Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 1 of 7

by Edgar Thurston

Bilimagga.—The Bilimagga weavers of South Canara, who speak a very corrupt form of Tamil, must not be confused with the Bilimaggas of Mysore, whose mother-tongue is Canarese. In some places the Bilimaggas of South Canara call themselves Padma Sālēs, but they have no connection with the Padma Sālē caste. There is a tradition that they emigrated from Pāndiya Maduradēsa in the Tamil country. The caste name Bilimagga (white loom) is derived from the fact that they weave only white cloths. In some places, for the same reason, Dēvāngas call themselves Bilimaggas, but the Dēvāngas also make coloured cloths. White cloths are required for certain gods and bhūthas (devils) on occasions of festivals, and these are usually obtained from Bilimaggas.

The Bilimaggas follow the makkala santāna law of inheritance (from father to son). They are said to have seven gōtras, and those of the Mangalore, Kundapūr, and Udipi tāluks, are stated to belong respectively to the 800, 700, and 500 nagaras. The caste deities are Vīrabhadra, Brahmalinga, and Ammanoru.

For the whole community, there is a chief headman called Paththukku Solra Settigar, or the Setti who advises the ten, and for every village there is an ordinary headman styled Gurikāra. The chief headman is usually the manager of some temple of the caste, and the Gurikāra has to collect the dues from the members of the community. Every married couple has to pay an annual tax of twelve annas, and every unmarried male over twelve years of age of six annas towards the temple fund.

Marriage of girls before puberty is the rule, and any girl who attains maturity without being married runs the risk of losing her caste. The remarriage of widows is permitted. The betrothal ceremony is important as being binding as a contract. It consists in the father of the girl giving betel leaves and areca nuts in a tray to the father of her future husband, before a number of people. If the contract is dissolved before the marriage is celebrated, betel and nuts must be presented to the father of the girl, in the presence of an assembly, as a sign that the engagement is broken off. On the day previous to the marriage ceremonial, the fathers of the contracting couple exchange betel leaves and areca nuts three times. On the following morning, they proceed to the house of the bridegroom, the bride’s father carrying a brass vessel containing water. From this vessel, water is poured into smaller vessels by an odd number of women (five or more). These women are usually selected by the wife of the headman. The pouring of the water must be carried out according to a recognised code of precedence, which varies with the locality. At Udipi, for example, the order is Mangalore, Barkūr, Udipi. The women all pour water over the head of the bridegroom.

The rite is called mariyāthe nīru (water for respect). The bridegroom is then decorated, and a bāshingam (chaplet) is placed on his forehead. He sits in front of a brass vessel, called Ganapathi (the elephant god), which is placed on a small quantity of rice spread on the floor, and worships it. He is then conducted to the marriage pandal (booth) by his sister’s husband, followed by his sister carrying the brass vessel and a gindi (vessel with a spout), to which the bride’s bāshingam and the tāli (marriage badge) are tied. A red cloth, intended for the bride, must also be carried by her. Within the pandal, the bridegroom stands in front of a cot. The bride’s party, and the men in attendance on the bridegroom, stand opposite each other with the bridegroom between them, and throw rice over each other. All are then seated, except the bridegroom, his sister, and the bride’s brother. The bridegroom’s father waves incense in front of the cot and brass vessel, and hands over the gindi, and other articles, to the bridegroom’s sister, to be taken to the bride. Lights and ārathi water are waved before the bridegroom, and, while the bride’s father holds his hands, her brother washes his feet. He then goes seven times round the cot, after he has worshipped it, and broken cocoanuts, varying in number according to the nagara to which he belongs—seven if he is a member of the seven hundred nagara, and so on. He next takes his seat on the cot, and is joined by the bride, who has had the bāshingam put on her forehead, and the tāli tied on her neck, by the bridegroom’s sister. Those assembled then call the maternal uncles of the bridal couple, and they approach the cot. The bridegroom’s uncle gives the red cloth already referred to to the uncle of the bride. The bride retires within the house, followed by her maternal uncle, and sits cross-legged, holding her big toes with her hands. Her uncle throws the red cloth over her head, and she covers her face with it. This is called dēvagiri udugarē. The uncle then carries her to the pandal, and she sits on the left of the bridegroom. The Gurikāra asks the maternal uncle of the bridegroom to hand over the bride’s money, amounting to twelve rupees or more. He then requests permission of the three nagara people, seven gōtra people, and the relatives of the bride and bridegroom to proceed with the dhāre ceremony. This being accorded, the maternal uncles unite the hands of the pair, and, after the cloth has been removed from the bride’s face, the dhāre water is poured over their hands, first by the bride’s father, and then by the Gurikāra, who, while doing so, declares the union of the couple according to the observances of the three nagaras. Those assembled throw rice on, and give presents to the bride and bridegroom. The presents are called moi, and the act of giving them moi baikradhu (Tamil). Some women wave ārathi, and the pair go inside the house, and sit on a mat. Some milk is given to the bridegroom by the bride’s sister, and, after sipping a little of it, he gives it to the bride. They then return to the pandal, and sit on the cot. Rice is thrown over their heads, and ārathi waved in front of them. The bridegroom drops a ring into a tray, and turmeric-water is poured over it. The couple search for the ring. The wedding ceremonies are brought to a close by bathing in turmeric-water (vokli bath), after which the couple sit on the cot, and those assembled permit the handing over of the bride to the bridegroom’s family (pennu oppuchchu kodukradhu).

