Thursday 12 January 2012

Irula people don't get stung

"It was while i was cycling from Chennai to Puducherry ... earlier this year that i thought of visiting Irula tribes. A legend says that goddess was interested to create people who could collect honey without being stung by bees, and she created one out of her sweat, who was successful in collecting honey without being stung. Even now it is said that bees and wild life flee at the smell of Irula’s sweat."

This paragraph is from the blog I See Birds, which I have been following for a while.  Saju Depalan usually writes about birds he's seen (the Plain Prinia this time), adds a good photograph and a poem or two.  There is always something that intrigues me and I try and find out more about it.  His latest post got me looking up the distance between Chennai and Puducherry, and it's a good distance.  There and back would make a good 300 audax.


And what about the Irula tribes!  A little googling about Irula honey hunters gets you to the most fabulous The Bee Photographer site.  Absolutely wonderful!  I couldn't choose a favourite picture.  Do have a look, out of interest in people and bees!

5 comments:

Kris said...

oh waw what a rechears you do to find out legends and habits about bees and people in the past . To be able to plan a bike ride in NZ is just the way you wanted to travel and explore the world of the bees
Amazing sister you are, most inspiring!

Anonymous said...

Wat een interessant artikel en prachtige foto's. Die zullen goed van pas komen als peip les geeft over de bijen!
Je hebt zeker al goesting om te fietsen van Chennai naar Puducherry!
Dank om het op je blog te schrijven.
Meim en Peip xxx xxx

Swarm_Catcher said...

Just a shame there doesn't seem to be a Copyright price for educational purposes.

depalan said...

hello swarm catcher
I too follow your blog!!
you may please visit www.depalan.blogspot.com
i have re-posted my cycling trip along ECR. I am sure you will enjoy the trip through ECR..its a great ride. Tamil Nadu is Comfortable from December to Feb, otherwise it gets really hot
bye
saju depalan

Swarm_Catcher said...

Thanks Saju Depalan, it's is a wonderful report and I'm reading it with all my attention. Thanks so much for re-posting it. You are right I'm enjoying it very much. Please do another trip!