Migration of the Ti Buffaloes
I obtained a very full account of the migration of the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti and will first give an account of the proceedings for this herd.
The Toda year begins during October with the ceremony of teutütusthchi (see [Chap. XIII]) and at this time the buffaloes should be standing at Mòdr, near Paikara. Soon after this ceremony, the herd goes to Anto, the most important and sacred of the ti places. They stay here for a month and then go to Majòdr, not far from Makurti Peak, where they [[131]]stay during the dry season, stopping about three months or longer, according to the nature of the weather. It is often not until May is reached that the buffaloes return to Mòdr and stay there till August, when they cross the Paikara river to the two dairies, Òdrtho and Kudreiil, on the opposite bank. The tiir stay at Òdrtho and the warsir at Kudreiil for a month and then both return to Mòdr.
In 1902 this plan was very much disturbed. In order to go from Mòdr to Òdrtho and Kudreiil the herds and their attendants have to cross the river, and under no circumstances is the palol allowed to cross by the bridge. He usually watches his opportunity till the river is low enough at a certain ford to allow him to cross, but the summer of 1902 was unusually wet and the river was never sufficiently low to allow the passage, and in consequence Òdrtho and Kudreiil were not visited in that year.
Later it was arranged that the migration to Anto should take place on November 2nd. I was told that I might accompany the procession for part of the way, and was looking forward greatly to the occasion, as it was evident that it was my only chance of seeing and photographing the contents of the dairy. As the day approached, the migration was postponed because Teitnir, who was celebrating the funeral ceremonies of his wife and was therefore ichchil, had crossed the way by which the procession would have to pass. The ceremony was next arranged for November 23rd, but was then further postponed till the 30th. This was the last Sunday before the day on which I intended to leave the hills, and again I made arrangements to see the proceedings. No sooner had I done so than I was told that the procession was postponed for a week and was to take place on the day after I had left Ootacamund. I at once altered my plans and arranged to see the procession on December 7th. A new obstacle at once intervened, and I was told that the journey to Anto was deferred indefinitely, and, as I learnt afterwards from Samuel, the buffaloes did not go to Anto at all that year, but went direct from Mòdr to Majòdr on Wednesday, January 7th. All this occurred after the misfortunes had happened to [[132]]which I have already referred—misfortunes which were believed to be the direct consequence of my investigations—and it seemed quite clear that the various postponements and final abandonment of the journey to Anto were due to the fear that some misfortune might befall the sacred herd if I saw the procession.
It will be noticed that the herd of the Nòdrs ti may pass the greater part of the year at Mòdr, which is not one of the three most ancient dairies of the ti. It has become the most frequented because it is the most convenient, occupying a more central situation than most of the other dairies. Majòdr is also not one of the most ancient dairies, but is visited purely on account of grazing necessities. Anto and Òdrtho, the two out of the three places given originally by Teikirzi according to the legend, are visited not from necessity, but on account of their sanctity, and, as we have seen, it may happen under exceptional circumstances that neither place may be visited and the whole year passed at Mòdr and Majòdr.
It is only when going to Anto and Òdrtho that some of the most remarkable features of the buffalo migration ceremonies are carried out, and if these dairies should fall into disuse, as would seem not improbable, these features of the migration ceremonies would certainly vanish.
As we have seen, the migration to the relatively unimportant dairy of Majòdr may take place on a Wednesday, but when going to the more important places a Sunday must be chosen. The orthodox day is the first Sunday after the new moon, but so far as I could gather from the various days appointed for the migration during my visit there is no very strict adherence to the rule. A week before the migration a second kaltmokh is appointed who goes through the customary ordination ceremony. It is also arranged that a Melgars man (mòrol) shall come to carry some of the contents of the dairy. When the buffaloes are going either to Anto or Òdrtho it is absolutely necessary that a mòrol shall be present, who goes in front of both palol and kaltmokh and has certain well defined duties. The procession may also be accompanied by any Toda who has no ichchil and these people may help in driving the buffaloes and in carrying the [[133]]less important things from the dairy. Badagas may also accompany the procession.
