The Care of the Ordinary Buffaloes

The ordinary buffaloes, or putiir, of a village are looked after and milked by the males of the village; by those who in Toda terminology are perol, or ordinary men, as compared with those who have been ordained to one of the sacred dairy offices.

When the people rise in the morning, the buffaloes are [[53]]released from the pen, or tu, in which they have been enclosed for the night, and the animals make their way at once to the place where they are accustomed to be milked, the irkarmus. At the same time, or a little later, the calves are released from their enclosure, the kadr, and each calf runs to its mother. The milk of the previous night is churned in the interior of the dwelling-hut, usually by one of the youths of the family. In the dairy one man has to carry out all the dairy operations, and here the churning is always finished before the milking begins; but in the case of the ordinary buffaloes, where many take part in the work, the two operations may go on simultaneously, and while one man or boy is churning, others will be milking the buffaloes and carrying the milk into the hut. Usually it seemed that each of the males of the family was taking his part in the proceedings.

FIG. 16.—THE MORNING MILKING AT THE VILLAGE OF MOLKUSH. IN THE BACKGROUND IS A MODERN ‘TU’ MADE OF WOODEN PALINGS.

Whenever I watched the milking operations, I saw one [[54]]man, the head of the family, walking about and superintending the operations, while several other men and youths were milking the buffaloes or churning the milk within the hut. It seemed as if in general each buffalo gave very little milk, and a man soon left one buffalo to go to another, and as the bamboo milking-vessels are small and have soon to be emptied, there was a constant moving about from one buffalo to another and from the milking-place to the hut. A typical milking scene is shown in [Fig. 16]. Each man carries a stick, with which he keeps off troublesome calves who may come to suck while the milking is going on (see [Fig. 17]). If a buffalo and its calf are troublesome, milk is sometimes smeared on the back of the calf, and the buffalo occupies herself with licking the calf, a process which keeps both quiet. At other times, a man may pour milk into his hollowed hand which he gives to one of the buffaloes to drink.

FIG. 17.

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When the milking is over, the buffaloes are driven to their grazing-ground, where they remain till the afternoon, when they return, often spontaneously, to the milking-place, and the operations of the morning are repeated.

While at the pasturage, one or two small boys are often in attendance to keep the buffaloes from straying beyond the proper grazing-ground. [[56]]

[1] This word should probably be paḷḷi and was usually pronounced paḷthḷi, but I have adopted the spelling of the text for the sake of simplicity. [↑]

[2] According to some Todas, kart was a shortened form of karitht, milking or milked. [↑]

[3] In previous accounts of the Todas, the place where these sacred herds are kept has always been called a tirieri. This is not properly a Toda term, but is that used by the Badagas. [↑]

[4] An Account of the Primitive Tribes and Monuments of the Nilagiris, 1873, p. 14. [↑]

[5] This word, in the forms boa, boath, &c., has by previous writers been limited to dairies of the conical shape. There is no doubt that it has at present a far wider application. [↑]

[6] A Phrenologist among the Todas, 1873, p. 132. [↑]

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CHAPTER IV

THE VILLAGE DAIRY

This chapter will be devoted to a description of the various kinds of dairy which are found at the Toda villages. An account will be given of the daily course of the dairy operations and of the ritual accompanying it. The description of special ceremonies which occur in connexion with the dairy will be reserved till future chapters, in which ceremonies of the same nature occurring in all grades of dairy can be considered together.

A village dairy is often situated at some little distance from the huts in which the people live, though sometimes it is in their immediate neighbourhood. When of the same form as the hut, it may not at once be distinguished from the latter, but it is usually enclosed by a higher wall which surrounds the building more closely, so that there is very little room between the two. The door seemed to me to be usually smaller than that of most of the huts, and it is always capable of being closed by a shutter on the inner side.

The dairy is usually divided into compartments completely separated from one another by a partition extending to the roof, one room being entered from another by a small door of the same kind as that by which the dairy itself is entered. The majority of dairies have two rooms, an inner room called ulkkursh and an outer room called pòrmunkursh. Many dairies, especially among the kind called wursuli, have only one room. At five Tarthar villages, viz., Nòdrs, Taradrkirsi, Keradr, Akirsikòdri, and Tim, there are dairies which have [[57]]three rooms, the inner and outer rooms being separated by a third, called the nedrkursh. Each of the five villages at which these dairies are found is the funeral-place for males of the clan to which the village belongs, and the body of a dead man is placed in the outer room of the dairy at each place during the funeral ceremonies.

At Nòdrs and Tedshteiri (villages of the Nòdrs clan) it is said that there were at one time dairies each of which had seven rooms. The ruins of these, which were of the grade called kudrpali, are still to be seen.

Sometimes the same building serves for two dairies, especially at the less important villages of a clan. In these cases the building resembles that kind of hut which is called merkalars, one compartment of the hut opening at the side. At the villages at which I found dairies of this kind, the front part of the hut was a kudrpali and the part with the door at the side was a wursuli. In these cases each dairy has only one room.

In every dairy which has more than one room, the dairy vessels are kept in the inner room and the actual dairy operations are performed by the dairyman in this room. He only is allowed to go into the inner room, while other men may go into the outer room and, in those cases in which there are three rooms, into the middle room.

When a village dairy has two or more rooms, the outer room first entered from the outside is often used as a sleeping-place and in this case usually has two of the couches called tün, one on each side with a fireplace between them. That on the right-hand side as one enters is called the meitün (meiltün), or high (superior) bed, and that on the left-hand side is the kitün, or low (inferior) bed.

