Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 4 of 7

by Edgar Thurston

A ceremony called Dīksha is said by some to be compulsory with Jangams, male and female, in their eighth year, and the same is also said to be required for lay Lingāyats. The ceremony is performed in order to impart to the recipient the sacred mantram called Panchakshari. This is whispered in the ear by the guru. The rite is evidently in imitation of the Brāhman practice of imparting the Gayatri mantram at the time of the Upanayanam or thread-tying ceremony. The term Dīksha is sometimes used to express the conversion ceremony used in the case of a new-comer. It is an essential of the faith that the sacred spell should be whispered in the ear by the guru, and this explains the three word motto or “guru, linga and Jangam.” But, in the case of lay Lingāyats and of women, it does not appear that Dīksha is universal, and the sacred spell is whispered in the ear when the lingam is tied.

Pollution periods are not observed. The indifference displayed by Lingāyats to the purification ceremonies prescribed by Hindu custom is noticed by the Abbé Dubois, who quotes the Hindu proverb which says “There is no river for a Lingāyat.”

A simple ceremony is performed when a girl comes to maturity. This lasts only one day. The girl takes an oil bath, and puts on clean clothes and ornaments. Married women come and place in her lap two cocoanuts, two dates, five limes, five areca nuts, five betel leaves, and some rice. They sing some bright song, and then pass round her head three times the wave offering (ārati) of a light. They then depart, after being presented with food and betel. This ceremony is evidently copied from other castes, and with well-to-do Lingāyats is sometimes prolonged for several days. Holy water (thirtham) is sprinkled over the head of the girl. No ceremonies are observed at subsequent menstrual periods, as no pollution is attached to them.

No special diet or customs are observed during pregnancy by husband or wife. The woman in her confinement is attended by her female relatives and the village midwife. At the birth of a child, all the female members of the family, and other women who attend the confinement, bathe and give a bath to the mother and child. On the second and third day, from five to ten women are invited. They bring boiled water and turmeric paste to apply to the body of the mother. On the third day a ceremony called Vīralu is performed. Vīralu means the worship of the afterbirth. The midwife buries it at the outer door, throws over the grave a piece of thread, dipped in turmeric water, and some rice, turmeric powder, kunkuma (red powder) and nīm (Melia Azadirachta) leaves. She offers to it kitchade, a mess made of broken chōlam (millet: Sorghum) and a dish of greens, and breaks a cocoanut. The mother, who wears on the right wrist a piece of thread with a piece of sweet flag (Acorus Calamus) tied to it, worships the grave with joined hands. The women who have brought boiled water also wear similar threads on the right wrists, and eat the chōlam and the greens. The midwife takes away the offering made to the grave, and gets also her money perquisites. The Vīralu ceremony is observed in the belief that the mother’s breasts will thereby be fruitful of milk. The mother for the first time, on the day after the ceremony is over, suckles the child. Both of them receive dhulodaka (water from a Jangam’s feet). The child also receives from the Jangam the lingam, which is to be his personal property for life and for eternity.

The name is given to a child on the sixteenth day after birth. Five married women go to a well or river, where they worship Gangamma, and return with a new pot filled with water. The mother receives it at the entrance, and places it on some chōlam under the cradle. After this, the child is put into the cradle, and is given a name. The child’s maternal uncle or aunt gives the name, and at once all the women present assault the namer with their fists. After this the Jangam and guests are fed, and guggeri (fried grain) is distributed.

Marriage is both infant and adult. There is no difference in this respect between Jangams and other Lingāyats. Sexual license before marriage is neither recognised nor tolerated. Open prostitution is not permitted. On the other hand, it is condemned as a moral sin and a social offence, and the party is punished by excommunication. There are Basavis (dedicated prostitutes) amongst Lingāyats. Polygamy is permitted. Polyandry is strictly prohibited. Among the Lingāyats, marriage between brothers’ children is strictly prohibited. Similarly, sisters’ children cannot marry. Marriage between some classes of second cousins is also prohibited, i.e., a man’s children may not marry the children of his paternal uncle or of his maternal aunt. A man may marry his sister’s daughter, but, in the case of children of the younger sister, such marriages are looked on with disfavour. The parties to a marriage have no freedom of choice. It is arranged for them by their parents or by the elders of their family, who come to an agreement as to the amount of teravu that should be paid to the bride’s family. This marriage price usually amounts to 12 pagodas or 42 rupees, but is often more. In the case of a second marriage, the amount is double. The presents to the bridegroom generally consist of a pair of cloths, a turban, and a gold ring. These gifts are not compulsory, and their amount and value depend upon the circumstances of the bride’s family.

