Irula Tribe PDF

IRULAS Irula is an ethnic group of India. They inhabit the area of the Niigiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India. The Irulas are found mainly in the southern and eastern slopes of the Nilgiri hills. They are generally considered to have drifted to the Nilgiris from the hilly...

IRULAS Irula is an ethnic group of India. They inhabit the area of the Niigiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India. The Irulas are found mainly in the southern and eastern slopes of the Nilgiri hills. They are generally considered to have drifted to the Nilgiris from the hilly terrains of Attapadi and Siruvani valleys in Kerala and the adjoining Anaikatti area in Coimbatore. Among the tribes of the Nilgiris, the Irulas are most numerous, next only to the Badagas. They are reported to be in possession of excellent medico-botanical knowledge of herbal wealth and related vegetation in their immediate vicinities. Similarities With Kurumbas The Irulas have many points in common with the Kurumbas. Like them, they are dwellers of the jungle, and hence they derive their name, which literally signifies "People of the darkness". They, like the Kurumbas live in the lower reach of the Nilgiris in the south and east in villages with detached huts made of split bamboo. Their villages are called 'Mottas' like those of the Kurumbas. A scheduled tribe, their population in this region is estimated at 25,000 people. People of Irula ethnicity are called Irular, and speak Irula, which belongs to the Dravidian family. Unlike the Negrito tribes in the Andaman Islands who have retained their language, Irular speak the Irula language, a Dravidian language that is closely related to Tamil, Yerukala, Sholaga and other Tamil languages. Etymology Irular means "dark people" in Tamil and Malayalam, from the root word irul, meaning "darkness", in reference to their dark skin complexion. Anthropology Early 20th century anthropological literature classified the Irular under the Negrito ethnic group. Distribution Irular live in two south Indian states – Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Tamil Nadu they live in the Nilgiris, Coimbatore and Erode districts. In Kerala they live in the Palakkad district and Attapady and Walayar panchayats. They live in four taluks in Coimbatore district, namely Coimbatore South, Coimbatore North, Avinashi and Madathukulam. The Coimbatore district houses 4254 Irulas in 40 settlements comprising 139 villages. Nearly 100 Vettakada Irula settlements are found in the forest areas or in the deep mountainous jungles. There are 4 tribal settlements in the Siruvani Hills comprising 14 villages. Culture The Irulas are sub-divided into the following groups; Poongkaru, Kudagar Kalkatti, Vellaka, Devala and Koppillingam. Marriage ties are rather loose. The Irula marriage and funeral ceremonies are simple. Marriages are followed by feast and dance, and some Kurumbas are invited. Irulas are said to worship Vishnu in their own temple. Irula temples aren't imposing, consisting as they do of circles of rough stones, each enclosing an upright one with iron tridents fixed in the ground. They are many traditions concerning their power over wild beasts. They are accredited with being able to tame tigers, and the fable goes that the women when in the woods leave their children in the care of a tiger. The Irulas in the eastern slopes are legendarily associated with the Ranagsamy (also spelt as Rangaswami) cult, a virile religious and cultural event centered on the northern slopes of the hills, used to be expert honey-collectors and hunters. Occupation Irulas cultivate small patches close by their village raising Ragi, Samai, (all cereals), plantains, oranges, jacks, pumpkins, etc. They rarely trade on the plateau, but go down to towns in the plains with their produce like fruits, honey bee-wax market gum, dyes, etc. They also hunt and snare wild animals. They have also been the traditionally hired herdsmen for Badagas pasturages in Moyar basin. Put together they number around 9,000 people. Economy Irula man and woman tilling the soil. Traditionally, the main occupation of the Irulas has been snake and rat catching. They also work as labourers (coolies) in the fields of the landlordsduring the sowing and harvesting seasons or in the rice mills. Fishing is also a major occupation. Rats destroy a quarter of the grain grown on Tamil Nadu-area farms annually. To combat this pest, Irula men use a traditional earthen pot fumigationmethod. Smoke is blown through their mouths, which leads to severe respiratory and heart problems.  