Part 25

"During this chant, the woman vies with the drummer, and dances fiercely round and round, always facing him. Then comes the appeasing chant, which the drummer drawls out in a quivering and solemn tone, and without dancing about:--

By the feet of the thirty-three crores, by the feet of the sixty crores, by the feet of the Devas, peace !

"The woman then stands with closed eyes, panting for breath, and quite exhausted.

"On ordinary days, the Mathangi goes about the villages, collecting the offerings of her devotees, and, we take it, she is never in much want. There are also local Mathangis in other villages, but they are all said to be subordinate to the Tudimilla woman, who is the high Pontiff of the institution. We were informed that there was an old palmyra-leaf manuscript in existence, describing the institution and the ceremonies (mostly tantric and phallic) in detail."

Among the Madigas of Tumkur in Mysore, the Matangis must apparently belong to one of two septs, Belliyoru or Malloru.

The Madiga Asadis, who are males, have to go through an initiation ceremony very similar to that of the Matangi. But a necklet of pebbles is substituted for the bottu, and the Vakkaliga priest touches the novice's shoulders with flowers, turmeric powder, and kunkumam. The Asadis are musicians who sing songs and recite stories about Ellamma. They play on a musical instrument called chaudike, which is a combination of a drum and stringed instrument. The Matangis and Asadis, both being dedicated to Ellamma, are eminently qualified to remove pollution for many castes who are Ellamma Vokkalu or followers of Ellamma. A lotus device, or figures of Pothu Raja and Matangi, are drawn on the ground, after it has been cleansed with cow-dung. The Matangi, with her insignia, sits in the centre of the device, and the Asadis, sitting close by, sing the praises of Ellamma to the accompaniment of the chaudike. The Matangis and Asadi then drink toddy, and go about the house, wherein the former sprinkle toddy with the margosa twig. Sometimes they pour some of the toddy into their mouths, and spit it out all over the house. The pot, in which the toddy is placed, is, in some places, called pallakki (palanquin).

The Asadis' version of the story of Ellamma is as follows. She is the goddess for all, and is present in the tongues of all except dumb people, because they have to pronounce the syllable elli (where) whenever they ask a question containing the word where. She is a mysterious being, who often exhibits herself in the form of light or flames. She is the cause of universe, and the one Sakthi in existence thereon. She is supposed to be the daughter of Giriraja Muni and Javanikadevi, and the wife of Jamadhagni Rishi. Her son is Parasurama, carrying a plough. The town where she lives has three names, Jambupuri, Isampuri, and Vijayanagara, has eighty-seven gates, and is fortified by seven walls. She is believed to have for her dress all kinds of snakes. Several groves of margosa trees are said to flourish in her vicinity. She is worshipped under many names, and has become Lakshmi, Gauramma, and Saraswati in Brahman houses, or Akkumari in Vakkaliga houses. To the Idigas she is Gatabaghya Lakshmi, to the Kurubas Ganga Mari, to the Oddes Peddamma and Chinnamma, and so on. She is said to have proceeded on a certain day to the town of Oragallu, accompanied by Jana Matangi. On the way thither, the soles of Matangi's feet blistered, and she sat down with Ellamma beneath a margosa tree. After resting a short time Matangi asked Ellamma's permission to go to a neighbouring Idiga (Telugu toddy-drawer), and get some toddy to drink. Ellamma objected, as the Idiga Gauda was a Lingayat, and Matangi would be compelled to wear the lingam. When Matangi persisted, Ellamma transformed herself into an ant-hill, and Matangi, in the guise of a young woman, went to the Idiga Gauda with her cane (Jogi kolu) and basket, and asked for toddy. The Gauda became angry, and, tying her to a date-palm (Phoenix sylvestris), beat her, and gave her cane and basket to his groom. Matangi was further ill-treated by the Gauda and his wives, but escaped, and went to the Gauda's brother, who treated her kindly, and offered her toddy, of which he had sixty loads on bullocks. All this he poured into the shell of a margosa fruit which Matangi held in her hand, and yet it was not filled. Eventually the toddy extracted from a few palms was brought, and the shell became full. So pleased was Matangi with the Idiga's treatment of her, that she blessed him, and instructed him to leave three date-palms untapped as Basavi trees in every grove. She then returned to Ellamma, and it was resolved to afflict the Gauda who had treated her badly with all kinds of diseases. Still disguised as a young woman, she went to him with sweet-smelling powders, which he purchased for a large sum of money. But, when he used them, he became afflicted with manifold diseases, including small-pox, measles, cancer, asthma, gout, rheumatism, abscesses, and bed-sores. Matangi then appeared before him as an old fortune-teller woman, whom the Idiga consulted, and doing as he was told by her, was cured. Subsequently, learning that all his misfortunes were due to his want of respect to Matangi, he became one of Ellamma's Vokkalu.