Any number of marriages, except three or seven, may be carried on simultaneously beneath a single pandal. If there are more than a single bridal couple, the bāshingam is worn only by the pair who are the elder, or held in most respect. Sometimes, one couple is allowed to wear the bāshingam, and another to have the dhāre water first poured over them.

The dead are cremated. The corpse is carried to the burning-ground on a bier, with a tender plantain leaf placed beneath it. Fire is carried not by the son, but by some other near relative. The ashes are collected on the third day, and a mound (dhūpe) is made therewith. Daily until the final death ceremony, a tender cocoanut, and water in a vessel, are placed near it. In the final death ceremony (bojja), the Bilimaggas closely follow the Bants, except as regards the funeral car. To get rid of death pollution, a Tulu Madivāli (washerman caste) gives cloths to, and sprinkles water over those under pollution.

The caste title is Setti or Chetti.

Billai-kavu (cat-eaters).—Said to be Māla Paidis, who eat cats.

Billava.—The Billavas are the Tulu-speaking toddy-drawers of the South Canara district. It is noted, in the Manual, that they are “the numerically largest caste in the district, and form close upon one-fifth of the total population. The derivation of the word Billava, as commonly accepted in the district, is that it is a contraction of Billinavaru, bowmen, and that the name was given as the men of that caste were formerly largely employed as bowmen by the ancient native rulers of the district. There is, however, no evidence whatever, direct or indirect, to show that the men of the toddy-drawing caste were in fact so employed. It is well known that, both before and after the Christian era, there were invasions and occupations of the northern part of Ceylon by the races then inhabiting Southern India, and Malabar tradition tells that some of these Dravidians migrated from Īram or Ceylon northwards to Travancore and other parts of the West Coast of India, bringing with them the cocoanut or southern tree (tenginamara), and being known as Tīvars (islanders) or Īravars, which names have since been altered to Tīyars and Ilavars. This derivation would also explain the name Dīvaru or Halepaik Dīvaru borne by the same class of people in the northern part of the district, and in North Canara. In Manjarabad above the ghauts, which, with Tuluva, was in olden days under the rule of the Humcha family, known later as the Bairasu Wodears of Kārakal, they are called Dēvaru Makkalu, literally God’s children, but more likely a corruption of Tīvaru Makkalu, children of the islanders. In support of this tradition, Mr. Logan has pointed out[76] that, in the list of exports from Malabar given in the Periplus, in the first century A.D., no mention is made of the cocoanut. It was, however, mentioned by Cosmos Indico Pleustes (522 to 547 A.D.), and from the Syrian Christians’ copper-plate grants, early in the ninth century, it appears that the Tiyans were at that time an organised guild of professional planters. Although the cocoanut tree may have been introduced by descendants of immigrants from Ceylon moving up the coast, the practice of planting and drawing toddy was no doubt taken up by the ordinary Tulu cultivators, and, whatever the origin of the name Billava may be, they are an essentially Tulu class of people, following the prevailing rule that property vests in females, and devolves in the female line.”