Madurai :

A city has several awe-inspiring sights, but a village too is not far behind, as a group of more than 200 college students learnt on Sunday. The students, who had gone on a ‘heritage walk’ to a small village in Madurai, were amazed by the richness of tradition and the diversity of cultural practices in the hamlet.

Thenoor, about 12km from Madurai, is around 200 years old and believes itself to be under the control of Lord Sundarajaperumal, the deity of Alagarkoil.

Children beat drums in the background as the group, which included historians and scholars, walked around the villages, admiring its ancient structures. They visited the Sundaram temple, Perumal temple and Sivan temple.

The village is known for its ‘vetrilai’ or betel leaves, which the people grow in large numbers to offer to Lord Sundarajaperumal.

Special performances were arranged for the visitors, including folk dances like ‘kollattam’ and ‘kummi’ performed by village girls dressed in traditional attire.

In an interesting competition, the men in the village are required to prove their eligibility for marriage by lifting a heavy stone. The competition, called the Ilavattakal, drew many spectators on Sunday.

Some of the students became so enthusiastic that they soon began to cheer for the participants.

The villagers played traditional games like uriadithal, pambaram, gilli, pacha kudirai and kabbadi. Some of the older members took part in games like vidukathaigal (riddle-telling) and proverb-telling.

The trip was organised by the Dhan Foundation. The group was also treated to glasses of ‘kool’, a preparation made out of millets that some of them had not even heard of.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Madurai / by Karishma Ravindran, TNN / August 10th, 2015