Chapter VI: Part 6

"Though," a correspondent writes, "the Badaga is simple, and his wants are few, he cannot resist the temptation of wine and women. The Badaga woman can change husbands as often as she pleases by a simple system of divorce, and can also carry on with impunity intimacy within the pale of her own community. It is not uncommon to find Badaga women changing husbands, so long as youth and vigour tempt them to do so, and confining themselves eventually to the last individual, after age and infirmity have made their mark, and render such frolics inexpedient." A former Magistrate of the Nilgiris informs me that he tried more than one case, in which a married man filed a complaint against another man for kidnapping or enticing away his wife for immoral purposes. The father of the woman was always charged as an abetter, and pleaded that, as no pariyam (bride price) had been paid by the husband, though he and the woman lived together as man and wife, no criminal offence could be proved against either the father or the abductor. Polygamy is permitted, and the plurality of wives is a gain to the husband, as each wife becomes a bread-winner, and supports her children, and the man makes each wife superintend one department of the day's work. Remarriage of widows is very common, and a widow may marry the brother of her deceased husband. It is said to be etiquette among the Badagas that, when a woman's husband is away, she should be accessible to her brothers-in-law. Instances occur, in which the husband is much younger than his wife, who, until he has reached maturity, cohabits with her paternal aunt's son, or some one whom she may have a fancy for. The marriage ceremony of the Udayas is carried out on an elaborate scale, and is based on the type of ceremonial which is carried out by some castes in the plains. Before dawn on the marriage day, the brothers and cousins of the bridegroom go, accompanied by some Udayas and the Kota band, to the forest, whence they bring two sticks of Mimusops hexandra, to do duty as the milk-posts. The early hour is selected, to avoid the chance of coming across inauspicious objects. The sticks should be cut off the tree at a single stroke of the bill-hook, and they may not be laid flat on the ground, but placed on a blanket spread thereon. The Udayas, who joined in the procession, collect twelve posts of Mimusops as supports for the marriage booth (pandal). In front of the house, which is to be the scene of the wedding, two pits are dug, into which cow-dung water is poured. The pujari does puja to the milk-posts by offering sugar-cane, jaggery (crude sugar), etc., and ties two threads thereto. The posts are then placed in the pits by five people--the parents of the bridal couple and the priest. The booth, and dais or enclosure, are then erected close to the milk-posts. On the second day, the bridegroom's party, attended by Kota musicians, dressed up in dancing costume, go to the house of the bride, where a feast is held. The bride then salutes a lamp, and prostrates herself at the feet of her parents, who bless her, saying "May your body and hands soon be filled (i.e., may you have a child), and may your life be prosperous." The bride is taken in procession to the house of the bridegroom, accompanied by some Udayas, and a Toreya carrying a bag of rice. At the entrance to the house she is blindfolded, and her mother-in-law pours water over her feet, and waves coloured water (arathi) in front of her. She then enters the house, right foot foremost, and sits on a mat. Three married women, nearly related to the bridegroom, proceed, with the Kota musicians, to a stream, carrying three pots decorated with leaves of Leucas aspera. The priest does puja, and the pots are filled with water, and brought back in procession to the marriage dais. The water is poured into three vessels placed thereon three times by each of the three women. Within the marriage enclosure, two raised platforms are set up by a Toreya. The bridegroom, after going round the enclosure three times with his brothers and sisters, enters it, and bathes with the water contained in the vessels. He then dresses himself in new clothes, and is carried to the outer room by his maternal uncle. The bride is then treated in like manner, but is taken to the inner room. At a fixed auspicious hour, the bridal couple repair to the enclosure, where the bridegroom stands on a mat. A screen is held up by four or five men between him and the bride, who stands facing him, while the priest ties the ends of their clothes together. They then link their little fingers together, the screen is removed, and they seat themselves on the mat. The bridegroom's sister brings a tray with a mass of rice scooped out into a cavity to hold ghi for feeding a lighted wick (annadha arathi) on it, and, placing it before the bridal pair, sits down. The tali, consisting of a golden disc, is worshipped by the priest, and given to the bridegroom, who ties it on to the bride's neck. In some places it is tied by four or five elders, belonging to different villages, who are not widowers. The contracting couple then put on wreaths called sammandha malai, or wreaths establishing relationship, and the wrist threads are tied on. The bride's sister brings some rice and milk in a cup, into which the linked fingers of the bride and bridegroom are thrust. Taking up some of the rice, they put it into each other's mouths three times. After they have washed their hands, the maternal uncle or priest asks them if they have seen Aranjoti (the pole-star), and they reply in the affirmative. On the third day, presents are given to the newly-married couple, and the wrist threads are removed. Going to a stream, they perform a mimic ceremony of sowing, and scatter cotton and rice seed in two small pans made by a Toreya with cow-dung. Widow remarriage is permitted among the Udayas, and a widow may marry a cousin, but not her dead husband's brother. At the marriage ceremony, a priest makes a mark with sacred ashes on the foreheads of the contracting couple, and announces the fact of their union.

It is noted by Dr. Rivers that "Breeks has stated that the Toda custom is that the house shall pass to the youngest son. It seems quite clear that this is wrong, and that this custom is absolutely unknown among the Todas. It is, however, a Badaga custom, and among them I was told that it is due to the fact that, as the sons of a family grow up and marry, they leave the house of the parents and build houses elsewhere. It is the duty of the youngest son to dwell with his parents, and support them as long as they live, and, when they die, he continues to live in the paternal home, of which he becomes the owner."

