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
as heirlooms in the family, to be used at the next marriage in the
house. According to a still more recent account of marriage among the
Kondhs [172] an old woman suddenly rushes forward, seizes the bride,
flings her on her back, and carries her off. A man comes to the front,
catches the groom, and places him astride on his shoulder. The human
horses neigh and prance about like the live quadruped, and finally
rush away to the outskirts of the village. This is a signal for the
bride's girl friends to chase the couple, and pelt them with clods of
earth, stones, mud, cowdung, and rice. When the mock assault is at an
end, the older people come up, and all accompany the bridal pair to
the groom's village. A correspondent informs me that he once saw a
Kondh bride going to her new home, riding on her uncle's shoulders,
and wrapped in a red blanket. She was followed by a bevy of girls
and relations, and preceded by drums and horns. He was told that the
uncle had to carry her the whole way, and that, if he had to put her
down, a fine of a buffalo was inflicted, the animal being killed and
eaten. It is recorded that a European magistrate once mistook a Kondh
marriage for a riot, but, on enquiry, discovered his mistake.
Reference has been made above to certain brass playthings,
which are carried in the bridal procession. The figures include
peacocks, chamæleons, cobras, crabs, horses, deer, tigers, cocks,
elephants, human beings, musicians, etc. They are cast by the cire
perdue process. The core of the figure is roughly shaped in clay,
according to the usual practice, but, instead of laying on the wax
in an even thickness, thin wax threads are first made, and arranged
over the core so as to form a network, or placed in parallel lines
or diagonally, according as the form of the figure or fancy of the
workman dictates. The head, arms, and feet are modelled in the ordinary
way. The wax threads are made by means of a bamboo tube, into the
end of which a moveable brass plate is fitted. The wax, being made
sufficiently soft by heat, is pressed through the perforation at the
end of the tube, and comes out in the form of long threads, which must
be used by the workmen before they become hard and brittle. The chief
place where these figures are made is Belugunta, near Russellkonda in
Ganjam. It is noted by Mr. J. A. R. Stevenson [173] that the Kondhs
of Gumsur, to represent their deities Jara Pennu, the Linga Devata,
or Petri Devata, keep in their houses brass figures of elephants,
peacocks, dolls, fishes, etc. If affliction happens to any one
belonging to the household, or if the country skin eruption breaks out
on any of them, they put rice into milk, and, mixing turmeric with it,
sprinkle the mixture on the figures, and, killing fowls and sheep,
cause worship to be made by the Jani, and, making baji, eat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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