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

by Edgar Thurston

If a man has intercourse with a woman, and she becomes pregnant, he has to marry her according to the bidu dhāre rite. Before the marriage ceremony is performed, he has to grasp a plantain tree with his right hand, and the tree is then cut down.

At the first menstrual period, a girl is under pollution for ten or twelve days. On the first day, she is seated within a square (muggu), and five or seven cocoanuts are tied together so as to form a seat. A new earthenware pot is placed at each corner of the square. Four girls from the Gurikāra’s house sit at the corners close to the pots. Betel leaves, areca nuts, and turmeric paste are distributed among the assembled females, and the girls pour water from the pots over the head of the girl. Again, on the eleventh or the thirteenth day, the girl sits within the square, and water is poured over her as before. She then bathes.

The dead are usually cremated, though, in some cases, burial is resorted to. The corpse is washed and laid on a plantain leaf, and a new cloth is thrown over it. Some paddy (unhusked rice) is heaped up near the head and feet, and cocoanut cups containing lighted wicks are placed thereon. All the relations and friends assembled at the house dip leafy twigs of the tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) in water, and allow it to drop into the mouth of the corpse. The body is carried on a plank to the burning-ground. The collection of wood for the pyre, or the digging of the grave, is the duty of Holeyas. The wood of Strychnos Nux-vomica should never be used for the pyre. This is lighted by placing fire at the two ends thereof. When the flames meet in the middle, the plantain leaf, paddy, etc., which have been brought from the house, are thrown into them. On the fifth day, the ashes are collected, and buried on the spot. If the body has been buried, a straw figure is made, and burnt over the grave, and the ashes are buried there. A small conical mound, called dhūpe, is made there, and a tulsi plant stuck in it. By the side of the plant a tender cocoanut with its eyes opened, tobacco leaf, betel leaves and areca nuts are placed. On the thirteenth day, the final death ceremonies, or bojja, are performed. On the evening of the previous day, four poles, for the construction of the upparige or gudikattu (car), are planted round the dhūpe. At the house, on or near the spot where the deceased breathed his last, a small bamboo car, in three tiers, is constructed, and decorated with coloured cloths. This car is called Nīrneralu. A lamp is suspended from the car, and a cot placed on the ground beneath it, and the jewels and clothes of the dead person are laid thereon. On the following morning, the upparige is constructed, with the assistance of the caste barber. A small vessel, filled with water, is placed within the Nīrneralu. The sons-in-law of the deceased receive a present of new cloths, and, after bathing, they approach the Nīrneralu. The chief mourner takes the vessel from within it, and pours the water at the foot of a cocoanut tree. The chief Gurikāra pours some water into the empty vessel, and the chief mourner places it within the Nīrneralu. Then seven women measure out some rice three times, and pour the rice into a tray held by three women. The rice is taken to a well, and washed, and then brought back to the car. Jaggery (crude sugar) and cocoanut scrapings are mixed with the rice, which is placed in a cup by seven women. The cup is deposited within the car on the cot. The wife or husband of the deceased throws a small quantity of rice into the cup. She turns the cup, and a ladle placed by its side, upside down, and covers them with a plantain leaf. The various articles are collected, and tied up in a bundle, which is placed in a palanquin, and carried in procession, by two men to the upparige, which has been constructed over the dhūpe. Nalkes and Paravas (devil-dancers), dressed up as bhūtas, may follow the procession. Those present go thrice round the upparige, and the chief mourner unties the bundle, and place its contents on the car. The near relations put rice, and sometimes vegetables, pumpkins, and plantains, on the plantain leaf. All present then leave the spot, and the barber removes the cloths from the car, and pulls it down. Sometimes, if the dead person has been an important member of the community, a small car is constructed, and taken in procession round the upparige. On the fourteenth day, food is offered to crows, and the death ceremonies are at an end.

If a death occurs on an inauspicious day, a ceremony called Kāle deppuni (driving away the ghost) is performed. Ashes are spread on the floor of the house, and the door is closed. After some time, or on the following day, the roof of the house is sprinkled with turmeric water, and beaten with twigs of Zizyphus Œnoplia. The door is then opened, and the ashes are examined, to see if the marks of the cloven feet of the ghost are left thereon. If the marks are clear, it is a sign that the ghost has departed; otherwise a magician is called in to drive it out. A correspondent naively remarks that, when he has examined the marks, they were those of the family cat.