For a betrothal, the bridegroom’s family come to the bride’s house on an auspicious day in company with a Jangam. They bring a sirē (woman’s cloth), a kuppasa (jacket), two cocoanuts, five pieces of turmeric, five limes, betel leaf and areca nut. They also bring flowers for the susaka (a cap of flowers made for the bride), gold and silver ornaments, and sugar and areca nut for distribution to guests. The bride puts on the new cloths with the ornaments and flowers, and sits on a folded kumbli (blanket), on which fantastic devices have been made with rice. Some married women fill her lap with cocoanuts and other things brought by the bridegroom’s party. Music is played, and the women sing. Five of them pick up the rice on the kumbli, and gently drop it on to the bride’s knees, shoulders and head. They do this three times with both hands. Sugar and betel are then distributed, and one of the bride’s family proclaims the fact that the bride has been given to the bridegroom. One of the bridegroom’s family then states that the bride is accepted. That night the bride’s family feed the visitors on sweet things; dishes made of hot or pungent things are strictly prohibited.

The marriage ceremony, which often takes place some years later, occupies from one to four days according to circumstances. In the case of a four-day marriage, the first day is spent in worshipping ancestors. On a second day, rice and oil are sent to the local mutt, and oil alone to the relatives. New pots are brought with much shouting, and deposited in the god’s room. A pandal (booth) is erected, and the bridegroom sits under it side by side with a married female relative, and goes through a performance which is called Surige. An enclosure is made round them with cotton thread passed ten times round four earthen pitchers placed at the four corners. Five married women come with boiled water, and wash off the oil and turmeric, with which the bride and the bridegroom and his companion have been anointed. The matrons then clothe them with the new cloths offered to the ancestors on the first day. After some ceremonial, the thread forming the enclosure is removed, and given to a Jangam. The Surige being now over, the bridegroom and his relatives are taken back to the god’s room. The bride and her relatives are now taken to the pandal, and another Surige is gone through. When this is over, the bride is taken to her room, and is decorated with flowers. At the same time, the bridegroom is decorated in the god’s room, and, mounting on a bullock, goes to the village temple, where he offers a cocoanut. A chaplet of flowers called bāshingam is tied to his forehead, and he returns to the house. In the god’s room a panchakalasam, consisting of five metal vases with betel and vibhūti (sacred ashes) has been arranged, one vase being placed at each corner of a square, and one on the middle. By each kalasam is a cocoanut, a date fruit, a betel leaf and areca nut, and one pice (a copper coin) tied in a handkerchief. A cotton thread is passed round the square, and round the centre kalasam another thread, one end of which is held by the family guru, and the other by the bridegroom who sits opposite to him. The guru wears a ring made of kusa grass on the big toe of his right foot. The bride sits on the left hand side of the bridegroom, and the guru ties their right and left hands respectively with kusa grass. Hastapūja then follows. The joined hands of the bride and bridegroom are washed, and bilva (Ægle Marmelos) leaves and flowers are offered. The officiating priest then consecrates the tāli and the kankanam (wrist-thread), ties the latter on the wrists of the joined hands, and gives the tāli to the bridegroom, who ties it round the bride’s neck, repeating some words after the priest. The tying of the tāli is the binding portion of the ceremony. Before the tāli is given to the bridegroom, it is passed round the assembly to be touched by all and blessed. As soon as the bridegroom ties it on the bride, all those present throw over the pair a shower of rice. The bridegroom places some cummin seed and jaggery (crude sugar) on the bride’s head, and the bride does the same to the bridegroom. Small quantities of these articles are tied in a corner of the cloth of each, and the cloths are then knotted together. The bride worships the bridegroom’s feet, and he throws rice on her head. The newly married couple offer fruits to five Jangams, and present them with five pice. The relatives worship the bride and bridegroom, wash their feet and offer presents, and the proceedings of the day terminate. On the third day, friends and relatives are fed, and on the fourth day bride and bridegroom ride in procession through the village, on the same bullock, the bride in front. On return to the house they throw scented powder (bukkittu) at each other, and the guests join in the fun. Then follows the wedding breakfast, to which only the near relatives are admitted. The married couple worship Jangams and the elders, and take off the kankanam or consecration thread from their wrists, and tie it at the doorway. The five matrons who have assisted are given presents and dismissed, and the marriage is now complete. In a one-day marriage, the above ceremonies are crowded into the short time allotted. The remarriage of widows was one of the points on which Basava insisted, and was probably one of the biggest bones of contention with the Brāhmans. Widow remarriage is allowed at the present day, but the authorities at Ujjini see fit to disregard it. They say that amongst Jangams it is prohibited, and that amongst the other classes of Lingāyats it is growth of custom.

The practice of widow remarriage is widely followed even among Jangams, but amongst the stricter classes, who are probably under the influence of their Brāhman friends, it is discountenanced. The parties to such a marriage are not allowed to take part in the marriage ceremonies of others. A great deal can, however, be done when money is forthcoming, and in one case a girl has recently been remarried according to the form in use for original marriages. Every Jangam probably has his price.