THE UNIQUE BADAGA COMMUNITY OF THE NILGIRI HILLS IN SOUTHERN INDIA: A CASE STUDY IN VILLAGE KELKAVATTY

India rightly proves the saying ? “Unity in Diversity”. Since the time of various philosophers explanations and discoveries have been continued and in this process the unknown has been known the unfamiliar has been familiar and the unidentified has been identified. The separate knowledge of practical experience has led to the explorations of rare and unique events. Similarly, this work represents the unique features of the traditional community of South India, namely ? The Badaga Community ? spread around their so called ‘Nakku Betta’ (Nakku ? Four and, Betta ? Mountains, in the Badaga language). Nilgiris Civilization has started to grow and multiplied through tribes. There is a lot of controversy regarding the Badagas that whether they should be included in the tribal communities or not. But recently they have been incorporated in the other Backward Caste 2008 legislation. The present paper deals with the origin, socio- economic conditions of Badaga community