Irul Tribe:
Masi Magam, an auspicious day in the Tamil calendar holds significance for the Irular community which is deeply tied to their culture and collective identity.
- They are a Dravidian ethnic group; reside in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Western Ghats, spread across Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
- They are one of India’s oldest indigenous communities.
- They are classified under the “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” category in Tamil Nadu.
- They also call themselves Erlar or Poosari, while their neighbours refer to them as Eralollu, Irulas, Shikari and Pujari.
- They speak Irula, which is related to Dravidian languages like Tamil and Kannada.
- The Irula people don’t have a definite god for them. They are pantheists who make provision for the presence of spirits in humans and objects.
- Their main deity is a virgin goddess called Kanniamma, who is deeply associated with the cobra.
- Irula houses are built together in small settlements or villages called mottas.
- The mottas are usually situated on the edges of steep hills and are surrounded by a few dry fields, gardens, and forests or plantations.
- Cattle production is another source of income. In the forests they collect wild resources like honey, frankincense, firewood and the like.
- The Irula community is traditionally associated with healing, traditional medicine, and catching poisonous snakes.
