Part 24

"Double rows of long bamboos, firmly fixed in the mud, are placed at intervals across the backwater, and on these nets are fixed at the flood tide, so that fish which have entered are unable to return to the sea. Numbers of very large ones are occasionally captured in this way. A species of Chinese nets is also used along the river's banks. They are about 16 feet square, suspended by bamboos from each corner, and let down like buckets into the water, and then after a few minutes drawn up again. A piece of string, to which are attached portions of the white leaves of the cocoanut tree, is tied at short intervals along the ebb side of the net, which effectually prevents fish from going that way. A plan somewhat analogous is employed on a small scale for catching crabs. A net three feet square is supported at the four corners by two pieces of stick fastened crosswise. From the centre of these sticks where they cross is a string to pull it up by or let it down, and a piece of meat is tied to the middle of the net inside. This is let down from a wharf, left under water for a few minutes, and then pulled up. Crabs coming to feed are thus caught.

"Fishing with a line is seldom attempted in the deep sea, excepting for sharks, rays, and other large fish. The hooks employed are of two descriptions, the roughest, although perhaps the strongest, being of native manufacture; the others are of English make, denominated China hooks. The hook is fastened to a species of fibre called thumboo, said to be derived from a seaweed, but more probably from one of the species of palms. The lines are either hemp, cotton, or the fibre of the talipot palm (Caryota urens), which is obtained by maceration. In Europe they are called Indian gut.

"Trolling from the shore at the river's mouth is only carried on of a morning or evening, during the winter months of the year, when the sea is smooth. The line is from 80 to 100 yards in length, and held wound round the left hand; the hook is fastened to the line by a brass wire, and the bait is a live fish. The fisherman, after giving the line an impetus by twirling it round and round his head, throws it with great precision from 50 to 60 yards. A man is always close by with a cast net, catching baits, which he sells for one quarter of an anna each. This mode of fishing is very exciting sport, but is very uncertain in its results, and therefore usually carried on by coolies either before their day's work has commenced, or after its termination.

"Fishing with a bait continues all day long in Cochin during the monsoon months, when work is almost at a standstill, and five or six persons may be perceived at each jetty, busily engaged in this occupation. The Bagrus tribe is then plentiful, and, as it bites readily, large numbers are captured.

"Fishing in small boats appears at times to be a dangerous occupation; the small canoe only steadied by the paddle of one man seated in it looks as if it must every minute be swamped. Very large fish are sometimes caught in this way. Should one be hooked too large for the fisherman to manage, the man in the next boat comes to his assistance, and receives a quarter of the fish for his trouble. This is carried on all through the year, and the size of some of the Bagri is enormous.

"Fish are shot in various ways, by a Chittagong bamboo, which is a hollow tube, down which the arrow is propelled by the marksman's mouth. This mode is sometimes very remunerative, and is followed by persons who quietly sneak along the shores, either of sluggish streams or of the backwater. Sometimes they climb up into trees, and there await a good shot. Or, during the monsoon, the sportsman quietly seats himself near some narrow channel that passes from one wide piece of water into another, and watches for his prey. Other fishermen shoot with bows and arrows, and again others with cross-bows, the iron arrow or bolt of which is attached by a line to the bow, to prevent its being lost. But netting fish, catching them with hooks, or shooting them with arrows, are not the only means employed for their capture. Bamboo labyrinths, bamboo baskets, and even men's hands alone, are called into use.

"Persons fish for crabs in shallow brackish water, provided with baskets like those employed in Europe for catching eels, but open at both ends. The fishermen walk about in the mud, and, when they feel a fish move, endeavour to cover it with the larger end of the basket, which is forced down some distance into the mud, and the hand is then passed downward through the upper extremity, and the fish taken out. Another plan of catching them by the hand is by having two lines to which white cocoanut leaves are attached tied to the fisherman's two great toes, from which they diverge; the other end of each being held by another man a good way off, and some distance apart. On these lines being shaken, the fish become frightened, and, strange as it may appear, cluster for protection around the man's feet, who is able to stoop down, and catch them with his hands, by watching his opportunity.

"Bamboo labyrinths are common all along the backwater, in which a good many fish, especially eels and crabs, are captured. These labyrinths are formed of a screen of split bamboos, passing perpendicularly out of the water, and leading into a larger baited chamber. A dead cat is often employed as a bait for crabs. A string is attached to its body, and, after it has been in the water some days, it is pulled up with these crustacea adherent to it. Persons are often surprised at crabs being considered unwholesome, but their astonishment would cease, if they were aware what extremely unclean feeders they are.

"Fish are obtained from the inland rivers by poisoning them, but this can only be done when the water is low. A dam is thrown across a certain portion, and the poison placed within it. It generally consists of Cocculus indicus (berries) pounded with rice; croton oil seeds, etc."

