malaysia Chair, and proceeds go to education and welfare causes in the community.

Buy the book More about the book

master craftsman at work, or elders on a verandah

Visit Kampung Chetti

Tours are led by members of the community. You'll hear about our history, meet our master craftsman and some of the village elders, see family antiquities and visit the temples. We can also arrange a typical Melaka Chetti meal.