Padarti.—A title of pūjāris (priests) in South Canara, and a name by which Stānikas are called.
Padavala (boat).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.
Padiga Rāju.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, as the same as Bhatrāzu. The Padiga Rājulu are, however, beggars attached to the Padma Sālēs, and apparently distinct from Bhatrāzus. The name is probably derived from padiga, a kind of vessel, and may bear reference to the vessel which they carry with them on their begging expeditions.
Padma (lotus).—A sub-division of Velama.
Padma Sālē.—The Padma (lotus) Sālēs are a Telugu-speaking caste of weavers, who are scattered all over the Madras Presidency. The majority are engaged in their hereditary occupation, but only the minority possess looms of their own, and they work, for the most part, for the more prosperous owners of hand-looms. As a class they are poor, being addicted to strong drinks, and in the hands of the money-lenders, who take care that their customers always remain in debt to them. Like the Kaikōlans, the Padma Sālēs weave the coarser kinds of cotton cloths, and cannot compete with the Patnūlkārans and Khātrēs in the manufacture of the finer kinds.
The Padma Sālēs have only one gōtra, Markandēya. But, like other Telugu castes, they have a number of exogamous septs or intipērus, of which the following are examples:—
Bandāri, treasurer. Bomma, an idol. Canji, gruel. Chinthaginjala, tamarind seeds. Gōrantla, Lawsonia alba. Jinka, gazelle. Kālava, ditch. Kāsulu, copper coins. Kongara, crane. Kadavala, pots. Manchi, good. Nīli, indigo. Nūkalu, flour of grain or pulse. Nyāyam, justice. Ūtla, rope for hanging pots. Pōthu, male. Paththi, cotton. Putta, ant-hill. Thēlu, scorpion. Tangedla, Cassia auriculata. Tumma, Acacia arabica. Avari, indigo plant. Chinnam, gold? Gurram, horse. Geddam, beard. Kōta, fort. Mēda, raised mound Middala, storeyed house. Māmidla, mango. Narāla, nerves. Pūla, flowers. Sādhu, quiet or meek.
The Padma Sālēs profess to be Vaishnavites, but some are Saivites. All the families of the exogamous sept Sādhu are said to be lingam-wearing Saivites. In addition to their house-god Venkatēswara, they worship Pulikondla Rangaswāmi, Maremma, Durgamma, Narasappa, Sunkālamma, Urukundhi Vīranna, Gangamma, Kinkiniamma, Mutyālamma, Kālelamma, Ankamma, and Padvetiamma. Their caste deity is Bhāvana Rishi, to whom, in some places, a special temple is dedicated. A festival in honour of this deity is celebrated annually, during which the god and goddess are represented by two decorated pots placed on a model of a tiger (vyagra vāhanam), to which, on the last day of the ceremonial, large quantities of rice and vegetables are offered, which are distributed among the loom-owners, pūjari, headman, fasting celebrants, etc.
The Padma Sālēs belong to the right-hand, and the Dēvāngas to the left-hand faction, and the latter aver that the Padma Sālēs took away the body of the goddess Chaudēswari, leaving them the head.
Three kinds of beggars are attached to the Padma Sālēs, viz., Sādhana Sūrulu, Padiga Rājulu or Koonapilli vāndlu, and Inaka-mukku Bhatrāzus. Concerning the Sādhana Sūrulu, Buchanan writes as follows.[1] “The Vaishnavite section of the Samay Sale is called Padma Sālē. The whole Shalay formerly wore the linga, but, a house having been possessed by a devil, and this sect having been called on to cast him out, all their prayers were of no avail. At length ten persons, having thrown aside their linga, and offered up their supplications to Vishnu, they succeeded in expelling the enemy, and ever afterwards they followed the worship of this god, in which they have been initiated by their brethren. The descendants of these men, who are called Sadana Asholu (Sādana Sūrulu), or the celebrated heroes, never work, and, having dedicated themselves to god, live upon the charity of the industrious part of the caste, with whom they disdain to marry.”