Social and conceptual order in Koṅku, a region of south India

Koṅku is the name of a distinctive geographic and social region in the west central corner of Madras State in India. The area encompasses much of the present Coimbatore District, plus parts of Salem, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli. It is roughly 8,500 square miles in extent and has a present population of about 5,000,000. Koṅku ia comprised of a single, broad upland plain. The area is dry and, in addition, rainfall varies greatly in quantity from year to year. The region is roughly bounded in each of the four directions by high hills, while the plain is cut into sections by three important tributaries of the Cauvery river. The peasant inhabitants can name these distinctive physical features. They further describe the area in terms of its sacred geography. Konku has seven sacred hills dedicated to Morukan and seven riverside temples built in the name of Civa. The region is further identified with a long epic or ballad which recounts the folk history of the area in some detail.