Part 19

A Pulluvan and his wife preside at the ceremony called Pamban Tullal to propitiate the snake gods of the nagattan kavus, or serpent shrines. For this, a pandal (booth) is erected by driving four posts into the ground, and putting over them a silk or cotton canopy. A hideous figure of a huge snake is made on the floor with powders of five colours. Five colours are essential, as they are visible on the necks of snakes. Rice is scattered over the floor. Worship is performed to Ganesa, and cocoanuts and rice are offered. Incense is burnt, and a lamp placed on a plate. The members of the family go round the booth, and the woman, from whom the devil has to be cast out, bathes, and takes her seat on the western side, holding a bunch of palm flowers. The Pulluvan and his wife begin the music, vocal and instrumental, the woman keeping time with the pot-drum by striking on a metal vessel. As they sing songs in honour of the snake deity, the young female members of the family, who have been purified by a bath, and are seated, begin to quiver, sway their heads to and fro in time with the music, and the tresses of their hair are let loose. In their state of excitement, they beat upon the floor, and rub out the figure of the snake with palm flowers. This done, they proceed to the snake-grove, and prostrate themselves before the stone images of snakes, and recover consciousness. They take milk, water from a tender cocoanut, and plantains. The Pulluvan stops singing, and the ceremony is over. "Sometimes," Mr. Gopal Panikkar writes, "the gods appear in the bodies of all these females, and sometimes only in those of a select few, or none at all. The refusal of the gods to enter into such persons is symbolical of some want of cleanliness in them: which contingency is looked upon as a source of anxiety to the individual.

It may also suggest the displeasure of these gods towards the family, in respect of which the ceremony is performed. In either case, such refusal on the part of the gods is an index of their ill-will or dissatisfaction. In cases where the gods refuse to appear in any one of those seated for the purpose, the ceremony is prolonged until the gods are so properly propitiated as to constrain them to manifest themselves. Then, after the lapse of the number of days fixed for the ceremony, and, after the will of the serpent gods is duly expressed, the ceremonies close." Sometimes, it is said, it may be considered necessary to rub away the figure as many as 101 times, in which case the ceremony is prolonged over several weeks. Each time that the snake design is destroyed, one or two men, with torches in their hands, perform a dance, keeping step to the Pulluvan's music. The family may eventually erect a small platform or shrine in a corner of their grounds, and worship at it annually. The snake deity will not, it is believed, manifest himself if any of the persons, or articles required for the ceremony, are impure, e.g., if the pot-drum has been polluted by the touch of a menstruating female. The Pulluvan, from whom a drum was purchased for the Madras Museum, was very reluctant to part with it, lest it should be touched by an impure woman.

The Pulluvans worship the gods of the Brahmanical temples, from a distance, and believe in spirits of all sorts and conditions. They worship Velayuthan, Ayyappa, Rahu, Muni, Chathan, Mukkan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, and others. Muni is a well-disposed deity, to whom, once a year, rice, plantains, and cocoanuts are offered. To Mukkan, Karinkutti, and others, sheep and fowls are offered. A floral device (padmam) is drawn on the floor with nine divisions in rice-flour, on each of which a piece of tender cocoanut leaf, and a lighted wick dipped in cocoanut oil, are placed. Parched rice, boiled beans, jaggery (crude sugar), cakes, plantains, and toddy are offered, and camphor and incense burnt. If a sheep has to be sacrificed, boiled rice is offered, and water sprinkled over the head of the sheep before it is killed. If it shakes itself, so that it frees itself from the water, it is considered as a favourable omen. On every new-moon day, offerings of mutton, fowls, rice-balls, toddy, and other things, served up on a plantain leaf, are made to the souls of the departed. The celebrants, who have bathed and cooked their own food on the previous day, prostrate themselves, and say "Ye dead ancestors, we offer what we can afford. May you take the gifts, and be pleased to protect us."

The Pulluvans bury their dead. The place of burial is near a river, or in a secluded spot near the dwelling of the deceased. The corpse is covered with a cloth, and a cocoanut placed with it. Offerings of rice-balls are made by the son daily for fifteen days, when pollution ceases, and a feast is held.

