3.10. Cultural Forms of the Irula People
The life cycle rituals of the Irulas are markedly different from that of the other Hindu or Christian communities. They perform the life cycle ceremonies with the help of their women by well-established cultural patterns and do not depend on outside intervention to keep itself going. They celebrate child birth, naming ceremony, ear boring ceremony, age attainment or puberty, marriage and death ceremonies. Except for marriage ceremony, for other ceremonies they spend very less amount and the participation of the women is a must one in all life cycle ceremonies.
3.15. Discussion
In the light of the above discussion, Irula tribe has their own culture, rituals, attire, beliefs, lifestyle and most important thing is their clan system. During the course of time they have started losing their identity in terms of language, fables, traditional songs and the vocabulary of the possessions in their practices and premises. Especially, rituals have been affected and influenced by the plain people with whom the Irula people have radial and star connectivity. It is found that the identity of the Irula is being maintained by the people whose age is above fifty. The study has revealed that the social, cultural and linguistic aspects have been affected by the effects of the practices of the plain people.
Source: PhD thesis by P. Suresh titled “Lexical Structure Of Irula Language”, Ch. 3 (Socio-Cultural Perspective on Irula Tribes), Department of Linguistics, Bharathiar University 2014
URL: https://hdl.handle.net/10603/98333
Date visited: 20-11-19
“We are so much more than that. We follow a tradition rich in music, dance and love.” – Author Swarnalatha whose NGO works for the upliftment of her Irula community | SafeSearch (Irular) >>
“[A] common perception of conversion, prevalent in India, is that all conversions take place only among deprived lower caste or tribal groups, which are considered more susceptible to allurement or coercion. The reality of upper caste conversions is ignored in this climate of cynicism.”– Dr. Ivy Imogene Hansdak in Pandita Ramabai Saraswati: the convert as ‘heretic’ | More about the effects of “casteism” >>
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