The Mòrol
I have said that no ordinary Toda is allowed to approach the palol except certain days, and then may only go to a certain place in the surroundings of the ti. There is, however, one very remarkable exception to this rule, the members of certain clans having the privilege of going to the ti at any time and taking buttermilk (mòr). Owing to the latter privilege they are always known as mòrol.
The most important mòrol are the members of the Melgars clan, and at the Nòdrs ti they are the only people possessing these peculiar rights. A Melgars man may go to the ti on every day of the week, when he enters the small enclosure in which the dairy is situated, going, however, by a special opening at the back so that he does not actually pass the dairy and sits down in front of or may enter the sleeping hut. He is given buttermilk by the kaltmokh after it has been given to the palol, and he also receives food. At the Nòdrs ti the two palol divide the responsibility of providing food between them; if four mòrol come, each palol gives food for two men.
The rights of the Melgarsol appear to be exercised very constantly. I rarely visited the Mòdr ti without finding several mòrol present, and so far as I could observe they made the most of their privileges and enjoyed themselves well. It was very remarkable to see several Todas making themselves quite at home at the ti, while other Todas were standing outside wholly prohibited from entering into the life of the place. On one occasion when I visited Mòdr, the brother of one palol was standing without at the appointed spot waiting till the business of the morning was over, while several mòrol were within enjoying their privileges to the full.
The Melgarsol have certain other rights and duties in connexion with the ti, and especially on the occasion of the procession which takes place when the buffaloes migrate from one place to another (see [Chap. VI]), after which ceremony the mòrol sleep at the ti mad. At some dairies members of other clans may act as mòrol, but in no case do they occupy quite so privileged a position as the people of Melgars. Thus, at [[108]]the Kars and the Pan ti the people of Kars are mòrol, but they may only visit the ti and take buttermilk and are not allowed to sleep there, nor have they any of the special ceremonial duties of the Melgarsol.
When the dairy of a ti mad needs to be repaired or rebuilt, this is done by Melgars men, who must previously undergo an ordination ceremony of the same character as that for the office of wursol, and the men rank as wursol while engaged in the work. The hut of the ti mad is also repaired or rebuilt by the Melgarsol, but in this case the work is done without any special ceremony. In either case the Melgars men are not allowed to leave the ti mad, and they sleep in the living hut while the work is being done.
Another duty of the Melgarsol is to assist in carrying the corpse of palol who has died in office.
On the occasion of the teutütusthchi ceremony in 1902, when the palol and kaltmokh left the dairy at Mòdr for several hours, I found a Melgars man in the neighbourhood of the dairy, and it seemed to me that he was watching the dairy while the regular guardians were away. I was told however, that this was not one of the recognised duties of a mòrol, and I suspected that he was stationed at Mòdr at the time of my visit, because it was feared that I might take advantage of the absence of the palol to make a closer inspection of the dairy than was allowed.