Part 25
The Saivite lingam wearers bury their dead in a sitting posture in a niche excavated in the side of the grave. After death has set in, a cocoanut is broken, and camphor burnt. The corpse is washed by relations, who bring nine pots of water for the purpose. The lingam is tied on to the head, and a cloth bundle, containing a rupee, seven bilva (Ægle Marmelos) leaves, nine twigs of the tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), and nine Leucas aspera flowers, to the right arm. The corpse is carried to the grave on a car surmounted by five brass vessels. The grave is purified by the sprinkling of cow's urine and cow-dung water before the corpse is lowered into it. On the way to the burial-ground, the priest keeps on chanting various songs, such as "This is Kailasa. This is Kailasa thillai (Chidambaram). Our request is this. Nallia Mutthan of the Nandidarma gotra died on Thursday in the month Thai in the year Subakruthu. He must enter the fourth stage (sayichyam), passing through Salokam, Samipa, and Sarupa. He crosses the rivers of stones, of thorns, of fire, and of snakes, holding the tail of the bull Nandi. To enable him to reach heaven safely, we pound rice, and put lights of rice." The priest receives a fee for his services, which he places before an image made on the grave after it has been filled in. The money is usually spent in making a sacred bull, lingam, or stone slab, to place on the grave. On the third day after death, the female relatives of the deceased pour milk within the house into a vessel, which is taken by the male relatives to the burial-ground, and offered at the grave, which is cleaned. A small platform, made of mud, and composed of several tiers, decreasing in size from below upwards, is erected thereon, and surmounted by a lingam. At the north and south corners of this platform, a bull and paradesi (mendicant) made of mud are placed, and at each corner leaves are laid, on which the offerings in the form of rice, fruits, vegetables, etc., are laid. The final death ceremonies are celebrated on the seventeenth day. A pandal (booth) is set up, and closed in with cloths. Within it are placed a pot and five pestles and mortars, to which threads are tied. Five married women, taking hold of the pestles, pound some rice contained in the pot, and with the flour make a lamp, which is placed on a tray. The eldest son of the deceased goes, with the lamp on his head, to an enclosure having an entrance at the four cardinal points. The enclosure is either a permanent one with mud walls, or temporary one made out of mats. Within the enclosure, five pots are set up in the centre, and four at each side. The pots are cleansed by washing them with the urine of cows of five different colours, red, white, black, grey, and spotted. Near the pots the articles required for puja (worship) are placed, and the officiating priest sits near them. The enclosure is supposed to represent heaven, and the entrances are the gates leading thereto, before which food is placed on leaves. The eldest son, with the lamp, stands at the eastern entrance, while Siva is worshipped. The priest then repeats certain stanzas, of which the following is the substance. "You who come like Siddars (attendants in the abode of Siva) at midnight, muttering Siva's name, why do you come near Sivapadam? I will pierce you with my trident. Get away. Let these be taken to yamapuri, or hell." Then Siva and Parvati, hearing the noise, ask "Oh! sons, who are you that keep on saying Hara, Hara? Give out truly your names and nativity." To which the reply is given "Oh! Lord, I am a devotee of that Being who graced Markandeya, and am a Virasaiva by faith. I have come to enter heaven. We have all led pure lives, and have performed acts of charity. So it is not just that we should be prevented from entering. Men who ill-treat their parents, or superiors, those addicted to all kinds of vice, blasphemers, murderers, perverts from their own faith and priests, and other such people, are driven to hell by the southern gate." At this stage, a thread is passed round the enclosure. The son, still bearing the lamp, goes from the eastern entrance past the south and western entrances, and, breaking the thread, goes into the enclosure through the northern entrance. The Nandikol (hereditary village official) then ties a cloth first round the head of the eldest son, and afterwards round the heads of the other sons and agnates.
The Valluvans abstain from eating beef. Though they mix freely with the Paraiyans, they will not eat with them, and never live in the Paraiyan quarter.
The Valluvans are sometimes called Pandaram or Valluva Pandaram. In some places, the priests of the Valluvans are Vellala Pandarams.
