A pharam is the coir-making vessel which is placed inside the sea during high tide. There are small pits inside the pharam. Each of these pits have the volume to soak six to seven sacks of raw coconut husks (thodi). Once the thodi (coconut husk) is ready, one pit can be soaked inside it. The husks are arranged inside the pits, covered with sand and sealed off with a rock. When they will be ready to be removed, the husks for another pit are prepared and set. The older one is removed to fill the new set. This process is referred to as thodi phuthundath (burial of husks). The husks recovered through this process are used for making coir. In common parlance, the place where the pits for husks are used are called pharam. Each household will have their own locations for their own pharams. In other words, each household has its own pharam – a kind of remnant of the past.
