In an interesting article on the Donga Dasaris, Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri writes as follows. [107] "Quite opposed to the gudi (temple) Dasaris are Donga Dasaris. They are the most dreaded of the criminal classes in the Bellary district. In the early years of their settlement in Bellary, these Donga Dasaris were said to have practiced kidnapping boys and girls of other castes to strengthen their number, and even now, as the practice stands, any person can become a Donga Dasari though very few would like to become one. But, for all that, the chief castes who furnished members to this brotherhood of robbery were the scum of the Lingayats and the Kabberas. Of course, none of the respectable members of these castes would join them, and only those who were excommunicated found a ready home among these Donga Dasaris. Sometimes Muhammadan budmashes (bad-mash, evil means of livelihood) and the worst characters from other castes, also become Donga Dasaris. The way an alien is made a Donga Dasari is as follows. The regular Donga Dasaris take the party who wants to enter their brotherhood to the side of a river, make him bathe in oil, give him a new cloth, hold a council, and give a feast. They burn a twig of the sami (Prosopis spicigera) or margosa (Melia Azadirachta) tree, and slightly burn the tongue of the party who has joined them. This is the way of purification and acceptance of every new member, who, soon after the tongue-burning ceremony, is given a seat in the general company, and made to partake of the common feast. The Donga Dasaris talk both Telugu and Kanarese. They have only two bedagas or family names, called Sunna Akki (thin rice) and Ghantelavaru (men of the bell). As the latter is a family name of the Kabberas, it is an evidence that members of the latter community have joined the Donga Dasaris. Even now Donga Dasaris intermarry with Kabberas, i.e., they accept any girl from a Kabbera family in marriage to one of their sons, but do not give one of their daughters in marriage to a Kabbera boy. Hanuman is their chief god. Venkatesa, an incarnation of Vishnu, is also worshipped by many. But, in every one of their villages, they have a temple dedicated to their village goddess Huligavva or Ellamma, and it is only before these goddesses that they sacrifice sheep or fowls. Vows are undertaken for these village goddesses when children fall ill. In addition to this, these Donga Dasaris are notorious for taking vows before starting on a thieving expedition, and the way these ceremonies are gone through is as follows. The gang, before starting on a thieving expedition, proceed to a jungle near their village in the early part of the night, worship their favourite goddesses Huligavva or Ellamma, and sacrifice a sheep or fowl before her. They place one of their turbans on the head of the sheep or fowl that was sacrificed, as soon as the head falls on the ground. If the turban turns to the