Event sets stage for mobilisation of Muthuvans under revived collective

3,000 community members from nearly 140 settlements attend 3-day gathering in Idukki

- NEJMA SULAIMAN @Idukki

FOR decades, the Muthuvan tribal community, spread across the forested highlands of Idukki, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Palakkad, and the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, had the will to demand their rights, but lacked a collective voice. That changed in 2024 with the revival of the Muthuvan Adivasi Samudaya Sangham, an organisation that now unites hundreds of settlements under one banner to protect their culture, secure their rights, and push for development.

The impact of that revival was there to see at the Muthuva Sanghamam 2025, a three-day gathering at Chembakathozhukudi in Chinnakanal that concluded on Sunday. Around 3,000 Muthuvans from nearly 140 settlements came together -- in what leaders dubbed the biggest event since the sangham's rebirth -- to coincide with the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.