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Ref:- https://www.sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/article/irulas%3A-the-snake-trackers
A visit to Kangundi is incomplete without a visit to the Irula hamlet on the outskirts of Kangundi. This is so because, Irulas are one of the oldest indigenous people of India. They live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka
Traditionally, they have been skilled hunters, gatherers, and honey collectors, relying on the forest for their sustenance and livelihood. They are specialists in traditional herbal medicine and healing practices, and their knowledge of snakes and snake venom is legendary.
Before the snakeskin industry was declared illegal in 1975, supply of snakeskins for purses, watches, shoes, etc was major source of livelihood of the Irulas. Subsequently in 1982, the Irulas were given licenses to catch four venomous snakes– cobras, kraits, Russell’s vipers and saw-scaled vipers to extract their venom. The Irula Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society bought these snakes and extracted their venom to sell.
This Cooperative Society today supplies almost 80 percent of the venom that goes into making anti-venom in India. They use traditional knowledge and skills to catch snakes, extract venom, and release the snakes back into the wild without harming them.
The Irula’s of Kangundi follow Sanatan Dharm and had a small bamboo hut as their temple. The temple had seven stone deities called ‘Seven Sister Goddesses’. Lord Shiva’s Trident (Trishul) guarded the temple’s entrance.
Our guide during our visit to the Irula hamlet of Kangundi was Professor K Shyamala of Department of Folklore and Tribal Studies of Dravidian University in Kuppam. An amazing lady with 22 years of experience in Folklore and Tribal Studies in the university, she explained to us in great details the history and lifestyle of Irula Tribe. She also took us to her female Irula friend to explain how they harvested ahimsic (nonviolent) and satyagrahic (corruption free) honey from the forest and from the Kangundi Inselberg. She was decorating her hut with rangoli with Shivlings (watch the video). This is when we came up with the idea of branding their honey as ‘Seven Sisters Honey’. However, when we discussed this idea with Shri Prem Kumar, Project Manager of Kuppam Area Development Authority (KADA), he suggested ‘Sapt Matrika’ i.e., ‘Seven Goddesses’ as the brand name. We at MBTF are hoping that KADA and Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP) are able to help the Irulas of Kagundi get GI tagged honey brand of their own in the near future.
We were also helped in this honey-scouting by Shri PS Munirathnam, Vice Chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and Shri Fairoz Khan of Kangundi.