தரமபர மவடட இரளர பழஙகடயன மககளன கடடககவல மனயபபன வழபட / Worship of Kattukkovil Muniyappan of the Irular Tribes of Dharmapuri District

There are nearly fourteen thousand people of the Irular tribes live in Dharmapuri district. The people of this tribe belong to mountainous areas and collect their daily needs from nature. In the early days, man lived in harmony with nature and worshipped that nature. Then, they gave shape to that nature and worshipped it. The main occupation of the Irular tribe is collecting tubers, honey and herbal medicines. Irular women have to migrate to other places due to marriage and men due to work. Even though they go somewhere, when the temple festival is held, everyone comes together and worships the clan deity. At that time, they sacrifice animals like goats, roosters and pigs. They use a kind of Katarisi (Moonkilarisi) found in the forest to offer offerings to the God. They worship the family deity Kattukkovil Muniyappan with these items. Although the worship of the family deity is a very ancient form of worship, the rituals and worship have changed according to the needs of the times. The worship of the minor deities was done due to the fear of the people and to protect themselves from deadly diseases and natural disasters. Even if there is an auspicious event in the family or if there is illness, the custom of wrapping one rupee in a yellow cloth in the name of the family deity is still practiced today by them. When the temple festival day comes, they put it in the Undial. The people of the Irular tribe perform special pujas in their ancestral temples to cure the person who is bound by evil spirits such as witchcraft and they practice many other rituals to get rid of the diseases. They worship the weapons and objects left by their ancestors for ages in the ancestral worship. This article investigates the worshipping methods of the Irular people.