Valluvan.--A small inferior caste of fishermen and boatmen in Malabar. [106]
Valmika.--Valmika or Valmiki is a name assumed by the Boyas and Paidis, who claim to be descended from Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, who did penance for so long in one spot that a white-ant hill (valmikam) grew up round him. In a note before me, Valmiki is referred to as the Spenser of India. In the North Arcot Manual, Valmikulu, as a synonym of the Vedans, is made to mean those who live on the products of ant-hills.
Val Nambi.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a synonym for Mussad. Nambi is a title of Brahmans, and val means a sword. The tradition is that the name arose from the ancestors of the caste having lost some of the privileges of the Vedic Brahmans owing to their having served as soldiers when Malabar was ruled by the Brahmans prior to the days of the Perumals."
Valuvadi.--The Valuvadis are returned, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as cultivators in the Pudukottai State. I am informed that the Valuvadis are a section of the Valaiyan caste, to which the Zamindar of Nagaram belongs. The name Valuvadi was originally a title of respect, appended to the name of the Nagaram Zamindars. The name of the present Zamindar is Balasubramanya Valuvadiar. Thirty years ago there is said to have been no Valuvadi caste. Some Valaiyans in prosperous circumstances, and others who became relatives of the Nagaram Zamindar by marriage, have changed their caste name, to show that they are superior in social status to the rest of the community.
Vamme.--A gotra of Janappans, the members of which abstain from eating the fish called bombadai, because, when some of their ancestors went to fetch water in the marriage pot, they found a number of this fish in the water contained in the pot.
Vana Palli.--A name, meaning forest Palli, assumed by some Irulas in South Arcot.
Vandikkaran.--An occupational name for Nayars who work as cartmen (vandi, cart) for carrying fuel.
Vandula or Vandi Raja.--A sub-division of Bhatrazu, named after one Vandi, who is said to have been a herald at the marriage of Siva.
Vangu (cave).--A sub-division of Irula.
Vani.--"The Vanis or Bandekars," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [107] "have been wrongly classified in the census returns (1891) as oil-pressers; they are in reality traders. They are said to have come from Goa, and they speak Konkani. Their spiritual guru is the head of the Kumbakonam math." In the Census Report, 1901, it is noted that Vani, meaning literally a trader, is a Konkani-speaking trading caste, of which Bandekara is a synonym. "They ape the Brahmanical customs, and call themselves by the curious hybrid name of Vaisya Brahmans." Hari Chetti has been returned as a further synonym.
Vaniyan.--The Vaniyans are, Mr. Francis writes, [108] "oil-pressers among the Tamils, corresponding to the Telugu Gandlas, Canarese Ganigas, Malabar Chakkans, and Oriya Tellis. For some obscure reason, Manu classed oil-pressing as a base occupation, and all followers of the calling are held in small esteem, and, in Tinnevelly, they are not allowed to enter the temples. In consequence, however, of their services in lighting the temples (in token of which all of them, except the Malabar Vaniyans and Chakkans, wear the sacred thread), they are earning a high position, and some of them use the sonorous title of Joti Nagarattar (dwellers in the city of light) and Tiru-vilakku Nagarattar (dwellers in the city of holy lamps). They employ Brahmans as priests, practice infant marriage, and prohibit widow marriage, usually burn their dead, and decline to eat in the houses of any caste below Brahmans. However, even the washermen decline to eat with them. Like the Gandlas they have two sub-divisions, Ottai-sekkan and Irattai-sekkan, who use respectively one bullock and two bullocks in their mills. Oddly enough, the former belong to the right-hand faction, and the latter to the left. Their usual title is Chetti. The name Vanuvan has been assumed by Vaniyans, who have left their traditional occupation, and taken to the grain and other trades."