A ceremony is performed in the seventh month of a woman's first pregnancy, which is important, inasmuch as it seals the marriage contract, and, after its performance, divorce can only be obtained through the decree of the panchayat (tribal council). Moreover, if it has not been performed, a man cannot claim the paternity of the child. The ceremony is called kanni kattodu or kanni hakodu (thread tying or throwing). The husband and wife are seated in the midst of those who have assembled for the occasion, and the former asks his father-in-law whether he may throw the thread round his wife's neck, and, having received permission, proceeds to do so. If he gets the thread, which must have no knots in it, entangled in the woman's bunch of hair (kondai), which is made large for the occasion by the addition of false hair, he is fined three rupees. On the day of the ceremony, the man and his wife are supposed to be under pollution, and sit in the verandah to receive presents. The mats used by them for sleeping on are cleaned on the following morning, and they get rid of the pollution by bathing.

A first confinement must not take place within the house, and the verandah is converted into a lying-in chamber, from which the woman is, after delivery, removed to the outer apartment, where she remains till she is free from pollution by catching sight of the crescent moon. If a woman has been delivered at her father's house, she returns to the home of her husband within a month of the birth of the child on an auspicious day. On arrival there, the infant is placed near the feet of an old man standing by a lamp within the milk-house. Placing his right hand over the head of the infant, the old man blesses it, and a feast is held, before the commencement of which two cups, one containing milk, and the other cooked rice, are produced. All the relations take up a little of the milk and rice, and touch the tongue of the baby with them.

A child receives its name on the seventh, ninth, or eleventh day. A sumptuous meal is given to the community, and the grandfather (paternal, if possible) milks a cow, and pours the milk into a brass cup placed in the milk-house. With it a little cooked samai grain is mixed. The babe is washed with water brought from a stream; marked on the forehead with sacred ashes; a turmeric-dyed thread is tied round its waist; a silver or iron bangle placed on its wrists; and a silver bead tied by a thread round its neck. Thus decorated, the infant is taken up by the oldest man of the village who is not a widower, who gives it a name, which has already been chosen. The elder, and the child's parents and grandparents then place a little milk in its mouth.

Children, both male and female, go through a shaving ceremony, usually when they are seven months old. The infant is seated in the lap of a Badaga, and, after water has been applied to its head by a Badaga or a barber, the maternal uncle removes some of the hair with a razor, and then hands it over to another Badaga or a barber to complete the operation.

