The traditional way of using needles to do the green art on the skin is gradually disappearing. It already has from the city and now from villages too. Pachai kuthu that was done by the roadside couple of decades ago and served multiple purposes has today transformed into modern art tattoos done by using machines as the customer sits inside high-end parlours and exclusive studios.
The traditional art form was practised by people of the Narikuravar tribe in Tamil Nadu. Residing in Kalmedu village near Madurai, the Narikuravars have been doing the pachai kuthu for generations but it no longer fetches them any business. “No one wants it any more,” they say.
The art of pachai kuthu initially involved writing names on the body either by hand or using a needle and these would remain permanently. For the ink mother’s milk mixed with the soot of the lantern lamps and herbal powder made with crushed leaves was used. In the absence of mother’s milk, cow’s milk was the best and the purest substitute. While the colour of the ink would be black initially, it turned into green after sometime and remained clear and permanent ever after.
Today the few left practising this art no longer make their own ink. They buy the ink from city shops and a handful of them are seen near the Meenakshi Temple waiting for customers. “We charge Rs.10 per letter and the designs start from Rs.50,” says one of them, adding they use one needle per person.
In Kalmedu, almost all members of the Narikuravar tribe have their own names and that of the village imprinted on their body. “We travel to different places for days, weeks or months for trade and any misfortune can befall us during that period. The pachai kuthu will help in identifying our bodies in case of any eventuality,” says a resident stretching his arm that bears his name.
The Narikuravars believe the entire body is an easel for the art of pachai kuthu. When people have nagging pain in the forehead, pachai kuthu done around the temples on both sides relieves them of the pain. Likewise any pain in the knee or ankle is rid off with pachai kuthu on the leg. Those with recurring gastric pain get pachai kuthu done below the chest.
Nowadays tattoos have replaced the pachai kuthu and is done more to make a fashion statement. Different colours of ink are used to make the creative formations on the skin more attractive and bold. Almost 75 per cent of the customers are women who prefer the safe and private confines of a studio to get the tattoo done and do not mind shelling out Rs.1,000 for the sitting. It costs an additional Rs.500 if coloured ink is used.
Tattoos are still much in vogue. But like many treasured traditional practices, pachai kuthu has run its course.
