The Dūdēkulas depend for the performance of their ceremonies largely on the Khāzi, by whom even the killing of a fowl for domestic purposes has to be carried out. The Dūdēkula, like other Muhammadans, is averse to taking animal life without due religious rites, and the zabh, or killing of an animal for food, is an important matter. One who is about to do so should first make vazu (ablution), by cleaning his teeth and washing his mouth, hands, face, forearms, head and feet. He should then face the west, and an assistant holds the animal to be slaughtered upside down, and facing west. Water is poured into its mouth, and the words Bismillā hi Allā hu Akbar uttered. The operator then cuts the throat, taking care that the jugular veins are divided. In remote villages, where a Khāzi is not available, the Dūdēkulas keep a sacrificial knife, which has been sanctified by the Khāzi repeating over it the same words from the Korān as are used when an animal is slaughtered.
The first words which a Muhammadan child should hear are those of the azān, or call to prayer, which are uttered in its ear immediately after birth. This ceremony is observed by those Dūdēkulas who live in towns or big villages, or can afford the services of a Khāzi. It is noted by Mr. Francis that the Dūdēkulas raise the azān at sunset. A few, who have been through a course of religious instruction at a Madrasa (school), may be able to do this. A Muhammadan is supposed to raise the azān five times daily, viz., before sunrise, between noon and 3 P.M., between 4 and 6 P.M., at sunset, and between 8 P.M. and midnight.
At the naming of an infant on the sixth day, the Dūdēkulas do not, like other Muhammadans, perform the aguigā ceremony, which consists of shaving the child’s head, and sacrificing a he-goat. Children are circumcised before the tenth year. On such occasions the Muhammadans generally invite their friends, and distribute sweets and pān-supāri (betel leaf and areca nuts). The Dūdēkulas simply send for a barber, Hindu or Muhammadan, who performs the operation in the presence of a Khāzi, if one happens to be available. When a girl reaches puberty, the Dūdēkulas invite their friends to a feast. Other Muhammadans, on the contrary, keep the fact a secret.
At the betrothal ceremony, when sweets and pān-supāri are taken by the future bridegroom and his party to the house of the girl whom he seeks in marriage, the female members of both families, and the girl herself, are present. This fact shows the absence of the Muhammadan gōsha system among Dūdēkulas. A Muhammadan wedding lasts over five or six days, whereas the ceremonies are, among the Dūdēkulas, completed within twenty-four hours. On the night preceding the nikka day, a pilau is prepared, and a feast is held at the bridegroom’s house. On the following morning, when it is still dark, the bridegroom, accompanied by his relations, starts on horseback in procession, with beating of drums and letting off of fireworks. The procession arrives at the bride’s house before sunrise. The Khāzi is sent for, and the mahr is settled. This is a nominal gift settled on the wife before marriage by the bridegroom. On the death of a husband, a widow has priority of claim on his property to the promised amount of the mahr. Two male witnesses are sent to the bride, to obtain her assent to the union, and to the amount of the mahr. The Khāzi, being an orthodox Muhammadan, treats the Dūdēkula bride as strictly gōsha for the time being, and, therefore, selects two of her near relatives as witnesses. The lutcha (marriage badge), consisting of a single or double string of beads, is brought in a cup filled with sandal paste.
The Khāzi chants the marriage service, and sends the lutcha in to the bride with his blessing. It is tied round her neck by the female relations of the bridegroom, and the marriage rites are over.
The usual Muhammadan form of greeting among Muhammadans is the familiar “Peace be with you.” “And with you be peace.” When a Dūdēkula greets a Muhammadan, he simply bows, and, with members of his own community, uses a Telugu form of salutation, e.g., nīku mokkutāmu.
The Dūdēkulas, male and female, dress exactly like Hindus, but, as a rule, the men do not shave their beard.
Disputes, and social questions affecting the community, are settled by a Khāzi.
With the increase in cotton mills, and the decline of the indigenous hand-weaving industry, the demand for cotton-cleaning labour has diminished, and some Dūdēkulas have, of necessity, taken to agriculture. Land-owners are very scarce among them, but some are abkāri (liquor) contractors, village schoolmasters, and quack doctors. In the Ceded Districts, the cotton-cleaning industry is solely confined to the Dūdēkulas.
The synonyms of Dūdēkula, Ladaf and Nūrbāsh, recorded at times of census, are corruptions of Nad-dāf (a cotton dresser) and Nūrbāf (weaving).