Toda Tribal Embroidery of Nilgiri, Tamil Nadu

The Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu, inhabited by the Todu community, have developed their own distinctive style of embroidery called pugur, which means flower. The embroidery is done on the shawls by the women folk. The shawl, called poothkuli, has red and black bands that end at intervals of six inches that gives an embossed while the embroidery is done between the gaps in red and black. The most important motif is that of the buffalo horn as the Todas worship the buffalo. Other important motifs include the little box called mettvi kanpugur, Izhadvinpuguti, the design named after the ancient priest of the Todas, motifs named after wild flowers and a quaint motif named after a girl who slipped and fell off the cliff.