Ooty Travel – Uncover Hidden Gems Associated With Tribe Cultures of Nilgiri Hills

Before the time British arrived, the Todas were the main denizens of the Nilgiri Hills living with their own traditions & customs. They dwelled in small hamlets within wagon-shaped huts made of bamboo, thatch and reeds. However, there were four other tribe groups in Nilgiri Hills living in interdependence with Todas. Among them, the Irulus, who still exist in a large number in Ooty, were the ritual specialists and were assigned the job of making Vishnu-worshiping-tools. The Kotas, another tribe community at Nilgiri, were ironsmiths and ceramists who provide the music for the rituals. Similarly, the Kurumbas were expert in magic, gathering honey and wood, while the Badagas, who arrived there in fourteenth century, supplied the remaining communities with grains and beans. They all lived harmoniously based on a barter system under which every community was responsible to supply something they could manage in excess. In the same manner, responsibility of Todas was to supply the others with dairy products.

The Toda community still exists in Niligiri tribe villages, though in depleted numbers. Some of them follow their customs even today: they wear traditional cloths – plain white waist cloths under thick white woven shawls. Many adult women have their upper part of body tattooed with hair oiled and curled into long ringlets. Buffalo is held scared in Toda culture, and it’s the milk they demand and consume from the beast. Traditionally, ‘marriages’ were arranged at birth with partner from another kin. The interesting is that once the girl, at the age of fifteen, moved to his husband’s home, she automatically became the wife of his younger brother too. Nowadays, visit to these tribe villages has become a fascination for Ooty travelers. Tourists on Ooty travel come here to explore amazing traditions & cultures of these communities. Besides this, natural beauty and a variety of flora & fauna around these villages are also quite alluring. That’s why many travel portals offer an Ooty package with inclusion of visit to this tribe community.