The day of the migration is called irnödrthnol, and on the morning of this day the churning is done as usual, and sufficient milk is drawn to provide as much as can be safely carried in one of the persin without spilling it. All who take part in the procession must go without food on the morning of this day, and the palol does not take buttermilk as usual. The various objects which are to be taken with the buffaloes are brought out of the dairy and laid by a stone called the pepkusthkars, which in some places, and possibly everywhere, is in or near the wall of the tu.
The dairy vessels are carried according to well-defined rules. The things of the inner room and the intermediate objects, the lamp and the idrkwoi, are carried by the palol. The mòrol carries some of the things of the outer room and one of the horns. The two kaltmokh carry the other things of the outer room, the other horns and their own possessions.
The dairy vessels, &c., are carried by each man on a staff cut from the mòrs tree, the staff being called pepkati (the pütusht of the village migration). Each of the persin and alug is fixed on the staff by placing it on a roll of kakhudri, called a tedshk, round which six pieces of the string called twadrinar are tied. The six strings are passed round the vessel and fastened to the staff. The palol fastens on the three persin in such a way that when the staff is on his shoulder two of the vessels will be in front of him and the other behind his back, one of the vessels in front containing milk. The tòrzum are placed on the top of the persin as when they are in the dairy, and the persinkudriki is carried in the peptòrzum. The kwoi is fastened on in front, and the kòghlag and wands are placed along the staff. The lamp is put inside the idrkwoi and the latter tied to the end of the stick, so that it is behind the back of the palol when being carried. Care is taken that an interval is left between the idrkwoi and the other things; even when being carried from one dairy to another the objects intermediate between those of the inner and those of the outer room are kept separate from and not allowed to touch the more sacred vessels of the inner room. The staff with its [[134]]burdens is carried by the palol on his left shoulder in the same way as is shown in [Fig. 29], illustrating the method of carrying the things of the village dairy.
The mani is carried by the palol on his right side. A staff of kiaz wood is cut, about five cubits (mogoi) in length, which must be perfectly straight with a fork at one end. The bell is covered completely with kiaz leaves tied with rattan fastenings, and put on the fork of the staff by its ring. The staff is carried upright in the right hand of the palol; if he becomes tired he may rest it on his shoulder, but this must be done in such a way that the forked end of the stick carrying the bell comes in front of his body, otherwise the palol would be presenting his back to the sacred object.
At the Nòdrs ti there is an exception to the ordinary rule in the case of the mani of the tiir. It will be remembered that this bell is reputed to have been born in a persin during the migration from Amnòdr, and the bell is therefore carried in one of the persin during the migration from one dairy to another. In its place the palol of the tiir carries in his right hand the churning stick with its churning end upwards.
The mani is the only object of the inner room which is covered with leaves, so that it may not be exposed to the vulgar gaze. The lamp is also hidden from view within the idrkwoi, but I do not know whether this is for the same reason or merely because it is a convenient way of carrying it.
The mòrol carries the large earthenware vessels of the outer room (alug), which are at least four in number. They are tied on a staff by means of tedshk in the same manner as are the persin. This is done by the kaltmokh, who puts the staff and its burden on the left shoulder of the mòrol, taking particular care that the vessels do not touch the man. The mòrol carries one of the horns in his right hand.
Before the procession starts each mani is hung on the neck of a calf, left on for a minute or so, taken off and put on its staff. The mani of the tiir called Persin is put on the neck of a two-year-old calf of the unir, and that of the warsir, Keu, is put on the neck of one of the perithir.
If any dairy vessels or implements are not taken with the buffaloes, they are not left in the dairy, but hidden in a wood. [[135]]
The procession then starts with the mòrol at its head. In some cases a halt is made when passing certain places, and prayer is offered by the palol. In going from Mòdr to Anto the procession stops first at Pòrstib near Tedshteiri village (belonging to the Nòdrsol), where the wars palol puts the staff carrying the mani on a stone and prays while touching the staff with his hands. The next halt is made at Ponvtüt, where the buffaloes separate from the palol and follow a slightly different route, and here the wars palol again prays. The procession halts for a third time at a place called Teirpül, near Anto, but this time it is the ti palol who prays after having placed the churning stick and bell on a stone.
