Costume: Chatta, Jacket & Penkuppayam

I remember Neely Thalla, as people used to call her, who lived nearby and was visiting our house often. We children were amused to see her wearing only the half mundu, a white cloth tied at the waist that barely extended to her ankle. Waist up, she was not wearing anything at all but she was in her sixties at that time. Later on she started wearing a loose cloth that was tied at her neck which covered her upper torso but still left her arms, back and side torso bare.

She was part of that transitional period when the Hindu women were beginning to come out of the custom which barred them covering up of their upper body.

(Photo courtesy Anupama Sadasivan)

Costume: Men

White kurtha and equally white sherwani, the colored towel tucked between shoulder and the kurtha top, the colorful, a furry Jinnah cap on the head, the bright colored cardigan, the skull shaped black painted begging bowl in one hand, the large cotton sack bulging from the shoulder. The “Nagoor Khalifa” was seen only from a distance by us, kids.

(Nagoor in a place in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur District where the second most largest and popular Dargah – or tomb of a Sufi saint - in India is situated. Nagoor Khalifa receives alms for the Dargah.)

(Photo courtesy Kaashif)

The People - Society

I believe that the most notable thing about Padoor is the amiable, socializing nature and the ardent bond that is kept between the populace of the village. From the older days, Padoor happened to be a potpourri of people of different viewpoints be it in religion, politics or otherwise. Fortunately a policy of live and let-live is traditionally prevailed. No doubt that the conventional morality of the village life is only too visible here.


Religiously speaking Padoor is a mixed bag; Hindus, Muslims and Christians are all present. At the moment Muslims does have a majority in the count of heads.

Hindu Community consists of of the sub-castes Nairs, Thiyyas (Chovan), Vettuvas, Kanakkas and Viswakarmas (Acharis and Thattans). The tiny existence of the Paraya community is unfortunately not there anymore.

Muslims are predominantly Sunni Mappilas but the Sayyids (Thangals) have a nearly strong presence too. Within the district, Padoor happens to be one of the three locations where the Sayyids have a large concentration; the other two being Kadppuram and Mathilakam.

While the living spaces of the Hindus and Muslims are intermingled the Christians live mostly to the eastern part of the village.