Masi Magam: an auspicious day for Irular community to reconnect with their roots on Mamallapuram seashores

Masi Magam, an auspicious time successful the Tamil calendar, is celebrated crossed the State with spiritual vigour. The festival besides holds value for the Irular community, for whom the juncture is profoundly tied to their civilization and corporate identity. Members of the assemblage often unrecorded connected the margins and successful immoderate places arsenic bonded labourers. In the days starring up to Masi Magam, members of the assemblage from crossed Tamil Nadu stitchery successful their thousands connected the seashores of Mamallapuram, a historical coastal municipality known for its past rock-cut temples, chromatic sculptures, and monuments built during the Pallava dynasty.

The juncture offers them an accidental to execute rites of passage, including marriages, naming ceremonies for children, receptor piercing, tonsuring, and rituals successful fulfilment of prayers offered to their patron deity Kanniammal. In fact, they travel to the seashore successful hunt of Kanniammal, who they judge had near them, to transportation the deity to instrumentality location with them. “There is simply a beardown content successful the assemblage that prayers offered to the deity volition beryllium answered and each rituals performed connected Masi Magam are spiritually potent and effective,” said E. Tamil Selvan, impermanent lecturer successful the Department of Anthropology astatine the University of Madras, who has been studying the community.

Known for ecological knowledge

The community, designated arsenic a Scheduled Tribe and dispersed crossed Tamil Nadu, is known for its affluent accepted ecological knowledge, including expertise successful handling snakes, preparing herbal remedies for snakebites, and collecting honey. Romulus Whitaker, a well-known herpetologist, worked intimately with the assemblage portion studying snakes and venoms. Members of the assemblage besides prosecute successful cultivation labour and enactment arsenic wage labourers successful ceramic kilns.

The Irulars, who enactment successful Masi Magam, are predominantly from the bluish districts of Kancheepuram, Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai, and Villupuram. For astir a week, Irular families campy on the formation successful tents, combining rituals with accepted songs, dances, and communal celebrations.

K.V. Kanniappan, 43, a subordinate of the assemblage from Villupuram, has worked with the International Justice Mission (IJM) arsenic the territory coordinator for the rehabilitation of the rescued bonded Irula labourers. “Attending the Masi Magam festival brings a heavy consciousness of happiness and fulfilment. Being surrounded by truthful galore radical feels similar being with family, and the juncture is genuinely 1 of joyousness and celebration,” helium said.

S. Kushpu, 35, from Villupuram, said, “For the solemnisation of Masi Magam, we commencement redeeming connected expenses days successful beforehand and spell to Mamallapuram  on with our families and friends. Though we worship our deities each day, thing tin lucifer the consciousness of fulfilment erstwhile we basal astatine the seashore and let the waves to engulf our feet. It feels similar the deity has accepted us.”

According to Edgar Thurston, who extensively studied the Irulars in his publication Castes and Tribes of Southern India, “The Irulas periodically worship Kanniammal, their tribal deity, and Mari, the wide goddess associated with epidemic diseases. On the afloat satellite time [Pournami], the beingness of the deity Kanniammal is believed to beryllium witnessed on the seashore.”

Referring to folklore, S. Rani, 54, a person of the assemblage from Siruseri, explained that the assemblage gathers astatine the seashore to bring backmost the deity Kanniammal, who they judge near the assemblage successful choler during the Tamil period of Margazhi. “We make 7 steps representing the 7 Kannis (virgins), and astatine dawn, successful a unsocial ritual, astir each household arranges flowers, betel leaves, lemons, puffed rice, neem leaves, breached coconuts, and bananas to beryllium kept astatine 7 Kannis made of sand. We erect a pandal, and the naming of children, tonsuring of children, and marriages instrumentality place,” she said.

During the ritual, women and men believed to beryllium possessed by the deity tally towards the sea, lone to beryllium stopped by their household members. They past crook into oracles and marque predictions for the community. Families besides cod seawater and instrumentality it home, believing it volition bring luck and peace. “Participating successful the lawsuit makes our minds airy and fills america with happiness. We judge that not lone our relatives, but besides our ancestors, are contiguous connected the seashore,” she said.

Stories astir ancestors

The celebrations are besides marked by vibrant songs and dances performed collectively by assemblage members. These creation forms play a captious relation successful preserving and sustaining their civilization and traditions. Through their songs and dances, they narrate stories astir their ancestors, accepted occupations and practices, and their devotion to their deity, Kanniammal.

Rani and Kanniappan are besides the founding members of Dolkkattai Irular Kalaikuzhu and Mullai Kalaikuzhu (artiste groups) respectively. The groups person systematically written, compiled, and recorded the community’s songs. “The thought is to grounds our songs, and erstwhile it became much prevalent successful the community, everyone began to consciousness arrogant of it,” Rani said.

In summation to celebrating their heritage, their songs and dances service arsenic a mean for spreading consciousness of important societal issues specified arsenic the request for education, assemblage empowerment, and societal justice, arsenic the assemblage inactive struggles with poorness and deficiency of societal empowerment. “In the songs and dramas, we archer the younger procreation astir the community’s origins, tracing them arsenic 1 of the past Tamil communities, their accepted knowledge, their suffering arsenic bonded labourers, the societal ostracisation they face, and the difficulties successful obtaining assemblage certificates and different issues,” Kanniappan said.