Part 3

A few days after my arrival at Kotagiri, the dismal sound of mourning, to the weird strains of the Kota band, announced that death reigned in the Kota village. The dead man was a venerable carpenter, of high position in the community. Soon after daybreak, a detachment of villagers hastened to convey the tidings of the death to the Kotas of the neighbouring villages, who arrived on the scene later in the day in Indian file, men in front and women in the rear. As they drew near the place of mourning, they all, of one accord, commenced the orthodox manifestations of grief, and were met by a deputation of villagers accompanied by the band. Meanwhile a red flag, tied to the top of a bamboo pole, was hoisted as a signal of death in the village, and a party had gone off to a glade, some two miles distant, to obtain wood for the construction of the funeral car (teru). The car, when completed, was an elaborate structure, about eighteen feet in height, made of wood and bamboo, in four tiers, each with a canopy of turkey red and yellow cloth, and an upper canopy of white cloth trimmed with red, surmounted by a black umbrella of European manufacture, decorated with red ribbands. The car was profusely adorned with red flags and long white streamers, and with young plantain trees at the base. Tied to the car were a calabash and a bell. During the construction of the car the corpse remained within the house of the deceased man, outside which the villagers continued mourning to the dirge-like music of the band, which plays so prominent a part at the death ceremonies of both Todas and Kotas. On the completion of the car, late in the afternoon, it was deposited in front of the house. The corpse, dressed up in a coloured turban and gaudy coat, with a garland of flowers round the neck, and two rupees, a half-rupee, and sovereign gummed on to the forehead, was brought from within the house, lying face upwards on a cot, and placed beneath the lowest canopy of the car. Near the head were placed iron implements and a bag of rice, at the feet a bag of tobacco, and beneath the cot baskets of grain, rice, cakes, etc. The corpse was covered with cloths offered to it as presents, and before it those Kotas who were younger than the dead man prostrated themselves, while those who were older touched the head of the corpse and bowed to it. Around the car the male members of the community executed a wild step-dance, keeping time with the music in the execution of various fantastic movements of the arms and legs. During the long hours of the night mourning was kept up to the almost incessant music of the band, and the early morn discovered many of the villagers in an advanced stage of intoxication. Throughout the morning, dancing round the car was continued by men, sober and inebriated, with brief intervals of rest, and a young buffalo was slaughtered as a matter of routine form, with no special ceremonial, in a pen outside the village, by blows on the back and neck administered with the keen edge of an adze. Towards midday presents of rice from the relatives of the dead man arrived on the back of a pony, which was paraded round the car. From a vessel containing rice and rice water, water was crammed into the mouths of the near relatives, some of the water poured over their heads, and the remainder offered to the corpse. At intervals a musket, charged with gunpowder, which proved later on a dangerous weapon in the hands of an intoxicated Kota, was let off, and the bell on the car rung. About 2 P.M., the time announced for the funeral, the cot bearing the corpse, from the forehead of which the coins had been removed, was carried to a spot outside the village called the thavachivadam, followed by the widow and a throng of Kotas of both sexes, young and old. The cot was then set down, and, seated at some distance from it, the women continued