The Tarvali
This is the name applied to the lowest grade of Tarthar dairy and may mean “the ordinary dairy,” the first syllable being probably the same as in the word “Tarthar.”
The tarvali is always of the ordinary form and is never called poh. The dairyman, or tarvalikartmokh, is often a [[62]]youth or man of the village to which the dairy belongs, but he may be taken from any other village of the clan or from other Tarthar villages, the choice in some cases being restricted to certain clans. The only Tarthar clan which is strictly limited to its own members in the choice of tarvalikartmokh is that of Melgars. In all cases this grade of dairyman must be one of the Tartharol; he is never taken from the other division of the Toda people.
When the dairyman is taken from another clan, he may receive certain wages, viz., two cloaks (putkuli) in the year and six rupees, together with the loan of a milking buffalo for the use of his family. I have no definite information whether anything is given to dairymen who are members of the clan or family to which the dairy belongs.
The dairyman is regarded by the Todas as a servant, especially when taken from another clan. I was often told that a man was working for another and was his servant, and always found that the so-called servant was palikartmokh at the dairy of the village at which the master lived. Correspondingly, there seemed to be no doubt that the dairyman was treated with very scant respect, except on ceremonial occasions and when actually performing the ritual of his office.
The tarvalikartmokh wears nothing but the kuvn, or perineal band, when he is in the dairy, and wears a loincloth called irkarthtadrp when milking. When away from his work or when looking after his buffaloes on the grazing-ground, he wears the ordinary cloak, or putkuli. He usually sleeps in the outer room of the dairy, but is allowed to sleep at any time in the dwelling-hut. When he goes there he may only touch the sleeping-place (idrtül) and the floor (kuter). If he touches any other part of the hut, he at once loses his office and becomes an ordinary person. There are no restrictions on the intercourse of the tarvalikartmokh with women.
FIG. 19.—THE ‘WURSOL’ OF NÒDRS CARRYING THE ‘ADIMU’ AND ‘PATATPUN’ TO FETCH WATER.
When the tarvalikartmokh rises in the morning, he leaves the dairy, raising one or both hands to his face as in [Fig. 10] and saying Sami or Swami. He often also says this word when getting up from the sleeping-place. He first lets the buffaloes out of the pen (tu) in which they had been put for the night and then goes into the dairy to churn. He does not light the [[64]]lamp in the morning unless it is dark, nor does he pray. The milk poured into the patat overnight will have coagulated, so that it forms a solid mass called adrpars. The dairyman puts the churning-stick into the patat and churns for a little time till he has broken up the adrpars.[1] Then he pours off most of the semi-fluid milk into another vessel (also a patat), leaving about one kudi[2] in the churning-vessel. He adds to this some butter from a previous churning, which he takes from the parskadrvenmu, adds also some water, and churns the mixture till butter is formed. He pours out the buttermilk into the majpariv, keeping the butter in the patat, adds more coagulated milk and water, and churns again, transferring the buttermilk to its vessel when butter is formed. He continues in this way till all the milk has been churned, and he then transfers the butter which has been formed to the vessel called penpariv, also putting a small portion in the parskadrvenmu.
The palikartmokh then goes out to milk, with the irkarthpun and the wand called parskurs or ularwurthkurs. He puts into the milking-vessel some buttermilk, the buttermilk used for this purpose being called pep, and he also smears some butter on the edge of the vessel to put on the teats of the buffaloes. When he goes out, he salutes by raising the irkarthpun and parskurs to his forehead in the same manner as is shown in [Fig. 27]. When he has filled the milking-vessel, he goes into the dairy and empties the milk into the patat and returns to the buffaloes. This is repeated till all the buffaloes have been milked, after which the dairyman takes food and buttermilk, but with no prescribed ritual as in the case of more sacred dairies. He also gives out buttermilk to the people of the village. After the work of the morning is over, the palikartmokh may go out to look after the buffaloes, or may collect firewood, leaves, or other things necessary for his work. During the later hours of the morning the palikartmokh may often be seen lying down taking a rest before he begins the work of the afternoon, which is more ceremonial than that of the morning. [[65]]
FIG. 20.—THE ‘PALIKARTMOKH’ SALUTING THE THRESHOLD OF THE DAIRY AT KIUDR ‘PAVNERSATITI.’
About three o’clock in the afternoon he goes to the dairy, bows down and touches the threshold with his forehead (pavnersatiti, [Fig. 20]), enters and touches a vessel on the patat side, and then a vessel on the ertat side. He then lights the fire and inspects the milk drawn in the morning. If it has not become solid, he puts it on the fire for a few minutes to hasten the coagulation. He lights the lamp and prays, using the prayer of the dairy (see [Chap. X]), and then churns as in the morning. When he has finished churning, he clears the churning-stick of the butter clinging to it, and after holding it to his forehead and uttering the sacred word “Oñ”, he puts it in the stand called agar. He then goes out to milk as in the morning, taking buttermilk in the milking-vessel. When the milking is over, he shuts up the buffaloes in the pen for the night, and as he does so, he repeats the prayer of the dairy, the prayer being exactly the same as that used when lighting the lamp. He then takes food and [[66]]goes to sleep, often saying Swami as he lies down for the night.
The tarvali of the Melgars people is in some ways regarded as superior to the other tarvali of the Tartharol. The Melgars tarvalikartmokh may not go to the tarvali of another Tarthar clan, though the tarvalikartmokh of another clan may go to a Melgars tarvali. This was said to be due to the higher degree of sanctity of the Melgars dairy and office, but there do not appear to be any differences of ritual corresponding to this different degree of sanctity.