In his book written in 1832,[2] Captain Harkness says that the Todas have a temple dedicated to Truth, but identifies this with a ti dairy (teriri). It is probable, however, that his statement was based on what he was told of the satimad, either of Kiudr or Kanòdrs.
The Dairy
As we have already seen, there is some doubt whether the reverence paid to a village is paid to the village as a whole or to the dairy. There is no doubt, however, that the dairy draws to itself most of the veneration which a village excites.
Whenever a devout Toda visits a strange village, he goes to the dairy, and prostrating himself at its threshold, utters a prayer. My ordinary guide, Kòdrner, was not devout and did not pay this reverence, but his brother, Kutadri, was very scrupulous in performing these duties, especially when he went with me to the Kundahs. I could not obtain from him the prayer that he employed on these occasions.
The contents of the dairy are regarded as sacred, and, as we have seen, definite means are taken to prevent these objects from contamination by the gaze or touch of ordinary mortals. Of the objects kept in the dairy the bells are undoubtedly the most sacred. The most sacred of the vessels is the mu, which is not kept in the dairy but is buried in the buffalo-pen, and is only used on certain ceremonial occasions. [[423]]
This mu is closely associated with the general sanctity of the dairy. The prosperity of the dairy is dependent on its condition, and it would seem to have very much the same ideas attached to it as we meet in the life-token. It may also be regarded as the emblem of a dairy, and in the case of the funeral hut of Taradr, we have seen that a building becomes a dairy when a mu is placed in its inner room.
In his account of the Todas, Breeks identifies the special name of the dairy with that of the presiding god of the dairy or village. If he is right, it would seem to follow that the Todas personify the dairy in some degree. The use of the name of dairies in such a formula as that used at the end of the irnörtiti ceremony (see p. [303]) might be regarded as evidence of this personification of the dairy. I do not believe, however, in this personification, and if the dairy has attained in some measure to the dignity of a god, there is no doubt that this god belongs to a category very different from that of the true Toda gods of the hill-tops.