ச. தரமன பதனஙகளல நமபகககளம சகனமம / Beliefs and Omens in the Novels of Cho. Dharman

Cho. Dharman's works provide a profound examination of the belief of rural people His works focussess on how omen interpretation (nambikkai sagunam) structures village life, with his narratives. It covers the sacralization of ecological elements like neem trees (veppa maram) and perching eagles as divine manifestations. Then, traditional meteorological divination practiced by village elders, then the economic augury associating peacock (namakkozhi) sightings with prosperity. It also points out agricultural revival rituals through Kuvai Sami worship and complex omen classification systems interpreting donkey brays and cave echoes as auspicious/inauspicious signs. This study analyzes how Cho. Dharman's reveals these belief structures as cognitive maps to understand ecological uncertainties, social mechanisms of communal identity and cultural repositories of traditional ecological knowledge. The research study examines the semiotic transformation of natural elements such as flora/fauna phenomena into cultural signifiers within the village by demonstrating how these belief systems operate at the connection of environmental hermeneutics, risk management and social cohesion in agrarian communities. It argues that Cho. Dharman's works provide critical insights into the dynamic interplay between folk epistemology and socio-economic transformation in rural South India. Hence, the article investigates the narrative representations of omens and decision making seen in the novels of Cho. Dharman.