IRULA, the darkest-skinned tribe of the Nilgiri Hills in South India (from Tamil irul, "darkness"), as the Badagas (q.v.) are the fairest. Speaking corrupt Tamil and practising a rude form of Vishnu-worship, the Irulas have as yet no marriage-rite beyond a feast. They bury their dead in a sitting posture with legs crossed or face downwards with head to the north. Though miserably poor, they are in much request as fortune-tellers.