Thoti Mallikarjuna

Socio-economic Conditions of Yerukulas: a Sociological Study in Mudigubba Mandal of Anantapuram District Thoti Mallikarjuna

Yerukala, Erukala, Erukula, or Kurru is a community found largely in the Southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. Yerukalas are indigenous people of South India. They call themselves ?Kurru?. They are called as ?Yerukula? in Andhra Pradesh after their women?s traditional profession of fortune telling, Eruka cheputa. The Yerukula migrated all over the state but basically they are from Prakasam and Krishna districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh. The tribes are rearing the pigs and sell the pork. Some people depend on basket making and daily labouring while the women wander from village to village as fortune tellers and as tattooists. They speak a mongrel dialect, which appears to be a mixture of Tamil, Telugu and Konkani. Today, the Yerukalas are settled in the villages/towns and trying to make their way out of the poverty by getting education to obtain financial freedom which has been denied to them since ages. Yerukalas are using reservations and other benefits from the government of India. Yerukalas are divided into five categories on their functions, there are Dabba Yerukala, Uppu Yerukala, Kunchapuri Yerukala, Parikamuggula and Karivepaku Yerukalas.