Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
The members of the caste reverence a deity called Ekkaladevata,
who is said to have been left behind at their original home. The
dead are cremated, and the chinna rozu (little day) death ceremony
is observed. On the third day, cooked rice is thrown over the spot
where the corpse was burnt.
Gudavandlu.--Recorded, in the Nellore Manual, as Vaishnavites,
who earn their livelihood by begging. The name means basket people,
and probably refers to Satanis, who carry a basket (guda) when begging.
Gudi (temple).--A sub-division of Okkiliyan, an exogamous sept of Jogi,
and a name for temple Dasaris, to distinguish them from the Donga or
thieving Dasaris.
Gudigara.--In the South Canara Manual, the Gudigaras are summed up as
follows. "They are a Canarese caste of wood-carvers and painters. They
are Hindus of the Saivite sect, and wear the sacred thread. Shivalli
Brahmans officiate as their priests. Some follow the aliya santana
mode of inheritance (in the female line), others the ordinary
law. They must marry within the caste, but not within the same gotra
or family. Infant marriage is not compulsory, and they have the dhare
form of marriage. Among those who follow the aliya santana law, both
widows and divorced women may marry again, but this is not permitted
among the other sections. The dead are either cremated or buried,
the former being the preferential mode. The use of alcoholic liquor,
and fish and flesh is permitted. Their ordinary title is Setti."
"The Gudigars, or sandal-wood carvers," Mr. D'Cruz writes, [153]
"are reported to have come originally from Goa, their migration
to Mysore and Canara having been occasioned by the attempts of the
early Portuguese invaders to convert them to Christianity. The fact
that their original language is Konkani corroborates their reputed
Konkanese origin. They say that the derivation of the word Gudigara
is from gudi, a temple, and that they were so called because they
were, in their own country, employed as carvers and painters in the
ornamentation of temples. Another derivation is from the Sanskrit
kuttaka (a carver). They assert that their fellow castemen are
still employed in turning, painting, and other decorative arts at
Goa. Like the Chitrakaras (ornamenters or decorative artists), they
claim to be Kshatriyas, and tradition has it that, to escape the
wrath of Parasu Rama in the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, who vowed
to destroy all Kshatriyas, they adopted the profession of carvers
and car-builders. They are also expert ivory-carvers, and it has been
suggested that they may be distantly connected with the Kondikars, or
ivory-carvers of Bengal. The art of sandalwood carving is confined
to a few families in the Sorab and Sagar taluks of the Shimoga
district, in the north-west corner of the province. There are two
or three families in Sagar, and about six in Sorab, which contribute
in all about thirty-five artisans employed in the craft. The art is
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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