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The Hindu
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Palm dreams and protest songs: Inside Tamil Nadu's toddy festival
It began with one Instagram reel. Harris Karishma, a 17-year-old from Villupuram district, scaled a palmyra tree with ease — and invited the world to join her at the Pana Kanavu Vizha, a day-long celebration of Tamil Nadu's state tree. But this isn't just a festival. It's a protest. And at the heart of it is a call to decriminalise toddy — the mildly intoxicating drink tapped from palmyra trees — and protect a centuries-old community occupation. This video takes you to Narasinganur village, where thousands gather under the palm canopy to dance, picnic, perform silambam, sell palm craft, and raise awareness. With tree-climbing contests, fire-lit performances, and selfie stations in the grove, this year's edition was bigger and bolder than ever before. Reporting: Sanjana Ganesh Video and Production: Shivaraj S
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Meet TN's ‘toddy stars': With social media push, this village protest festival sparks debate
It is 8am and winding roads from Vikravandi toll gate in Villupuram district have led us to a clearing amidst paddy fields. After a three-hour ride from Chennai, we find ourselves at the panankaadu or the palm forest (on April 24) at Narasinganur village. We are here for the Pana Kanavu Vizha or the Palmyra Dream Festival. We are clearly at the right place: the area is teeming with cameras. There are more lenses than people at this point. This is when we go seeking Karishma. Harris Karishma, a young woman who has just finished her Class 12 exams, and is ready to study Botany in Villupuram, is the reason why many people have travelled all the way to the fourth edition of this festival. Until now, the Pana Kanavu Vizha was limited to residents of Villupuram as local media had drummed up some noise about it in the past. But this year, more people know that while the festival celebrates the palmyra, Tamil Nadu's State tree, they also know that it is a protest festival fighting for the legalisation of toddy, a by-product of the tree, in Tamil Nadu. Karishma, in an Instagram reel that has now crossed over 19 lakh views, can be seen scaling the palm tree with an unmatched elan, and inviting people from across the world to participate in the festival held at a relatively obscure location. A tourist would not be here without purpose. Her reel on the Thirukovilur City Instagram page is a reckoner of how this day-long village festival has used social media to bring forth a conversation about a subject rarely spoken of among common folk. Suddenly, everyone has an opinion about the merits of drinking toddy. 'I would often accompany my father to the palm grove and watch him climb. I told him that I wanted to try my hand at it and ended up climbing it with relative ease. I had just watched and learnt,' she says. Karishma is a celebrity here. Dressed in a tracksuit for her silambam performance, she is out on the field giving interviews about the need for legalisation of an occupation practised in her community for years now. She speaks at a selfie station amidst two palms and a clay pot (where toddy is usually stored), that the festival organisers have prepared. 'Even little children are given kallu (toddy) in our village,' she says. That is not all. At the festival, one can choose to scale two trees using ladders and land at two wooden photo points to cosplay toddy tappers. A tourist could visit a station and watch the arduous process of padaneer being converted to palm sugar. In the evening, two highlight events that grab social media eyeballs have been curated. One, a tree climbing competition. The second, an almost mystical coming together of locals and tourists who want to work around palm fronds to create synchronised wisps of fire at night. Each, a sight on its own. The day, however, begins with an oorvalam, a procession around Narasinganur village with drumbeats and dance. For the fruits of the palm, a 'thank you' is in the works through a padayal or an offering to the tree. Pots of toddy are placed before the tree and a fire is lit. A village elder takes the first gulp, signalling the beginning of the festival. Right after, a mad rush ensues. The rest of the festival is spent in people picnicing, watching young girls and boys perform folk dances besides a grievance redressal meet. On the sidelines, several shops selling products made from the palm including jewellery and home articles, are sold. Thousands cue up to buy spring potatoes and kulfi ice. It is a treat for everyone from eight to 80. Breezing in How has the scale of this festival expanded this year? D Pandian, the convenor of the festival and part of the Tamil Nadu Palm Tree Climbers Protection Association has the answer. The first edition of the festival was small and limited to communities that tapped toddy, an activity currently criminalised by the State Government. 'Every year though, it grew and several volunteers who believed in the cause, joined hands. The selfie stations are their ideas. It has clearly helped,' he says. Sher Jon, a resident of Chennai who is at the festival with three other friends, is in a colourful dress, a garment not often witnessed in the village. She says that she has grown up amidst palms and knows the tree intimately as she has often played with it. 'We have palms at my farm too but it's nice to be amidst as many people and trees to witness a festival like this,' she says. Toddy is tapped thrice a day here — in the morning, noon and evening. If you are lucky, you will get to try this sweet, coconut-y fermented white liquid that does not get you immediately high but puts you in a mild state of intoxication. Each tree gives between two and five litres of toddy and each litre here, is priced at ₹100. By evening, when enough people have consumed toddy, the zenith of the festival is reached. To drumbeats, there is dance. Tree climbers from different parts of the State fight for the top prize of ₹10,000. The then sun sets. As the purple and orange of dusk give way to the comfortable dark of the night sky, a slew of village residents and tourists arrange themselves in neat lines do the mavali or karthi. This synchronised movement of palm fronds and palm flowers, is lit with a low fire. A local tradition, usually performed at the adjacent Tiruvannamalai district during the annual girivalam (a religious procession), is a mesmerising dance of what feels like a local cracker. To instructions on a loud speaker that have, until now, heard only the local band's performance of Tamil film classics like 'Manmadha Rasa', a surreal calm takes over. On cue, hundreds raise their palm fronds over their head. Circles of fire light up the sky. The festival has come to an end. When one looks up to see what the night has to say, red and green lights from buzzing surveillance devices, twinkle. Palmyra trees do indeed wish upon drone stars.
