The Forest department has immortalised a Cholanaikan tribal leader who was trampled to death by an elephant in the deep forests of Nilambur on Republic Day last year. The statues of Mathan and his wife Karikka stand tall at Nedumkayam, near Karulai, Nilambur.
The decision of the Forest department to honour Mathan, the former Cholanaikan Moopan who lived in Mancheeri hamlet deep inside the Karulai forest, is being widely appreciated. This is the first statue of a tribal person to be installed by the department.
“Honouring Mathan and his wife Karikka is like honouring the entire Cholanaikan tribe, one of the few hunter-gatherer tribes in the country and the only tribal community in Asia that continues to live in rock-cave shelters,” said P.N. Anas, an overseas journalist on a visit to Nedumkayam.
