Bairāgis.
Some Bairāgis are celibates, and others married. They are supposed to be celibates, but, as Dr. T. N. Bhattacharjee observes,[20] the “monks of this order have generally a large number of nuns attached to their convents, with whom they openly live as man and wife.” The Bairāgis are very particular about the worship of the sālagrāma stone, and will not partake of food without worshipping it. When so doing, they cover their head with a piece of cloth (Rām nām ka safa), on which the name Rāma is printed in Dēvanāgiri characters. Their face and shoulders are stamped, by means of brass stamps, with the word Rāma in similar characters. For the purpose of meditation, the Bairāgi squats on the ground, sometimes with a deer or tiger skin beneath him, and rests his hands on the cross-piece of his yōga-dandam, or bent stick. A pair of tongs is stuck in the ground on his right side, and sometimes fire is kept near it. It is noted by Mr. J. C. Oman[21] that “a most elaborate ritual has been laid down for the guidance of Bairāgis in the daily routine of the indispensable business and duties of life, prescribing in minute detail how, for example, the ascetic should wash, bathe, sit down, perform pranayam (stoppage or regulation of respiration), purify his body, purge his mind, meditate on Vishnu, repeat the Gāyatri (hymn) as composed for the special use of members of the sect, worship Rāma, Sita, Lakshman, Bharata, and Satringah, together with Rāma’s bows and arrows, and, lastly, the monkey god Hanumān.”
The Bairāgis have a guru or priest, whom they call Mahant. Some visit the celebrated temple near Tirupati and pay their respects to the Mahant thereof.
Baisya.—A sub-division of Koronos of Ganjam.
Baita Kammara.—The name, meaning outside blacksmiths, applied to Kamsala blacksmiths, who occupy a lowly position, and work in the open air or outside a village.[22]
Bājantri.—A synonym of Mangala, indicating their occupation as professional musicians.
Bakta.—See Bagata.
Bākuda.—A sub-division of Holeya.
Balanollu.—Balanollu and Badranollu are names of gōtras of Gānigas, the members of which may not cut Erythroxylon monogynum.
Bālasantōsha.—The Bālasantōsha or Bālasanta vāndlu (those who please children) are described in the Kurnool Manual as “ballad reciters, whose chief stories are the Bobbili katha, or the story of the siege of the fort of Bobbili in Vizagapatam by Bussy; the Kurnool Nabob’s katha or the story of the resumption of Kurnool by the English; and the tale of the quarrels between Ganga and Parvati, the two wives of Siva.”