"The Madigas," Mr. H. A. Stuart informs us, [134] "will not take food or water from Pariahs, nor the latter from the former, a prejudice which is taken advantage of in the Kalahasti Raja's stables to prevent theft of gram by the Pariah horse-keepers, the raw gram being sprinkled with water by Madigas in the sight of the Pariahs."

There are Telugu proverbs to the effect that "under the magili system of cultivation, even a Madiga will grow good crops," and "not even a Madiga will sow before Malapunnama."

Writing concerning the Madigas, [135] the Rev. H. Huizinga states that "they live in hamlets at a respectable distance from the villages of the caste people, by whom they are greatly despised. Their habits are squalid in the extreme, and the odour of a Madiga hamlet is revolting. They perform all the lowest kinds of service for the caste people, especially bearing burdens and working in leather. They take charge of the ox or buffalo as soon as it dies. They remove the skin and tan it, and eat the loathsome carcase, which makes them specially despised, and renders their touch polluting. Some of the skins are used for covering the rude drums that are so largely used in Hindu festivals, and beaten in honour of the village deities. The caste men impress the Madigas into their service, not only to make the drums, but also to beat them at their feasts. It may be mentioned that nearly ten per cent. of the Madigas are nominal Christians, and, in some parts of the Nellore district, the Christians form over half of the Madiga population. This changes their habits of life and also their social position. Eating of carrion is now forbidden, as well as beating of drums at Hindu festivals, and their refusal in this particular often leads to bitter persecution at the hands of the caste people. The main duty of the Madigas is the curing and tanning of hides, and the manufacture of rude leather articles, especially sandals, trappings for bullocks, and large well-buckets used for irrigation. The process of tanning with lime and tangedu (Cassia auriculata) bark is rough and simple. [Tangedu is said [136] to be cut only by the Madigas, as other classes think it beneath their dignity to do it.] As did their forefathers, so the Madigas do to-day. The quality of the skins they turn out is fair, and the state of the development of the native leather trade compares very favourably with that of other trades such as blacksmithy and carpentry. The Madiga's sandals are strong, comfortable, and sometimes highly ornamental. His manner of working, and his tools are as simple as his life. He often gets paid in kind, a little fodder for his buffalo, so many measures of some cheap grain, perhaps a few vegetables, etc. In the northern districts, the Madigas are attached to one or more families of ryots, and are entitled to the dead animals of their houses. Like the Vettiyan in the south, the Madiga is paid in kind, and he has to supply sandals for the ryots, belts for the bulls, and all the necessaries of agriculture; and for these he has to find the requisite leather himself; but for the larger articles, such as water-buckets, the master must find the leather. Of late years there is a tendency observable among Madigas to poach on each other's monopoly of certain houses, and among the ryots themselves to dispense with the services of family Madigas, and resort to the open market for their necessaries. In such cases, the ryots demand payment from the Madigas for the skins of their dead animals. The hides and skins, which remain after local demands have been satisfied, are sold to merchants from the Tamil districts, and there is generally a central agent, to whom the various sub-agents send their collections, and by him they are dried and salted and sent to Madras for tanning. In the Kistna district, children have little leather strings hanging from the left shoulder, like the sacred cord of the Brahman, from which is suspended a bag containing something put in it by a Madiga, to charm away all forms of disease from the infant wearer."

