The Alu Kurumbas are an indigenous tribal community, settled in Nilgiris and Tamil Nadu is known for its graphic specialization in rock paintings. Painting is not only confined to their huts but in actual sense occurs as caricature sketches of human figures in rock outcrops around their habitat. It is held that such paintings hold magical properties in their luck and well-being.

Alu Kurumbas rock art tradition is thought to reach beyond prehistoric times, Vellaricombai rock art site is endowed with sacred value. The tribe worships a particular anthropomorphic figure at this site as an ancestral spirit. Every year, the community retouches and redraws this figure at the wall of their Shaman's hut with natural pigments so as to maintain ritual and cultural continuity.
Traditional paint includes leaf juice (Pachchele Chaaru) and latex extract (Vaenga Paalu) as pigments; the aerial root of the banyan tree (Aalanguchchi Vaeru) serves as brush. This very craftsmanship reflects the depth of spirituality and artistry.