The Araimudi (araimuti) () is a small silver metal plate shaped like a heart or a fig leaf formerly worn by young girls in Tamil Nadu, India.Tamil to English Dictionary "Meaning of 'iravirekku'" (Meaning of இராவிரேக்கு) "Arai" means loin and "mudi" means cover.Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 3 Sep 2008 It called as 'Alamadi' and 'arasilai' by Muslims of eastern Sri Lanka.
The araimudi is also known as the "Genital shield" and an araimudi was mentioned in the "Guide to the principal exhibits in the Government Museum, Pudukkottai", by M. S. Chandrasekhar, published in 1966 as being displayed in an exhibit in the Madras Government Museum.Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 6 Jun 2011 Length 129 pages
"A Manual of the Salem district in the presidency of Madras, Volume 1" said "The children sometimes, to the age of ten years or more, go in a state of nudity, relieved perhaps by a piece of string round the waist which sustains the "araimudi" or heart-shaped piece of silver, which calls attention to what it purports to conceal."Compiled by Henry Le Fanu Original from Oxford University Digitized 6 Jun 2007
The "Madras district gazetteers, Volume 1, Part 1" said 'Little girls, up to the age of about 3, wear nothing but the little heart-shaped piece of silver suspended by a waist-cord (arai- mudi) " which calls attention to what it purports to conceal."'Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 14 Mar 2005
"Percival's Tamil-English dictionary", edited by P. Percival defined Araimudi as "அரைமுடி arai múḍi, A small plate of gold or silver, appended to the girdle of female children, for the sake of decency".
Miron Winslow's dictionary, "A comprehensive Tamil and English Dictionary of High and Low Tamil" defined araimudi as "அரைமுடி, s. A small plate of metal worn by little girls over the private parts."Original from the Bavarian State Library Digitized 21 Mar 2011 Length 976 pages A COMPREHENSIVE TAMIL AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY OF HIGH AND LOW TAMIL, BY THE REV. MIRON WINSLOW. D.D. AMERICAN MISSIONARY, MADRAS. ASSISTED BY COMPETENT NATIVE SCHOLARS: IN PART FROM MANUSCRIPT MATERIALS OF THE LATE REV. JOSEPH KNIGHT, AND OTHERS. MADRAS : PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY P. R. HUNT, AMERICAN MISSION PRESS, 167, POPHAM'S BROADWAY. 1862. Copyright Secured.
Abbe Dubois's book "Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies", translated from French and edited by Henry Beauchamp stated that "Even the private parts of the children have their own particular decorations. Little girls wear a gold or silver shield or codpiece on which is graven some indecent picture; while a boy's ornament, also of gold or silver, is an exact copy of that member which it is meant to decorate."Original from Indiana University Digitized 11 Jun 2009 Length 730 pages HENRY FROWDE, M.A. PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK HINDU MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES BY THE ABBÉ J. A. DUBOIS TRANSLATED FROM THE AUTHOR'S LATER FRENCH MS. AND EDITED WITH NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND BIOGRAPHY BY HENRY K. BEAUCHAMP FELLOW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY WITH A PREFATORY NOTE BY THE RIGHT HON. MAX MÜLLER AND A PORTRAIT SECOND EDITION Oxford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1899Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 3 Oct 2007 Length 432 pagesOriginal from the University of Virginia Digitized 15 Aug 2008 Length 841 pagesOriginal from the University of Michigan Digitized 26 Oct 2006 Length 332 pagesHINDU MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES THIRD EDITION OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1906 "Description of the character, manners, and customs of the people of India; and their institutions, religious and civil", also written by Dubois said "The children of either sex are likewise ornamented with various trinkets of the same form, though smaller than those of grown persons. They have also some that are peculiar. As all children in India go perfectly naked till they are six or seven years old, the parents of course, adapt the ornaments to the natural parts of the body. Thus, the girls have a plate of metal suspended so as to conceal, in some measure, their nakedness. The boys, on the other hand, have little bells hung round them, or some similar device of silver or gold, attached to the little belt with which they are girt. Amongst the rest, a particular trinket appears in front, bearing a resemblance to the sexual part of the lad."Original from University of Minnesota Digitized 18 Feb 2010 Length 410 pages DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE OF INDIA; AND OF THEIR INSTITUTIONS, RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL, BY THE ABBE J. A. DUBOIS, Missionary in the Mysore. Second Edition, WITH NOTES, CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS BY REV. G. U. POPE, Head Master of the Ootacamund Grammar School, and Fellow of the Madras University. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH MANUSCRIPT. Madras : J. HIGGINBOTHAM, MOUNT ROAD. Law Bookseller and Publisher. LONDON—MESSRS. ALLAN AND CO. CALCUTTA—HAY AND CO., THACKER SPINK AND CO. BOMBAY—CHESSON AND WOODALL. 1862.
Until the 1960s in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka girls wore the Araimudi.Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 3 Sep 2008
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