Turtles and their uses in the Lives of Fishermen Belonging to ‘Neithal Thinai’

Abstract

As ancient literature describes the internal life of the people belonging to five types of land, records of plants like flora, vines, reptiles, amphibians, and birds are documented. Turtles are a type of reptile like snakes, lizards, and crocodiles. These include ideas on how turtles breed, turtles used as food, various methods of turtle medicine in ancient literature, and Siddha hymns are registered. Tamil scholars and zoologists have mentioned the names of these turtles through the literature records about these turtles and comments about the turtles (there are no characteristics like the name of the turtle, its color, and shape) found in Sangam literature songs. Based on the names mentioned by the author in the field study (Pampan area) and the data found in the supporting documents, the turtles found in the lives of fishermen belonging to ‘Neithal Thinai’ have been investigated.