In the outer room is kept the kepun or kaipun (hand vessel), used to hold the water with which the dairyman washes his hands. The masth, or axe used for cutting firewood, and the tek or tekh, a basket used to bring rice or grain into the dairy, are also kept in this room.

The fireplace between the two sleeping-places is usually made of four stones and is called kudrvars. At the wursuli it is made of three stones and is called waskal. [[58]]

The room of the dairy which contains the dairy vessels is divided into three parts: the patatmar, the ertatmar, and the kalkani.

The patatmar takes its name from the patat, an earthenware vessel into which the milk is poured from the milking vessel and in which it is churned. The vessels kept in this part of the inner room, which are known collectively as patatpur, are those which are actually used in the milking and churning.

The ertatmar takes its name from the ertat, a bamboo vessel used to carry buttermilk or butter out of the dairy. The ertat and the vessels kept with it, known collectively as the ertatpur, are those which receive the products of the churning or are used to convey these products out of the dairy. The lamp and the fire-sticks used for making fire by friction are also kept in this part of the dairy.

In the third part of the room, called the kalkani, are kept leaves, firewood, knives, and various sticks or wands. According to some accounts, the vessel called penpariv is also kept here.

When the dairy vessels are taken into a new dairy (see [Chap. VI].), they are placed on ferns. I do not know whether they always rest on a bed of ferns or whether the ferns are only used when the vessels are first placed in the dairy.

The following is a list of the patatpur, the vessels and other objects which are kept in the part of the dairy called patatmar:

Patat or tat. Earthenware vessels into which the freshly drawn milk is poured and in which it is churned ([Fig. 18], F). There are several of these vessels, one of which may be used to hold water.

Irkartpun or patatpun. The bamboo milking-vessel (Fig. 18, I).

Parskadrvenmu or parskadrpenmu, i.e., milk churn butter mu ([Fig. 18], H). This is also sometimes called kazhmu, and is a small earthenware vessel in which is kept the butter (pen) which is added while churning. Except when the churning is in progress, it is used as a cover for the patat.

FIG. 18.—THE CHIEF DAIRY VESSELS.

A. The palmän. B. The palkati. C. The madth. D. A tedshk. E. The ertatpun. F. The patat. G. The pòlmachok. H. The parskadrvenmu. I. The irkartpun. K. The adimu.

Adimu. An earthenware vessel ([Fig. 18], K) into which [[60]]some of the coagulated milk may be poured while churning. It may also be used to fetch water from the dairy stream.

Madth or parskartmadth. Churning-stick ([Fig. 18], C).

Palkati. Bamboo rings for holding the churning-stick while churning.

Parskurs or ularwurthkurs. Stick or wand used chiefly for driving off calves while milking.

Tatkich. The cut-up ends of a churning-stick, used for cleaning the patat.

Tedshk. Rings made of rattan ([Fig. 18], D), used in carrying the dairy vessels.

The garment of the dairyman, called tuni, is also kept here, and when there is a mani (bell), it is kept on the patatmar. The churning-stick is kept on a stand called agar.

The following are the objects kept on the ertatmar:

Majpariv. Vessel in which buttermilk is kept.

Penpariv. Vessel in which butter is kept. (According to some, this vessel is kept in the part called kalkani.)

Ertatpun. Vessel used to take buttermilk or butter out of the dairy ([Fig. 18], E).

Majertkudriki. A small earthenware pot used like a ladle to take buttermilk out of the majpariv. It is also called ashkiok.

Pòlmachok. A bamboo vessel ([Fig. 18], G) used to hold the buttermilk which is distributed to the people of the village.

Nirsi. The fire-sticks for making fire by friction.

Pelk. The lamp.

Tòratthadi. Cooking vessel which may be used for anything except barley.

Put, a stirring-stick.

When there is only one room, the masth, axe for cutting firewood, may be kept on the ertatmar; otherwise it is kept in the outer room.

The vessels and other objects of the patatmar are those which come directly into contact with the milk of the buffaloes or which may at any time come into contact with the buffaloes themselves.

The vessels and objects of the ertatmar, on the other hand, are those which contain the dairy products which are going [[61]]out to ordinary people (perol), or which come into contact with food or other materials obtained from ordinary people.

The things of the patatmar are always kept apart from those of the ertatmar. When the buffaloes migrate from one grazing-place to another, the things of the patatmar are carried by one man and those of the ertatmar by another.

In connexion with many dairies there is a house in which calves are kept, the kwotars, and a place for very young calves, called kush or kudsh, which is sometimes partly formed by the spreading roots of a tree.

I am in some doubt as to whether the buffaloes belonging to a village dairy ever have a special tu in which they are enclosed for the night. In general, however, there is no doubt that the sacred buffaloes of the dairy occupy the same pen as the ordinary buffaloes. Similarly I am not clear whether the dairy always has its own irkarmus, or milking-place, or whether ordinary and sacred buffaloes are not often milked at the same spot, the dairyman recognising the buffaloes committed to his charge and milking them only.

Every dairy has its own place from which water is drawn the pali nipa. This may be a different stream from that used for household purposes, but is, perhaps, most commonly part of the same stream, the higher part being used for dairy purposes. When a village has more than one dairy, each dairy has its own place for drawing water, usually different parts of the same stream.

The foregoing account holds good of all kinds of village dairy. The different grades of village dairy present differences in the daily procedure, in the qualifications and rules of conduct of the dairyman, and in other respects. I will begin with the tarvali of the Tartharol.

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