The ‘Kuravar’/ ‘Kurru’, being one of the indigenous ethnoses / ethnic group, inhabit the state of Tamil Nadu since time immemorial. In Ancient Thamizhagam, the people of this ethnos / ethnic group had the ‘Kurinji Thinai’ (comprising of hills and the adjoining arenas) as their traditional bio-geographic zone. At present, the ‘Kuravar’ / ‘Kurru People’ try their level best to retain their ethnic identity by claiming themselves as ‘Kuravar’ (the shortened form of ‘Kunravar’ (Lit. “People of hillock”) by their exonym rather than as ‘Kurru’ (which could be traced back to the Proto – Dravidian nominal root * ‘Kunru’ by their endonym. And ‘they’ get displaced from their original habitat of hilly terrains long time ago, by the later settlers from the nearby plains due to certain socio-cultural and socio-political pressures. Despite these pressures exerted on them, the ‘Naanjil Naattu Kuravar’ (Lit. “Kuravar (people) of Naanjil Naadu”) are found to observe the ritual re-enactment of ‘Kuravar Padukalam’ (Lit. “Martyrdom of Kuravar (People)”) as part of the ‘Valli Kalyaanam’ (Lit. “Marriage (Ceremony) of ‘Valli’ (with ‘Murugan’) held at the temple premises of Kumarakovil (near Thackalay enroute of Nagarcoil to Tiruvanathapuram). On the line of this ritual re-enactment, the ‘Kuravar’/’Kurru People’ inhabiting the various regions of Tamil Nadu, in recent years, began the ritual observance of re-enacting certain aspects of ‘Valli Kalyaanam’ in and around the temple premises of Murugan’ located in places such as Palani (of Dindigal District,) Swamimalai (of Kumbakonam District), Thiruchendur (of Thoothukudi District), Kunrathur (of Thiruvallur District), and Vada Pudhupatti (of Theni District). In this paper, an attempt is made to present and highlight certain strategies adopted by the ‘Kuravar’/ ‘Kurru People’ quite recently so as to re-establish the ritual connections of this ethnic community with reference to the cultural observance of ‘Valli Kalyaanam”.
‘Kuravar’/Kunravar’ – ‘Ethnos’/’Ethnic Group’ – Exonym – Endonym – ‘Kuravar’ / ‘Kurru People’ – ‘Kurinji Thinai’ – Kuravar Padukalam’ – ‘Valli Kalyaanam’ – Original Ethnic Identity
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