At the present day, some Pulluvans work at various forms of labour, such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, fencing, and cutting timber, for which they are paid in money or kind. They are, in fact, day-labourers, living in huts built on the waste land of some landlord, for which they pay a nominal ground-rent. They will take food prepared by Brahmans, Nayars, Kammalans, and Izhuvas, but not that prepared by a Mannan or Kaniyan. Carpenters and Izhuvas bathe when a Pulluvan has touched them. But the Pulluvans are polluted by Cherumas, Pulayas, Paraiyans, Ulladans, and others. The women wear the kacha, like Izhuva women, folded twice, and worn round the loins, and are seldom seen with an upper body-cloth. [116]

Puluvan.--The Puluvans have been described [117] as "a small tribe of cultivators found in the district of Coimbatore. Puluvans are the learned men among the Coimbatore Vellalas, and are supposed to be the depositaries of the poet Kamban's works. One authority from Coimbatore writes that the traditional occupation of this caste is military service, and derives the word from bhu, earth, and valavan, a ruler; while another thinks that the correct word is Puruvan, aborigines. Their girls are married usually after they attain maturity. In the disposal of the dead, both cremation and burial are in vogue, the tendency being towards the former. They are flesh-eaters. Their customs generally resemble those of the Konga Vellalas."

The Puluvans call themselves Puluva Vellalas.

Punamalli.--The name of a division of Vellalas derived from Poonamallee, an old military station near Madras.

Puni.--A sub-division of Golla.

Punjala (cock, or male).--An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Puppalli.--See Unni.

Puragiri Kshatriya.--A name assumed by some Perikes.

Puramalai, Puramalainadu or Piramalainadu.--A territorial sub-division of Kallan.

Puranadi.--Barbers and priests of the Velans of Travancore, who are also called Velakkuruppu.

Purattu Charna.--A sub-division of Nayar.

Purusha.--See Jogi Purusha.

Pusa (beads).--A sub-division of Balija. A sub-division of the Yerukalas is known as Pusalavadu, or sellers of glass beads.

Pusali.--A title of Occhans, or pujaris (priests) at temples of Grama Devatas (village deities).

Pusapati.--The family name of the Maharajahs of Vizianagram. From the Kshatriyas in Rajputana people of four gotrams are said to have come to the Northern Circars several centuries ago, having the Pusapati family at their head. [118] The name of the present Maharaja is Mirza Rajah Sri Pusapati Viziarama Gajapati Raj Manya Sultan Bahadur Garu.

Pushpakan.--A class of Ambalavasis in Malabar and Travancore. "As their name (pushpam, a flower) implies, they are employed in bringing flowers and garlands to the temples." [119] See Unni.

Puthukka Nattar (people of the new country).--A sub-division of Idaiyan.

Putiya Islam.--Pu Islam or Putiya Islam is the name returned mostly by Mukkuvans, in reference to their new conversion to the Muhammadan faith.

Putta (ant-hill).--An exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, Mala, Medara, and Padma Sale. 'White-ant' (Termites) hills are frequently worshipped as being the abode of snakes.

Puttiya.--A sub-division of Rona.

Puttur.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nayar.

Puzhi Tacchan (sand carpenter).--The name of a small section of Malabar Kammalans.

R

Racha (= Raja).--Racha or Rachu, signifying regal, occurs as the title of various Telugu classes, for example, Balija, Golla, Kapu, Konda Dora, Koya, Majjulu, and Velama. Some Perikes, who claim to be Kshatriyas, call themselves Racha Perikes. Racha is further given as an abbreviated form of Mutracha.

Rachevar.--It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that "there are three broad distinctions founded on the traditional occupation, but there are two main exclusive divisions of Telugu and Kannada Rachevars. One set, called Ranagare, are military, and most of them are found employed in His Highness the Maharaja's Rachevar and Bale forces. The second, consisting of the Chitragaras or Bannagaras, make good paintings, decorations, and lacquered ware and toys. The last consists of the Sarige, or gold lace makers. These people claim to be Kshatriyas--a pretension not generally acquiesced in by the other castes. They trace their origin to a passage in Brahmanda Purana, wherein it is said that, for an injury done to a Brahman, they were condemned to follow mechanical occupations." In connection with recent Dasara festivities at Mysore, I read that there were wrestling matches, acrobatic feats, dumb-bell and figure exercises by Rachevars.