Of the death rites as carried out by the Badaga sub-division, the following note was recorded during a visit to Kotagiri. When death is drawing near, a gold coin, called Viraraya hana or fanam, dipped in butter or ghi, is given to the dying man to swallow. If he is too far gone to be capable of swallowing, the coin is, according to Mr. Natesa Sastri, tied round the arm. But our informants told us that this is not done at the present day. "If," Mr. Gover writes, [82] "the tiny coin slips down, well. He will need both gold and ghi, the one to sustain his strength in the dark journey to the river of death, the other to fee the guardian of the fairy-like bridge that spans the dreaded tide. If sense remains to the wretched man, he knows that now his death is nigh. Despair and the gold make recovery impossible, and there are none who have swallowed the Birianhana, and yet have lived. If insensibility or deathly weakness make it impossible for the coin to pass the thorax, it is carefully bound in cloth, and tied to the right arm, so that there may be nought to hinder the passage of a worthy soul into the regions of the blessed." The giving of the coin to the dying man is apparently an important item, and, in the Badaga folk-tales, a man on the point of death is made to ask for a Viraraya fanam. When life is extinct, the corpse is kept within the house until the erection of the funeral car (gudikattu) is completed. Though Gover states that the burning must not be delayed more than twenty-four hours, at the present day the Badagas postpone the funeral till all the near relations have assembled, even if this necessitates the keeping of the corpse for two or three days. Cremation may take place on any day, except Tuesday. News of a death is conveyed to distant hamlets (hattis) by a Toreya, who is paid a rupee for his services. On approaching a hamlet, he removes his turban, to signify the nature of his errand, and, standing on the side of a hill, yells out "Dho! Dho! who is in the hamlet?" Having imparted his news, he proceeds on his journey to the next hamlet. On the morning of the day fixed for the funeral, the corpse is taken on a charpoy or native cot to an open space, and a buffalo led thrice round it. The right hand of the corpse is then lifted up, and passed over the horns of the buffalo. A little milk is drawn, and poured into the mouth of the corpse. Prior to this ceremony, two or three buffaloes may be let loose, and one of them captured, after the manner of the Todas, brought near the corpse, and conducted round the cot. The funeral car is built up in five to eleven tiers, decorated with cloths and streamers, and one tier must be covered with black chintz. At the funeral of a young man, the Rev. A. C. Clayton noticed that the car was surmounted by a flag, and hung about with bread, oranges, plantains, and the bag containing the books which the youth had used in the Basel Mission School. [83] By the poorer members of the community the car is replaced by a cot covered with cloth, and surmounted by five umbrellas. Immediately after the buffalo ceremony, the corpse is carried to the car, and placed in the lowest storey thereof, washed, and dressed in coat and turban. A new dhupati (coarse cloth) is wrapped round it. Two silver coins (Japanese yens or rupees) are stuck on the forehead. Beneath the cot are placed a crowbar, and baskets containing cakes, parched paddy, tobacco, chick pea (Cicer arietinum), jaggery and samai flour. A number of women, relations and friends of the dead man, then make a rush to the cot, and, sitting on it round the corpse, keep on waiting, while a woman near its head rings a bell. When one batch is tired, it is replaced by another. Badaga men then pour in in large numbers, and salute the corpse by touching the head, Toreyas and female relations touching the feet. Of those who salute, a few place inside the dhupati a piece of white cloth with red and yellow stripes, which has been specially prepared for the purpose. All then proceed to dance round the car to the music of the Kota band, near male relations removing their turban or woollen night cap, as a mark of respect, during the first three revolutions. Most of the male dancers are dressed up in gaudy petticoats and smart turbans. "No woman," Mr. Natesa Sastri writes, "mingles in the funeral dance if the dead person is a man, but, if the deceased is a woman, one old woman, the nearest relative of the dead, takes part in it." But, at the funerals of two men which we witnessed, a few women danced together with the men. Usually the tribesmen continue to arrive until 2 or 3 P.M. Relations collect outside the village, and advance in a body towards the car, some, especially the sons-in-law of the dead man, riding on ponies, some of them carrying samai grain. As they approach the car, they shout "Ja! hoch; Ja! hoch." The Muttu Kotas bring a double iron sickle with imitation buffalo horns on the tip, which is placed, with a hatchet, buguri (flute), and walking stick, on the car or on the ground beside it. When all are assembled, the cot is carried to an open space between the house and the burning-ground, followed by the car and a party of women carrying the baskets containing grain, etc. The car is then stripped of its trappings, and hacked to pieces. The widow is brought close to the cot, and removes her nose ornament (elemukkuthi), and other jewels. At both the funerals which we witnessed, the widow had a narrow strip of coloured chintz over her shoulders. Standing near the corpse, she removed a bit of wire from her ear-rings, a lock of hair, and a palm leaf roll from the lobe of the ear, and tied them up in the cloth of her dead husband. After her, the sisters of the dead man cut off a lock of hair, and, in like manner, tied it in the cloth. Women attached to a man by illegitimate ties sometimes also cut off a lock of hair, and, tying it to a twig of Dodonæa viscosa, place it inside the cloth. Very impressive is the recitation, or after-death confession of a dead man's sins by an elder of the tribe standing at the head of the corpse, and rapidly chanting the following lines, or a variation thereof, while he waves his right hand during each line towards the feet. The reproduction of the recitation in my phonograph never failed to impress the daily audience of Badagas, Kotas and Todas.

This is the death of Andi.
In his memory the calf of the cow Belle has been set free.
From this world to the other.
He goes in a car.
Everything the man did in this world.
All the sins committed by his ancestors.
All the sins committed by his forefathers.
All the sins committed by his parents.
All the sins committed by himself.
The estranging of brothers.
Shifting the boundary line.
Encroaching on a neighbour's land by removing the hedge.
Driving away brothers and sisters.
Cutting the kalli tree stealthily.
Cutting the mulli tree outside his boundary.
Dragging the thorny branches of the kotte tree.
Sweeping with a broom.
Splitting green branches.
Telling lies.
Uprooting seedlings.
Plucking growing plants, and throwing them in the sun.
Giving young birds to cats.
Troubling the poor and cripples.
Throwing refuse water in front of the sun.
Going to sleep after seeing an eclipse of the moon.
Looking enviously at a buffalo yielding an abundance of milk.
Being jealous of the good crops of others.
Removing boundary stones.
Using a calf set free at the funeral.
Polluting water with dirt.
Urinating on burning embers.
Ingratitude to the priest.
Carrying tales to the higher authorities.
Poisoning food.
Not feeding a hungry person.
Not giving fire to one half frozen.
Killing snakes and cows.
Killing lizards and blood-suckers.
Showing a wrong path.
Getting on the cot, and allowing his father-in-law to sleep on
the ground.
Sitting on a raised verandah, and driving thence his mother-in-law.
Going against natural instincts.
Troubling daughters-in-law.
Breaking open lakes.
Breaking open reservoirs of water.
Being envious of the prosperity of other villages.
Getting angry with people.
Misleading travellers in the forest.
Though there be three hundred such sins,
Let them all go with the calf set free to-day.
May the sins be completely removed!
May the sins be forgiven!
May the door of heaven be open!
May the door of hell be closed!
May the hand of charity be extended!
May the wicked hand be shrivelled!
May the door open suddenly!
May beauty or splendour prevail everywhere!
May the hot pillar be cooled!
May the thread bridge [84] become light!
May the pit of perdition be closed!
May he reach the golden pillar!
Holding the feet of the six thousand Athis,
Holding the feet of the twelve thousand Pathis,
Holding the feet of Brahma,
Holding the feet of the calf set free to-day,
May he reach the abode of Siva!
So mote it be.

