Part 34

The Yanadis know the forest flora well, and the uses of the various trees and shrubs, which yield good firewood, etc. They call the roller (Coracias indica) the milk bird, in the belief that, when a cow goes dry, she will yield milk if a feather of the roller is put in the grass for her to swallow. The crow-pheasant (Centropus sinensis) is to them the prickly-pear crow; florikin the ground peacock; the fan-tail snipe the pond snipe; and the pin-tail the rice field snipe.

At the census, 1891, 84,339 Yanadis were returned as Hindus, and 549 as animists. Their places of worship are not temples, but houses, called devara indlu (houses of the gods), set apart for every centre. They worship a household god, a village goddess of local importance, and a deity of wider repute and influence. Chenchu Devudu is invariably the household god. Poleramma or Ankamma is in charge of a local area for weal or woe. Subbarayudu, Venkateswaralu, Panchala, Narasimhulu, and others, are the gods who control destinies over a wider area. The Yanadis are their own priests. The objects of worship take various forms: a wooden idol at Sriharikota; bricks; stones; pots of water with margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves; images of gods drawn on the walls of their houses; or mere handfuls of clay squeezed into shape, and placed on a small platform erected under an aruka tree, which, like other Hindus, they hold sacred. They use a red powder, flowers, turmeric, etc., for worship; burn camphor and incense; and distribute fruit, dhal (pulse of Cajanus indicus), and the like. In worshipping ancestors, they resemble the Kurumbas. The house of the gods is a sanctum, into which no polluting object is allowed to enter. The most pious perform rites every Friday. At Sriharikota they do so once a fortnight, or once a month. The ordinary Yanadi only worships on occasion of a marriage, funeral, etc. A belief lingers that the pious are en rapport with the deity, who converses with them and even inspires them. The goddess receives animal sacrifices, but Chenchu Devudu is a strict vegetarian, whose votaries are bound, at times of worship, to subsist on a single daily meal of roots and fruits. The Yanadis, like Hindus, wear sect marks, and are even divided into Vaishnavites and Saivites. They are supposed, during worship, to endow inanimate objects, and the spirits of geographical features, with life and mind, and supernatural powers. Some Yanadis are converts to Christianity.

The Yanadis live in low conical huts, rudely built of bamboo and palmyra leaves, grass, or millet stalks, with a small entrance, through which grown-up people have to creep. The hut affords protection from the sun and rain, but the Yanadis generally cook, eat, and sleep outside. The staple food of the Yanadis, apart from bazar purchases, consists of the following:--

Animals:--Sambar deer, wild goat, bear, porcupine, boar, land tortoise, hare, bandicoot and jerboa rat, Varanus (lizard), mungoose, and fish.

Vegetables and fruit:--Dioscorea (yams); pith and fruit of Phoenix sylvestris (date palm); fruit kernel of Cycas circinalis, eaten after thorough soaking in water; and fruits of Eugenia alternifolia and Jambolana (black plum), Carissa Carandas and spinarum, Buchanania acuminata, and Mimusops hexandra.

They are, like the Irulas of Chingleput, very partial to sour and fermented rice-water, which is kept by the higher classes for cattle. This they receive in exchange for headloads of fuel. For some time past they have been stopped by the Forest officers from drinking this pulusunillu, as it makes them lazy, and unfit for work.

The marriage ceremony is no indispensable necessity. The Adavi Yanadis, as a rule, avoid it; the Reddi Yanadis always observe it. The parents rarely arrange alliances, the parties concerned managing for themselves. Maturity generally precedes marriage. Seduction and elopement are common occurrences, and divorce is easily obtained. Adultery is no serious offence; widows may live in concubinage; and pregnancy before marriage is no crime. By nature, however, the Yanadis are jealous of conjugal rights, and attached to their wives. Widowhood involves no personal disfigurement, or denial of all the emblems of married life.