"The word Vanijyam," Mr. H. A. Stuart informs us, [109] "signifies trade, and trade in oil, as well as its manufacture, is the usual employment of this caste, who assert that they are Vaisyas, and claim the Vaisya-Apuranam as their holy book. They are said to have assumed the thread only within the last fifty or sixty years, and are reputed to be the result of a yagam (sacrifice by fire) performed by a saint called Vakkuna Maharishi. The caste contains four sub-divisions called Kamakshiamma, Visalakshiamma, Ac'chu-tali, and Toppa-tali, the two first referring to the goddesses principally worshipped by each, and the two last to the peculiar kinds of talis, or marriage tokens, worn by their women. They have the same customs as the Beri Chettis, but are not particular in observing the rule which forbids the eating of flesh. A bastard branch of the Vaniyas is called the Pillai Kuttam, which is said to have sprung from the concubine of a Vaniyan, who lived many years ago. The members of this class are never found except where Vaniyans live, and are supposed to have a right to be fed and clothed by them. Should this be refused, they utter the most terrible curse, and, in this manner, eventually intimidate the uncharitable into giving them alms." In the Census Report, 1891, Mr. Stuart writes further that the Vaniyans "were formerly called Sekkan (oil-mill man), and it is curious that the oil-mongers alone came to be called Vaniyan or trader. They have returned 126 sub-divisions, of which only one, Ilai Vaniyan, is numerically important. One sub-division is Iranderudu, or two bullocks, which refers to the use of two bullocks in working the mill. This separation of those who use two bullocks from those who employ only one is found in nearly every oil-pressing caste in India. The Vaniyans of Malabar resemble the Nayars in their customs and habits, and neither wear the sacred thread, nor employ Brahmans as priests. In North Malabar, Nayars are polluted by their touch, but in the south, where they are called Vattakadans, they have succeeded in forcing themselves into the ranks of the Nayar community. A large number of them returned Nayar as their main caste." In this connection, Mr. Francis states [110] that followers of the calling of oil-pressers (Chakkans) are "known as Vattakadans in South Malabar, and as Vaniyans in North Malabar; but the former are the higher in social status, the Nayars being polluted by the touch of the Vaniyans and Chakkans but not by that of the Vattakadans. Chakkans and Vaniyans may not enter Brahman temples. Their customs and manners are similar to those of the Nayars, who will not, however, marry their women."
Of the Vaniyans of Cochin, it is stated in the Cochin Census Report, 1901, that "they are Vaisyas, and wear the sacred thread. In regard to marriage, inheritance, ceremonies, dress, ornaments, etc., there is practically no difference between them and the Konkanis. But, as they do not altogether abstain from meat and spirituous liquors, they are not allowed free access to the houses of Konkanis, nor are they permitted to touch their tanks and wells. They are Saivites. They have their own priests, who are called Panditars. They observe birth and death pollution for ten days, and are like Brahmans in this respect. They are mostly petty merchants and shop-keepers. Some can read and write Malayalam, but they are very backward in English education."
The oils expressed by the Vaniyans are said to be "gingelly (Sesamum indicum), cocoanut, iluppei (Bassia longifolia), pinnei (Calophyllum inophyllum), and ground-nut (Arachis hypogæa). According to the sastras the crushing of gingelly seeds, and the sale of gingelly oil, are sinful acts, and no one, who does not belong to the Vaniyan class, will either express or sell gingelly oil." [111]
When a Vaniyan dies a bachelor, a post-mortem mock ceremony is performed as by the Ganigas, and the corpse is married to the arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof.
Vankayala (brinjal or egg plant: Solanum Melongena).--An exogamous sept of Golla. The fruit is eaten by Natives, and, stuffed with minced meat, is a common article of Anglo-Indian dietary.
Vanki (armlet).--A gotra of Kurni.
Vannan.--The Vannans are washermen in the Tamil and Malayalam countries. The name Vannan is, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [112] "derived from vannam, beauty. There is a tradition that they are descendants of the mythological hero Virabadra, who was ordered by Siva to wash the clothes of all men, as an expiation of the sin of putting many people to death in Daksha's Yaga. Hence the Tamil washermen are frequently called Virabadran. Having to purify all the filthy linen of the villagers, they are naturally regarded as a low, unclean class of Sudras, and are always poor. They add to their income by hiring out the clothes of their customers to funeral
## parties, who lay them on the ground before the pall-bearers, so that
these may not step upon the ground, and by letting them out on the sly to persons wishing to use them without having to purchase for themselves. In social standing the Vannans are placed next below the barbers. They profess to be Saivites in the southern districts, and Vaishnavites in the north. The marriage of girls generally takes place after puberty. Widow remarriage is permitted among some, if not all, sub-divisions. Divorce may be obtained by either party at pleasure on payment of double the bride-price, which is usually Rs. 10-8-0. They are flesh-eaters, and drink liquor. The dead are either burned or buried. The Pothara (or Podora) Vannans are of inferior status, because they wash only for Paraiyans, Pallans, and other inferior castes."
