What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 7pm Tuesday 9am - 7pm Wednesday 9am - 7pm Thursday 9am - 7pm Friday 9am - 7pm Saturday 9am - 2pm Sunday 10am - 2pm

Sirumalai Initiative for Tribal Health and Rural Affairs, S. S . Complex , CONVENT Road , NAIDUPURAM, Kodaikanal (2025)

08/11/2025

Come Aippasi (the 7th month in the Tamizh calendar) and it marks the beginning of the harvest season in Lower Palanis. In the Lower Palanis which is a traditional coffee and pepper growing belt the air gets pregnant in anticipation of the coffee harvest season. Whether one is a small land holding farmer ,a large estate owner ,a daily wage worker , an elderly woman or a young mother ,a seasoned agriculture worker ,a middle man or a newbie organization like us slowly leaning towards the development sector and working with tribal farmers it doesn't matter.. everyone gets prepared for the harvest....
Be it the sacks that must be tied by the waist for coffee plucking or the raincoats not one but two that must be tied across the pavadai( the petticoat) lest you get drenched and it hampers the plucking or the "atta marandu" -leech repellent made locally that must be dabbed on the feet before one steps into the kaatu( forest).One must be prepared.

The koodai are packed usually with kanji soru for mid day, big flask of kaapi to shared amongst all working in the field that day, to moisten the tongue and an aruva to keep paving the path if any branches seem as an hindrance.

One doesn't care whether it's Sunday Monday or is it any other day .Every one works to the rhythm of ripening of coffee cherries. Whether it's a young mother or an elderly it doesn't matter ..an extra pair of hands are always needed and welcome .Labour is on demand - especially the women are needed. It's their patience and hand skills that help tide over or make the most of the harvest season. It's these pairs of hands and their labour that helps to add income to family's income in these months .

It has been heartwarming for us to have begun working with our people. We are three weeks into the harvest of 2025 and we have been the busiest than ever . Sourcing ,managing logistics , learning experimenting ,getting the beans ready.It's an absolute labour of love .

We have also walked through the forest floors , sacks tied to our waist ,and plucked coffee not just for a few hrs but for an entire day .We have shared the joys and sorrows not just by being an outsider but being one amongst them.We have identified themes or pain points that run across the landscape.

This harvest season we at SITHARA want to bring forth to you the love and labour that goes behind bringing forth a good cup of coffee to you all .

22/08/2025

Palamalai is an isolated village in the Addukkam region .This village neither has road access nor network access.
The only means to reach this village is a 4x4 jeep or through pick up that ply through this area exactly at 8 am and 3 pm .
If we need to communicate to any one in this village one must call 8 pm when a couple of people stroll post dinner at a patch where one can acces the bsnl network.

Last year three farmers from this village were partner farmers in the pilot coffee project. Sagaya Mary happens to be one among them . Inspired by them three more farmers shall join us this year.
Last year ,the project's emphasis was only on inculcating right cherry picking process. This year,this small group of farmers aim to come together and take a step forward by learning to process their own produce .

How does the Community Livelihood Project help?

- Encourage farmers to learn and practice sustainable coffee processing methods.

- Break the debt cycle by dissuading them from selling their produce to middle men (often at low prices, as they are unaware of the market rates).

- Bring a fair value to their produce, grown organically in forest patches allotted to them through the FRA act.

-Profitably practice traditional agroforestry and natural farming, and help reduce their migration to cities and work as labourers

-Rekindle and foster pride in being the guardians and keepers of their forest.

We are fundraising for helping this small community of farmers to set up a small center to process their produce for which we need to build a small shade drying area,raised bed ,buy pulpers , fermentation barrels etc . We have raised 1.64 lakhs so far . If this cause calls out to you,we urge you to contribute towards this Community based Livelihood project.
Details for contribution:

Account holder: Sirumalai initiative for Tribal health and Rural affairs ( SITHARA)
IFSC code:IDIB000K039
UPI:1400072125000868@indianbk
Contact:9880537880

20/08/2025

The Palani hills are home to the Paliyan and Puliyar tribes . These tribes were primarily hunters and forest gatherers. However once they were moved out of the forests by the government they were settled down in the settlements mostly by the fringe of the forests. Many of these farmers especially in the Lower Palanis (where most of these tribal hamlets are settled) have been allotted 2 acres patches within the forest where they are permitted to cultivate. Many tribal farmers have taken to growing coffee amongst these patches .

Sundar is a Paliyar coffee farmer from the Thandikudi region. He earns his living by working for an estate and selling his produce to the Vyapari ( the middle men) during the coffee season. Many farmers also pledge their produce against an emergency loan. This practice many times puts the farmers into perpetual debt cycles which are hard to break.

Sundar was a partner farmer during the last harvest season .Post harvest we took to show where the coffee came from and we could only gape and exclaim "This is the most naturally grown coffee that it can be!" Growing under the shade of the forest canopy in the company of native trees in a biodiverse environment without any chemical inputs - this is as natural as it can be .....

At SITHARA we are trying to work to empower our partner farmers so that they bring out a quality produce to the market ,receive a fair value and ultimately take pride in being a farmer .
The community Livelihood project aims at this and we are fundraising for the same.
If this cause calls out to it please contribute towards this project.
Details for contribution
Ac no 7752191894
IFSC IDIB000K039
Paytm 9880537880@ptsbi

#

12/08/2025

10th of August 2025
We have marked it as an important day in our calendar to look back upon.

What began as a small pilot project last year in 2024 is slowly inching forward to shape up as a potential Livelihood project in the Palani hills for indigenous communities.

On 10th ie Last Sunday 7 tribal coffee farmers from villages of Palamalai (Adukkam belt) and Korankombu (Kc patty belt) got together to come for an exposure visit to @maheshlloyd's processing center in foothills at Pattiveeranpatti.

The aim was to see for themselves how the processing for speciality coffee is done , slowly understand the best practices involved,the infrastructure involved/ needed for it and then tweak to adapt it for ourselves in the hills.

'Mr Mahesh and his team took immense effort to explain , understand and patiently answer all the doubts our farmers had.

The farmers also experienced a cupping session where 4 different coffees were blinded ,tasted and discussed.
Some of our farmers have an amazing palate that we chuckled that they must become expert cuppers some day. Some of them can even describe the process utilised while processing with their aroma.
The highlight for everyone was tasting an amazing Cascara(a tea made out of the skin of coffee).

This experiential visit has lodged a small seed in the heart of our farmers to bring out a good coffee from their agroforestry patches out into the world by themselves than handover their produce to the middle men .The enthusiasm and spirit amongst our farmers is high and palpable amongst our farmers to move to next step in this process i.e to learn the art and science of processing their produce by themselves (even if a small quantity)

We at SITHARA are grateful for the patience and earnestness with which Mahesh and Mr Jacob are both guiding us through the project in two different belts.

Address

S. S . Complex , CONVENT Road , NAIDUPURAM
Kodaikanal
624101

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 7pm
Tuesday	9am - 7pm
Wednesday	9am - 7pm
Thursday	9am - 7pm
Friday	9am - 7pm
Saturday	9am - 2pm
Sunday	10am - 2pm

Telephone

+918431560576

Website

http://sirumalaihealthcenter.org/, http://http.sitharatrust.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sirumalai Initiative for Tribal Health and Rural Affairs posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Sirumalai Initiative for Tribal Health and Rural Affairs:

Sirumalai Initiative for Tribal Health and Rural Affairs