to mourn until the funeral procession was out of sight, those who could not cry spontaneously mimicking the expression of woe by contortion of the grief muscles. The most poignant sorrow was displayed by a man in a state of extreme intoxication, who sat apart by himself, howling and sobbing, and wound up by creating considerable disturbance at the burning-ground. Three young bulls were brought from the village, and led round the corpse. Of these, two were permitted to escape for the time being, while a vain attempt, which would have excited the derision of the expert Toda buffalo-catchers, was made by three men, hanging on to the head and tail, to steer the third bull up to the head of the corpse. The animal, however, proving refractory, it was deemed discreet to put an end to its existence by a blow on the poll with the butt-end of an adze, at some distance from the corpse, which was carried up to it, and made to salute the dead beast's head with the right hand, in feeble imitation of the impressive Toda ceremonial. The carcase of the bull was saluted by a few of the Kota men, and subsequently carried off by Pariahs. Supported by females, the exhausted widow of the dead man was dragged up to the corpse, and, lying back beside it, had to submit to the ordeal of removal of all her jewellery, the heavy brass bangle being hammered off the wrist, supported on a wooden roller, by oft-repeated blows with mallet and chisel delivered by a village blacksmith assisted by a besotten individual noted as a consumer of twelve grains of opium daily. The ornaments, as removed, were collected in a basket, to be worn again by the widow after several months. This revolting ceremony concluded, and a last salutation given by the widow to her dead husband, arches of bamboo were attached to the cot, which was covered over with a coloured table-cloth hiding the corpse from sight. A procession was then formed, composed of the corpse on the cot, preceded by the car and musicians, and followed by male Kotas and Badagas, Kota women carrying the baskets of grain, cakes, etc., a vessel containing fire, and burning camphor. Quickly the procession marched to the burning-ground beyond the bazar, situated in a valley by the side of a stream running through a glade in a dense undergrowth of bracken fern and trailing passion-flower. On arrival at the selected spot, a number of agile Kotas swarmed up the sides of the car, and stripped it of its adornments including the umbrella, and a free fight for the possession of the cloths and flags ensued. The denuded car was then placed over the corpse, which, deprived of all valuable ornaments and still lying on the cot, had been meanwhile placed, amid a noisy scene of brawling, on the rapidly constructed funeral pyre. Around the car faggots of wood, supplied in lieu of wreaths by different families in the dead man's village as a tribute of respect, were piled up, and the pyre was lighted with torches kindled at a fire which was burning on the ground close by. As soon as the pyre was in a blaze, tobacco, cigars, cloths, and grain were distributed among those present, and the funeral party dispersed, leaving a few men behind in charge of the burning corpse, and peace reigned once more in the Kota village. A few days later, the funeral of an elderly woman took place with a very similar ceremonial. But, suspended from the handle of the umbrella on the top of the car, was a rag doll, which in appearance resembled an Aunt Sally. I was told that, on the day following the funeral, the smouldering ashes are extinguished with water, and the ashes, collected together, and buried in a pit, the situation of which is marked by a heap of stones. A piece of the skull, wrapped in bracken fronds, is placed between two fragments of an earthen pot, and deposited in the crevice of a rock or in a chink in a stone wall.