It is noted, in the Madura Manual, that those who have seen the abominable substances, which it is the lot of the Vannans to make clean, cannot feel any surprise at the contempt with which their occupation is regarded. In the Tanjore Manual, it is recorded that, in the rural parts of the district, the Vannans are not allowed to enter the house of a Brahman or a Vellala; clothes washed by them not being worn or mixed up with other clothes in the house until they have undergone another wash by a caste man.
It is on record that, on one occasion, a party of Europeans, when out shooting, met a funeral procession on its way to the burial-ground. The bier was draped in many folds of clean cloth, which one of the party recognised by the initials as one of his bed-sheets. Another identified as his sheet the cloth on which the corpse was lying. He cut off the corner with the initials, and a few days later the sheet was returned by the washerman, who pretended ignorance of the mutilation, and gave as an explanation that it must have been done, in his absence, by one of his assistants. On another occasion, a European met an Eurasian, in a village not far from his bungalow, wearing a suit of clothes exactly similar to his own, and, on close examination, found they were his. They had been newly washed and dressed.
The most important divisions numerically returned by Vannans at times of census are Pandiyan, Peru (big), Tamil, and Vaduga (northerner). It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that Vannan "is rather an occupational term than a caste title, and, besides the Pandya Vannans or Vannans proper, includes the Vaduga Vannans or Tsakalas of the Telugu country, and the Palla, Pudara, and Tulukka Vannans, who wash for the Pallans, Paraiyans, and Musalmans respectively. The Pandya Vannans have a headman called the Periya Manishan (big man). A man can claim the hand of his paternal aunt's daughter. At weddings, the bridegroom's sister ties the tali (marriage badge). Nambis officiate. Divorce is freely allowed to either party on payment of twice the bride-price, and divorcées may marry again. The caste god is Gurunathan, in whose temples the pujari (priest) is usually a Vannan. The dead are generally burnt, and, on the sixteenth day, the house is purified from pollution by a Nambi."
Some Vannans have assumed the name Irkuli Vellala, and Rajakan and Kattavaraya vamsam have also been recorded as synonyms of the caste name.
The Vannans of Malabar are also called Mannan or Bannan. They are, Mr. Francis writes, [113] "a low class of Malabar washermen, who wash only for the polluting castes, and for the higher castes when they are under pollution following births, deaths, etc. It is believed by the higher castes that such pollution can only be removed by wearing clothes washed by Mannans, though at other times these cause pollution to them. The washing is generally done by the women, and the men are exorcists, devil-dancers and physicians, even to the higher castes. Their women are midwives, like those of the Velakkatalavan and Velan castes. This caste should not be confused with the Mannan hill tribe of Travancore."
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "the Mannans, a makkattayam caste of South Malabar, apparently identical with the marumakkattayam Vannans of the north, are a caste of washermen; and their services are indispensable to the higher castes in certain purificatory ceremonies when they have to present clean cloths (mattu). They are also devil-dancers and tailors. They practice fraternal polyandry in the south. Mannans are divided into two endogamous classes, Peru-mannans (peru, great), and Tinda-mannans (tinda, pollution); and, in Walavanad, into four endogamous classes called Choppan, Peru-mannan, Punnekadan, and Puliyakkodam. The Tinda-mannan and Puliyakkodam divisions perform the purificatory sprinklings for the others."
