Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 3 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 3 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
in procession, and, in the Bellary district, a further day is devoted
to the surgi ceremony. The bride and bridegroom bathe together, go to
the local temple, and return. Then five girls bathe, the five posts of
the marriage pandal are worshipped, and the kankanams (wrist-threads)
are removed from the wrists of the newly-married couple.
Kalinga Komatis, who live in the northern part of Ganjam, and have
forgotten their mother-tongue, have practically adopted the Oriya
customs, as they have to depend mainly on Oriya Brahmans. At their
marriages, however, they use the Telugu bottu or sathamanam.
Widow remarriage is not permitted among any sections of the caste,
which is very strict in the observance of this rule. Except among
the Saivites, a widow is not compelled to have her head shaved,
or give up wearing jewelry, or the use of betel. In the south
of the Madras Presidency, if a little girl becomes a widow, her
mangalyam is not removed, and her head is not shaved till she reaches
maturity. Vaishnava widows always retain their hair.
Concerning a form of marriage between the living and the dead,
performed by members of this caste if a man and woman have been living
together, and the man dies, Mr. Hutchinson writes as follows. [146]
"The sad intelligence of her man's death is communicated to her
neighbours, a guru or priest is summoned, and the ceremony takes
place. According to a writer who once witnessed such a proceeding,
the dead body of the man was placed against the outer wall of the
verandah of the house in a sitting posture, attired like a bridegroom,
and the face and hands besmeared with turmeric. The woman was clothed
like a bride, and adorned with the usual tinsel ornament over the
face, which, as well as the arms, was daubed over with yellow. She
sat opposite the dead body, and spoke to it in light unmeaning words,
and then chewed bits of dry cocoanuts, and squirted them on the face
of the dead man. This continued for hours, and not till near sunset
was the ceremony brought to a close. Then the head of the corpse was
bathed, and covered with a cloth of silk, the face rubbed over with
some red powder, and betel leaves placed in the mouth. Now she might
consider herself married, and the funeral procession started." This
refers to the Vira Saiva or Lingayat Komatis of the Northern Circars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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