The Kotas celebrate annually a second funeral ceremony in imitation of the Todas. For eight days before the day appointed for its observance, a dance takes place in front of the houses of those Kotas whose memorial rites are to be celebrated, and three days before they are performed invitations are issued to the different Kota villages. On a Sunday night, fire is lighted by friction, and the time is spent in dancing. On the following day, the relatives of the departed who have to perform the ceremony purify the open space in front of their houses with cow-dung. They bring three basketfuls of paddy (unhusked rice), which are saluted and set down on the cleansed space. The Pujari and the rest of the community, in like manner, salute the paddy, which is taken inside the house. On the Monday, cots corresponding in number to that of the deceased whose dry funeral is being held, are taken to the thavachivadam, and the fragments of skulls are laid thereon. Buffaloes (one or more for each skull) are killed, and a cow is brought near the cots, and, after a piece of skull has been placed on its horns, sacrificed. A dance takes place around the cots, which are removed to the burning-ground, and set on fire. The Kotas spend the night near the thavachivadam. On the following day a feast is held, and they return to their homes towards evening, those who have performed the ceremony breaking a small pot full of water in front of their houses.

Like the Todas, the Kotas indulge in trials of strength with heavy spherical stones, which they raise, or attempt to raise, from the ground to the shoulders, and in a game resembling tip-cat. In another game, sides are chosen, of about ten on each side. One side takes shots with a ball made of cloth at a brick propped up against a wall, near which the other side stands. Each man is allowed three shots at the brick. If it is hit and falls over, one of the 'out-side' picks up the ball, and throws it at the other side, who run away, and try to avoid being hit. If the ball touches one of them, the side is put out, and the other side goes in. A game, called hulikote, which bears a resemblance to the English child's game of fox and geese, is played on a stone chiselled with lines, which forms a rude game-board. In one form of the game, two tigers and twenty-five bulls, and in another three tigers and fifteen bulls engage, and the object is for the tigers to take, or, as the Kotas express it, kill all the bulls. In a further game, called kote, a labyrinthiform pattern, or maze, is chiselled on a stone, to get to the centre of which is the problem.

The following notes are taken from my case-book:--

Man--Blacksmith and carpenter. Silver bangle on right wrist; two silver rings on right little finger; silver ring on each first toe. Gold ear-rings. Languti (cloth) tied to silver chain round loins.

Man--Light blue eyes, inherited from his mother. His children have eyes of the same colour. Lobes of ears pendulous from heavy gold ear-rings set with pearls. Another man with light blue eyes was noticed by me.

Man--Branded with cicatrix of a burn made with a burning cloth across lower end of back of forearm. This is a distinguishing mark of the Kotas, and is made on boys when they are more than eight years old.

Woman--Divorced for being a confirmed opium-eater, and living with her father.

Woman--Dirty cotton cloth, with blue and red stripes, covering body and reaching below the knees.

Woman--Two glass bead necklets, and bead necklet ornamented with silver rings. Four brass rings, and one steel ring on left forearm. Two massive brass bangles, weighing two pounds each, and separated by cloth ring, on right wrist. Brass bangle with brass and steel pendants, and shell bangle on left wrist. Two steel rings, and one copper ring on right ring-finger; brass rings on left first, ring, and little fingers. Two brass rings on first toe of each foot. Tattooed lines uniting eyebrows. Tattooed on outer side of both upper arms with rings, dots, and lines; rows of dots on back of right forearm; circle on back of each wrist; rows of dots on left ankle. As with the Todas, the tattooed devices are far less elaborate than those of the women in the plains.

Woman--Glass necklet ornamented with cowry shells, and charm pendant from it, consisting of a fragment of the root of some tree rolled up in a ball of cloth. She put it on when her baby was quite young, to protect it against devils. The baby had a similar charm round its neck.

In the course of his investigation of the Todas, Dr. Rivers found that of 320 males 41 or 12.8 per cent. and of 183 females only two or 1.1 per cent. were typical examples of red-green colour-blindness. The percentage in the males is quite remarkable. The result of examination of Badaga and Kota males by myself with Holmgren's wools was that red-green colour-blindness was found to be present in 6 out of 246 Badagas, or 2·5 per cent. and there was no suspicion of such colour-blindness in 121 Kotas.

Kota (a fort).--A sub-division of Balija, and an exogamous sept of Padma Sale. The equivalent Kotala occurs as an exogamous sept of Boya. There are, in Mysore, a few Kotas, who are said to be immigrants from South Canara, and to be confined to the Kadur district. According to a current legend, they were originally of the Kota community, but their ancestors committed perjury in a land-case, and were cursed to lose their rank as Brahmans for seven hundred years. [14] Kota is also the name of a section of Brahmans.

Kotari.--A class of domestic servants in South Canara, who claim to be an independent caste, though some regard them as a sub-caste of Bant. [15]

Kotegara or Koteyava.--See Servegara.

Koti (monkey).--The name for Koravas, who travel about the country exhibiting monkeys.