In the Tanjore Manual it is noted that the Rachevars are "descendants of immigrants from the Telugu country, who apparently followed the Nayak viceroys of the Vijayanagar empire in the sixteenth century. They are more or less jealous of the purity of their caste. Their language is Telugu. They wear the sacred thread."

In the city of Madras, and in other places in Tamil country, the Rachevars are called Razus or Mucchis, who must not be confused with the Mucchis of Mysore and the Ceded districts, who are shoe-makers, and speak Marathi. In the Telugu country, there are two distinct sections of Rachevars, viz., Saivite and Vaishnavite. The Saivite Rachevars in the Kistna district style themselves Arya Kshatriyalu, but they are commonly called Nakash-vandlu, which is a Hindustani synonym of Chitrakara or Jinigiri-vandlu. The Vaishnavites are known as Jinigiri-vandlu, and are said not to intermarry with the Saivites.

Rafizi.--A term, meaning a forsaker, used by Sunni Muhammadans for any sect of Shiahs. The name appears, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Rabjee.

Ragala (ragi: Eleusine Coracana).--An exogamous sept of Chembadi, Korava and Madiga. The equivalent Ragithannaya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant. Ragi grain constitutes the staple diet of the poorer classes, who cannot afford rice, and of prisoners in jails, for whom it is ground into flour, and boiled into a pudding about the consistency of blanc-mange. The name is derived from raga, red, in reference to the red colour of the grain.

Raghindala (pipal: Ficus religiosa).--A gotra of Gollas, the members of which are not allowed to use the leaves of this tree as food-plates.

Rajakan.--A Sanskrit equivalent of Vannan (washerman).

Rajamahendram.--The name, in reference to the town of Rajahmundry in the Godavari district, of a sub-division of Balija.

Rajamakan.--A Tamil synonym for the Telugu Razu.

Rajavasal.--The name, denoting those who are servants of Rajas, of a sub-division of Agamudaiyans, which has been transformed into Rajavamsu, meaning those of kingly parentage. The equivalent Rajavamsam is recorded, in the Census Report, 1901, as being returned by some Maravans in Madura and Kurumbans in Trichinopoly. Rajakulam, Rajabasha, or Rajaboga occurs as a sub-division of Agamudaiyan.

Rajpinde.--See Arasu.

Rajpuri.--The Rajpuris, or Rajapuris, are a Konkani-speaking caste of traders and cultivators in South Canara. Concerning them, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows. [120] "The Rajapuris, also called Balolikars, were originally traders, and perhaps have some claim to be considered Vaisyas. In social status they admit themselves to be inferior only to Brahmans. They wear the sacred thread, profess the Saiva faith, and employ Karadi Brahmans as priests in all their ceremonies. Their girls should be married before the age of puberty, and marriage of widows is not permitted. The marriage ceremony chiefly consists in the hands of the bride and bridegroom being united together, and held by the bride's father while her mother pours water over them. The water should first fall on the bride's hands, and then flow on to those of the bridegroom. This takes place at the bride's house. A curious feature in the ceremony is that for four days either the bride or bridegroom should occupy the marriage bed; it must never be allowed to become vacant. [This ceremony is called pajamadmai, or mat marriage.] On the fourth day, the couple go to the bridegroom's house, where a similar 'sitting' on the marriage bed takes place. They are mostly vegetarians, rice being their chief food, but some use fish, and rear fowls and goats for sale as food. Many are now cultivators."

It may be noted that, among the Shivalli Brahmans, the mat is taken to a tank in procession. The bride and bridegroom make a pretence of catching fish, and, with linked hands, touch their foreheads.

In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Rajapuri Konkanasta is given as a synonym of the Rajapuris, who are said to be one of the sixty-six classes of Konkanasta people, who inhabited the sixty-six villages of the Konkan. In the Census Report, 1901, Kudaldeshkara and Kudlukara are returned as sub-divisions of Rajapuri. The Kudlukaras are Konkani-speaking confectioners, who follow the Brahmanical customs.