PALIYARS The Paliyan, or Palaiyar or Pazhaiyarare are Adivasi Dravidian people living in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They are traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, honey hunters and foragers. Yams are their major food source. In the early part of the 20th century the Paliyans dressed scantily and lived in rock crevices and caves. Most have now transformed to traders of forest products, food cultivators and beekeepers. Some work intermittently as wage laborers, mostly on plantations. They are included in the List of Scheduled Tribes in India. ETYMOLOGY PALLIYAN, they are also known as Palliyar, Poliya, Palleyan, Palani Makkal, and Malai Paliyar and are divided into two groups. Vana Paliyar and Devya Paliyar. They are of the food gathering communities of Tamil Nadu. It is believed that the Paliyan originally belonged to the Palani hills. The term palliyan or paliyan has originally belonged to the Palani hills. The term Palliyan of Paliyan has been derived from the word palaniyan, which in Tamil language means a men from Palani. DISTRIBUTION Paliyars, the aboriginal tribes, live in the clad of western ghat falling in the districts of Madurai, Theni, Dindugul,Tiruppur, Virudhunagar,and Tirunelveli. Paliyars are scattered and unorganised group who are all used to live as a smaller group in the foothills. Poolavadi Puliyampatti in Palani hills of western Ghats is considered to be the origin of this tribe. Paliyans live as isolated groups. They used to live in rock crevices and caves.Palliays in Virudhunagar and Madurai districts are mostly settled in the hilly areas of sathuragiri-, Shenbaga Thoppu, Thanipparai, Atthikoil, Ayyanarkoil, vinobanagar,in Pilavakkal Dam, Vallimmanagar, , etc. They speak Tamil and use the Tamil script for both inter-group and intra-group communication. CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE These people are non-vegetarians, but do not take beef and pork. Their staple food grains are rice and ragi. They consume all kinds of pulses and use groundnut oil and palm oil as cooking media. They also eat tubers, vegetables, fruits, milk and milk products, and drink black tea and black coffee. The men and women of this community consume alcoholic drinks regularly. They smoke beedis, cigarettes, chew betel leaves and tobacco and use snuff. They are short in stature and black in colour, with curly hair, thick lips, broad and flat nose. Tamil is their mother language. In the ancient time, the ancestors of paliyars were lived with nature and settled as a small group in the interior forest. In olden days, these people lived in small cave like structures called Kalazhais and later on constructed a small hut in the forest. They are now settled in the footsteps of the hills and used to venture into the forest on several occasion for collection of minor forest produce and medicinal plants and herbs. Their life is very simple and well contended and they do not have saving habits. Paliars are in chase till time memory as the outsider started to parade on their nature. They were once hunter and nomad. Only in early 50s, they exposed their life to the outside world and also started to wear limited clothes. Their dress code is very simple. They are in search of their lost glory and their lost cultural identity. Ealier Paliyars were, nomadic and later period of paliyars is semi nomadic and the present Paliars are settlers. Nomadic paliyars don't built houses; they live temporarily in rock caves called 'pudai'. Semi nomadic paliyarsbuild temporary houses and confine themselves to small territories. Most of their huts are dark with no window or any other opening to admit air. Settled Paliyars are more or less urbanized PALIYARS IN SATHURAGIRI HILL Palliyas in Virudhunagar and Madurai districts are mostly settled in the hilly areas of sathuragiri-, Shenbaga Thoppu, Thanipparai, Atthikoil, Ayyanarkoil, vinobanagar,in Pilavakkal Dam, Vallimmanagar, palavakkal dam, etc. Sathuragiri is known for legendry and religion. It is an isolated hill situated at the eastern side of Western Ghats. This hill range is an off - shoot that is connected to the Western Ghats through the Varushanadu hill ranges in the north. It is known for Siddha’s date back to 5AD. It was also referred in Ramayana. It was belived that while Hanuman (Monkey God) was carrying the Sanjeevi mountain, a portion of it was dropped containing all the rare medicinal plants. Customs and Ritual Paliyar is a contemporary hunting and gathering society once lived in the interior forest. Paliyars are relatively non-violent peace-loving innocent tribes. They were nomad till time