In some places bones are collected by the Madigas for the Labbais (Muhammadans), by whom they are exported to Bombay.

The god of the temple at Tirupati appears annually to four persons in different directions, east, west, north and south, and informs them that he requires a shoe from each of them. They whitewash their houses, worship the god, and spread rice-flour thickly on the floor of a room, which is locked for the night. Next morning the mark of a huge foot is found on the floor, and for this a shoe has to be made to fit. When ready, it is taken in procession through the streets of the village, and conveyed to Tirupati, where it is presented at the temple. Though the makers of the shoes have worked in ignorance of each other's work, the shoes brought from the north and south, and those from the east and west, are believed to match, and make a pair. Though the worship of these shoes is chiefly meant for the Pariahs, who are prohibited from ascending the Tirupati hill, as a matter of fact all, without distinction of caste, worship them. The shoes are placed in front of the image of the god near the foot of the hill, and are said to gradually wear out by the end of the year.

At a pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony in the Bellary district, as carried out at the present day, a Bedar is suspended by a cloth passed under his arms. The Madigas always swing him, and have to provide the hide ropes, which are used. [137]

In an exceedingly interesting account of the festival of the village goddess Uramma, at Kudligi in the Bellary district, Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows. "The Madiga Basivis (dedicated prostitutes) are given alms, and join in the procession. A quantity of rice and ragi flour is poured into a basket, over which one of the village servants cuts the throat of a small black ram. The carcase is laid on the bloody flour, and the whole covered with old cloths, and placed on the head of a Madiga, who stands for some time in front of the goddess. The goddess is then carried a few yards, the Madiga walking in front, while a hole is dug close to her, and the basket of bloody flour and the ram's carcase are buried. After some dancing by the Madiga Basivis to the music of the tom-tom, the Madigas bring five new pots, and worship them. A buffalo, devoted to the goddess after the last festival, is then driven or dragged through the village with shouting and tom-toming, walked round the temple, and beheaded by the Madiga in front of the goddess. The head is placed in front of her with the right foreleg in the mouth, and a lamp, lighted eight days previously, is placed on top. All then start in procession round the village, a Madiga, naked but for a few margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves, and held by two others, leading the way. Behind him are all the other Madigas, carrying six hundred seers of cholum (Sorghum: millet), which they scatter; and, following them, all the other villagers. It is daybreak, and the Madiga who led the way, the pujari (priest), and the women who followed him, who have been fasting for more than twenty-four hours, now eat. The Madiga is fed. This Madiga is said to be in mortal terror while leading the procession, for the spirit or influence of the goddess comes over him. He swoons before the procession is completed. At noon the people collect again at Uramma's temple, where a purchased buffalo is sacrificed. The head is placed in front of the goddess as before, and removed at once for food. Then those of the lower Sudra castes, and Madigas who are under vows, come dressed in margosa leaves, with lamps on their heads, and sacrifice buffaloes, sheep and goats to the goddess." A further account of the festival of the village goddess Udisalamma, at Bandri in the Bellary district, is given by Mr. Fawcett. "A Madiga," he writes, "naked but for a few leaves round his waist, leads the procession, and, following him, are Madigas with baskets. Fear of the goddess comes on the Madiga. He swoons, and is carried to the temple, and flung on the ground in front of the goddess. After a while he is revived, bathed, and given new clothing. This man is one of a family, in which this curious office is hereditary. He must be the son of a married woman, not of a Basivi, and he must not be married. He fasts from the beginning of the festival till he has done what is required of him. A young ram--the sacrifice sheep--is taken up by one of the Poturazus, as if it were a child, its hind legs at either side of his waist and its forelegs over his shoulders, and he bites its throat open and shows his bloody mouth to the people. He throws it down, and the Madigas remove it."