Rajput.--The Rajputs (Sanskrit, raja-putra, son of a king) have been defined [121] as "the warrior and land-owning race of Northern India, who are also known as Thakur, lord, or Chhatri, the modern representative of the ancient Kshatriya." At the Madras census, 1891 and 1901, the number of individuals, who returned themselves as Rajputs, was 13,754 and 15,273. "It needs," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [122] "but a cursory examination of the sub-divisions returned under the head Rajput to show that many of these individuals have no claim whatever to the title of Rajput. The number of pure Rajputs in this Presidency must be very small indeed, and I only mention the caste in order to explain that the number of persons returning it is far in excess of the actual number of Rajputs." Mr. Stuart writes further [123] concerning the Rajputs of the North Arcot district that "there are but few of this caste in the district, and they chiefly reside in Vellore; a few families are also found in Chittoor and Tirupati. They assert that they are true Kshatriyas who came from Rajputana with the Muhammadan armies, and they, more than any other claimants to a Kshatriya descent, have maintained their fondness for military service. Almost all are sepoys or military pensioners. Their names always end with Singh, and in many of their customs they resemble the Muhammadans, speaking Hindustani, and invariably keeping their wives gosha. They are often erroneously spoken of by the people as Bondilis, a term which is applicable only to the Vaisya and Sudra immigrants from Northern India; but doubtless many of these lower classes have taken the title Singh, and called themselves Rajputs. Members of the caste are, therefore, very suspicious of strangers professing to be Rajputs. Their cooking apartment, called chowka, is kept most religiously private, and a line is drawn round it, beyond which none but members of the family itself may pass. At marriages and feasts, for the same reason, cooked food is never offered to the guests, but raw grain is distributed, which each cooks in a separate and private place."

It is noted, [124] in connection with the battle of Padmanabham in the Vizagapatam district, in 1794, that "no correct list of the wounded was ever procured, but no less than three hundred and nine were killed. Of these two hundred and eight were Rajputs, and the bodies of forty Rajputs, of the first rank in the country, formed a rampart round the corpse of Viziarama Razu. Padmanabham will long be remembered as the Flodden of the Rajputs of Vizianagram."

Rakshasa (a mythological giant).--An exogamous sept of Toreya.

Ralla (precious stones).--A sub-division of Balijas who cut, polish, and trade in precious stones. A further sub-division into Mutiala (pearl) and Kempulu (rubies) is said to exist.

Ramadosa (Cucumis Melo: sweet melon).--A sept of Viramushti.

Rama Kshatri.--A synonym of Servegara.

Ramanuja.--Satanis style themselves people of the Ramanuja Matham (religious sect) in reference to Ramanuja, the Tamil Brahman, who founded the form of Vaishnavism which prevails in Southern India.

Ranaratod.--An exogamous sept of the Kuruvikkarans, who call themselves Ratodi.

Ranaviran.--A name, meaning a brave warrior, returned by some Chakkiliyans.

Randam Parisha (second party).--A section of Elayad.

Rangari.--The Rangaris are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as being "a caste of dyers and tailors found in almost all the Telugu districts. They are of Maratha origin, and still speak that language. They worship the goddess Ambabhavani. The dead are either burned or buried. Their title is Rao."