Valangai.--Valangai, Valangan, Valangamattan, or Balagai, meaning those who belong to the right-hand faction, has, at times of census, been returned as a sub-division, synonym or title of Deva-dasis, Holeyas, Nokkans, Panisavans, Paraiyans, and Saliyans. Some Deva-dasis have returned themselves as belonging to the left-hand (idangai) faction.

Valayakara Chetti.--A Tamil synonym of Gazula Balijas who sell glass bangles. The equivalent Vala Chetti is also recorded.

Valekara.--A Badaga form of Billekara or belted peon. The word frequently occurs in Badaga ballads. Taluk peons on the Nilgiris are called Valekaras.

Vali Sugriva.--A synonym of the Lambadis, who claim descent from Vali and Sugriva, the two monkey chiefs of the Ramayana.

Valinchiyan.--See Velakkattalavan.

Valiyatan (valiya, great, tan, a title of dignity).--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a title of Nayar.

Vallabarayan.--A title of Occhan.

Vallamban.--The Vallambans are a small Tamil cultivating class living in the Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Madura districts. They are said [100] to be "the offspring of a Vellalan and a Valaiya woman, now a small and insignificant caste of cultivators. Some of them assert that their ancestors were the lords of the soil, for whose sole benefit the Vellalans used to carry on cultivation. Tradition makes the Vellambans to have joined the Kallans in attacking and driving away the Vellalans. It is customary among the Vallambans, when demising land, to refer to the fact of their being descendants of the Vallambans who lost Vallam, i.e., the Vallama nadu in Tanjore, their proper country." Some Vallambans claim to be flesh-eating Vellalas, or to be superior to Kallans and Maravans by reason of their Vellala ancestry. They call themselves Vallamtotta Vellalas, or the Vellalas who lost Vallam, and say that they were Vellalas of Vallam in the Tanjore district, who left their native place in a time of famine.

Portions of the Madura and Tanjore districts are divided into areas known as nadus, in each of which a certain caste, called the Nattar, is the predominant factor. For example, the Vallambans and Kallans are called the Nattars of the Palaya nadu in the Sivaganga zemindari of the Madura district. In dealing with the tribal affairs of the various castes inhabiting a particular nadu, the lead is taken by the Nattars, by whom certain privileges are enjoyed, as for example in the distribution to them, after the Brahman and zamindar, of the flowers and sacred ashes used in temple worship. For the purposes of caste council meetings the Vallambans collect together representatives from fourteen nadus, as they consider that the council should be composed of delegates from a head village and its branches, generally thirteen in number.

It is noted by Mr. F. R. Hemingway that the Vallambans "speak of five sub-divisions, namely, Chenjinadu, Amaravatinadu, Palayanadu, Melnadu, and Kilnadu. The Mel and Kilnadu people intermarry, but are distinguishable by the fact that the former have moustaches, and the latter have not. The women dress like the Nattukottai Chettis. Tattooing is not allowed, and those who practice it are expelled from the caste. The men generally have no title, but some who enjoy State service inams call themselves Ambalakaran. The Melnadu people have no exogamous divisions, though they observe the rule about Kovil Pangolis. The Kilnadus have exogamous kilais, karais, and pattams." As examples of exogamous septs, the following may be cited:--Solangal (Chola), Pandiangal (Pandyan), Nariangal (jackal), and Piliyangal (tiger).

The headman of the Vallambans is referred to generally as the Servaikaran. The headman of a group of nadus is entitled Nattuservai, while the headman of a village is known as Ur Servai, or simply Servai.

Marriage is celebrated between adults, and the remarriage of widows is not objected to. It is stated [101] that "the maternal uncle's or paternal aunt's daughter is claimed as a matter of right by a boy, so that a boy of ten may be wedded to a mature woman of twenty or twenty-five years, if she happens to be unmarried and without issue. Any elderly male member of the boy's family--his elder brother, uncle, or even his father--will have intercourse with her, and beget children, which the boy, when he comes of age, will accept as his own, and legitimatise." This system of marriage, in which there is a marked disparity in the ages of the contracting couple, is referred to in the proverb: "The tali should be tied at least by a log of wood." The marriage rites are as a rule non-Brahmanical, but in some well-to-do families the services of a Brahman purohit are enlisted. The presence of the Umbalakaran or caste headman at a marriage is essential. On the wedding day the contracting couple offer, at their homes, manaipongal (boiled rice), and the alangu ceremony is performed by waving coloured rice round them, or touching the knees, shoulders, and head with cakes, and throwing them over the head. The wrist-threads, consisting of a piece of old cloth dyed with turmeric, are tied on by the maternal uncle. Cooked rice and vegetables are placed in front of the marriage dais, and offered to the gods. Four betel leaves are given to the bridegroom, who goes round the dais, and salutes the four cardinal points of the compass by pouring water from a leaf. He then sits down on a plank on the dais, and hands the tali (marriage badge) to his sister. Taking the tali, she proceeds to the bride's house, where the bride, after performing the alangu ceremony, is awaiting her arrival. On reaching the house, she asks for the bride's presents, and one of her brothers replies that such a piece of land, naming one, is given as a dowry. The bridegroom's sister then removes the string of black and gold beads, such as is worn before marriage, from the bride's neck, and replaces it by the tali. The conch shell should be blown by women or children during the performance of manaipongal, and when the tali is tied. The bride is conveyed to the house of the bridegroom, and sits with him on the dais while the relations make presents to them.