Kotippattan.--The Kotippattans are described, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as "a class of Tamil Brahmans, who, at a very early age in Malabar history, were declared by society to have lost the original Brahmanical status. The offence was, it is said, their having taken to the cultivation of the betel-vine as their chief occupation. The ordinances of caste had prescribed other duties for the Brahmans, and it is not unlikely that Sankaracharya, to whose curse the present position of the Kotippattan is traced, disapproved of the change. In general appearance as regards thread, position of hair-tuft, and dress of men as well as women, and in ceremonials, the Kotippattans cannot be easily distinguished from the Brahman class. Sad instances have occurred of Brahman girls having been decoyed into matrimonial alliances with Kotippattans. They form a small community, and the state of social isolation into which they have been thrown has greatly checked their increase, as in the case of many other Malabar castes. Their priests are at present Tamil Brahmans. They do not study the Vedas, and the Gayatri hymn is recited with the first syllable known as the pranavam. In the matter of funeral ceremonies, a Kotippattan is treated as a person excommunicated. The cremation is a mere mechanical process, unaccompanied by any mantras (sacred formulæ) or by any rites, anantarasamskara (deferred funeral rites) being done after the lapse of ten days. They have their annual sraddhas, but no offerings of water (tarpanam) on the new-moon day. Their household deity is Sasta. Their inheritance is from father to son. Their household language is Malayalam. Their chief seat is Vamanapuram, twenty miles from Trivandrum."

Kotlu (cow-shed).--An exogamous sept of Yanadi.

Kottaipaththu.--A sub-division of Agamudaiyans, who believe that they are the same as the Kottai (fort) Vellalas of Tinnevelly.

Kottai Vellala.--"The Kottai Vellalas," Mr. J. A. Boyle writes, [16] have been "shut up within narrow walls, the others between two rivers. The result of insulation has been the same, and they have developed from small families into small, but perfectly distinct, castes. In the centre of the town of Srivaiguntam, in the Tinnevelly district, is a small fort, composed of a mud enclosure, containing the houses of a number of families known as Kottai (fort) Vellalas, who are separated from social intercourse and intermarriage with other families of the great Vellala caste. The traditional origin of this settlement is dated nearly a thousand years ago, when their ancestors were driven by a political revolution from their home in the valley of the Veigay (the river which flows past Madura). Under the Pandya dynasty of Madura, these Vellalas were, they allege, the chamberlains or treasurers, to whom belonged the hereditary dignity of crowning the newly-succeeded kings. And this is still commemorated by an annual ceremony, performed in one of the Tinnevelly temples, whither the heads of families still repair, and crown the head of the swami (god). Their women never leave the precincts of the mud enclosure. After seven years of age, no girl is allowed to pass the gates, and the restriction is supported by the tradition of a disobedient little girl, who was murdered for a thoughtless breach of this law. Into the fort no male stranger may enter, though there is no hindrance to women of other castes to enter. After marriage, no woman of the caste may be seen by man's eyes, except those of her husband, father, brothers, and maternal uncles. When the census was taken, they refused to say how many women there were inside the fort, and infanticide is not only possible, but most probable; for there is a suspicious absence of increase in the colony, which suggests some mode of disposing of the 'useless mouths,' unknown to health officers and policemen. Until recent times, housed within the fort, were certain prædial slaves (Kottar, smiths) of inferior social status, who worked for their masters, and lived in the same rigid seclusion as regards their women. They have been turned out, to live beyond the enclosure, but work for their masters."

It is said that, during the days of oppression at the hands of Muhammadan and Poligar rulers, the Kottai Vellalas had to pay considerable sums of money to secure immunity from molestation. The Kottai Pillai, or headman of the community, is reported to possess the grants made from time to time by the rulers of the country, guaranteeing them the enjoyment of their customs and privileges. The fort, in which the Kottai Vellalas live, is kept in good preservation by Government. There are four entrances, of which one is kept closed, because, it is said, on one occasion, a child who went out by it to witness the procession of a god was killed. Brahmans who are attached to the fort, male members of various castes who work for the inmates thereof, and Pallans may freely enter it. But, if any one wishes to speak to a man living in the fort, the Paraiyan gatekeeper announces the presence of the visitor. Females of all castes may go into the fort, and into the houses within it.

