The Toda, Sacred Buffalo-Herders of the Nilgiris

High in the misty grasslands of the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu lives one of the most remarkable small peoples of India: the Toda, a community of barely a thousand pastoralists whose whole culture revolves around the buffalo. Herders of sacred herds, dwellers in barrel-vaulted huts, and followers of a unique dairy religion, they have fascinated scholars and travellers for two centuries.

From the sacred dairies where holy milk is processed in an atmosphere of great sanctity to the red-and-black embroidery of their white cloaks, from their distinctive Dravidian language to their elaborate funeral ceremonies, the Toda preserve a culture unlike any other. This article traces their origins, language, homeland, society, religion, and traditions, and the singular world of the buffalo-herders of the blue mountains.