The messenger who conveys the news of a death in the community is a Paraiyan. The corpse is placed within a pandal (booth) supported on four posts, which is erected in front of the house. Some paddy (unhusked rice) is poured from a winnow on to the ground, and rice is thrown over the face of the corpse. On the second day rice, and other articles of food, are carried by a barber to the spot where the corpse has been buried or burnt. If the latter course has been adopted, the barber picks out some of the remains of the bones, and hands them to the son of the deceased. On the third day, the widow goes round the pandal three times, and, entering within it, removes her tali string, and new clothes are thrown over her neck. On the sixteenth day the final death ceremonies (karmandhiram) are performed. A feast is given, and new cloths are tied on the heads of those under pollution. Pollution lasts for thirty days.

The Vallambans profess to be Saivaites, but they consider Periya Nayaki of Velangkudi as their tribal goddess, and each nadu has its own special deity, such as Vembu Aiyanar, Nelliyandi Aiyanar, etc. In some places the tribal deity is worshipped on a Tuesday at a festival called Sevvai (Tuesday). On this day pots containing fermented rice liquor, which must have been made by the caste people and not purchased, are taken to the place of worship. On a Friday, those families which are to take part in the festival allow a quantity of paddy (rice) to germinate by soaking it in water, and on the following Tuesday flower spikes of the palmyra palm are added to the malted rice liquor in the pots. The pots of ordinary families may be placed in their houses, but those of the Umbalakarans and Servaikarans must be taken to the temple as representing the deity. Into these pots the flower spikes should be placed by some respected elder of the community. A week later, a small quantity of rice liquor is poured into other pots, which are carried by women to the temple car, round which they go three times. They then throw the liquor into a tank or pond. The pots of the Umbalakaran and Servaikaran must be carried by young virgins, or grown-up women who are not under menstrual pollution. One of the women who carries these pots usually becomes possessed by the village deity. At the time of the festival, cradles, horses, human figures, elephants, etc., made by the potter, are brought to the temple as votive offerings to the god.

Valli Ammai Kuttam.--A synonym of the Koravas, meaning followers of Valli Ammai, the wife of the God Subrahmanya, whom they claim to have been a Korava woman.

Vallodi.--The name denotes a settlement in the Valluvanad taluk of Malabar, and has been returned as a sub-division of Nayar and Samantan, to which the Raja of Valluvanad belongs.

Valluvan.--The Valluvans are summed up by Mr. H. A. Stuart [102] as being "the priests of the Paraiyans and Pallans. Tiruvalluvar, the famous Tamil poet, author of the Kural, belonged to this caste, which is usually regarded as a sub-division of Paraiyans. It appears that the Valluvans were priests to the Pallava kings before the introduction of the Brahmans, and even for some time after it. [103] In an unpublished Vatteluttu inscription, believed to be of the ninth century, the following sentence occurs 'Sri Velluvam Puvanavan, the Uvac'chan (Oc'chan) of this temple, will employ daily six men for doing the temple service.' Again, the Valluvans must have formerly held a position at least equal to that of the Vellalas, if the story that Tiruvalluva Nayanar married a Vellala girl is true. [104] He is said to have "refused to acknowledge the distinctions of caste, and succeeded in obtaining a Vellala woman as his wife, from whom a section of the Valluvans say it has its descent. As their ancestor amused himself in the intervals between his studies by weaving, they employ themselves in mending torn linen, but chiefly live by astrology, and by acting as priests of Paraiyans, and officiating at their funerals and marriages, though some refuse to take part in the former inauspicious ceremony, and leave the duty to those whom they consider impure Valluvans called Paraiya Tadas. Another section of the Valluvans is called Alvar Dasari or Tavadadhari (those who wear the necklace of tulsi beads). Both Saivites and Vaishnavites eat together, but do not intermarry. Unlike Paraiyans, they forbid remarriage of widows and even polygamy, and all males above twelve wear the sacred thread." According to one account, the Valluvans are the descendants of an alliance between a Brahman sage and a Paraiyan woman, whose children complained to their father of their lowly position. He blessed them, and told them that they would become very clever astrologers, and, in consequence, much respected. At the Travancore census, 1901, the Valluvans were defined as a sub-division of the Pulayas, for whom they perform priestly functions.

