Raja Kambalathar maintain rich cultural heritage in Thottiyapatty.

Mother and daughter in Thottiyapatty

The Kambalattar living in Thottiyapatty are the peasant castes settled in Thottiyapatty Village near Trichy. Telugu is their vernacular language, but most of them also speak Tamil. They are most likely the descendants of a tribe that lived north of Vijayanagar came to Tamilnadu and in the 13th century settled in southern part of Tamilnadu. They were led by “adventurous chieftains, who hoped to make their fortunes by opening up the then almost uninhabited of middle and south Tamilnadu.” The famous polegars of Ettayapuram and Panchalamkurichchi belong to this community. Their ancestry is traced to a community of Hunters. Being dwellers of quasi-agricultural surroundings they were experts in reclaiming waste lands. The Kambalas say with pride that they are the descendants of the eight thousand milkmaids of Krishna a tradition which seems to indicate that their original occupation was connected with the rearing and keeping basically of cattle rearing and agricultural castes. Kambalas do not allow any stranger to enter their villages with shoes on, lest their god should be offended, and it is generally believed that if any one

Plowing with cattle by a youth

breaks this rule he will be visited with illness or some other punishment. They are following strict rules among the community. Only the Naicker community used to perform this Deverattam dance. Today, this dance does not have any songs but only danced to the beat of Urumi Melam, Thappu Melam and sometimes, a Long flute. The dancers hold a kerchief in each hand and swing them as they dance. The person leading the dance wears false beard and a mask decorated with shells to look like teeth. He dances the first step, which others follow. These peoples are the descendents of Veerapandiya Kattabomman and this dance is performing in all their marriages, puberty, Kattabomman functions and their local functions .These peoples dance the decedents of Gods dance name as Sevaiattam. SEVAI with peoples participation had constructed homes for those were in need. With the association of OFI/SG, -SEVAI implements a water and

Devarattam performed by RajaKambalathar

soil conservation in Thottiyapatty Village where the farming community takes part actively. The evening classes have been conducted for the school children to improve their literacy level. Appropriate technology has been introduced in Thottiyapatty for improving the agriculture operations with better yield.- Govin