On its way to Anto the procession passes near the village of Kiudr. When the buffaloes are seen to be coming, the women leave the house and go to the outskirts of the village, taking with them the pounder, sieve and broom, and wait there while the procession is going by. All the people of Kiudr fast on this day till after the buffaloes have passed.
It was said that on this day the palikartmokh of Kiudr used to rub clarified butter on the stones called neurzülnkars, but there was some doubt about this, and if the custom ever existed it seems to have fallen into disuse.
According to some accounts, certain clauses especially referring to the migration of the ti buffaloes are used in the prayer of the Kiudr dairy (see [Chap. X]).
On reaching the outskirts of the new place, the Todas who have accompanied the procession go away. The staff carried by the mòrol is taken off by the kaltmokh, who is again very careful that the vessels do not touch their bearer. Although the mòrol is allowed to carry some of the less sacred vessels, care is taken throughout that the vessels shall not be contaminated by touching his body or his clothing.
All the dairy vessels are taken off and laid by a stone called the perskars, and then follows the ceremony of peputi. Each palol has carried with him some milk in one of the persin. Some of this is poured into the peptòrzum[5] and given to certain buffaloes, one of each kind belonging to the ti; thus, at the Nòdrs ti, the milk is given to five buffaloes, to three by one palol [[136]]and to two by the other. The milk may be given to buffaloes directly from the tòrzum, or it may be poured into the hands of the palol from which the appointed buffaloes drink.
The next business is the purification of the dairy, called nòdrkorsi arspishpimi—i.e., we wash with nòdrkorsi. The palol goes to the dairy spring or kwoinir with the karitòrzum, carrying the kwoinörtpet under his left arm. He throws tudr bark into the spring, fills the karitòrzum and returns. He puts tudr bark into the karitòrzum and also into the idrkwoi and then pours the water from the karitòrzum into the idrkwoi, which he takes to the dairy and throws the water with his hands first over the dairy vessels and then well into the dairy itself so that it penetrates to the inner room. He throws the water first on the floor, then to the roof and to the sides, three times to each. Next he takes three sprigs of the plant ordinarily called kabudri (Euphorbia Rothiana), but at the ti called nòdrkorsi and ties it over the door of the dairy.
The dairy vessels, which have been untied and placed on the ground near the perskars, are then purified and put in their places. The palol first takes up the peptòrzum with the persinkudriki within it, the kòghlag, the kwoi and kwoinörtpet, all in the right hand, and carries them to the front of the dairy, where he repeats certain kwarzam of the prayer, then turns to the east and says the whole prayer of the dairy, salutes the dairy holding the four things to his forehead, enters, puts the things except the kwoinörtpet in their places, comes out with the kwoinörtpet under his left arm and without turning his back to the interior of the dairy, and shuts the door of the building. He then takes in the other vessels of the inner room, carrying the kwoinörtpet under his left arm and without repeating the prayer. One persin is taken in first, then the others, the karitòrzum and the tedshk. Then the mani is taken, being carried in the right hand and laid temporarily on the floor near the persin; when taking in the bell certain kwarzam are said.
The wand called pohvet is next taken in and laid in its place, and then the things intermediate between the inner and outer room—viz., the lamp, which is hung in its place, and [[137]]the idrkwoi, which is put exactly at the line of junction of the two rooms.
After this the things of the outer room are put in their places. Fire is made by friction, and the tòratthwaskal lighted, light transferred from this to the pelkkatitthwaskal, and with the fire so made the palol lights the lamp.
In most cases the buffaloes are then milked, but at Anto and Òdrtho, before milking, the palol begins an extraordinary ceremony, in which the kaltmokh is concerned, which is continued till the following day.
For this ceremony food is especially prepared by the palol. He mixes husked grain (patcherski), brought by the Badagas who accompany the procession, with buttermilk and jaggery,[6] spreads butter on the mixture, and, putting it on a kakud leaf, takes it out to one of the two kaltmokh who is sitting in a given place about ten yards from the dairy. The kaltmokh must now stay on this spot till the evening.
