ANAMALAI TIGER RESERVE
- May 13, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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ANAMALAI TIGER RESERVE
Subject : Environment
Context : Recently, the residents of two tribal settlements within the limits of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), were gearing up for the annual festival of their local deity, Vairapattan.
The Kattupatti and Kuzhipatti settlements of Pulayar community have barely heard of the acronym COVID-19.
Concept :
Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR)
- It is the 29th and one of the four Tiger Reserves in Tamil Nadu.
- It lies South of the Palakkad gap in the Southern Western Ghats.
- It was originally a territorial division known as Coimbatore South Forest division which was declared as wildlife sanctuary in 1976.
- It forms part of the AnamalaiParambikulam Elephant Reserve declared in 2003.
- The Wildlife sanctuary was declared as Tiger Reserve in April 2007 and declared as a critical Tiger habitat in December 2007.
- There are Six Tribal Communities (VIZ) Malasar, Malaimalasar, Kadar, Muduvar, Pulayar and Eravalar with the population of nearly 6000 living in 35 Settlements.
- It supports diverse habitat types viz. Wet evergreen forests, semi evergreen forests, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, dry thorn and shola forests.
About Pulayar community
- It is also known as Pulaya, or Pulayas or Holeya or Cheramar.
- The Pulayas are a tribe spread out in the Kodaikanal hills.
- It is one of the main social groups found in Kerala, Karnataka and in historical Tamil Nadu or Tamilakam.
- The spiritual life of the Pulaya includes certain ancient magic rituals and practices that have a certain reputation.
Pulayas are noted for their music, craftsmanship, and for certain dances which include:
- Kōlam-thullal: A mask dance which is part of their exorcism rituals, and
- Mudi-āttam: A hair-dance which has its origins in a fertility ritual.
- The 1976 Government of India Gazette notifies Pulayan, Cheramar as Scheduled Caste (SC).
- The government of Tamil Nadu has not officially recognised them as a Scheduled Tribe.