The Hindu
24-05-2025
- The Hindu
Politics of the palm: A protest wrapped in a festival in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu's tryst with toddy, a byproduct of the State's official tree, the palmyra, has been steeped in complexity since the implementation of the Prohibition Act in 1937. For years now, toddy tappers have petitioned the government to legalise toddy, categorising it as a health drink. The government has steadily rejected the demand, continuing to criminalise the tapping of this product, all while several regimes have toyed with its legalisation. What might seem like a moot point to the rest of the State has had a direct impact on the lives of those who scale the rough trunk of a tree that thrives in barren landscapes. Think of a palm tree climber. A visual of a tired man with ropes around his hips and legs sweating profusely whilst a blazing sun shines, somehow emerges. A festival in Villupuram's Narasinganur titled Pana Kanavu Vizha [The Palmyra Dream Festival] village wished to change this narrative of a tired toddy tapper. On May 24, when an oppressive humidity took over the village and not a single blade of grass moved due to the stillness, around 2,000 people from different parts of the world, danced, performed martial arts, scaled the palm, drank padaneer and toddy, and chose to picnic, all whilst celebrating the palm. Although it seemed like a gala on the outside with fire dances and ice candy, the event concealed within its folds, a vociferous protest. Associations protecting the rights of toddy tappers from across the State, were present, providing monetary aid to the cause. D. Pandian, at the forefront of the Tamil Nadu Palm Tree Climbers Protection Association, is the convenor of the Pana Kanavu Vizha. The Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937, outlines the penalties that come with the extraction of toddy. It is a non-bailable offence, he says. For years now, the criticism that the government has raised against toddy tapping and its sale, especially since its classification as an alcoholic drink category after brief stints of government-run toddy shops in the 1970s and 1980s, is the adulteration. Pandian says that those brewing spurious liquor and adulteration deserve punishment. However, toddy tapping is an entirely different business. An article in The Hindu from September 30, 1970, shows that the demand has existed for years. 'A deputation of the Tamil Nadu Kal Venduvore Kazhagam, led by Dr. M. A. Karim, met the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, on Tuesday and presented a memorandum pleading for exemption of toddy from the Prohibition Act,' the article says. 'They tell us that they do not know how to regulate or do quality checks of our products. We tell them to come with their equipment. We do not want to follow a model like that of Kerala's where toddy shops are run by the government. We do not want toddy shops at all. Those who grow and tap palm though, should be allowed to tap it and sell it to those who seek it,' he says. Toddy is usually tapped between December and May but peak season tends to be during summer months. Each tree produces between two and five litres of toddy and each litre is sold for ₹100 in a hush-hush way. Padaneer, another liquid byproduct of the tree, is priced at ₹120 because the tree requires a coating of alkaline before tapping. 'It is also far more effort to tap for padaneer,' says T. Vinayagam, district head of the association's Tiruvannamalai division. Until recently, the practice of paying off the police to tap toddy in a clandestine manner existed across the State. 'But why should we be criminalised for climbing a tree? Do you know the number of times the police have come and pulled our fathers and grandfathers off the trunk of the tree? It was horrific to watch. That's why there are so few tree climbers today,' says V. Ranjini, the head of the women's wing of the Tiruvannamalai district's association. Ranjini adds that the children as young as three, are given toddy as it is said to have several health benefits. An article from The Hindu dating back to July 2, 1931, by Colonel J N Chopra, from the School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta, speaks of the vitamins benefits available in a toddy drink. Harris Karishma, who scales the palm treat with grace swears by the healing powers of toddy which she claims cleared her skin condition. It is a video of her inviting people to this festival that went viral on social media. 'Today, even climbing a tree is political but it is in my blood. That is not going to change,' she says.
