Irula snake catchers’ role in pest control and producing anti-venom serum – Tamil Nadu

Armed with a crowbar, a sabre and a cotton bag, the group sets out at 5.30 a.m. from Vadanemmeli on East Coast Road. Taking the first bus to Mambakkam village on the Kelambakkam – Vandalur Road, the five-member team goes to a paddy field in the nearby Kolathur village. This is the daily routine of … Read more

Benefitting from a tribal community’s symbiotic relationship with nature: The healing system practiced by Irula women – Tamil Nadu

INDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK | Mar 29, 2005 | To read the full article, click here >> The Irulas’ Natural Products Corporation is a partnership firm located in the ITWWS campus, which produces, promotes and markets Irula health-care products. It provides employment to several hundred Irula women.  […] The term Irula means being capable of finding one’s … Read more

Encouraging centuries-old life-skills of Irulas: Eking out a living outside forests – Tamil Nadu

Janaki Lenin’s book [My Husband and Other Animals], a compilation of her popular column in The Hindu MetroPlus, offers insights into her husband Rom Whitaker’s fascination for animals, particularly snakes When he came to Madras, Rom was introduced to the Irulas, who quickly became his buddies, sharing, as they did, a common love for snakes. … Read more

Giving Irula healing practices a place in modern medicine: A new source of livelihood for “one among the six oldest Adivasi tribes” – Puducherry & Tamil Nadu

The term Irula means being capable of finding one’s path in dark forests, according to an Irula myth | Read the full report in the Times of India here >> Born in nature’s lap, Irulas share a symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth. They reside in the hills of northern Tamil Nadu and are one among the six oldest … Read more

Figures carefully drawn with attention to detail, proportion and symmetry – rock art discovery in Tamil Nadu

A big rock art site has been discovered at Kovanur, Perianaickenpalayam taluk, 30 km northwest of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The site has about 60 paintings, both group compositions and individual images. The paintings portray the hunting of an elephant and a herd of deer, and images of a tiger, herds of bisons, a monitor … Read more