After the palol has milked, he takes food himself and gives it to the mòrol. Before going to rest for the night a ceremony is performed called irtupadrchiti, “he prays for the buffaloes at the tu.” The two palol go to the front of the tu[7] in which the buffaloes have been put for the night and they pray, using the kwarzam of the ti and of the gods only. They then go to the sleeping hut, where the second kaltmokh has swept the floor and prepared a fire. When the palol come to the hut they bawl out in a high key three times and the kaltmokh does the same and they go to bed, the two palol occupying one bed (tün) and the mòrol and the second kaltmokh the other. After they have been in the hut some time, the first kaltmokh, who has been sitting till now outside at the place where he was given food, creeps into the hut and lies down to sleep between the two beds without any covering. No notice of him must be taken by the other occupants of the hut.
The following day is called punirsnol. In the early morning, before the others are awake, the first kaltmokh must get [[138]]up, light the fire, warm himself, and then go out and sit on the same spot as on the previous evening. He remains there till the two palol come to him to continue the ceremony in which he is concerned.
When the palol rise they do their usual work, and when they have milked they perform a ceremony called karkutkîrsiti,[8] in which the calves are prayed for in the same way that the buffaloes were prayed for on the previous evening. The second kaltmokh collects the calves in the pepkarmus, or milking-place of the buffaloes, and the two palol, each with empty kwoi and with kwoinörtpet, pray as on the previous evening using the kwarzam of the ti and some of the kwarzam of the gods, and then bawl out in a high key three times in order to scatter the calves.
The ceremony with the kaltmokh is then continued. Each of the palol takes the vessel used for ladling buttermilk (mòrkudriki); one palol fills his vessel with the milk of punir and the other fills with nei (clarified butter). Each leaves his dairy, and they both call to the kaltmokh, who comes to the threshold of the ti poh, and stands there while the two palo, mix the milk and nei. The kaltmokh is then told to hold out his hands, and each palol pours out the mixture into the hands of the boy, who rubs it over his head first, and then all over his body. After the kaltmokh has thus been bathed in milk and nei, the three people walk in procession to the spot where the kaltmokh had been sitting, the kaltmokh going first, followed by the wars palol and the ti palol in order. As they walk, the two palol say the following words:—
Köda die mâ; may (he); pîrzi tiger puti catch vurmâ; (him) may; pob snake ers bite vurmâ; (him) may; per steep hill pûdith fall down vurmâ (on him) may; pâkh river pûdith fall vurmâ (on him) may[9]; pudi wild boar eri bite mâ; may; kâdr wild beast pat hold (catch him) mâ; may; kedrman bear par carry (him) away mâ. may. [[139]]
When they come to the spot where the kaltmokh had been given the food, the boy remains standing there while the two palol turn round and walk back in the dairy, saying:—
Köda die mâ, may (he), idvaik, as was said, ultâmâ; may he be well; pîrzi tiger par carry away mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, para carry away vômâ; may not; per steep hill pur fall mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, puva fall vômâ; may not; pòb snake eri bite mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, eria bite vômâ; may not; pâkh river pur fall mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, puva fall vômâ; may not; kâdr wild beast pat mâ, catch may, idvaik, as was said, pata catch vômâ; may not; kedrman bear par carry away mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, para carry away vômâ; may not; pudi wild boar eri bite mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, eria bite vômâ. may not.
The ti palol then enters his dairy and brings out an especially large ball of the food called ashkkartpimi, more than can possibly be eaten at one sitting. It is given to the kaltmokh, who sits on the same spot as before, and eats as much of it as he can.
All this ceremony has been done after milking, and before drinking buttermilk (kaizhvatiti), which is now poured out by the second kaltmokh for the palol, who then go about their usual business. When the first kaltmokh has eaten as much as he can of his ball of food he leaves it on the spot where he has been sitting, and goes with the palol. The Todas say that the food left behind will never be touched by the crows, who will eat any other food.
In the afternoon the palol transact their ordinary dairy business and the kaltmokh returns to his place and resumes the consumption of his ball of food, staying on the spot till the end of the day. When the two palol have gone into the sleeping hut for the night, the kaltmokh goes into the hut after them and may then talk to the other occupants, and after this follows the usual routine.
During the whole of this ceremony the kaltmokh, who takes so prominent a part in it, is called the neurzutpol.