The recitation is repeated thrice, and a few Badagas repeat the last words of each line after the elder. It was noticed by the Rev. A. C. Clayton that, during the recitation, the people surrounded the bier on three sides, leaving a lane open to the west. The sins of the dead man were transferred to another as sin-bearer, and finally passed away down the lane. As the ceremony witnessed by us differs materially from the account thereof given by Gover nearly forty years ago, I may quote his description. "By a conventional mode of expression, the sum total of sins a man may do is said to be thirteen hundred. Admitting that the deceased has committed them all, the performer cries aloud 'Stay not their flight to God's pure feet.' As he closes, the whole assembly chants aloud 'Stay not their flight.' Again the performer enters into details, and cries 'He killed the crawling snake. It is a sin.' In a moment the last word is caught up, and all the people cry 'It is a sin.' As they shout, the performer lays his hand upon the calf. The sin is transferred to the calf. Thus the whole catalogue is gone through in this impressive way. But this is not enough. As the last shout 'Let all be well' dies away, the performer gives place to another, and again confession is made, and all the people shout 'It is a sin.' A third time it is done. Then, still in solemn silence, the calf is let loose. Like the Jewish scapegoat, it may never be used for secular work." Dr. Rivers writes that "the Badagas let loose a calf at a funeral, to bear the sins of the deceased. It is possible that the calf in the Toda ceremony may have the same significance. If so, the practice has not improbably been borrowed, and the fact that the bell which is hung on the neck of the calf is kept by Kotas or Badagas suggests that the whole incident may have been borrowed by the Todas from one or other of these races." At the funerals, of which we were spectators, no calf was brought near the corpse, and the celebrants of the rites were satisfied with the mere mention by name of a calf, which is male or female according to the sex of the deceased. At the funeral witnessed by the Rev. A. C. Clayton, a cow-buffalo was led three times round the bier, and a little of its milk, drawn at the time, put into the mouth of the corpse. Then a buffalo calf was led thrice round the bier, and the dead man's hand laid on its head. By this act, the calf was supposed to receive all the sins of the deceased. It was then driven away to a great distance, that it might contaminate no one, and it was said that it would never be sold, but looked on as a dedicated sacred animal. If a dead man leaves a widow in a state of pregnancy, who has not performed the kanni kattodu or marriage thread ceremony, this must be gone through before the corpse is taken to the pyre, in order to render the child legitimate. The pregnant woman is, at the time of the funeral, brought close to the cot, and a near relation of the deceased, taking up a cotton thread, twisted in the form of a necklace without any knots, throws it round her neck. Sometimes the hand of the corpse is lifted up with the thread, and made to place it round the neck. At the funeral of the young man, Mr. Clayton saw this ceremony performed on his pregnant wife. After a turmeric-dyed cord had been taken from the hands of the corpse and tied round her neck, she was again brought to the side of the bier, and her ear-rings, nose ornaments, and other articles of jewellery, were removed in token that she had become a widow. Soon after the recitation of sins, all the agnates go to the house of the dead man, at the entrance to which a gunny-bag is spread, whereon a small quantity of paddy is poured, and a few culms of Cynodon Dactylon and a little cow-dung are placed on it. The eldest of the agnates, sickle in hand, takes some of the paddy, and moves on, raising both hands to his forehead. The other agnates then do the same, and proceed in Indian file, males in front and females in the rear, to the corpse. Round it they walk, men from left to right, and women in the reverse direction, and at the end of each circuit put some of the paddy on its face. The cot is then carried to the burning-ground, a woman heading the procession, and shaking the end of her cloth all the way. The corpse is laid on the pyre with its feet to the south, and the pyre lighted by the eldest son standing at the head. The sticks of which the car was constructed are added to the fuel, of which the pyre is built up. In some places the son, when lighting the pyre, repeats the words "Being begotten by my father and mother, I, in the presence of all and the Deva, set fire at the head after the manner of my ancestors and forefathers." The Rev. A. C. Clayton records that, before the procession started for the burning-ground, some female relatives of the dead man tied locks of their hair round the toes of the corpse, and others went three times round the bier. On the day following the funeral, the bereaved family distribute rice to all the Badagas of the hamlet, and all the near relations of the deceased go to the burning-ground, taking with them two new pots. The fire is extinguished, and the fragments of the bones are collected. A tray is made of the fronds of the bracken fern (Pteris aquilina) covered with a cloth, on which the bones are placed together with culms of Cynodon grass and ghi. The Badagas of the hamlet who are younger than the deceased salute the bones by touching them, and a few men, including the chief mourner, hold the tray, and convey it to the bone pit, which every hamlet possesses. Into it the bones are thrown, while an elder repeats the words "Become united with the line of your relations, with your class, and with the big people," or "May the young and old who have died, may all those who have died from time immemorial up to the present time, mingle in one." When the pit has been closed up, all return to the spot where the body was burnt, and, clearing a space, make a puddle, round which they stand, and throw into it a handful of korali (Setaria italica), uttering the words "May deaths cease; may evils cease; may good prevail in the village; in virtue of the good deeds of the ancestors and forefathers, may this one mingle with them." This ceremony concluded, they repair to a stream, where a member of the bereaved family shaves a Toreya partially or completely. Some take a razor, and, after removing a patch of hair, pass the Toreya on to a barber. All the agnates are then shaved by a Badaga or a barber. The chief mourner then prostrates himself on the ground, and is blessed by all. He and the Toreya proceed to the house of the deceased. Taking a three-pronged twig of Rhodomyrtus tomentosus, and placing a minige (Argyreia) leaf on the prongs, he thrusts it into a rubbish heap near the house. He then places a small quantity of samai grain, called street food, on the leaf, and, after sprinkling it thrice with water, goes away.

