Women of Arittapatti after spending long-hours in kitchen cooking for their family members in the last few festivals days, without displaying a hint of tiredness on their faces, showed up for the heritage walk organised at Arittapatti near Melur on Sunday to learn about the importance of the bio-diversity site located at a stone’s throw distance from their houses.
Outnumbering men, women of the village out of their interest to learn about Arittapatti – recognised as a biodiversity heritage site by the State government for its ecological and historical significance – even early in the morning, flocked to the event conducted by Dhan foundation, a non-governmental organisation based in Madurai, to educate local people about the importance of their regions.
Many who have attended such sessions already, to brush up their memories about the rich history of the location which was associated with the rise and fall of Jainism religion, reached the location along with the other newcomers.
As former senior epigraphist of Tamil Nadu Archaeology V. Vedachalam, one of the speakers, started narrating about the role of the locals in protecting the site from quarry operations and other developmental activities, the excited women straightened up a bit to listen to their own stories.
“‘Padhirikudi’, the old name for Arittapatti, was coined in remembrance of saints who lost their lives at the location and the role of protecting those inscribed details on the stones written about 1,100 years ago was taken up by the villagers,” he added.
Describing women’s role in the environmental conservation, Mr. Vedachalam said that newly married women of Arittapatti and nearby villages had the practice of fetching water from a pond named ‘Dharmakulam,’ located near the site for the first cooking after their marriage.
“This may sound like a religious practice, but the original explanation is the role played by women in preserving waterbodies located in and around their areas. By making it a custom, they had knowingly or unknowingly taken up the task of preserving it from pollution or destruction,” Mr. Vedachalam noted.
Similarly, 51 waterbodies were located surrounding the area and each of them would carry a story of preservation by the women who viewed it as a gift of nature to sustain their life at the places, he said.
Another speaker G. Sethuraman, former professor of Fine Arts History at Madurai Kamaraj University, speaking on the necessity to preserve such Jain beds, said that the history of the Jain temple which could be traced back only till the 16th century from there was appropriated by Saivam and Vainavam sects of the Hindu religion.
“To show their dominance over the other religion, each religion competed among themselves in different ways and the idols which were found in the Jain caves were an example of how Jains who did not believe in idol worship at first carved idols to compete with the Hindu religion,” he noted.
M. Mangalam, a woman participant from Kottampatti, said that women were predominantly invited for such events as they took pride in their surroundings more than men.
“By being a part in events and learning about such things, women spread the knowledge among villagers to motivate them to join the mission. Mostly, men occupied with their works and other activities do not seem to show interest in conservation,” she added.
Karthikeyan, a coordinator at Dhan Foundation, said that through learning women not only help in conservation but also could create a livelihood for themselves.
“By learning the historical significance, women can turn the site into a tourism destination by acting as indigenous guides to the domestic and foreign tourists visiting the locations,” he added.
Published - November 03, 2024 07:09 pm IST
