Page 613 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

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The Todas

The Nilgiris are home to 18 tribal groups, among whom the Todas are the most
remarkable. A pastoral community, the Todas are wheatish in complexion, curly
haired and strict vege tarians. Their language, though of Dravidian origin, has no
script. According to their creation myth, Goddess Teikirshy and her brother On first
created the buffalo by waving a magic wand, and then they created the Toda man.
The first Toda woman was created from the right rib of the man. The Todas’ first contact
with civilization occurred when the East India Company annexed the Nilgiris in 1799.
In 1823, John Sullivan, the then-Collector of Coimbatore, built the first stone house in
Ooty on land purchased from the Todas. Today, there are only about 1,100 Todas left.

The dairy temple, conical
in shape, is decorated with
sun, moon, serpent
and buffalo head
motifs. Only men
are allowed to
go inside.

Toda buffaloes, which
are pale brown with
long horns, are deeply Homespun cotton shawls called
revered. A buffalo is puthikuzhi have black-and-red embroidered
often sacrificed after a motifs. Worn by both Toda men and
funeral to accompany women, they are tied around the waist,
the deceased’s soul in with one end thrown over the shoulder,
the afterlife. almost like a Roman toga.
Dairy ceremonies
Elders are treated
with great respect, are festive occasions,
and greeted by lifting generally celebrated
their right foot and with dance and
putting it on one’s head music. The lively
for their blessings. songs consist of
simple stanzas,
which describe
important events
from the Todas’ past.

The barrel-shaped huts, made
of bamboo, grass and cane,
consist of a single room. Entry is
through a carved wooden door,
so small that one has to crawl
through it to enter. Several of
these windowless bamboo huts
make up a Toda village, which is
called a mund.

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