It was noted by Harkness that, at the burning-ground, the son or representative of the deceased dropped a little grain into the mouth of the corpse, carrying in his left hand a small bar of iron, which is supposed to have a repulsive power over the spirits that hover about the dead.

The final death ceremonies, or korambu, are celebrated on a Sunday. Towards evening the house of the deceased is cleansed with cow-dung, and Badaga men assemble therein, sending away all women. The chief mourner, accompanied by two Badagas carrying new pots, proceeds to a stream, where the pots are cleaned with cow-dung, and rubbed over with culms of Andropogon Schoenanthus. They are then filled with water, carried to the house, and deposited in the milk-room. At the entrance to the inner apartment, five agnates stand, holding a circular bamboo tray (kerachi) made of plaited bamboo, on which the chief mourner pours a small quantity of paddy, and spreads it with a sickle. The widow and other female relations come near, and cry. A few sickles or knives (preferably those which were used at the funeral) are placed on the tray, which is saluted by all the Badagas present. The paddy is husked in a mortar, and the rice cooked with Dolichos Lablab, Cicer arietinum, and other pulses, without the addition of salt. Early on the following morning, the eldest son, taking a small quantity of the rice to the roof of the house, places seven balls made therefrom on plantain or minige leaves, and recites the names of the male and female ancestors and forefathers, his mother, father, and brothers. The remainder of the rice is eaten by relations. In some places, the whole of the rice is divided into seven balls, and taken outside the house. Water is sprinkled over the roof, and a portion of the rice thrown thereon. Standing up before the assembled Badagas, an elder says "To-day we have acted up to the observances of our ancestors and forefathers. New ones should not be considered as old, or old as new. There is not a man carrying a head (wise man), or a woman carrying breasts (wise woman). May he become united with the men of his clan and caste."

The funeral rites of the Udayas differ in some important details from those of the Badaga sub-division. The buffalo catching, and leading the animal round the corpse, are omitted. But a steer and heifer are selected, and branded on the thigh, by means of a hot iron, with the lingam and other emblems. Bedecked with cloths and jewels, they are led to the side of the corpse, and made to stand on a blanket spread on the ground. They are treated as if they were lingams, and puja is done to them by offering cocoanuts and betel leaves, and throwing flowers over them. Round their necks kankanams (marriage threads) are tied. They are made to turn so as to face away from the corpse, and their tails are placed in the hands thereof. An elder then proceeds with the recitation of the dead person's sins. The Udayas bury their dead in a sitting posture in a cell dug out of the side of the grave, and, like the Irulas, prefer to use a grave in which a previous burial has taken place. At the four corners of the grave they place in the ground a plant of Leucas aspera, and pass a cotton thread laterally and diagonally across the grave, leaving out the side opposite the cell. Two men descend into the grave, and deposit the corpse in its resting place with two lighted lamps.

In 1905, an elaborate Badaga memorial ceremony for ancestors called manavalai, which takes place at long intervals, was celebrated on the Nilgiris. I gather from the notes of a Native official that an enormous car, called elu kudi teru (seven-storeyed car) was built of wood and bamboo, and decorated with silk and woollen fabrics, flags, and umbrellas. Inside the ground floor were a cot with a mattress and pillow, and the stem of a plantain tree. The souls of the ancestors are supposed to be reclining on the cot, resting their heads on the pillow, and chewing the plantain, while the umbrellas protect them from the sun and rain. The ear ornaments of all those who have died since the previous ceremony should be placed on the cot. "A Badaga fell and hurt himself during the erection of the car. Whereupon, another Badaga became possessed, and announced that the god was angry because a Kurumba had something to do with the building of the structure. A council meeting was held, and the Kurumba fined twenty-five rupees, which were credited to the god. Sixty-nine petty bazars and three beer taverns had been opened for the convenience of all classes of people that had assembled. One very old Badaga woman said that she was twelve years old when the first European was carried in a chair by the Todas, and brought up the ghat to the Nilgiris from Coimbatore. On Wednesday at 10 A.M. people from the adjoining villages were announced, and the Kota band, with the village people, went forward, greeted them, and brought them to the car. As each man approached it, he removed his turban, stooped over the pillow and laid his head on it, and then went to join the ring for the dance. The dancers wore skirts made of white long-cloth, white and cream silks and satins with border of red and blue trimming, frock dresses, and dressing-gowns, while the coats, blouses, and jackets were of the most gaudy colours of silk, velvet, velveteen, tweed, and home-spun. As each group of people arrived, they went first to the temple door, saluted the god, and went to the basement of the car to venerate the deceased, and then proceeded to dance for an hour, received their supplies of rice, etc., and cleared off. Thursday and Friday were the grandest days. Nearly three thousand females, and six thousand males, assembled on Thursday. To crown all the confusion, there appeared nearly a thousand Badagas armed with new mamotis (spades). They came on dancing for some distance, rushed into the crowd, and danced round the car. These Badagas belonged to a gang of public works, local fund, and municipal maistries. On the last day a sheep was slaughtered in honour of the deity. The musicians throughout the festivities were Kotas and Kurumbas. The dancing of the men of three score showed that they danced to music, and the stepping was admirable, while the dancing of young men did not show that they had any idea of dancing, or either taste or knowledge of music. They were merely skipping and jumping. This shows that the old art of the Badaga dance is fast decaying." The cot is eventually burnt at the burning-ground, as if it contained a corpse.

