50 SOCIAL SCIENTIST K Balasubramaniam far theif help and comments. The materials were collected during the writer's field trips/or his Ph D thesis on the Irula language.) 1 K A SeethalaT&shmi, Folk Tales of Tamilnadu, 1969, p 8. a Irulas use ca:vadi during a particular festival. It is a decorated pole of wood with an arch over it carried on shoulders with offerings mostly for Muruka^s temple commonly in a parade. 6 Ba:va means son of maternal uncle, uncle's son or elder brother o£ husband.