The services of the Mannan, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes, [114] "are in requisition at the Nayar Thirandukalianam ceremonies on the attainment of puberty by a girl, when they sing ballads, and have to bring, for the girl's use, the mattu or sacred dress. Then, on occasions of death pollution, they have a similar duty to perform. Among the Nayars, on the fourth, or rarely the third day after the menses, the woman has to use, during her bath, clothes supplied by Mannan females. The same duty they have to perform during the confinement of Nayar females. All the dirty cloths and bed sheets used, these Mannan females have to wash." Mr. S. Appadorai Iyer informs us that those Mannans who are employed by the Kammalan, or artisan class, as barbers, are not admitted into the Mannan caste, which follows the more honourable profession of washing clothes. The Mannans perform certain ceremonies in connection with Mundian, the deity who is responsible for the weal or woe of cattle; and, at Puram festivals, carry the vengida koda or prosperity umbrella, composed of many tiers of red, green, orange, black and white cloth, supported on a long bamboo pole, before the goddess.
It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead [115] that, in various places in Malabar, there are temples in honour of Bhagavati, at which the pujaris (priests) are of the Vannan caste. "There is an annual feast called gurusi tarpanam (giving to the guru) about March, when the hot weather begins, and the people are at leisure. Its object is to appease the wrath of the goddess. During the festival, the pujari sits in the courtyard outside the temple, thickly garlanded with red flowers, and with red kunkuma marks on his forehead. Goats and fowls are then brought to him by the devotees, and he kills them with one blow of the large sacrificial sword or chopper. It is thought auspicious for the head to be severed at one blow, and, apparently, pujaris who are skilful in decapitation are much in request. When the head is cut off, the pujari takes the carcase, and holds it over a large copper vessel partly filled with water, turmeric, kunkuma, and a little rice, and lets the blood flow into it. When all the animals are killed, the pujari bails out the blood and water on the ground, uttering mantrams (sacred lines or verses) the while. The people stand a little way off. When the vessel is nearly empty, the pujari turns it upside down as a sign that the ceremony is ended. During these proceedings, a number of Vannans, dressed in fantastic costumes, dance three times round the temple. During the festival, processions are held round the various houses, and special swords with a curved hook at the end, called palli val (great or honourable sword), are carried by the worshippers. These swords are worshipped during the Dusserah festival in October, and, in some shrines, they form the only emblem of the deity. The Tiyans have small shrines in their own gardens sacred to the family deity, which may be Bhagavati, or some demon, or the spirit of an ancestor. Once a year, Vannans come dressed in fancy costume, with crowns on their heads, and dance round the courtyard to the sound of music and tom-toms, while a Tiyan priest presents the family offerings, uncooked rice and young cocoanuts, with camphor and incense, and then rice fried with sugar and ghi (clarified butter)."
In an account of the Tiyans, Mr. Logan writes [116] that "this caste is much given to devil-charming, or devil-driving as it is often called. The washermen (Vannan) are the high priests of this superstition, and with chants, ringing cymbals, magic figures, and waving lights, they drive out evil spirits from their votaries of this caste at certain epochs in their married lives. One ceremony in particular, called teyyattam--a corrupt form of Deva and attam, that is, playing at gods--takes place occasionally in the fifth month of pregnancy. A leafy arbour is constructed, and in front of it is placed a terrible figure of Chamundi, the queen of the demons, made of rice flour, turmeric powder, and charcoal powder. A party of not less than eighteen washermen is organized to represent the demons and furies--Kuttichattan (a mischievous imp), and many others. On being invoked, these demons bound on to the stage in pairs, dance, caper, jump, roar, fight, and drench each other with saffron (turmeric) water. Their capers and exertions gradually work up their excitement, until they are veritably possessed of the devil. At this juncture, fowls and animals are sometimes thrown to them, to appease their fury. These they attack with their teeth, and kill and tear as a tiger does his prey. After about twenty minutes the convulsions cease, the demon or spirit declares its pleasure, and, much fatigued, retires to give place to others; and thus the whole night is spent, with much tom-tomming and noise and shouting, making it impossible, for Europeans at least, to sleep within earshot of the din."
Vannattan.--A synonym of Veluttedan, the caste of washermen, who wash for Nayars and higher castes.