At the other dairies of the Nòdrs ti a ceremony which is obviously closely connected with that which has been [[140]]described is performed at certain stones called neurzülnkars. At Mòdr there are four of these stones (shown in [Fig. 33]), and three of them are rounded and worn quite smooth, probably by much repetition of the ceremony about to be described.
On the day following the migration each palol takes a mòrkudriki, which one fills with milk and the other with butter (pen, not nei, as when rubbed on the kaltmokh). The two palol put milk on the stones and then rub them with butter. There is no cursing and the kaltmokh plays no part in the ceremony. There can be little doubt that the stones are regarded as taking the place of the kaltmokh, for while the latter is performing his ceremony he is called neurzutpol, and the stones anointed in the same way are called neurzülnkars.
The ceremony with the kaltmokh which follows the migration to the dairies of Anto and Òdrtho is one of the most extraordinary of Toda ceremonies. The leading feature of the ceremony appears to be the cursing of the kaltmokh, followed immediately by the removal of the curse. I was wholly unable to obtain any explanation of the ceremony from the Todas, but it seems probable that the kaltmokh is being made responsible for any offence which may have been committed against the very sacred dairies of Anto and Òdrtho. The kaltmokh having been cursed, and so made responsible, the curse is then removed in order to avoid the evil consequences which would befall the boy if this were not done. [[141]]
FIG. 33.—THE FOUR ‘NEURZÜLNKARS’ AT MÒDR. BEHIND THE STONES ON THE RIGHT IS KARKIEVAN, THE ‘PALOL’ OF THE ‘TIIR’; ON THE LEFT IS NERPONERS, THE ‘PALOL’ OF THE ‘WARSIR’; IN THE CENTRE IS THE ‘KALTMOKH,’ KATSOG, CARRYING A SICKLE-SHAPED KNIFE.
It is possible that the kaltmokh is chosen as the person to be made responsible merely because he is the most convenient person to act as the recipient of any evil consequences. It is, however, probable that on this day the kaltmokh does something which he does not do on ordinary days, and thus commits an offence which has to be expiated. On the day of migration the kaltmokh does, as a matter of fact, see the sacred vessels of the inner room which are ordinarily hidden from his gaze behind the screen of the dairy. He sees the mani in its leafy covering, and he may even see the bell itself before it is covered. He also touches some of the vessels of the outer room which he does not [[142]]ordinarily touch, and it may be that the cursing and other features of the ceremony are intended to obviate the possible evil consequences of these acts. At the ancient and sacred dairies of Anto and Òdrtho the ceremony is still carried out in its entirety, but at other dairies many of the chief features of the ceremony have disappeared and all that remains is the anointing of the neurzülnkars, which take the place of the head of the kaltmokh.
When the kaltmokh comes into the sleeping hut on the first night of the ceremony, my informants laid great stress on the fact that the other occupants of the hut must take no notice of the boy, who creeps in after the others have taken their places on the beds, and he must go out in the morning before they show signs of waking. It is probable that the boy had originally to sit all the night in the open air at the appointed spot, and though he is now allowed to come into the hut, no notice is taken of him because theoretically he is not there. It is quite in accordance with Toda ideas that this should be done and other instances of similar procedure will be given.
Another noteworthy feature of the ceremony is the act of giving the kaltmokh a larger portion of food than can possibly be consumed at one meal. This feature occurs in other Toda ceremonies, and especially in connexion with the ordination of the palol, to be described in the next chapter. I know nothing of the significance of this procedure.
At some time during the day following the arrival at the new ti mad, the dairy is well cleansed with dried buffalo-dung. Soon after the migration—on the following Wednesday at the Nòdrs ti and on Sunday at the Kars and the Pan ti—a special ceremony called ponup is performed, in which salt is given to certain sacred buffaloes, but this will be described, together with the other salt-giving ceremonies, in [Chapter VIII].
The Melgars man who accompanies the procession of the Nòdrs ti stays at Anto till the following Wednesday; at other places he only stays till the day after the procession. The Toda way of putting this is that at Anto he stays erdpunrs—i.e., “two punrs.” One punrs is a day and its next day, so that erdpunrs is equal to four days. At other places the Melgars [[143]]man stays only one punrs—i.e., he leaves the ti mad on the day following the migration.