In an account of a festival, during times of epidemic, at Masulipatam, Bishop Whitehead writes as follows. [138] "On the last day, a male buffalo, called Devara potu (he who is devoted to the goddess), is brought before the image, and its head cut off by the head Madiga of the town. The blood is caught in a vessel, and sprinkled over some boiled rice, and then the head, with the right foreleg in the mouth, is placed before the shrine on a flat wicker basket, with the rice and blood on another basket just below it. A lighted lamp is placed on the head, and then another Madiga carries it on his own head round the village, with a new cloth dipped in the blood of the victim tied round its neck. This is regarded here and elsewhere as a very inauspicious and dangerous office, and the headman of the village has to offer considerable inducements to persuade a Madiga to undertake it. Ropes are tied round his body and arms, and held fast by men walking behind him, to prevent his being carried off by evil spirits, and limes are cut in half and thrown into the air, so that the demons may catch at them instead of at the man. It is believed that gigantic demons sit on the tops of tall trees ready to swoop down and carry him away, in order to get the rice and the buffalo's head. The idea of carrying the head and rice round a village, so the people said, is to draw a kind of cordon on every side of it, and prevent the entrance of the evil spirits. Should any one in the town refuse to subscribe for the festival, his house is omitted from the procession, and left to the tender mercies of the devils. This procession is called Bali-haranam, and in this (Kistna) district inams (lands rent free) are held from Government by certain families of Madigas for performing it. Besides the buffalo, large numbers of sheep and goats, and fowls are sacrificed, each householder giving at least one animal. The head Madiga, who kills the animals, takes the carcase, and distributes the flesh among the members of his family. Often cases come into the Courts to decide who has the right to kill them. As the sacrifice cannot wait for the tedious processes of the law, the elders of the village settle the question at once, pending an appeal to the Court. But, in the town of Masulipatam, a Madiga is specially licensed by the Municipality for the purpose, and all disputes are avoided."

In some localities, during epidemics of small-pox or cholera, the Madigas celebrate a festival in honour of Mariamma, for the expenses of which a general subscription is raised, to which all castes contribute. A booth is erected in a grove, or beneath a margosa or Strychnos Nux-vomica tree, within which a decorated pot (karagam) is placed on a platform. The pot is usually filled with water, and its mouth closed by a cocoanut. In front of the pot a screen is set up, and covered with a white cloth, on which rice, plantains, and cakes are placed, with a mass of flour, in which a cavity is scooped out to hold a lighted wick fed with ghi (clarified butter), or gingelly oil. A goat is sacrificed, and its head, with a flour-light on it, placed close to the pot. The food, which has been offered to the goddess, is distributed, On the last day of the festival, the pot is carried in procession through the village, and goats are sacrificed at the four cardinal points of the compass. The pot is deposited at a spot where three roads meet, and a goat, pumpkins, limes, flowers, etc., are offered to it. Everything,except the pot, is left on the spot.

