Paambu kulam in Vellammal’s backyard at Maruthur in Vedharanyam

A pond built by a hutment dweller venerates the guardian deity and the snakes that inhabit a grove

Beneath the dark shade of the wooded Wodier grove is a stone structure of Veeran, the guardian deity of the hutments of Velliammal and her three sons.

Modestly decorated with specks of vermilion, Veeran is seated a stone’s throwaway from the Velliammal hutments — a cluster of three huts and the Paambu Kulam (snake pond) that fringes her backyard. The paambu kulam or the snake pond has been in existence for close to 28 years, says Velliammal.

In these times of human-animal conflict, Velliammal’s snake pond in Marudhur village, some 20 km from Vedaranyam, represents a tale of ecological harmony and coexistence between humans and the snakes that frequent their houses.

The snake pond is Velliammal’s way of venerating Veeran and the…