Divination
Certain men among the Todas are reputed to have special powers as diviners, and are known as teuòdipol, “god-gesticulating men,” or more commonly as teuol. Samuel, my interpreter, always spoke of their performances as devil-dancing and evidently regarded the teuol as like those whom he called the devil-dancers of his own people.
In several cases these men are said to have inherited their powers from some near relative, often a grandfather, but it seems that anyone who showed evidence of the necessary powers might become a teuol. All but one of the present diviners are Teivaliol, but the divining power is not limited to this division. There is no relation between the various offices of the dairy and the power of divination, and, in [[250]]fact, a diviner necessarily gives up his divining if he becomes a palol.[1]
Each of the teuol is believed to be possessed by a special god when he falls into the divining frenzy, and when in this state it is said that the diviner does not, as a rule, speak in his own language, but in some other, most commonly in Malayalam, or one of its dialects. The following are those who are at present credited with the power of divination:—
Midjkudr (63) of Piedr, who is inspired by the gods Kulinkars and Petkon. He speaks in Malayalam, and he does not appear to have succeeded anyone else as teuol. He is the most successful of those who are at present practising the art, and played the chief part in all the divining which took place during my visit.
Tadrners (60) of Kuudr, inspired by Ethrol and Arivili, succeeded his mother’s father, Kasorivan (66) of Kusharf. He is said to speak the language of people whom the Todas call Mondardsetipol living in the Wainad, a language which appears to be a dialect of Malayalam.
Pangudr (66) of Kusharf, also succeeded Kasorivan, his grandfather, and is inspired by Petkon and Meilitars. There was some doubt as to the language used by him.
Ethgudr (52) of Kuudr is inspired by Arivili, and, like Tadrners, speaks the language of the Mondardsetipol.
Terkudr (63) of Piedr, inspired by Teipakh, the river god, succeeded his grandfather Keitolv. When inspired, his speech is like the babbling of a running river, “like the river’s voice,” and cannot be understood.
Kangudr (62) of Piedr, who lives at Kavidi in the Wainad, is inspired by Meilitars and speaks Malayalam. He succeeded Tarsvan (62), his father, and Tarsvan had succeeded his father Keithiolv.
Kobuv (61) of Kuudr, is inspired by Meilitars and Kuderol and speaks Malayalam.
Pöteners (54) of Kuudr, is inspired by Petkon and speaks the language of the Mondardsetipol. [[251]]
Karkievan (63), the palol of the Nòdrs ti, was formerly a teuol, but gave up divining when he became palol.
All the above belong to the Teivaliol, and the only Tarthar diviner at the present time is Mongudrvan (13) of Kars. He is said to be inspired by the god of Miuni village, and to speak the Toda language. The village of Miuni belongs to the Teivaliol, so that the only Tarthar diviner is inspired by a god connected with the division to which the majority of the diviners belong.
Two other Tarthar men, Kerveidi (5) and Tevò (3), both of Nòdrs, are said to have been teuol at one time, but they have ceased to divine. They succeeded another man of their clan. Kangudr, who is inspired by Meilitars, has to ‘dance’ or divine before the Kurumbas, and when he does so he dances as a lame man. This custom is reputed to have come down from the time of Meilitars (see p. [210]), who danced as a lame man before the Kurumbas, and promised that whenever he came in the future he would dance to the Kurumbas first and then to the Todas.
It will be noticed that many of the deities by whom the diviners are inspired are not true Toda gods. Petkon, who inspires Midjkudr, Pangudr, and Pöteners, is said to be a hunting god. According to some he was a son of Teikirzi, but is almost certainly not a true Toda deity.
Arivili inspires Tadrners and Ethgudr, who are both reputed to speak the language of the Mondardsetipol, and he is probably a god of these people, a tribe of the Wainad. Ethrol, who also inspires Tadrners, is probably another deity of the same people. I do not know anything about Kuderol, by whom Kobuv is believed to be inspired.
It is noteworthy that the only existing Tarthar teuol speaks the Toda language when divining, and is believed to be inspired by a local Toda god; while the diviners belonging to the Teivaliol seem to speak dialects of Malayalam, and many are believed to be inspired by gods who are almost certainly not true Toda deities.
The teuol are consulted whenever any misfortune befalls a Toda. The following are various instances in which I have records of resort to divination: sickness or death of a Toda [[252]]or of any of his family; sickness or death of a buffalo; failure of milk in a buffalo and persistent kicking of its calf; failure to make a buffalo go to the spot at which it is to be killed during a funeral ceremony; failure of milk to coagulate; burning down of a dairy; disappearance of the bells of a dairy; loss of a tukitthkarsor lifting stone. In this last instance the stone at the village of Nidrsi was carried away some years ago by a party of English people who came to picnic near the village while the people were away. They carried the stone for some miles and then threw it down. The Nidrsi people could not find it, and consulted Midjkudr and Mongudrvan, who were able to reveal where the stone was to be found, and it was restored to the village, where it can now be seen.