The foregoing account applies to the Nòdrs ti. The general procedure is the same at the migration of other herds, but the ceremonial is, in general, less elaborate. At no other ti is there anything corresponding to the ceremonies in which the kaltmokh plays so important a part, and at no other ti is it absolutely necessary that a mòrol should take part in the procession, though, as a matter of fact, he usually also leads the way at the migrations of the Pan ti.
At the Kars ti the buffaloes pass the greater part of the year at Makars. They usually go to Neradr, where they stay about a month, and then go to Kòn for the dry season, returning to Makars in April. Sometimes they again stop at Neradr on their way from Kòn to Makars. It is probable that when the sacred dairy of Enòdr was still in use the ceremonial was more elaborate than it is at present. In the legend of Kwoto (see [Chap. IX]) an account is given of a ceremonial which occurred in former times during the migration from Kòn to Enòdr, and it is possible that this persisted until Enòdr was given up as a ti mad.
The herds of the Pan ti usually migrate with those of the Kars ti. They stand during the greater part of the year at Kudòdr, near Makars, and go to Neradr and Kòn as the dry season approaches.
In the case of the Pan ti, it seems that the bells travel on the necks of buffaloes; the mani called Kòsi on the neck of a buffalo called Kòsi, Pongg on a buffalo called Enmars, and Keituzan on one called Kòjiu. In this procession a mòrol goes first, followed by the tars palol, the wars palol, and the two kaltmokh in order.
At the present time there are no migrations of the buffaloes of the Kwòdrdoni ti or of the Nidrsi ti, and I have no information about the past. At Pursas, the present dairy of the Kwòdrdoni ti, there is a stone called neurzülnkars. I was told that nothing was done to it in connexion with the migrations of the buffaloes, but that it was rubbed with clarified butter and milk whenever the irnörtiti ceremony (see [Chap. XIII]) was performed at the ti. [[144]]
[1] The buffaloes may also move from one village to another if sickness should break out among them, but I do not know whether this would become the same ceremonial occasion as in the other kinds of migration. [↑]
[2] The vessels used for the purposes of these photographs were not the real vessels of the dairy, but those of the house. The method of fastening the earthenware vessels does not correspond to that described for the ti dairy, and I am doubtful whether the method of fastening for real dairy vessels would not have corresponded to the procedure of the ti rather than to that shown in the figures. [↑]
[3] This is probably only true of Teivali dairies. [↑]
[4] This is a special food used on important ceremonial occasions, the mode of preparation of which is given in [Chapter XXIV]. [↑]
[5] The vessel derives its name from this ceremony. [↑]
[7] At Anto, and probably at some other dairies, there is a special tu for use on this occasion. [↑]
[8] This word was translated “he prays for the calves.” One verb is used in naming the ceremony of praying for the calves and another in the case of praying for the adult buffaloes. [↑]
[9] Probably this should be translated “may the river (when in flood) swallow him.” [↑]
CHAPTER VII
ORDINATION CEREMONIES
Before a dairyman enters upon office he has to undergo certain initial rites, which may fitly be spoken of as “ordination ceremonies.” These ceremonies vary greatly in their elaborateness, according to the dairy in which the candidate is to serve.
In the case of the ordinary dairyman, or palikartmokh, the proceedings are simple and may be accomplished in a few minutes, while for the highest grade of the priesthood they are extremely elaborate and prolonged over more than a week.
The essential feature of all the ordination ceremonies is a process of purification by drinking and washing with the water of a stream or spring used for sacred purposes only (palinipa or kwoinir). In every case the water is drunk out of certain leaves, and the body is rubbed with water mixed with the juice of young shoots or bark.
A general name for ordination is pelkkodichiti or pelkkatthtiti, “lamp he lights.” This name is derived from the fact that the first act in connexion with the dairy work which a new dairyman has to perform is to light the lamp of the dairy. The former of the two names given above was used especially in the case of the ordinary dairy and the latter in the case of the ti, but I am doubtful whether there is any strict limitation of the terms in these senses.
Another general name used for the ceremony of ordination is niròditi, which in a more limited sense is applied to the drinking and purification at the dairy stream or spring which [[145]]is the essential feature of the ceremony. This term was very often used for the ceremony of ordination to the office of palol.