A kind of edible truffle (Mylitta lapidescens) is known as little man's bread on the Nilgiris. The Badaga legendary name for it is Pandva-unna-buthi, or dwarf bundle of food, [85] i.e., food of the dwarfs, who are supposed once to have inhabited the Nilgiris and built the pandu kulis or kistvaens.

The story goes that Lord Elphinstone, a former Governor of Madras, was anxious to build a residence at Kaiti. But the Badagas, who had on the desired site a sacred tree, would not part with the land. The Governor's steward succeeded in making the Badaga headman drunk, and secured, for a rental of thirty-five rupees annually, the site, whereon a villa was built, which now belongs to the Basel Mission. [86]

In a recent work, [87] Mr. A. H. Keane, in a note on the "Dravidian Aborigines," writes as follows. "All stand on the very lowest rung of the social ladder, being rude hillmen without any culture strictly so called, and often betraying marked negroid characters, as if they were originally Negroes or Negritos, later assimilated in some respects to their Dravidian conquerors. As they never had a collective racial name, they should now be called, not Dravidians or proto-Dravidians, but rather pre-Dravidians, as more collectively indicating their true ethnical relations. Such are the Kotas, Irulas, Badagas, and Kurumbas." It may be pointed out that the Badagas and Kotas of the Nilgiri plateau are not "wild tribes," have no trace of negroid characters, and no affinities with the Kurumbas and Irulas of the Nilgiri slopes. The figures in the following table speak for themselves:--

=========+=======================+======================
| Stature. | Nasal Index.
+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+======
| A | B | C | D | E | F
=========+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+======
Badaga | 164.1 | 180.2 | 159.9 | 75.6 | 88.4 | 62.7
Kota | 162.9 | 174.2 | 155. | 77.2 | 92.9 | 64.
Irula | 159.8 | 168. | 152. | 84.9 | 100. | 72.3
Kurumba | 157.5 | 163.6 | 149.6 | 88.8 | 111. | 79.1
=========+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+======

Column Headers: A = Average cm. B = Maximum cm.
C = Minimum cm. D = Average. E = Maximum. F = Minimum.

Badagi.--The carpenter sub-division of Panchalas.

Badhoyi.--The Badhoyis are Oriya carpenters and blacksmiths, of whom the former are known as Badhoyi, and the latter as Komaro. These are not separate castes, and the two sections both interdine and intermarry. The name Badhoyi is said to be derived from the Sanskrit vardhaki, which, in Oriya, becomes bardhaki, and indicates one who changes the form, i.e., of timber. Korti, derived from korto, a saw, occurs as the name of a section of the caste, the members of which are wood-sawyers. Socially, the Badhoyis occupy the same position as Doluvas, Kalinjis, and various other agricultural classes, and they do not, like the Tamil Kammalans, claim to be Viswakarma Brahmans, descended from Viswakarma, the architect of the gods.

The hereditary headman is called Maharana, and, in some places, there seem to be three grades of Maharana, viz., Maharana, Dondopato Maharana, and Swangso Maharana. These headmen are assisted by a Bhollobhaya or Dolobehara, and there is a further official called Agopothiria, whose duty it is to eat with an individual who is re-admitted into the caste after a council meeting. This duty is sometimes performed by the Maharana. Ordinary meetings of council are convened by the Maharana and Bhollobhaya. But, if a case of a serious nature is to be tried, a special council meeting, called kulo panchayat, is held in a grove or open space outside the village. All the Maharanas and other officers, and representatives of five castes (panchapatako) equal or superior to the Badhoyis in the social scale, attend such a council. The complainant goes to the Swangso Maharana, and, giving him fifty areca nuts, asks him to convene the council meeting. Punishment inflicted by the caste council usually assumes the form of a fine, the amount of which depends on the worldly prosperity of the delinquent, who, if very indigent, may be let off with a reprimand and warning. Sometimes offences are condoned by feeding Brahmans or the Badhoyi community. Small sums, collected as fines, are appropriated by the headman, and large sums are set apart towards a fund for meeting the marriage expenses of the poorer members of the caste, and the expenditure in connection with kulo panchayats.

Concerning the marriage ceremonies, Mr. D. Mahanty writes as follows. "At a marriage among the Badhoyis, and various other castes in Ganjam, two pith crowns are placed on the head of the bridegroom. On his way to the bride's house, he is met by her purohit (priest) and relations, and her barber washes his feet, and presents him with a new yellow cloth, flowers, and kusa grass (also called dharbha grass). When he arrives at the house, amid the recitations of stanzas by the priest, the blowing of conch shells and other music, the women of the bride's party make a noise called hulu-huli, and shower kusa grass over him. At the marriage booth, the bridegroom sits upon a raised 'altar,' and the bride, who arrives accompanied by his maternal uncle, pours salt, yellow-coloured rice, and parched paddy (rice) over the head of the bridegroom, by whose side she seats herself. One of the pith crowns is removed from the bridegroom's forehead, and placed on that of the bride. Various Brahmanical rites are then performed, and the bride's father places her hand in that of the bridegroom. A bundle of straw is now placed on the altar, on which the contracting parties sit, the bridegroom facing east, and the bride west. The purohit rubs a little jaggery over the bridegroom's right palm, joins it to the palm of the bride, and ties their two hands together with a rope made of kusa grass (hasthagonti). A yellow cloth is tied to the cloths which the bridal pair are wearing, and stretched over their shoulders (gontiyala). The hands are then untied by a married woman. Sradha is performed for the propitiation of ancestors, and the purohit, repeating some mantrams (prayers), blesses the pair by throwing yellow rice over them. On the sixth day of the ceremony, the bridegroom runs away from the house of his father-in-law, as if he was displeased, and goes to the house of a relation in the same or an adjacent village. His brother-in-law, or other male relation of the bride, goes in search of him, and, when he has found him, rubs some jaggery over his face, and brings him back." As an example of the stanzas recited by the purohit, the following may be cited:--

