The Daily Life of the Wursol
The dairy work of the wursol is carried out on the same general lines as that of the palikartmokh, but the order and method of the various operations are more strictly regulated. Before the wursol goes into the dairy in the morning he washes his hands with water from the vessel called kepun,[5] bows down at the threshold and enters the dairy; salutes the mani (kaimukhti), goes to the ertatmar and touches the majpariv; then to the patatmar and touches the patat. Then, after lighting the fire, he takes the mu off the patat, and, if the milk has coagulated, he begins to churn. After churning for a little while he puts some of the coagulated milk on the mani. After the churning is over, he milks, putting some of the first milk on the bell.
FIG. 23.—THE ‘WURSOL’ OF KARS, KERNPISI (56), STANDING BY THE SIDE OF HIS DAIRY.
After the milking is finished, buttermilk is distributed to the women, and a mixture of milk and buttermilk is given to the men, who come to drink it standing outside the dairy. The wursol then drinks buttermilk and eats. When taking [[75]]buttermilk he pours it from the vessel called ertatpun into the leaf[6] from which he drinks. When he goes to attend to the buffaloes, he leaves the tuni in the dairy and puts on his putkuli in a special way which is only adopted by the wursol and only by him when engaged in looking after the buffaloes. Placing one end of the cloak over the left shoulder, he brings the other end under the right arm, and, taking this end in his right hand, throws it round the back of his neck so that it rests on the left shoulder. The result of this adjustment is that the front part of his body is uncovered as shown in [Fig. 23]. I could not ascertain why the wursol should wear his cloak in this special way, nor why this method of wearing the garment should be peculiar to his office.[7] [[76]]
In the afternoon the wursol again washes his hands, bows down to the threshold and enters the dairy, salutes the mani, touches the majpariv and patat as in the morning, and lights the fire. He then lights the lamp, and prays, using the prayer of the village. Then he churns and “feeds the bell,” but his procedure differs from that of the morning in that he distributes the buttermilk at this stage of the proceedings. When he milks he puts some of the first milk on the bell, and when he shuts up the buffaloes in their enclosure (tu) for the night, he recites the same prayer as when lighting the lamp. He then takes his food, eating it outside the dairy, puts his tuni on the patatmar, and goes to rest.
The procedure thus differs from that of the tarvali and kudrpali in that the dairy vessels are touched ceremonially at the beginning of both morning and evening operations. The wursuli resembles the other dairies, however, in that prayer is offered in the evening only. The differences are less pronounced in ritual than in the rules of conduct.