IDUKKI: Long since the paddy fields of Anchunad fell silent, the rocks continue to tell their story.
Scattered across the landscape of Keezhanthoor, Karayur and Marayur are centuries-old ‘Kakkuly’ — circular pits carved into natural rock surfaces that once formed the heart of the region’s farming life. For generations, farmers gathered around these pits to pound harvested paddy into rice, and shape their agricultural lives — and close-knit communities.
Today, with paddy cultivation having disappeared from the region, the weathered pits remain silent reminders of a tradition that sustained for generations.
What makes the Kakkuly unique is the history etched around them. Many of the pits still bear the names of the families that owned them, inscribed in ancient Tamil script. While the respective families enjoyed the first right to use the pits, other villagers were also allowed to pound their paddy there, reflecting a farming culture built on sharing and mutual dependence.
Unlike many other farming regions, paddy in Anchunad was cultivated largely for household consumption rather than for trade. After harvest, families stored the paddy in their homes and brought only the quantity required for daily use to the Kakkuly, where it was pounded into rice.
According to Sivakumar, a farmer, almost every household had its own mortar for pounding paddy, yet the community rock pits occupied a special place in village life.
Unlike household mortar, the Kakkuly were carved into large, flat rock surfaces. Each rock contains around 10 to 20 circular pits, with several such rock clusters found across the villages of Keezhanthoor, Karayur and Marayur.
“We stored the harvested paddy at home and pound only what was needed. It was also a place where neighbours met, shared work and spent time together. That collective feeling is something today’s generation has never experienced,” he told TNIE.
The practice gradually faded as paddy cultivation disappeared. Rising cultivation costs, labour shortages, poor returns and frequent crop losses forced farmers to abandon the crop over the years. Today, not a single paddy field remains under cultivation in the region, rendering the local Padasekhara Samithi inactive.
Even then, farmers have not given up on hope. They believe that completion of the long-awaited Pattissery dam project will create an opportunity to revive paddy cultivation in Anchunad after decades.
“If water from the Pattissery dam reaches our fields, many people are willing to cultivate paddy again. The land has not forgotten farming. We only lost the water and the people who continued the tradition. We hope the next generation will know the Kakkuly not merely as an old stone pit, but as a place that once brought an entire community together,” Sivakumar said.