I have presented with my mind and word, and also with kusa grass
and water.

The witnesses of this are fire, Brahmans, women, relations,
and all the devatas.

Forgive this presentable faithful maid.

I am performing the marriage according to the Vedic rites.

Women are full of all kinds of faults. Forgive these faults.

Brahma is the god of this maid.

By the grace of the god Vasudeva, I give to thee the bridegroom.

The Badhoyis are Paramarthos, and follow the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They further worship various village deities. The dead are cremated. The corpse of a dead person is washed, not at the house, but at the burning-ground.

The most common caste title is Maharana. But, in some zemindaris, such titles as Bindhani Rathno, and Bindhani Bushano, have been conferred by the zemindars on carpenters for the excellence of their work.

The carpenters and blacksmiths hold inams or rent-free lands both under zemindars and under Government. In return, they are expected to construct a car for the annual festival of the village deity, at which, in most places, the car is burnt at the conclusion of the festival. They have further to make agricultural implements for the villagers, and, when officials arrive on circuit, to supply tent-pegs, etc.

Bagata.--The Bagatas, Bhaktas, or Baktas are a class of Telugu fresh-water fishermen, who are said to be very expert at catching fish with a long spear. It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "on the Dasara day they worship the fishing baskets, and also (for some obscure reason) a kind of trident." The trident is probably the fishing spear. Some of the Bagatas are hill cultivators in the Agency tracts of Vizagapatam. They account for their name by the tradition that they served with great devotion (bhakti) the former rulers of Golgonda and Madugula, who made grants of land to them in mokhasa tenure. Some of them are heads of hill villages. The head of a single village is called a Padal, and it may be noted that Padala occurs as an exogamous sept of the Kapus, of which caste it has been suggested that the Bagatas are an offshoot. The overlord of a number of Padals styles himself Nayak or Raju, and a Mokhasadar has the title of Dora. It is recorded, in the Census Report, 1871, that "in the low country the Bhaktas consider themselves to take the rank of soldiery, and rather disdain the occupation of ryots (cultivators). Here, however (in hill Madugulu in the Vizagapatam district), necessity has divested them of such prejudices, and they are compelled to delve for their daily bread. They generally, nevertheless, manage to get the Kapus to work for them, for they make poor farmers, and are unskilled in husbandry."

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that "Matsya gundam (fish pool) is a curious pool on the Macheru (fish river) near the village of Matam, close under the great Yendrika hill, 5,188 feet above the sea. A barrier of rocks runs right across the river there, and the stream plunges into a great hole and vanishes beneath this, reappearing again about a hundred yards lower down. Just where it emerges from under the barrier, it forms a pool, which is crowded with mahseer of all sizes. These are wonderfully tame, the bigger ones feeding fearlessly from one's hand, and even allowing their backs to be stroked. They are protected by the Madgole zamindars--who on several grounds venerate all fish--and by superstitious fears. Once, goes the story, a Brinjari caught one and turned it into curry, whereon the king of the fish solemnly cursed him, and he and all his pack-bullocks were turned into rocks, which may be seen there till this day. At Sivaratri, a festival occurs at the little thatched shrine near by, the priest at which is a Bagata, and part of the ritual consists in feeding the sacred fish.

"In 1901, certain envious Bagatas looted one of the villages of the Konda Malas or hill Paraiyans, a pushing set of traders, who are rapidly acquiring wealth and exalted notions, on the ground that they were becoming unduly arrogant. The immediate cause of the trouble was the fact that at a cockfight the Malas' birds had defeated the Bagatas'."

In a note on the Bagatas, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that the caste is divided into exogamous septs or intiperulu, some of which occur also among the Kapus, Telagas, and Vantaris. Girls are married either before or after puberty, and the custom, called menarikam, which renders it a man's duty to marry his maternal uncle's daughter, is the general rule. An Oriya or Telugu Brahman officiates at marriages, and the bride is presented with jewelry as a substitute for the bride-price (voli) in money. It is noted, in the Census Report, 1901, that, at a wedding, the bridegroom is struck by his brother-in-law, who is then presented with a pair of new cloths. The Bagatas are both Vaishnavites and Saivites, and the former get themselves branded on the arm by a Vaishnava guru, who lives in the Godavari district. The Vaishnavites burn their dead, and the Saivites bury them in the customary sitting attitude. Satanis officiate for the former, and Jangams for the latter. Both sections perform the chinna and pedda rozu (big and little day) death ceremonies. The hill Bagatas observe the Itiga Ponduga festival, which is celebrated by the hill classes in Vizagapatam.