The Madigas sometimes call themselves Jambavas, and claim to be descended from Jambu or Adi Jambuvadu, who is perhaps the Jambuvan of the Ramayana. Some Madigas, called Sindhuvallu, go about acting scenes from the Mahabaratha and Ramayana, or the story of Ankalamma. They also assert that they fell to their present low position as the result of a curse, and tell the following story. Kamadhenu, the sacred cow of the Puranas, was yielding plenty of milk, which the Devas alone used. Vellamanu, a Madiga boy, was anxious to taste the milk, but was advised by Adi Jambuvadu to abstain from it. He, however, secured some by stealth, and thought that the flesh would be sweeter still. Learning this, Kamadhenu died. The Devas cut its carcase into four parts, of which they gave one to Adi Jambuvadu. But they wanted the cow brought back to life, and each brought his share of it for the purpose of reconstruction. But Vellamanu had cut a bit of the flesh, boiled it, and breathed on it, so that, when the animal was recalled to life, its chin sank, as the flesh thereof had been defiled. This led to the sinking of the Madigas in the social scale. The following variant of this legend is given in the Mysore Census Report, 1891. "At a remote period, Jambava Rishi, a sage, was one day questioned by Isvara (Siva) why the former was habitually late at the Divine Court. The rishi replied that he had personally to attend to the wants of his children every day, which consequently made his attendance late: whereupon Isvara, pitying the children, gave the rishi a cow (Kamadhenu), which instantaneously supplied their every want. Once upon a time, while Jambava was absent at Isvara's Court, another rishi, named Sankya, visited Jambava's hermitage, where he was hospitably entertained by his son Yugamuni. While taking his meals, the cream that had been served was so savoury that the guest tried to induce Jambava's son Yugamuni, to kill the cow and eat her flesh; and, in spite of the latter's refusal, Sankya killed the animal, and prevailed upon the others to partake of the meat. On his return from Isvara's Court, Jambava found the inmates of his hermitage eating the sacred cow's beef; and took both Sankya and Yugamuni over to Isvara's Court for judgment. Instead of entering, the two offenders remained outside, Sankya rishi standing on the right side and Yugamuni on the left of the doorway. Isvara seems to have cursed them to become Chandalas or outcasts. Hence, Sankya's descendants are, from his having stood on the right side, designated right-hand caste or Holayas; whilst those who sprang from Yugamuni and his wife Matangi are called left-hand caste or Madigas." The occupation of the latter is said also to be founded on the belief that, by making shoes for people, the sin their ancestors had committed by cow-killing would be expiated. This mode of vicariously atoning for deliberate sin has passed into a facetious proverb, 'So and so has killed the cow in order to make shoes from the skin,' indicating the utter worthlessness and insufficiency of the reparation.

The Madigas claim to be the children of Matangi. "There was," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [139] "formerly a Matanga dynasty in the Canarese country, and the Madigas are believed by some to be descendants of people who were once a ruling race. Matangi is a Sanskrit name for Kali, and it is possible that the Madigas once played an important part in the worship of the god. The employment of Chakkiliyans and Madiga women in Shakti worship gives some colour to this supposition." According to Fleet [140] "the Matangas and the Katachchuris are mentioned in connection with Mangalisa, who was the younger brother and successor of Kirttivarma I, and whose reign commenced in Saka 489 (A.D. 567-8), and terminated in Saka 532 (A.D. 610-11). Of the Matangas nothing is known, except the mention of them. But Matanga means 'a Chandala, a man of the lowest caste, an outcast, a kirata mountaineer, a barbarian'; and the Madigas, i.e., the Mahangs of this part of the country, usually call themselves Matangimakkalu, i.e., the children of Matangi or Durga, who is their goddess. It is probable, therefore, that the Matangas of this inscription were some aboriginal family of but little power, and not of sufficient importance to have left any record of themselves." There are allusions to Matangas in the Ramayana, and in Kadambari, a Sanskrit work, the chieftain of the Cabaras is styled Matanga. The tutelary deity of the Madigas is Mathamma or Matangi, who is said to be worshipped by the Komatis under the name of Kanyakaparameswari. The relations between the Madigas and Komatis are dealt with in the note on the latter caste. There is a legend to the effect that Matangi was defeated by Parasu Rama, and concealed herself from him under the tanning-pot in a Madiga's house. At the feast of Pongal, the Madigas worship their tanning pots, as representing the goddess, with offerings of fowls and liquor. In addition to Matangi, the Madigas worship Kattamma, Kattappa, Dandumari, Muneswara, and other deities. Some of their children are named after these deities, while others receive Muhammadan names in fulfilment of vows made to Masthan and other Pirs.