In an account of the Rangaris of the North Arcot district, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes that "Rangari is a caste of dyers, chiefly found in Walajapet. They claim to be Kshatriyas, who accompanied Rama in his conquest of Ceylon, from which fact one of their names, Langari (lanka, the island, i.e., Ceylon), is said to be derived. Rama, for some reason or other, became incensed against, and persecuted them. Most were destroyed, but a respectable Kshatriya lady saved her two sons by taking off their sacred threads and causing one to pretend that he was a tailor sewing, and the other that he was a dyer, colouring his thread with the red betel nut and leaf, which she hurriedly supplied out of her mouth. The boys became the progenitors of the caste, the members of which now wear the thread. The descendants of the one brother are tailors, and of the other, the most numerous, dyers. Their chief feasts are the Dassara and Kaman, the former celebrated in honour of the goddess Tuljabhavani and the latter of Manmada, the Indian Cupid, fabled to have been destroyed by the flame of Siva's third eye. During the Kaman feast, fires of combustible materials are lighted, round which the votaries gather, and, beating their mouths, exclaim 'laba, laba', lamenting the death of Cupid. In this feast Rajputs, Mahrattas, Bondilis, and Guzeratis also join. The Rangaris speak Marathi, which they write in the northern character, and name Poona and Sholapur as the places in which they originally resided. In appearance they do not at all resemble the other claimants to Kshatriya descent, the Razus and Rajputs, for they are poorly developed and by no means handsome. Widow remarriage is permitted where children have not been born, but remarried widows are prohibited from taking part in religious processions, which seems a sign that the concession has been reluctantly permitted. In most of their customs they differ but little from the Razus, eating meat and drinking spirits, but not keeping their women gosha."

All the Rangaris examined by me at Adoni in the Bellary district were tailors. Like other Maratha classes they had a high cephalic index (av. 79; max. 92), and it was noticeable that the breadth of the head exceeded 15 cm. in nine out of thirty individuals.

In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bahusagara, Malla or Mulla, and Namdev are given as synonyms, and Chimpiga (tailor) and Unupulavadu (dyer) as sub-castes of Rangari.

Raniyava.--The Raniyavas are Canarese-speaking Holeyas, who are found near Kap, Karkal, Mudibidri, and Mulki in South Canara. They consider themselves to be superior to the Tulu-speaking Holeyas, such as the Mari and Mundala Holeyas.

The Raniyavas regard Virabadra Swami as their tribal deity, and also worship Mari, to whom they sacrifice a buffalo periodically. The bhuta (devil), which is most commonly worshipped, is Varthe. They profess to be Saivites, because they are the disciples of the Lingayat priest at Gurupur.

Marriage is, as a rule, infant, though the marriage of adult girls is not prohibited. The marriage rites are celebrated beneath a pandal (booth) supported by twelve pillars. As among the Tulu castes, the chief item in the marriage ceremony is the pouring of water over the united hands of the bridal couple, who are not, like the Canarese Holeyas in Mysore, separated by a screen.

Women who are found guilty of adultery, or of illicit intercourse before marriage, are not allowed to wear bangles, nose-screw, or black bead necklaces, and are treated like widows. Men who have been proved guilty of seduction are not allowed to take part in the caste council meetings.

On the occasion of the first menstrual period, a girl is under pollution for twelve days. Eleven girls pour water over her head daily. On the thirteenth day, the castemen are fed, and, if the girl is married, consummation takes place.

Married men and women are cremated, and unmarried persons buried. On the day of death, toddy must be given to those who assemble. Cooked meat and food are offered to the deceased on the third, seventh, and thirteenth days, and, on the seventh day, toddy must be freely given.

Rao.--The title of Desastha Brahmans, and various Maratha classes, Jains, and Servegaras. Some Perikes, who claim Kshatriya origin, have also assumed Rao (=Raya, king) instead of the more humble Anna or Ayya as a title.

Rarakkar.--The Rarakkars or Vicharakkars are exorcisers for the Kuravans of Travancore.

Rati (stone).--A sub-division of Odde.

Ratna (precious stones).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba. The equivalent Ratnala is a synonym of Ralla Balijas, who deal in precious stones.

Rattu.--A sub-division of Kaikolan.

Ravari.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a trading section of the Nayars. The word is said to be a corruption of Vyapari, meaning trader. The equivalent Raveri occurs as a class inhabiting the Laccadive islands.

Ravi Chettu (pipal tree: Ficus religiosa).--An exogamous sept of Kalingi. The pipal or aswatha tree may be seen, in many South Indian villages, with a raised platform round it, before which Hindus remove their shoes, and bow down. On the platform, village council meetings are often held. It is believed that male offspring will be given to childless couples, if they celebrate a marriage of the pipal with the nim tree (Melia Azadirachta).