On marriage and other festive occasions, it is customary for the Kottai Vellalas to give raw rations to those invited, instead of, as among other castes, a dinner. The Kottans eat and drink at the expense of their masters, and dance.

Like the Nangudi Vellalas (Savalai Pillais), the Kottai Vellalas have kilais (septs) running in the female line, and they closely follow them in their marriage customs. It is usual for a man to marry his paternal aunt's daughter. The bridegroom goes in state, with his and the bride's relations and their respective Kottans, to the bride's house. Arrived at the marriage pandal (booth), they are welcomed by the bride's party. The homam (sacrificial fire) is then raised by the officiating Brahman priest, who blesses the tali (marriage badge), and hands it to a Kottan female, who passes it on to the elder sister of the bridegroom, or, if he has no such sister, to a female who takes her place. She takes it inside the house, and ties it on the neck of the bride, who has remained within during the ceremony. The contracting couple are then man and wife. The husband goes to live with his wife, who, after marriage, continues to live in her father's house. On the death of her father, she receives half of a brother's share of the property. If she has no brothers, she inherits the whole property. [17]

Kottai Vellala women wear ordinary jewels up to middle life, when they replace them by a jewel called nagapadam, which is a gold plate with the representation of a five-headed cobra. This is said to be worn in memory of the occasion when a Pandyan king, named Thennavarayan, overlooking the claims of his legitimate son, gave the kingdom to an illegitimate son. The fort Vellalas living at Sezhuvaimanagaram refused to place the crown on the bastard's head. They were consequently persecuted, and had to leave the country. They decided to throw themselves into a fire-pit, and so meet their death in a body. But, just as they were about to do so, they were prevented by a huge five-headed cobra. Hearing of this marvellous occurrence, the Pandyan king who was ruling in Tinnevelly invited them to settle at Srivaiguntam. The fort Vellalas claim that one of the Pandyan kings gave them extensive lands on the bank of the Vaigai river when they lived at Sezhuvaimanagaram. They claim further that the ministers and treasurers of the Pandyan kings were selected from among them.

The dead are usually cremated. The corpses are borne by Kottans, who carry out various details in connection with the death ceremonies. The corpses of women are placed in a bag, which is carefully sewn up.

I am informed that, owing to the scarcity of females, men are at the present day obliged to recruit wives from outside.

The Kottaipaththu Agamudaiyans believe that they are the same as the Kottai Vellalas.

Kottakunda (new pot).--An exogamous sept of Medara.

Kottan.--An occupational name, meaning bricklayer, returned, at times of census, by some Pallis in Coimbatore. Some Pallis are also employed as bricklayers in the City of Madras. Kottan is also recorded as a title of Katasan.

Kottha.--A sub-division of Kurubas, the members of which tie a woollen thread round the wrist at marriages.

Kottiya Paiko.--A sub-division of Rona.

Kove (ant-hill).--An exogamous sept of Gangadikara Vakkaliga.

Kovila (Indian cuckoo, Eudynamis honorata).--A gotra of Medara.

Kovilar (temple people).--The name adopted by a section of Pallis or Vanniyans, who wear the sacred thread, and have temples of their own, in which they worship. Koil Adiyan (temple servant) has been returned by some Balijas at times of census. Kovilammamar or Koilpat, denoting ladies of, or those who live in palaces, is a title of some Samanta ladies. Kovilagam is the usual term for the house of a Raja or Tirumalpad, and Koilpantala is recorded, from Travancore, as a synonym for Koil Tamburan. The Nattukottai Chettis have exogamous septs, or koils, named after temples, e.g., Mathur koil.

Koya.--The land and boat-owning class of Muhammadans in the Laccadive islands. The name is said to be a corrupt form of Khoja, meaning a man of distinction. Mappillas use Koya as a suffix to their names, e.g., Hassan Koya, Mahomed Koya (see Mappilla).

Koyappan.--Koyappan or Koyavappan are corrupt forms of Kusavan (Malabar potters).