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Abstract
When the Kurinji Blooms was translated from the Tamil Kurinjithen, Rajam Krishnan’s erudite novel is a family saga of three generations of Badagas in the Nilgiris. The Badaga Tribes of Tamil Nadu lives in the Nilgiri hills. The milieu of the story is the blue Nilgiri hill of Tamil Nadu. It is a tale of a saga. The novel is about the three generations of the Badaga tribe. Nilgiri is considered as the hill of the tribal people. Rajam Krishnan elaborately describes about the Badaga culture through their various traditional practises and customs. The Badagas practice many rituals and ceremonies in their day-to-day life which enhances them to preserve their culture. The picturesque description about their culture given by Rajam Krishnan serves as the heart of this novel. The Badagas have their own language which is a mixture of Kannada and Tamil. Though there is no script for their language, the Badagas have a rich oral tradition of folk tales, poetry and songs. They called their language “Badugu”. The Badags celebrated the festivals with their own custom and tradition. Ritual and ceremonies are inseparable in the life of the tribals.