A remote community near Chittoor called Vemayyagari Indlu still follows age old traditions denying any contact with the outside world. They are extremely behind technologically and culturally as well. This community with 100 people including 20 school going children have no interest in any kinds of modern comforts. The curious part is that they even deny wearing any kind of footwear. Any travel is confined within the 5km radius of the village.
Vemayyagari Indlu or Devara indlu is a small remote community near Pakala mandal of Chandragiri constituency. The residents say that their ancestry can be traced back to 200 years. Vemayyagari Indlu trace their ancestry to the Ekila Doralu clan —descendants of zamindars of Bangarupalem, Karvetinagaram and Srikalahasti (in Chittoor) and Venkatagiri (in Nellore), and formed a village named after their seventh child, Vemayya. Interestingly, they still follow the rule set which was set at the time of the community formation.
Visitors cannot enter the village with footwear. If they try to enter, they are asked to leave near the outskirts of the village itslef. This tradition is followed as a sign to show some respect to the Venkateswara Temple located inside it. They claim the idol in the temple as the original incarnation of Lord Venkateswara and deny visiting Tirupathi in their lifetime. They go to any lengths to follow the tradition of no footwear. They don’t take up jobs and even deny going to schools just because footwear is mandatory. They even shun seeking medical help from outside world for sickness and childbirths too.
Education of their kids end at secondary education level. The main vocation among the residents is livestock rearing. Though a few students successfully passed the class ten exams in recent years, residents said they avoided joining local industries “to stay true to the no-footwear legacy.” Food cooked by outsiders is also banned. When they travel to other villages they carry their own food or limit themselves to eating just fruits. They stop their kids from eating the mid-day meals provided at government schools.
The life of women in this community is even more pathetic. They are banned from the village during the time of menstruation and are allowed into the village only after their periods are done. All this while family members visit her once a day to provide food and other necessities. Childbirth also takes place at home. Smoking, alcohol and even watching movies is strictly banned. There were many cases of child marriage in this community. When few people tried to stop this, they were denied entrance into the village by the elders. They even prohibit Dalits and minorities from entering. When authorities tried to educate them, they splashed the whole village with turmeric water as an act of purifying the land.
Village elders feel the need to follow these traditions as they believe violation of it brings doom to the community. ‘God’ possesses village elders during festivals and warn youngsters who deny following the traditions. It’s surprising to see people voluntarily limiting themselves from developing in this modernising era. Their reclusive mindset is making other villages ignore and isolate them. Government Authorities and Social organisations should put serious efforts before the situation becomes even more worse.
