SALEM: Monday was the annual women’s day in and men’s day out at Vellakadai tribal village in Yercaud, as the traditional women’s only ritual was conducted. Controversy surrounded the event, owing to the belief that the tribal women strip and dance around the deity. However, this is strongly denied by villagers.
Observed on the third day after Pongal since centuries back, the ritual is strictly for women. Men stay away from the village from dawn to dusk. Women prepare ragi rotis and pack them for the men, who leave the village around 6 am and return at sunset. To indicate that the festival is yet to be finished, a wooden pole (used since unknown times) is laid across the entrance of the village.
The Vellakadai tribals believe that men would go blind if they enter the village during the ritual. The controversial part of the celebration is the belief (which is strongly denied by villagers) that the tribal women strip and dance around the deity to ensure that the village is blessed with good rains and a bountiful harvest. No one in Yercaud or in Vellakadai admits that this ritual is practiced in the modern times. Every year officials report that the controversial ritual was not held and that the women worshiped, played, traditional games and sang while little girls danced.
C Annadurai, Vellakdadai Panchayat chairma, said, “The fact that the celebration is being held under the vigil of Revenue and Police (women officials only) in the last two decades, gives credibility to the belief and feeds the media reports.”
Young educated girls of the village say they face a stigma because of the negative reports being carried every year. “There are hardly a dozen elderly women in the village who carry on the tradition these days, that too without the controversial rituals. The celebration will eventually fade by passage of time,” said Annadurai.
Yercaud Thasildhar M Krishnan said the Revenue Inspectors reported that nothing controversial was observed this year. Police officials also issued a similar report about the event.