Bahusagara (many seas).--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a synonym of Rangari. The Rangaris are tailors and dyers, and the signification of the name is not clear.

Baidya.--See Vaidyan.

Bainedu.--The Bainedu, or Bainedi, as they are called in the Census Report, 1901, are the musicians and barbers of the Malas and Madigas. At the peddadinamu death ceremony of the Gamallas, a Mala Bainedu takes part in the recitation of the story of Ankamma, and in making the designs (muggu) on the ground.

Bairagi.--The Bairagis are a class of religious mendicants, who roam about all over India, and are for the most part recruited from North Indian castes. They are followers of Ramanand, who founded the order at the end of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century. According to common tradition, the schism of Ramanand originated in resentment of an affront offered him by his fellow disciples, and sanctioned by his teacher. It is said that he had spent some time in travelling through various parts of India, after which he returned to the math, or residence of his superior. His brethren objected to him that in the course of his peregrinations it was impossible he could have observed that privacy in his meals, which is a vital observance of the Ramanuja sect; and, as Raghavanand admitted the validity of the objection, Ramanand was condemned to feed in a place apart from the rest of the disciples. He was highly incensed at the order, and retired from the society altogether, establishing a schism of his own. [88]

The name Bairagi is derived from the Sanskrit vairagya (vi + rag), denoting without desire or passion, and indicates an ascetic, who has subdued his passions, and liberated himself from worldly desires. The Bairagis are sometimes called Bavaji or Sadhu.

The Bairagis are Vaishnavites, and bear the Tengalai Vaishnava mark (namam), made with sandal-paste or gopi, on the forehead. Bairagis with a Vadagalai mark are very rare. The Bairagis wear necklaces of tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) beads or lotus (Nelumbium speciosum) seeds. Every Bairagi cooks his food within a space cleansed with cow-dung water by himself or his disciple, and will not leave the space until he has finished his meal. The Bairagis are not particular about screening the space from the public gaze. They partake of one meal daily, in the afternoon, and are abstainers from flesh dietary. They live mainly on alms obtained in the bazars, or in choultries (rest-houses for travellers). They generally carry with them one or two brass vessels for cooking purposes, a salagrama stone and a conch-shell for worship, and a chillum (pipe) for smoking ganja (Indian hemp) or opium. They are, as a rule, naked except for a small piece of cloth tied round the waist and passed between the thighs. Some wear more elaborate body-clothing, and a turban. They generally allow the beard to grow, and the hair of the head is long and matted, with sometimes a long tail of yak or human hair tied in a knot on the top of the head. Those who go about nearly naked smear ashes all over their bodies. When engaged in begging, some go through the streets, uttering aloud the name of some God. Others go from house to house, or remain at a particular spot, where people are expected to give them alms.

Some Bairagis are celibates, and others married. They are supposed to be celibates, but, as Dr. T. N. Bhattacharjee observes, [89] the "monks of this order have generally a large number of nuns attached to their convents, with whom they openly live as man and wife." The Bairagis are very particular about the worship of the salagrama stone, and will not partake of food without worshipping it. When so doing, they cover their head with a piece of cloth (Ram nam ka safa), on which the name Rama is printed in Devanagiri characters. Their face and shoulders are stamped, by means of brass stamps, with the word Rama in similar characters. For the purpose of meditation, the Bairagi squats on the ground, sometimes with a deer or tiger skin beneath him, and rests his hands on the cross-piece of his yoga-dandam, or bent stick. A pair of tongs is stuck in the ground on his right side, and sometimes fire is kept near it. It is noted by Mr. J. C. Oman [90] that "a most elaborate ritual has been laid down for the guidance of Bairagis in the daily routine of the indispensable business and duties of life, prescribing in minute detail how, for example, the ascetic should wash, bathe, sit down, perform pranayam (stoppage or regulation of respiration), purify his body, purge his mind, meditate on Vishnu, repeat the Gayatri (hymn) as composed for the special use of members of the sect, worship Rama, Sita, Lakshman, Bharata, and Satringah, together with Rama's bows and arrows, and, lastly, the monkey god Hanuman."

The Bairagis have a guru or priest, whom they call Mahant. Some visit the celebrated temple near Tirupati and pay their respects to the Mahant thereof.

Baisya.--A sub-division of Koronos of Ganjam.

Baita Kammara.--The name, meaning outside blacksmiths, applied to Kamsala blacksmiths, who occupy a lowly position, and work in the open air or outside a village. [91]

Bajantri.--A synonym of Mangala, indicating their occupation as professional musicians.

Bakta.--See Bagata.

Bakuda.--A sub-division of Holeya.

Balanollu.--Balanollu and Badranollu are names of gotras of Ganigas, the members of which may not cut Erythroxylon monogynum.

Balasantosha.--The Balasantosha or Balasanta vandlu (those who please children) are described in the Kurnool Manual as "ballad reciters, whose chief stories are the Bobbili katha, or the story of the siege of the fort of Bobbili in Vizagapatam by Bussy; the Kurnool Nabob's katha or the story of the resumption of Kurnool by the English; and the tale of the quarrels between Ganga and Parvati, the two wives of Siva."

Balegara (bangle man).--An occupational sub-division of Banajiga.