www.TLHjournal.com Literary Herald ISSN: 2454-3365 An International Refereed/Peer-reviewed English e-Journal Impact Factor: 3.019(IIJIF) Vol. 4, Issue 1 (June 2018) Page 115 Dr. Siddhartha Sharma Editor-in-Chief A study of the Socio-cultural milieu of the endangered Malayarayar tribe as presented in Narayan’s Kocharethi The Araya woman Reneeta Anna Robert III B.A English & Dr. Annie Kuriachan Associate Professor, Department of English Women‟s Christian College (Autonomous) Chennai ABSTRACT The Indian Constitution has come forward with various reservations for safeguarding and promoting the interests and rights of the Scheduled Tribes in various spheres and thus enabling them to join the national mainstream. The Malayarayar tribe, concentrated in the hill zone of Idukki and Kottayam districts in Kerala is one of the recipients of this incentive which have in fact disrupted their unique identity established through religion and occupation. Narayan, the author of Kocharethi: The Araya Woman, through the lives of Kunjupennu and Kochuraman talks about the history, traditions and toils of the Malayarayar community in order to assert the identity, tradition and unique culture of the tribe. This paper will study the socio-cultural revival with regard to the traditional practices, pride and ownership of land and identity of the Malayarayar tribe, for which, the approach of the analysis of the novel is based on the theory of Postcolonial Studies and specifically of neo-colonialism intersecting the identity, culture and land of indigenous tribes. The scope of the study wholly focuses on the oral traditions mentioned in the novel. Thus the project gives a detailed analysis of the anguish felt in the Malayarayar tribe about the intolerance of the dominant community over the land and customs the tribals own. The project also documents the lives and traditions of the nearly decimated Malayarayar tribe in order to reassert their significance in mainstream society. The study also leaves scope for deeper study on the Malayarayar tribe and also other endangered Indian tribes and marginalised people on their struggle to survive in a neo-colonised society controlled by the dominant class of people wielding power, wealth, authority and influence. Keywords: Narayan , Kocharethi, Culture , Tradition, Colonialism, Indigenious