Barely a month after the Tamil Nadu government stated in the Assembly that there had been no hooch tragedies in the state for 14 years, two incidents of illicit liquor, claiming 22 lives so far have put paid to these official claims. The two simultaneous incidents were reported from Villupuram...
It was artist C. Kondaiah Raju (1898-1976), who, in his portraits, infused life into several Hindu gods and goddesses and made them part of several temples and households. He was one of the few famous painters such as Raja Ravi Varma. Born to Kuppusamy Raju-Alamelu Mangammal in Chennai in 1898,...
The Kerala government has planned a year-long event to commemorate the centenary of Vaikom Satyagraha, which took place March 30, 1924 - November 23, 1925. The historic agitation was launched with the prominent demand to open the streets around the Lord Shiva Temple in Vaikom in the Kingdom of...
A solar-powered millet milling machine has brought rays of sunshine to the lives of the people living in a tribal-dominated village, who are happy that the machine has mitigated their difficulties in food preparation. Kathirimalai located in the Anthiyur area of Erode district is home to 75...
There has been a rising trend of tribal people from other states being brought into Tamil Nadu and forced to labour for long hours and low wages in work such as sugarcane harvesting. The Tamil Nadu government has been urged to act against bonded labour and provide proper facilities to the...
The Oscar award for The Elephant Whisperers, a documentary short film, is a global tribute to the tribal people living in harmony with nature and wildlife in the Nilgiris. The film tells the life story of the couple Bomman and Bellie of the Kattunayakan tribe, who work at an elephant care...
In recognition of Tamil Nadu’s indigenous varieties of brinjal and chillies, the thorny brinjal of Vellore and the rotund chilli of Ramanathapuram have been given the geographical indication or GI tag. ‘Mullu kaththarikaai’ (thorny brinjal) is endemic to Vellore district. It is different from...
Every year the annual bird census is undertaken after the end of the northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu. Usually it happens around Pongal. This year, more volunteers and students have come forward to take part in the Forest Department’s bird survey, as interest in studying birds has gone up....
Vadivel Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan were going about their routine work in Karur, catching snakes, when they heard the news that they had been awarded the fourth-highest civilian award of the country, the Padma Shri. The duo from one of the most marginalised and oppressed communities, the Irulars,...
The Pongal festival ingrained in the popular imagination conjures up images of cooking rice in an open fire, buffaloes and cows being decorated and celebrated and people meticulously arranging sugarcane, turmeric leaves, flowers and other paraphernalia. In tribal villages of the Western Ghats,...
