ABSTRACT
Hide Boats at Hogenakal on the River Kaveri, Tamil Nadu
Colin Palmer, Lucy Blue and Sean McGrail
This paper is based on fieldwork undertaken as a Society project during January 2000. At Hogenakal in north-west Tamil Nadu, close to the border with Karnataka, numerous hide boats were observed on the River Kaveri. The building and use of these boats is described and illustrated with measured drawings and photographs. Two similar boats, now in the British Museum, are noted.
Earlier authors, such as James Hornell in the early 20th century and Dr Jean Deloche in the mid-1990s, have traced inscriptions and other references to the use of hide boats in southern India back to the late 14th century AD. In the medieval period, and up to recent times, these boats consisted of an oxhide waterproof cover fastened to an open basketry, circular framework. The split-bamboo framework continues to be used, but the hide cover has been replaced by a double layer of plastic fertiliser bags, spilt open and then sewn together.
In the Tamil language hide boats are parical; in Telagu (spoken in Andhra Pradesh) they are argili; and in Kannada (Karnataka) they are harigolu. These linguistic boundaries, by and large, define the area of use of hide boats in southern India.
Hide boats are no longer used to carry cargo, but they are still used for fishing on the upper reaches of rivers. Their use as ferries has recently been boosted as the number of tourists visiting sites, such as Hogenakal in Tamil Nadu and Vijayanagara in Karnataka, has increased.