memory. Only in the early 50s, they started to wear limited dresses. The male was half necked and used to put the dotti in the waist and that the used one by the male was then weared by the woman as dress. The habit of wearing the saris and other modern dresses found in their changed life style only in the later period, that is after they have been exposed to the outside world and started to settle down in the foothills. The ancestors of paliyar used to eat vallikizhanku and hunt animals for food. They worship goodness Ananthavalii and vanadevadai. The tribal offers prayer to the Vanadevadai in the interior forest. They also worship God Karuppan by visiting a remote area of the forest along with the families. Still believes that these Vanadevadais protect their family. Adi amavasai is an important festival that is celebrated with more ritual and gaiety. In the early 50’s the Paliyans were allowed to perform pooja and today this right has been taken away by the caste Hindus of the plains. Still, the community is having the habit and celebrity of venture in to the interior forest with family members and offer poojas. Lifestyle Their life style is very simple and sacrosanct. They love to live with nature. Their belongings are limited and they do not have saving habits. Once they live in rocks and their life style has now been disturbed and witnessed past erosion. Those days the marriage ceremony was very simple and they had a practice of marring the maternity uncle’s daughter. They will exchange the groom within their community settled in particular settlement. They rarely search the groom from the other paliyars living in the other parts of the places in the western Ghats. The same custom is still in practice. In early days, the bride and bridegroom were allowed to start the new life by separating them from the father’s house from the day one on wards by giving gift of small pottery for cooking. The young couple had to accept and to start the new life in the forest. They used Tharanipoo and perandipoo during the marriage feast and the young woman put the Tharanippu garland as a token of love and affection and a symbol of marriage. Such a system of marriage has been eroded now once the community mingled with outsiders. But instead of giving mud pot as a marriage gift, now they are accustomed to give goat and cow as a marriage gift to the bridegroom family. Hunter becomes Gatherer: The hunters are now become gatherers. Their knowledge on medicinal plants is extraordinary and has a rich expertise about herbs. They used to collect the medicinal plants from the interior forest. Their rights on forest and their present with nature are to be relooked as they have been traditionally protecting and conserving the forest resource for sustainable use. They collect honey from the branches of towering tall trees and rock caves skillfully. Sathuragiri Paliyans resulted in the identification of 134 medicinal plants that are used by them to treat common ailments such as cold, cough, head ache, snake bites, poisonous insect bites and digestive disorders. Tribal tribulation and invasion of cash Economy It is misfortune that the Piliyar tribal are still under exploitation. The rapid depletion of their past life system, social transition, the advent of cash and commercial economy have started to batter their glory. The future of the Paliyar life is very tenacious and dangerous. Their natural economy is totally under thread. The unorganized business operation and domination of traders have put them in low profile. There is no organized system to procure the minor forest items from the tribal. Serfdom type menace has sucked their life. Some of the tribal have slander their life to the traders for many years just for Rs.500/- as there are unable to pay back the money and as a result, they used to give their collection at very minimum rate. The apathetic life structure has put them in the mid of crisis. It is also known fact that the early two censes shows that the population of Paliyar is waning out very fast. Noble cause: Paliyar tribal are being portent and protected by few NGOs. The service of RAMCO is fabulous. RAMCO is known for community development of above race. Their initiatives on eradication of illiteracy and commitment on tribal rehabilitation are bold attempt on protecting and promoting the very base of the forgotten race in their own inhabitation. They have constructed permanent house for the Paliyars in 4 settlement areas. They have adopted the Tribal children of the above-mentioned places and brought them to Rajapalayam for giving proper education to the ethnic groups.