In some cases, girls who have died unmarried are supposed to haunt the house, and bring trouble thereto, and they must be propitiated by marriage. The girl’s relations go in search of a dead boy, and take from the house where he is a quarter of an anna, which is tied up between two spoons. The spoons are tied to the roof of the girl’s house. This represents the betrothal ceremony. A day is fixed for the marriage, and, on the appointed day, two figures, representing the bride and bridegroom, are drawn on the floor, with the hands lying one on the other. A quarter-anna, black beads, bangles, and a nose-screw, are placed on the hands, and water is poured on them. This is symbolical of the dhāre ceremony, and completes the marriage.

The pūjāris of all the bhūthasthānas and garidis are Billavas. The bhūtha temples called garidis belong to the Billavas, and the bhūthas are the Baidērukulu (Koti and Chennayya), Brimmeru (or Brahmeru) Gunda, Okka Ballāla, Kujumba Ganja, and Dēvanajiri. The Baidērkulu are believed to be fellow castemen of the Billavas, and Koti and Chennayya to be descended from an excommunicated Brāhman girl and a Billava. The legend of Koti and Chennayya is recorded at length by Mr. A. C. Burnell in the Indian Antiquary.[77] The bhūthas are represented by idols. Brimmeru is the most important, and the others are subordinate to him. He is represented by a plate of silver or other metal, bearing the figure of a human being, which is kept within a car-like stone structure within the shrine. On its left are two human figures made of clay or stone, which represent the Baidērukulu. On the right are a man on horseback, and another figure, representing Okka Ballala and Kujumba Ganja. Other idols are also set up at the garidi, but outside the main room. They seem to vary in different localities, and represent bhūthas such as Jumadi, Pancha Jumadi, Hosabhūtha, Kallurti, etc. Brimmeru has been transformed, by Brāhman ingenuity, into Brahma, and all the bhūthas are converted into Gōnas, or attendants on Siva. In the pardhanas (devil songs) Brimmeru is represented as the principal bhūtha, and the other bhūthas are supposed to visit his sthāna. A bhūthasthāna never contains idols, but cots are usually found therein. A sthāna may be dedicated to a single bhūtha, or to several bhūthas, and the number may be ascertained by counting the number of cots, of which each is set apart for a single bhūtha. If the sthāna is dedicated to more than one bhūtha, the bhūthas are generally Kodamanithāya, Kukkinathāya, and Daiva. All the arrangements for the periodical kōla, or festival of the bhūthasthāna, are made by the pūjāri. During the festival, he frequently becomes possessed. Only such Billavas as are liable to be possessed are recognised as pūjāris. As a sign of their office, they wear a gold bangle on the right wrist. Further details in connection with bhūtha worship will be found in the articles on Bants, Nalkes, and Paravas.

Bilva (jackal).—An exogamous sept of Kondra.

Bindhollu (brass water-pot).—An exogamous sept of Jōgi.

Binu (roll of woollen thread).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.

Bissoyi.—The Parlakimedi Māliahs are, I am informed, divided up into muttahs, and each muttah contains many villages, all ruled over by a Bissoyi, a sort of feudal chief, who is responsible for keeping them in order. Concerning the Bissoyis, Mr. S. P. Rice writes[78] that in the Māliahs “are a number of forts, in which the Bissoyis, or hill chieftains, reside. Each of them holds a small court of his own; each has his armed retainers, and his executive staff. They were set to rule over the hill tracts, to curb the lawlessness of the aboriginal tribes of the mountains, the Khonds and the Savaras. They were, in fact, lords of the marches, and were in a measure independent, but they appear to have been under the suzerainty of the Rāja of Kimedi, and they were also generally responsible to Government. Such men were valuable friends and dangerous enemies. Their influence among their own men was complete; their knowledge of their own country was perfect. It was they, and they only, who could thread their way through the tangled and well-nigh impenetrable jungle by foot-paths known only to themselves. Hence, when they became enemies, they could entrench themselves in positions which were almost impenetrable. Now a road leads to every fort; the jungles have disappeared; the Bissoyis still have armed retainers, and still keep a measure of respect; but their sting is gone, and the officer of Government goes round every year on the peaceful, if prosaic occupation of examining schools and inspecting vaccination.” The story of the Parlakimedi rebellion, “a forgotten rebellion” as he calls it, in the last century, and the share which the Bissoyis took in it, is graphically told by Mr. Rice.