On no account may a palol ever be touched by an ordinary person. A palol becomes himself an ordinary person, or perol, if either he or his dairy should be touched by any unconsecrated person. Recently Nòdrners (67) lost the office of palol to the warsir at the Nòdrs ti, because a Tamil man went to his dairy while he was out looking after his buffaloes; he was soon reappointed, but to another ti.
The Toda who approaches the palol must go kevenarut, i.e., with his right arm out of the cloak, and there is a definite form of salutation which is different for Tartharol and Teivaliol. When one of the former approaches, the palol says “Bañ,” and the Tarthar man replies “Ir kaûdâ,” literally “Buffalo, calf, have you?” To one of the Kuudrol, the chief Teivali clan, the palol says the kwarzam, or sacred name of Kuudr, followed by the word idith, i.e., he utters the words Ivikanmokh [[102]]kûtmeil teu idith. When any other Teivali man approaches, the palol says “Pekein,” but all the Teivaliol reply with the same formula as the Tartharol. If a Tarthar man and a Teivali man approach the palol together, the former will be greeted first. The palol greets the man to whose division the buffaloes belong before the man of his own clan or division.
If a Toda is in the condition called ichchil, i.e., has been defiled in connexion with funeral or other ceremonies, it was said that he might not approach the palol. I had an interesting example, however, of the way in which a regulation of this kind is observed. While Teitnir(52) had ichchil, owing to the fact that the funeral ceremonies of a relative had not been completed, he went with me to the Mòdr ti one day and approached within a few yards of the palol. He had taken off the semi-European clothing he often wore, and had his right arm bare, but no greeting of any kind took place between him and the palol; the latter did not recognise his presence in any way and behaved as if Teitnir were not there. On this occasion Teitnir was ichchil on account of the death of a more or less distant relative. Later his wife died, and then there seemed to be no doubt that he would not under any circumstances have approached the ti or the palol.
There are several regulations concerning the food of the palol. Any grain he eats must be that provided by the Badagas. At the present time more rice is eaten than was formerly the case. This is not grown by the Badagas, but nevertheless the rice for the palol must be obtained through them. The palol may drink milk, but only that from the buffaloes called punir. He must take his food sitting on the seat, or pohvelkars, outside the dairy, and, as we have seen, he uses for this purpose the seat which is not on the same side as the mani. He usually prepares the food himself and cooks it on the fireplace called tòratthwaskal in the outer room of dairy; but there is also a fireplace outside the dairy which is used sometimes, especially when food has to be prepared for many people, and then the palol may be assisted by the kaltmokh. If food is prepared by the kaltmokh, the fireplace outside the dairy must be used. [[103]]
The only food which the palol is altogether forbidden is chillies.
The palol wears garments of the kind called tuni, of a dark grey material made at Nulturs in the Coimbatore district. They are brought to the palol by the Badaga called tikelfmav.[4] Each palol has two of these garments. One is worn as a loincloth and is called pòdrshtuni. It is only worn when definitely engaged in dairy-work and on certain ceremonial occasions, and at other times is kept in the outer room of the dairy. The other garment is called kubuntuni, and is worn like the ordinary cloak, but always with the right arm out (kevenarut). It is worn when not engaged on sacred business, and on a few occasions is worn together with the pòdrshtuni. The small perineal cloth ordinarily called kuvn is made of the same material as the tuni and is called kagurs at the ti, while the string which passes round the waist and holds the kagurs in place is called kwainur or kwoinur.
I was told that the palol should never cut his hair or his nails while he is in office.
If a palol has held office for eighteen years without a break, he performs a special ceremony. The essential feature of this ceremony is that the palol has intercourse in the day-time with a girl or young woman who must belong to the Tartharol. The woman is chosen by the palol and the matter is arranged by the clan to which the ti belongs. On the appointed day the woman is brought to a village near the dairy at which the palol is living; if he is at Mòdr, for instance, the woman will come to the adjacent village of Perththo. She must bathe carefully and be adorned with all possible ornaments and fine clothing. After the work of the morning is over, the palol gives rice and milk to the kaltmokh and tells him to have food ready for him when he returns at night. He then goes covered with his kubuntuni to a wood near the village, where the woman will be awaiting him. Later the woman returns to the village and the palol remains in the [[104]]wood completely naked till sunset, when he dresses and returns to the neighbourhood of his dairy, but remains in an adjoining wood till midnight. He then bathes in a stream and going to the dairy calls “Kaltmokhia!” twice. The kaltmokh comes out of the sleeping hut and brings a stone resembling the pohvelkars, on which the palol sits, and the kaltmokh pours buttermilk (kaizhvatiti) for the palol according to the customary ritual. Then the kaltmokh brings the papun, and the palol washes his hands and goes to rest. There was some difference of opinion among the Todas as to whether the palol would continue to hold office after this ceremony. He undoubtedly returns to his work, but it seemed probable that he would retire after a short time and his place be taken by another. In this ceremony the celibate priest after eighteen years of office has intercourse with a woman belonging to the division not his own. This takes place in the day-time, the palol thus committing an act which is ordinarily regarded by the Todas as immoral.[5]
The last occasion on which this ceremony was performed was when it was done by Kodrizbon, who lived before the time of the grandfather of Kaners, who is himself an old man. Karkievan has now been palol of the Nòdrs ti for sixteen years, and there was already at the time of my visit much talk among the Todas about the ceremony which he might be expected to perform two years later.
A man who has given up the office of palol is known as patol. It was quite clear that, on resigning office, he entirely lost his sanctity, and it did not seem that he derived any great social importance from having held the sacred office. I could find no instance of a man who had been palol having any special influence or power either in his clan or among the Todas generally. Only in one way are the patol important, and that is as repositories of the knowledge of the dairy ritual, and any man about to enter on the office of palol will learn the details of the ritual from those who have held office before him.