Irkuli.—Irkuli or Irangolli Vellāla, said to mean Vellālas who killed dampness, is a name assumed by some Vannāns.
Irpina (comb).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.
Irulas of the Nīlgiris. In the Kotagiri bazaar, which is an excellent hunting-ground for the anthropologist, may be seen gathered together on market-day Kotas, Badagas, Kanarese, Irulas, Kurumbas, and an occasional Toda from the Kodanād mand. A tribal photograph was taken there, with the result that a deputation subsequently waited on me with a petition to the effect that “We, the undersigned, beg to submit that your honour made photos of us, and has paid us nothing. We, therefore, beg you to do this common act of justice.” The deputation was made happy with a pourboire.
In my hunt after Irulas, which ended in an attack of malarial fever, it was necessary to invoke the assistance and proverbial hospitality of various planters. On one occasion news reached me that a gang of Irulas, collected for my benefit under a promise of substantial remuneration, had arrived at a planter’s bungalow, whither I proceeded. The party included a man who had been “wanted” for some time in connection with the shooting of an elephant on forbidden ground. He, suspecting me of base designs, refused to be measured, on the plea that he was afraid the height-measuring standard was the gallows. Nor would he let me take his photograph, fearing (though he had never heard of Bertillonage) lest it should be used for the purpose of criminal identification. Unhappily a mischievous rumour had been circulated that I had in my train a wizard Kurumba, who would bewitch the Irulas, in order that I might abduct them (for what purpose was not stated).
As the Badagas are the fairest, so the Irulas are the darkest-skinned of the Nīlgiri tribes, on some of whom, as has been said, charcoal would leave a white mark. The name Irula, in fact, means darkness or blackness (irul), whether in reference to the dark jungles in which the Irulas, who have not become domesticated by working as contractors or coolies on planters’ estates, dwell, or to the darkness of their skin, is doubtful. Though the typical Irula is dark-skinned and platyrhine, I have noted some who, as the result of contact metamorphosis, possessed skins of markedly paler hue, and leptorhine noses.
The language of the Irulas is a corrupt form of Tamil. In their religion they are worshippers of Vishnu under the name of Rangasvāmi, to whom they do pūja (worship) at their own rude shrines, or at the Hindu temple at Karaimadai, where Brāhman priests officiate. “An Irula pūjāri,” Breeks writes,[13] “lives near the Irula temples, and rings a bell when he performs pūja to the gods. He wears the Vishnu mark on his forehead. His office is hereditary, and he is remunerated by offerings of fruit and milk from Irula worshippers. Each Irula village pays about two annas to the pūjāri about May or June. They say that there is a temple at Kallampalla in the Sattiyamangalam tāluk, north of Rangasvāmi’s peak. This is a Siva temple, at which sheep are sacrificed. The pūjāri wears the Siva mark. They don’t know the difference between Siva and Vishnu. At Kallampalla temple is a thatched building, containing a stone called Māriamma, the well-known goddess of small-pox, worshipped in this capacity by the Irulas. A sheep is led to this temple, and those who offer the sacrifice sprinkle water over it, and cut its throat. The pūjāri sits by, but takes no part in the ceremony. The body is cut up, and distributed among the Irulas present, including the pūjāri.”
In connection with the shrine on Rangasvāmi peak, the following note is recorded in the Gazetteer of the Nīlgiris. “It is the most sacred hill on all the plateau. Hindu legend says that the god Rangasvāmi used to live at Karaimadai on the plains between Mettupālaiyam and Coimbatore, but quarrelled with his wife, and so came and lived here alone. In proof of the story, two footprints on the rock not far from Arakōd village below the peak are pointed out. This, however, is probably an invention designed to save the hill folk the toilsome journey to Rangasvāmi’s car festival at Karaimadai, which used once to be considered incumbent upon them. In some places, the Badagas and Kotas have gone even further, and established Rangasvāmi Bettus of their own, handy for their own particular villages. On the real Rangasvāmi peak are two rude walled enclosures sacred to the god Ranga and his consort, and within these are votive offerings (chiefly iron lamps and the notched sticks used as weighing machines), and two stones to represent the deities. The hereditary pūjāri is an Irula, and, on the day fixed by the Badagas for the annual feast, he arrives from his hamlet near Nandipuram, bathes in a pool below the summit, and marches to the top shouting ‘Govinda! Govinda!’ The cry is taken up with wild enthusiasm by all those present, and the whole crowd, which includes Badagas, Irulas, and Kurumbas, surrounds the enclosures, while the Irula priest invokes the deities by blowing his conch and beating his drum, and pours oblations over, and decorates with flowers, the two stones which represent them. That night, two stone basins on the summit are filled with ghee and lighted, and the glare is visible for miles around. The ceremonies close with prayers for good rain and fruitfulness among the flocks and herds, a wild dance by the Irula, and the boiling (called pongal, the same word as pongal the Tamil agricultural feast) of much rice in milk. About a mile from Arakōd is an overhanging rock called the kodai-kal or umbrella stone, under which is found a whitish clay. This clay is used by the Irulas for making the Vaishnava marks on their foreheads at this festival.”
Irula, Nilgiris.
The following account of an Irula temple festival is given by Harkness.[14] “The hair of the men, as well as of the women and children, was bound up in a fantastic manner with wreaths of plaited straw. Their necks, ears, and ankles were decorated with ornaments formed of the same material, and they carried little dried gourds, in which nuts or small stones had been inserted. They rattled them as they moved, and, with the rustling of their rural ornaments, gave a sort of rhythm to their motion. The dance was performed in front of a little thatched shed, which, we learnt, was their temple. When it was concluded, they commenced a sacrifice to their deity, or rather deities, of a he-goat and three cocks. This was done by cutting the throats of the victims, and throwing them down at the feet of the idol, the whole assembly at the same time prostrating themselves. Within the temple there was a winnow, or fan, which they called Mahri—evidently the emblem of Ceres; and at a short distance, in front of the former, and some paces in advance one of the other, were two rude stones, which they call, the one Moshani, the other Konadi Mari, but which are subordinate to the fan occupying the interior of the temple.”