The palikartmokh then goes out to milk, with the irkarthpun and the wand called parskurs or ularwurthkurs. He puts into the milking-vessel some buttermilk, the buttermilk used for this purpose being called pep, and he also smears some butter on the edge of the vessel to put on the teats of the buffaloes. When he goes out, he salutes by raising the irkarthpun and parskurs to his forehead in the same manner as is shown in [Fig. 27]. When he has filled the milking-vessel, he goes into the dairy and empties the milk into the patat and returns to the buffaloes. This is repeated till all the buffaloes have been milked, after which the dairyman takes food and buttermilk, but with no prescribed ritual as in the case of more sacred dairies. He also gives out buttermilk to the people of the village. After the work of the morning is over, the palikartmokh may go out to look after the buffaloes, or may collect firewood, leaves, or other things necessary for his work. During the later hours of the morning the palikartmokh may often be seen lying down taking a rest before he begins the work of the afternoon, which is more ceremonial than that of the morning. [[65]]
FIG. 20.—THE ‘PALIKARTMOKH’ SALUTING THE THRESHOLD OF THE DAIRY AT KIUDR ‘PAVNERSATITI.’
About three o’clock in the afternoon he goes to the dairy, bows down and touches the threshold with his forehead (pavnersatiti, [Fig. 20]), enters and touches a vessel on the patat side, and then a vessel on the ertat side. He then lights the fire and inspects the milk drawn in the morning. If it has not become solid, he puts it on the fire for a few minutes to hasten the coagulation. He lights the lamp and prays, using the prayer of the dairy (see [Chap. X]), and then churns as in the morning. When he has finished churning, he clears the churning-stick of the butter clinging to it, and after holding it to his forehead and uttering the sacred word “Oñ”, he puts it in the stand called agar. He then goes out to milk as in the morning, taking buttermilk in the milking-vessel. When the milking is over, he shuts up the buffaloes in the pen for the night, and as he does so, he repeats the prayer of the dairy, the prayer being exactly the same as that used when lighting the lamp. He then takes food and [[66]]goes to sleep, often saying Swami as he lies down for the night.
The tarvali of the Melgars people is in some ways regarded as superior to the other tarvali of the Tartharol. The Melgars tarvalikartmokh may not go to the tarvali of another Tarthar clan, though the tarvalikartmokh of another clan may go to a Melgars tarvali. This was said to be due to the higher degree of sanctity of the Melgars dairy and office, but there do not appear to be any differences of ritual corresponding to this different degree of sanctity.
The Kudrpali
The special feature of the kudrpali is that it contains one or more of the bells called mani. This involves several additions to the ceremonial of the dairy, and these are accompanied by more stringent rules of conduct for the dairyman.
Whenever engaged in his work, the kudrpalikartmokh must be naked except for the kuvn. In the cold Nilgiri mornings it must often be a very unpleasant task to have to milk the buffaloes with no covering, and I was told that at some places, and especially at Nòdrs, the people gave up the maintenance of a kudrpali on account of the difficulty experienced in obtaining men to undertake the office of dairyman.
When the kudrpalikartmokh is taking his meals, he must hold his food in his hands till he has finished. He is not allowed to put it down on the ground, as may be done by the dairyman of the tarvali.