Eighty-three percent of Kumbapeṭṭai's men gained their livelihood directly from agriculture as rentiers, managers, or workers, whereas 52 percent of the women were actively engaged at least part time in agricultural work or management. The annual cycle of agricultural activities and festivals is therefore essential for an understanding of the villagers' lives and production relations. In this chapter I describe the main events of this cycle. In order to place the yearly round in perspective, I shall also mention major nonagricultural, especially religious, events.

Table 11.1 gives the Tamil months, seasons, and major agricultural events and festivals.

New Year

The agricultural year began on New Year's Day (Varusha Pirappu)on Chittrai 1. On that date mirāsdārs finally selected their kuthakai tenants and pannaiyals for the coming year and made them loans of about Rs. 50 per pannaiyāl and Rs. 100 per tenant This sum tided the servant over the lean months of Chittrai, Vaigāsi, and Ani when rivers and channels were dry and there was little agricultural work. It allowed the tenant to begin ploughing and to buy cow dung and pay for sheep from Rāmanāthapuram to fertilize his fields. On New Year's morning, the mirāsdār received a promissory note from the tenant or the pannaiyāl for the amount forwarded. He reclaimed it from the man's wages or harvest shares in the course of the year, sometimes at 6 percent interest and sometimes interest free.