Dāsaris.
When proceeding on a pilgrimage to the temple of Subramanya Swāmi at Palni, some devotees pierce their cheeks with a long silver skewer, which traverses the mouth cavity; pierce the tongue with a silver arrow, which is protruded vertically through the protruded organ; and place a silver shield (mouth-lock) in front of the mouth. Some Dāsaris have permanent holes in their cheeks, into which they insert skewers when they go about the country in pursuit of their profession.
For the following note on Dāsaris in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The caste is an endogamous unit, the members calling themselves Sankhu (or conch-blowing) Dāsaris, and is divided into numerous exogamous septs. The mēnarikam custom, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is followed. The remarriage of widows is permitted, but divorce is forbidden. The dead are cremated, and the chinna (small) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies are observed. These Dāsaris profess the Tengalai form of Vaishnavism, and get themselves branded. The caste is more secular, and less religious than in the southern districts. A Dāsari of the North Arcot or Anantapur type, with conch-shell, metal gong, iron lamp, copper vessel, and metal image of Hanumān on his neck, is scarcely met with. The Vizagapatam Dāsaris are the most popular among ballad-singers, and sing songs about heroes and heroines, of which the following are the most appreciated:—
1. Bobbilipāta, which describes the siege and conquest of Bobbili by Bussy in 1757.
2. Ammi Nāyudupāta, which describes the tyrannical behaviour of one Ammi Nāyudu, a village headman in the Pālkonda tāluk, who was eventually murdered, to the great relief of those subject to him, by one of his dependents.
3. Lakshmammapāta, which relates the life and death of Lakshmamma, a Velama woman, who went against the mēnarikam custom of the caste, and was put to death by her husband.
4. Yerakammapērantāla-pāta, which recounts the story of one Yerakamma, who committed sati.
Yerakamma is the local goddess at Srungavarapukōta in the Vizagapatam district. The ballads sung about her say that she was the child of Dāsari parents, and that her birth was foretold by a Yerukala woman (whence her name), who prophesied that she would have the gift of second sight. She eventually married, and one day she begged her husband not to go to his field, as she was sure he would be killed by a tiger if he did. Her husband went notwithstanding, and was slain as she had foreseen. She committed sati on the spot where her shrine still stands, and at this there is a festival at Sivarātri.
As ballad-singers, two Dāsaris generally travel about together, begging from house to house, or at the weekly market, one singing, while the other plays, and joins in the chorus.