Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

Walking also involves an awareness of the links between one place and another. In a
totally natural kind of terrain, without built roads, highways, bridges and other forms of
links, walking means not only using an existing way but also finding a way, solving a
topographical puzzle. This is a particular problem in a terrain where one has to move
from one elevated region, a madu or hill to a slope and then cross a field, challi or even a
stream to reach another slope or elevated region. Similarly the parambas or thotikas
(which are generally habitation sites) form continuous chains, and we have to move from
one paramba to another by crossing the parambas. Similar problems exist in the slopes,
where the parambas are found in a terraced form. However, through constant use,
pathways are formed between one paramba and another. It is possible that the path might
have been part of a paramba, but the right to use it as a public road is accepted by the
owner of the paramba. Now that almost all the parambas are separated by fences or
compound walls, the paths or nirathth are separated. Nirathus are formed when one
paramba is partitioned, when a common nirath is formed for different households in the
paramba. Thus it was not difficult to find paths without gravel in elevated parambas and
some of the areas where there was a steady descent into the low-lying regions. It was
however, interesting to note several such paths could convert themselves into streams
during rainy seasons, and the path of the stream cutting through rocky areas could make a
nirath during summer. Sometimes it was difficult to follow such stream-paths; either the
paths would have fallen into disuse because of the growth of an alternate way, or the
erection of a compound wall would make the path disappear altogether
The formation of such paths and lanes in the Peruvallur Panchayat is given below:
Table XI
Placename Paramba/field Path or lane Character