The Gamallas are mostly Saivites, and their priests are Ārādhya Brāhmans, i.e., Telugu Brāhmans, who have adopted some of the customs of the Lingāyats. They worship a variety of gods and goddesses, who include Pōtharāju, Kātamayya, Gangamma, Mathamma, and Thallamma, or Thadlamma. Once or twice during the year, a pot of toddy is brought from every house to the shrine of Thallamma, and the liquor contained in some of the pots is poured on the floor, and the remainder given to those assembled, irrespective of caste.
At the festival of Dīpāvali, the celebrants bathe in the early morning, and go, in wet clothes, to an ant-hill, before which they prostrate themselves, and pour a little water into one of the holes. Round the hill they wind five turns of cotton thread, and return home. Subsequently they come once more to the ant-hill with a lamp made of flour paste. Carrying the light, they go thrice or five times round the hill, and throw into a hole therein split pulse (Phaseolus Mungo). During the whole of this day they fast. On the following morning they again go to the hill, pour milk into it, and snap the threads wound round it.
Gamalla muggu.
At the festival of Sankarānthi, the principal member of every family observes the worship of ancestors. Various articles are placed in a room on leaf plates representing the ancestors, who are worshipped by the celebrant after he has been purified by bathing. Taking a little of the food from each leaf, he places it on a single leaf, which is worshipped, and placed in the court-yard, so that the crows may partake thereof. The remainder of the food is distributed among the members of the family.
At the census, 1901, some Gamallas returned themselves as Settigādu (Chetti).
Gampa (basket).—A sub-division of Kamma and Telaga, and an exogamous sept of Oddē. The name, among the Kammas, refers to a deadly struggle at Gandikōta, in which some escaped by hiding in baskets. Gampa dhōmpti is the name of a sub-division of the Mādigas, whose marriage offerings to the god are placed in a basket.
Ganāyata.—Recorded, at times of census, as a sub-division of Lingāyat Jangams in the Nellore, Cuddapah, and Kurnool districts. The Sanskrit word Ganam means Siva’s attendants.
Gandham (sandal paste).—An exogamous sept of Balijas, one sub-division of whom is called Gandhavāllu or Gandhapodi (sandal perfume sellers). The paste made by rubbing sandal (Santalum album) wood on a stone with water is widely used in connection with Hindu ceremonial observance. A Brāhman, for example, after worshipping, smears his body with the paste. At festivals, and other ceremonial occasions, sandal paste is distributed to guests along with betel leaves and areca nuts (pān-supāri). Gandhapodi also occurs as an exogamous sept of Bōya.
Gandikōta.—A sub-division of Kamma. Gandi Kōttei is recorded[7] as a sub-division of Kāpu or Reddi, “found only in Madura and Tinnevelly, and also known simply as Kōttei Reddis. Kōttei is the Tamil for a fort, the corresponding Telugu word being kōta. Their females do not appear in public.”