A few kilometres from Kuppam municipality in Chitoor district — towards the Tamil Nadu border — are located the three remote hamlets of Urinayanapalle, Urinayanapalle Kottur and Palem, which are home to some of the most archaic and regressive customs surrounding childbirth and menstruation that have survived to this day.
Women having their periods are forced to relocate to a shack on the outskirts of the village, where they live in isolation till their periods are over. Around 700 families reside in these three hamlets, which are located close to each other amidst dense forests.
The shacks on the outskirts of the villages have no electricity or water supply, and offer little protection from either the weather, or the bears and venomous snakes that reside in the forests. A few years ago, a bear had strayed into one of the hamlets and gouged out the eyes of a villager, it is learnt.
Generally, Kuppam region is known for its for cold winters, when temperatures drop down to below 10 degrees Celsius. This makes it all the more difficult for menstruating women, who now have to endure the discomfort of their periods while having to sleep on the bare floor.
New mothers are also subjected to this ordeal. The women, along with their newborns, have to spend a certain number of days in isolation (‘Antu’ in Telugu), with food and water left outside the shacks for them by their family members.
Aversion to footwear
Footwear is taboo for the villagers. While the village elders remain barefoot, they also prohibit others from wearing shoes or slippers inside the villages. Those wanting to wear footwear can do so only outside the villages.
But why the aversion to shoes or slippers? A Urinayanapalle resident said it is an age-old custom which is unlikely to go away soon.
“It was in 1984 when N. Chandrababu Naidu paid a visit to the place, his first and last. He observed the way of life here and returned. In the late 1990s, some senior officials visited the hamlet and tried to launch awareness campaigns against the taboos prevalent here. Hundreds of brand new pairs of footwear were distributed to us. But the moment the officials left, all the villagers took the slippers and dumped them on the outskirts of the hamlet,” the villager said.
Ramachandra (50), a former MPTC member of U. Kottur, said that though efforts were made to educate the villagers to let go of their superstitions and taboos, they have persisted and only grown more entrenched with time. “It is next to impossible to get the villagers to change their ways. These customs have been passed down from one generation to the other for many years and they are not going away anytime soon,” he said.
Sivappa (60) of Urinayapalle, an influential man of the hamlet, echoed Mr. Ramachandra’s thoughts. “Several officials and political leaders have tried to bring about a change but in vain. Only a miracle can result in change,” he said.
Only a handful of students from the three hamlets pursue Intermediate and degree education in Kuppam. On the other side of the border, in Tamil Nadu, Ekalanattam hamlet follows similar practices.
Meanwhile, a modern shelter with doors and electricity and water supply has come up at Urinayanapalle hamlet, thanks to an NRI who was moved by the plight of the women and donated money for its construction. However, village elders remain divided over allowing their womenfolk to use the facility.
“A number of officials visited the villages several times, pleading with villagers to join the mainstream. But they are unmoved. Further interference in their affairs would only serve to push them away, which we want to avoid,” a senior government official in Kuppam said.