The Wursuli

Most of the Tarthar clans possess herds of buffaloes called collectively wursulir, each herd being tended by a dairyman called wursol at a dairy called wursuli or wursuli pali. The buffaloes of different clans have special names. At Nòdrs, they are called mersgursir; at Kars and Taradr, püdrshtipir; at Pan, kudeipir; at Keradr, miniapir; and at Nidrsi and Kwòdrdoni, keitankursir. The people of Päm, Kanòdrs, and Melgars have no wursulir; Päm and Kanòdrs both had buffaloes of this kind at one time, but they have been allowed to die out. Melgars, on the other hand, never had wursulir, the tradition being that none of these buffaloes were assigned to the clan at the original partition by Teikirzi.

The wursulir are said to have been given to most clans at the original partition of buffaloes, but no reason could be given for the creation of this special kind of buffalo. The Keradr clan are believed to have received their wursulir from Korateu (see [Chap. IX]), the buffaloes being descended from a sambhar calf given by this god.

A special feature of the wursuli is that the dairyman or wursol of this Tarthar dairy has to be taken either from the Teivaliol or from the Melgars clan of the Tartharol. The [[72]]Melgars people could hold the office of wursol, but had no wursulir themselves. At the present time the majority of men who hold this office are drawn from the Teivaliol, only two belonging to Melgars, and it seemed that it was only when the supply ran short among the Teivaliol that the Tarthar people had recourse to members of their own division. The Melgarsol do not share fully the privileges of the Teivaliol in respect of this office, for though they may perform the ordinary work of the dairy, there are certain duties of the wursol, such as those at the funeral ceremonies, which may only be performed by a Teivali occupant of the office.

The wursol has to go through more complicated ordination ceremonies than the palikartmokh, and has a distinctly higher degree of sanctity so far as one can judge from the rules for his conduct. He may not be touched by any ordinary person, and in general the rules regulating his conduct are more stringent than those for the ordinary dairyman.

The wursol has two dresses; one, the grey garment called tuni, which is worn at his dairy work and kept in the dairy; the other, the ordinary putkuli, which he wears when not engaged at his special work.

The wursol does not sleep in his own dairy, but in one of a different kind, a village which has a wursuli always having at least one other dairy. At Kars he sleeps in the kudrpali, and at Nòdrs in the tarvali. He is allowed to sleep in the hut of a Tarthar village on two nights in the week—viz., Sunday and Wednesday—and on these occasions he may have intercourse with any Tarthar woman. Except on these occasions he loses his office even if touched by a woman. He is not allowed to have intercourse with any Teivali woman, even with his wife if he is married, on pain of becoming an ordinary person.

He may go to any Tarthar village, but to no Teivali village—i.e., if one of the Teivaliol, he is allowed to visit none of his own people.

When he goes to the dwelling-hut, care is taken to remove from the hut the objects shown in [Fig. 11]—viz., the murn or sieve, the wask or pounder, and the kip or broom. It seems [[73]]as if these three objects are removed because they are used by women. The emblems of womanhood are not allowed to contaminate the house while the wursol is present, although, at the same time, he is not restricted from intercourse with the women themselves. On the mornings after he has slept in the hut he bathes from head to foot before going to the dairy, and prostrates himself at the threshold before he enters.

If the cloak of the wursol requires cleaning or mending, it may only be taken to the hut for these purposes on the same days as those on which the wursol may sleep there—viz., Sunday or Wednesday.

The food of the wursol is prepared for him by the palikartmokh of the dairy in which he sleeps. The wursol never prepares food either for himself or others, except on the occasion of the festival called irpalvusthi (see [Chap. VIII]).

Most wursuli have only one room, the exception being the poh at Nòdrs, and the wursuli of Nasmiòdr and Òdr. It is noteworthy that these, however, are three of the most ancient and important dairies of the Todas. The reason why the other wursuli have one room is probably the fact that the wursol is not allowed to sleep in the dairy, and consequently there is no necessity for an outer room. When these dairies have been rebuilt, or new dairies have been made, the Todas have probably not thought it worth while to keep two rooms except at the especially important and sacred places. I was also told, however, that each of the three places which have two rooms had been at one time a ti dairy, and, as we shall see later, dairies of this, the highest, grade always have two rooms.

Another indication of the special sanctity of these three dairies is that at them, and also at the wursuli at Kozhtudi, the wursol must never turn his back on the contents of the dairy—i.e., he must do all his work and go in and out of the dairy facing the place where the mani is kept. The Todas call this proceeding in which the back is never turned on the contents of the dairy “kabkaditi.”

The vessels of the wursuli are divided, like those of the ordinary dairy, into those of the patatmar and those of the [[74]]ertatmar. The following sketch of the arrangement was made by Kòdrner, but I do not feel confident of its accuracy.

FIG. 22.

The lamp is of iron, bought in the bazaar: it is called tudrkpelk or tagarspelk, according as it is hung by a hook or on a chain. This distinction probably holds for other village dairies.

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