The diviners usually work in pairs, though occasionally it would seem that one only may be consulted. If they are asked for an explanation of some misfortune which has befallen a man, the teuol usually find either that the sufferer has committed an offence against the dairy or that he is the subject of spells cast on him by a sorcerer. In the former case, they prescribe the ceremony which must be performed in order to expiate the offence. In the latter case, they name the sorcerer so that the sufferer may know with whom to make his peace.
I have already said that towards the close of my visit a number of misfortunes befell the Todas; one man fell ill, the wife of another died, and the dairy of a third was burnt down, and these events kept the diviners busy, but probably because I was implicated I was not allowed the chance of observing the diviners at work.
FIG. 36.—MIDJKUDR AND MONGUDRVAN DIVINING AT A FUNERAL.
The only occasion on which I saw the process of divining was at a funeral. The buffalo which was to be killed had been caught at some distance from the place appointed for its slaughter. The animal was unusually refractory and at length lay down and all the natural efforts of the Todas failed to make it move. Midjkudr and Mongudrvan were then called upon to discover the cause of the obstinacy of the buffalo. Mongudrvan first began to dance slowly to and fro, away from and towards the buffalo. He had [[253]]taken off his cloak and was only wearing the tadrp. As I already knew the man, I was able to observe that his general appearance was unaltered and that he did not appear to be in any abnormal mental condition. He was soon joined by Midjkudr, who danced up and down much more wildly ([Fig. 36]). His general appearance was very different to that usually presented by a Toda man. His hair seemed to stand out from his head, although it shook with each of his violent movements; his eyes were abnormally bright and his face gave every appearance of great mental excitement. I had not previously known the man, but when he came to see me a few days later I could hardly believe that the quiet, self-possessed man whom I saw before me was the same individual whom I had seen dancing at the funeral. It was obvious that he had been in a distinctly abnormal condition of frenzy during the divining process. After dancing for a time Midjkudr began to utter broken sentences in a loud and almost chanting voice, while Mongudrvan [[254]]remained silent throughout. After Midjkudr had in these sentences given the reason for the obstinacy of the buffalo, and had prescribed what was to be done, he took a red cloth and dancing more violently than ever waved the cloth before the buffalo and pushed against the body of the animal. Then after the people had dragged the buffalo a little way, it rose and went quietly to the place where it was to be killed.
I had much difficulty in finding out exactly what Midjkudr had said. When he came to see me a few days later he stated that he did not know at the time what he was saying, and that his only knowledge was derived from those who had heard him, and I am inclined to believe that he was speaking the truth. His appearance during the divining was remarkably different from that of ordinary days, and strongly suggested a semi-hypnotic state, during which he might well have had no knowledge, or only a very vague knowledge, of anything he said.[2] In his ordinary condition he professed to be ignorant of Malayalam, the language which he was said to use in his frenzied condition.
My ignorance of Malayalam, and the obvious difficulties of the investigation, make me hesitate before expressing any decided opinion as to the real nature of Midjkudr’s condition when divining, but I have a very strong leaning towards the idea that the man was in a genuinely abnormal condition, allied to the hypnotic state, and I am disposed to accept the statement of the Todas that he was speaking in a language of which he had only a very vague knowledge when in a normal condition. It is, of course, quite possible that the abnormal appearance of Midjkudr was merely due to the exercise of dancing and to mental excitement, and that he knew perfectly well what he was doing and saying. I can but record my impression that there was something more, and I only commit myself to this extent in regard to the special occasion on which I saw Midjkudr divining; even if I saw a genuine hypnotic or semi-hypnotic phenomenon, it does not follow that all Midjkudr’s performances are wholly, or even partly, [[255]]of this nature, and still less does it follow that the performances of all the teuol are of this kind. Nothing struck me more than the contrast between the frenzied condition of Midjkudr and the calm, ordinary demeanour of Mongudrvan, his fellow diviner.
In the case I have described the necessity for the intervention of the diviner arose out of the funeral proceedings, but it appears to be not uncommon for divination to be practised during funerals. Both Mr. Walhouse and Mr. Thurston have seen the process of divining going on at funerals. In Mr. Thurston’s case he notes that the diviners talked in Malayalam, and offered an explanation of a gigantic figure which had suddenly appeared and as suddenly disappeared some time previously.