Thirupachi Arivaal ~ wielding machette at will (அரிவாள்)

Thirupachetty is a village  in the Sivaganga District on the highway of Madurai-Rameswaram (NH-49).  Legend has it that it was so named after  religious quarrel between Thirugnana Sambanthar and some Jains.

‘அரிவாள்’ is folklore – the machete (Aruval or Aruva), the iron made weapon is a killer toy often resulting in grievous injuries or death.  In many movies, you see the violence unleashed by the villain group chasing on Scorpios (or Sumos) armed with machetes.   A machete is a large cleaver-like knife, similar to a kukri. In the Spanish language, the word is a diminutive form of the word macho, which means male or strong and was used to refer to sledgehammers.  In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet.  Here is what a search on  ‘அரிவாள்’ returned: -

The village Thirupachethy is famous for the arivals made here – of their quality and strength, primarily used as agricultural implements but recent movies had brought the infamy equating them will killer weapons.   In one such movie (Thirupachi) the hero Vijay is a ironsmith engaged in making such aruvals.  He is so attached to his sister and lands in hardened Chennai where he encounters ruffians amidst many violent scenes.

A violent sound followed by group of thugs running with deadly arms in their hands is regular scene in cinemas, seen by some unfortunate in real life too.  There have been clashed between groups (be it political / caste / religious) using such armoury and putting down others.  This is different – TOI reports of a man creating  a scare by brandishing a machete near two state ministers at a function in Poonamallee on Sunday .

Police said Tirupathy, 30, was riding pillion with his friend Bharath, 32, on a motorbike. They were returning after assaulting a rival and, believed the policemen in the security detail of the ministers were trying to catch him. Ministers B V Ramana and S Abdul Rahim and MLA R Manimaran had participated in a cleanliness drive with a group of college students at a temple tank on Poonamalle-Parivaakkam Salai and were about to leave when the ruckus broke out.

A policeman escorting minister Ramana prevented Tirupathy from getting close to the car that he was going to enter. An argument ensued and, Tirupathy , who was drunk, whipped out a machete he had concealed in his shirt and threatened to hack the policeman to death. When he moved forward as if to make good the threat, other policemen came to the rescue of the escort. Members of the public also set upon Tirupathy, some throwing stones at him, causing him to run around in no particular direction, waving the machete and creating panic. “The man was acting like he was mad. He ran at the crowd even after policemen asked him to drop the sickle,“ a witness said.

Tirupathy took to his heels but was later caught hiding from the police in a house in the locality. He had minor injuries. The ministers witnessed the commotion before leaving in their cars. Police detained Bharath and Tirupathy and said they were involved in several cases of assault. “They were returning from Valasaravakkam where they had attacked an old rival, Kumar,“ a police officer said. “He thought we were trying to arrest him for attacking Kumar.“ The Poonamallee police registered a case and handed the man to the custody of the Valasaravakkam police. Investigators are looking into the possibility that Tirupathy had other motives for displaying threatening behaviour.

-          ~ but such acts occurring in broad day light at public place only displays lawlessness and lack of fear in the Police.

அரிவாள் மூக்கன் என்பது நீண்ட கால்களையும் வளைந்த அலகையும் கொண்ட ஒரு பறவை இனம். இதன் அலகு வளைந்துஅரிவாள் போன்று தெரிவதால் இப்பெயர் பெற்றது.   The straw-necked ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis) is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. Distributed widely in Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia – they are colloquially known as ‘Arival mookkan (matchete nosed). Straw-necked ibises are large birds, around 60–75 cm (24–30 in) long. They have dark wings with  long, black, downcurved bill.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

27^th Jan 2015.