Bandollu, rock. Bochchollu, hairs. Cheruku, sugarcane. Enumala, buffalo. Goddali, axe. Gampa, basket. Idakottu, break-down. Jambu (Eugenia Jambolana). Kōmāli, buffoon. Santha, a fair. Sivarātri, a festival. Manchāla, cot. Sampangi (Michelia Champaca). Thātichettu, palmyra palm. Bandāri (Dodonœa viscosa). Dēvala, belonging to god. Donga, thief. Malle, jasmine. Panthipattu, pig-catcher. Panthikottu, pig-killer. Upputhōluvaru, salt-carrier. Pītakāla, dais on which a priest sits. Thappata, drum.

At the Mysore census, 1901, a few returned gōtras, such as arashina (turmeric), huvvina (flowers), honna (gold), and akshantala (rice grain).

“The women of the Vaddevandlu section of the tank-digger caste,” the Rev. J. Cain writes,[7] “only wear the glass bracelets on the left arm, as, in years gone by (according to their own account), a seller of these bracelets was one day persuading them to buy, and, leaving the bracelets on their left arms, went away, promising to return with a fresh supply for their right arms. As yet he has not re-appeared.” But an old woman explained that they have to use their right arm when at work, and if they wore bangles on it, they would frequently get broken.

In some places, tattooing on the forehead with a central vertical line, dots, etc., is universally practiced, because, according to the Oddē, they should bear tattoo marks as a proof of their life on earth (bhulōkam) when they die. Oddēs, calling themselves Pachcha Botlu, are itinerant tattooers in the Ganjam, Vizagapatam and Godāvari districts. While engaged in performing the operation, they sing Telugu songs, to divert the attention of those who are being operated on.

The office of headman, who is known as Yejamānadu, Samayagādu, or Pedda (big) Bōyadu, is hereditary, and disputes, which cannot be settled at a council meeting, are referred to a Balija Dēsai Chetti, whose decision is final. In some cases, the headman is assisted by officers called Chinna (little) Bōyadu, Sankūthi, and Banthari. An Oddē, coming to a place where people are assembled with shoes on, is fined, and described as gurram ekki vachchinavu (having come on a horse). The Oddēs are very particular about touching leather, and beating with shoes brings pollution. Both the beater and the person beaten have to undergo a purificatory ceremony, and pay a fine. When in camp at Dimbhum, in the Coimbatore district, I caught hold of a ladle, to show my friend Dr. Rivers what were the fragrant contents of a pot, in which an Oddē woman was cooking the evening meal. On returning from a walk, we heard a great noise proceeding from the Oddē men who had meanwhile returned from work, and found the woman seated apart on a rock and sobbing. She had been excommunicated, not because I touched the ladle, but because she had afterwards touched the pot. After much arbitration, I paid up the necessary fine, and she was received back into her caste.

When a girl reaches puberty, she is confined in a special hut, in which a piece of iron, margosa leaves (Melia Azadirachta), sticks of Strychnos Nux-vomica, and the arka plant (Calotropis gigantea) are placed, to ward off evil spirits. For fear of these spirits she is not allowed to eat meat, though eggs are permitted. On the seventh day, a fowl is killed, waved in front of the girl, and thrown away. At the end of the period of pollution, the hut is burnt down. Sometimes, when the girl bathes on the first day, a sieve is held over her head, and water poured through it. In some places, on the eleventh day, chicken broth, mixed with arrack (liquor), is administered, in order to make the girl’s back and waist strong. The hen, from which the broth is made, must be a black one, and she must have laid eggs for the first time. The flesh is placed in a mortar, pounded to a pulp, and boiled, with the addition of condiments, and finally the arrack.

Both infant and adult marriages are practiced. The marriage ceremony, in its simplest form, is, according to Mr. F. S. Mullaly,[8] not a tedious one, the bride and bridegroom walking three times round a stake placed in the ground. In the more elaborate ritual, on the betrothal day, the bride-price, etc., are fixed, and an adjournment is made to the toddy shop. The marriage rites are, as a rule, very simple, but, in some places, the Oddēs have begun to imitate the marriage ceremonies of the Balijas. On the third day, the contracting couple go in procession to a tank, where the bridegroom digs up some mud, and the bride carries three basketfuls thereof to a distance. The following story is narrated in connection with their marriage ceremonies. A certain king wanted an Oddē to dig a tank, which was subsequently called Nidimamidi Koththacheruvu, and promised to pay him in varahālu (gold coins). When the work was completed, the Oddē went to the king for his money, but the king had no measure for measuring out the coins. A person was sent to fetch one, and on his way met a shepherd, who had on his shoulders a small bamboo stick, which could easily be converted into a measure. Taking this stick, he returned to the king, who measured out the coins, which fell short of the amount expected by the Oddēs, who could not pay the debts, which they had contracted. So they threw the money into the tank, saying “Let the tank leak, and the land lie fallow for ever.” All were crying on account of their misery and indebtedness. A Balija, coming across them, took pity on them, and gave them half the amount required to discharge their debts. After a time they wanted to marry, and men were sent to bring the bottu (marriage badge), milk-post, musicians, etc. But they did not return, and the Balija suggested the employment of a pestle for the milk-post, a string of black beads for the bottu, and betel leaves and areca nuts instead gold coins for the oli (bride-price).

The Oddēs are in some places Vaishnavites, in others Saivites, but they also worship minor deities, such as Ellamma, Ankamma, etc., to whom goats and sheep are sacrificed, not with a sword or knife, but by piercing them with a spear or crowbar. Writing at the commencement of the nineteenth century, Buchanan states[9] that “although the Woddaru pray to Vishnu, and offer sacrifices to Marima, Gungama, Durgama, Putalima, and Mutialima, yet the proper object of worship belonging to the caste is a goddess called Yellama, one of the destroying spirits. The image is carried constantly with their baggage; and in her honour there is an annual feast, which lasts three days. On this occasion they build a shed, under which they place the image, and one of the tribe officiates as priest or pujāri. For these three days offerings of brandy, palm wine, rice, and flowers are made to the idol, and bloody sacrifices are performed before the shed. The Woddas abstain from eating the bodies of the animals sacrificed to their own deity, but eat those which they sacrifice to the other Saktis.”