"Both men and women are employed as astrologers and doctors, and are often consulted by all classes of people. In many villages they have the privilege of receiving from each ryot a handful of grain during the harvest time." [105] Of three Valluvans, whom I interviewed at Coimbatore, one, with a flowing white beard, had a lingam wrapped up in a pink cloth round the neck, and a charm tied in a pink cloth round the right upper arm. Another, with a black beard, had a salmon-coloured turban. The third was wearing a discarded British soldier's tunic. All wore necklaces of rudraksha (Elæocarpus Ganitrus) beads, and their foreheads were smeared with oblong patches of sandal paste. Each of them had a collection of panchangams, or calendars for determining auspicious dates, and a bundle of palm leaf strips (ulla mudyan) inscribed with slokas for astrological purposes. Their professional duties included writing charms for sick people, preparing horoscopes, and making forecasts of good or evil by means of cabalistic squares marked on the ground. Some Valluvans would have us believe that those who officiate as priests are not true Valluvans, and that the true Valluvan, who carries out the duties of an astrologer, will not perform priestly functions for the Paraiyans.

The most important sub-divisions of the Valluvans, returned at times of census, are Paraiyan, Tavidadari, and Tiruvalluvan. From information supplied to me, I gather that there are two main divisions, called Arupathu Katchi (sixty house section) and Narpathu Katchi (forty house section). The former are supposed to be descendants of Nandi Gurukkal, and take his name as their gotra. The gotra of the latter is Sidambara Sayichya Ayyamgar. Sidambara, or Chidambaram, is the site of one of the most sacred Siva temples. The sub-division Alvar claims descent from Tiruppan Alvar, one of the twelve Vaishnava saints. In the Tanjore district, the Valluvans have exogamous septs or pattaperu, named after persons, e.g., Marulipichan, Govindazhvan, etc.

The Valluvans include in their ranks both Vaishnavites and Saivites. The majority of the latter, both males and females, wear the lingam. The affairs of the community are adjusted by a caste council and there are, in most places, two hereditary officers called Kolkaran and Kanakkan.

At the betrothal ceremony the bride's money (pariyam), betel, jewels, flowers, and fruit, are placed in the future bride's lap. The money ranges from seven to ten rupees if the bridegroom's village is on the same side of a river as the bride's, and from ten to twenty rupees if it is on the other side. A small sum of money, called uramurai kattu (money paid to relations) and panda varisai (money paid in the pandal), is also paid by the bridegroom's party for a feast of toddy to the relations. This is the proper time for settling caste disputes by the village council. On the wedding day, the milk-post, consisting of a green bamboo pole, is set up, and a number of pots, brought from the potter's house, are placed near it. On the dais are set four lamps, viz., an ordinary brass lamp, kudavilakku (pot light), alankara vilakku (ornamental light), and paligai vilakku (seedling light). The bride and bridegroom bring some sand, spread it on the floor near the dais, and place seven leaves on it. Cotton threads, dyed with turmeric, are tied to the pots and the milk-post. On the leaves are set cakes and rice, and the contracting couple worship the pots and the family gods. The Valluvan priest repeats a jumble of corrupt Sanskrit, and ties the kankanams (threads) on their wrists. They are then led into the house, and garlanded with jasmine or Nerium flowers. The pots are arranged on the dais, and the sand is spread thereon close to the milk-post. Into one of the pots the female relations put grain seedlings, and four other pots are filled with water by the bridegroom's party. A small quantity of the seedlings is usually wrapped up in a cloth, and placed over the seedling pot. Next morning the bundle is untied, and examined, to see if the seedlings are in good condition. If they are so, the bride is considered a worthy one; if not, the bride is either bad, or will die prematurely. The usual nalagu ceremony is next performed, bride and bridegroom being anointed with oil, and smeared with Phaseolus Mungo paste. This is followed by the offering of food on eleven leaves to the ancestors and house gods. Towards evening, the dais is got ready for its occupation by the bridal couple, two planks being placed on it, and covered with cloths lent by a washerman. The couple, sitting on the planks, exchange betel and paddy nine or twelve times, and rice twenty-seven times. The priest kindles the sacred fire (homam), and pours some ghi (clarified butter) into it from a mango leaf. The bridegroom is asked whether he sees Arundati (the pole-star) thrice, and replies in the affirmative. The tali is shown the sky, smoked over burning camphor, and placed on a tray together with a rupee. After being blessed by those present, it is tied round the neck of the bride by the bridegroom, who has his right leg on her lap. On the second day there is a procession through the village, and, on the following day, the wrist-threads are removed.

In some places, the Valluvans, at their marriages, like the Pallis and some other castes, use the pandamutti, or pile of pots reaching to the top of the pandal.