Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7Thurston, Edgar
General
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
From this point the practice of the
two sections differs in small points of detail. Among the Vadaseris,
the friends come one by one, and are asked by the chief mourner,
"Will you embrace, or will you strike your forehead?" In reply, the
friend either closes the open hand of the chief mourner with his own
as a form of embrace, or flings himself on the ground in the booth,
and weeps. Each visitor then goes to a meeting of the nadu which
is being held outside the village, and a Paraiyan and three Uralis
inform the headman who have visited the booth and who have not, and
ask if it may be removed. Permission being given, the plantains are
cut down, and the woman-folk wail round a chembu (vessel) placed
there. All then proceed to the nadu meeting, where a turban is
put on a Paraiyan, a dancing-girl and a Pandaram, and the Paraiyan
(called Nattu Samban) beats his drum, and pronounces a blessing on
the nadu. Finally all repair to the house of the deceased, where the
headman puts three handfuls of kambu (millet) into the cloth of his
wife or some other member of the family, and throws a mortar on the
ground. Punishments for caste offences take some curious forms. A
margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaf is put on the house of anyone who is
excommunicated. If a man seduces a girl of the caste, an enquiry is
held, and the pair are married. The waist-string of the man is tied
round the neck of the woman, and a Tottiyan is called in to take away
the pollution which they and their relatives have incurred. They are
taken to a tank (pond), where 108 holes have been made by the Tottiyan,
and are made to bathe in every hole, sprinkling the water over their
heads. A sheep is then killed by a Tottiyan and a Chakkiliyan, its
head is buried, and the couple and their relatives are made to walk
over the spot. The blood of the animal is then smeared on their
foreheads, and they all have to bathe again. They are next given
cow's urine to drink, and then once more bathe. After that they are
given milk, and are made to prostrate themselves before the panchayat
(council). Finally they have to give a feast to the panchayat, at which
a part of the food is offered to the crows, and the purification is
not complete till the birds have partaken thereof. The Uralis are
fond of shikar (hunting). On the Sivaratri night, sacrifices are
offered to their family gods, and, on the following day, all the men
of the village go out hunting. They have a head shikari (huntsman),
called Kavettaikaran, who receives every animal which is killed,
cuts off its head, and breaks its legs. The head is given to the man
who killed the animal, and the rest is shared among the castemen."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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