Hundreds of Toda men from 14 clans congregated at the Muthanadu Mund in Udhagamandalam on Sunday to celebrate the annual festival known as Modhweth.
The tribal elders told The Hindu that the festival signified the beginning of the next yearly cycle for the Todas, and was usually celebrated either on the last Sunday of December or during the first Sunday of January.
Men from over 60 hamlets came to the Muthanadu Mund. A. Sathyaraj, general secretary of the Todar Samuthayam Munnetra Sangam, describes it to be the “capital” of all the clans and where the Moonpo Temple, one of only a handful of such temples with a similar design left in the Nilgiris, is located. The temple has a single vertical spire made of a thatched roof on top of which is a flat stone.
Outsiders and women are not allowed to enter the temple, where the Todas offered prayers to their deity, known as Thekish Amman, and performed a dance outside.
Mr. Sathyaraj said the earliest records of the Moonpo temple’s existence date back to the 17th century, but believes that it could be a lot older.
“We pray to the deity to give us good health, rains, and harvest during the coming year. We fast for the entire day and drink only milk mixed with jaggery and salt,” he said.
The celebrations culminated with Toda youth lifting a greased boulder, weighing around 80 kg., to showcase their strength, balance, and masculinity. “Previously, only if a youth were able to lift the boulder on his shoulder would the elders give their daughter’s hand in marriage to him,” said another Toda elder.
A few tourists who had heard of the festival came to the hamlet to catch a glimpse of it.