A widow has been known to take, one after another, as many as seven husbands. The greater the number of her husbands, the more exalted is the status of a widow in society, and the stronger her title to settle disputes on questions of adultery, and the like. Polygamy is common, and a Yanadi is known to have had as many as seven wives, whom he housed separately, and with whom he lived by turns. The marriage ceremony is undergoing change, and the simple routine developing into a costly ceremonial, the details of which (e.g., the "screen scene") are copied from the marriage rites of higher castes in the Telugu country. Until quite recently, the flower of the tangedu (Cassia auriculata) did duty for the tali, which is now a turmeric-dyed cotton thread with a gold bottu suspended from it. The auspicious hour is determined by a very simple process. The hour is noon, which arrives when a pole, two feet high, stuck vertically on the marriage platform, ceases to throw a shadow. The pole has superseded the arrow used of old, and sometimes a purohit is consulted, and gives the hour from his calendar.

As a punishment for adultery, the unfaithful woman is, at Sriharikota, made to stand, with her legs tied, for a whole day in the sun, with a basket full of sand on her head.

The maternal uncle receives a measure of rice, a new cloth, and eight annas, at the head-shaving ceremony of his nephew. At this ceremony, which is a borrowed custom, the uncle plucks a lock of hair from the head of the lad, and ties it to a bough of the aruka tree. The head is shaved, and the lad worships the village goddess, to whom a fowl is offered. The guests are feasted, and the evening is spent in a wild torch-light dance.

At the first menstrual period, a Yanadi girl occupies a hut erected for the purpose, which must have within it at least one stick of Strychnos Nux-vomica, to drive away devils. On the ninth day the hut is burnt down, and the girl cleanses herself from pollution by bathing. A woman, after confinement, feeds for three days on the tender leaves, or cabbage of the date palm (Phoenix sylvestris), and then on rice. Margosa leaves, and sometimes the leaves of other trees, and the knife with which the umbilical cord was cut, are placed under the infant's head for six days. A net is hung in front of the door, to keep out devils. The baby is given a name by the soothsayer, who pretends to be in communication on the subject with the god or goddess.

The Yanadis pose as prophets of human destinies, and, like the Nilgiri Kurumbas, pretend to hold intercourse with gods and goddesses, and to intercede between god and man. Every village or circle has one or more soothsayers, who learn their art from experts under a rigid routine. The period of pupilage is a fortnight spent on a dietary of milk and fruits with no cooked meat, in a cloister in meditation. The god or goddess Ankamma, Poleramma, Venkateswaralu, Subbaroyadu, or Malakondroyadu, appears like a shadow, and inspires the pupil, who, directly the period of probation has ceased, burns camphor and frankincense. He then sings in praise of the deity, takes a sea bath with his master, gives a sumptuous feast, and becomes an independent soothsayer. The ardent soothsayer of old wrought miracles, so runs the story, by stirring boiling rice with his hand, which was proof against scald or hurt. His modern brother invokes the gods with burning charcoal in his folded hands, to the beat of a drum. People flock in large numbers to know the truth. The word is rangampattedhi in North Arcot and sodi in Nellore. The soothsayer arranges Chenchu Devudu and the local gods in a separate devara illu or house of god, which is always kept scrupulously clean, and where worship is regularly carried on. The auspicious days for soothsaying are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The chief soothsayer is a male. The applicant presents him with betel nuts, fruit, flowers, and money. The soothsayer bathes, and sits in front of his house smeared with black, white, red, and other colours. His wife, or some other female, kindles a fire, and throws frankincense into it. He beats his drum, and sings, while a woman from within repeats the chant in a shrill voice. The songs are in praise of the deity, at whose and the soothsayer's feet the applicant prostrates himself and invokes their aid. The soothsayer feels inspired, and addresses the supplicant thus: "You have neglected me. You do not worship me. Propitiate me adequately, or ruin is yours." The future is predicted in song. In these predictions the rural folk place abundant faith.

The Yanadis bury their dead. The corpse is laid on leaves in front of the hut, washed and clad. Pelalu (parched rice) is thrown over the corpse by the son and all the agnates. It is eventually placed on a bier, covered with a new cloth, and carried to the burial ground, by the sons, or, in the absence thereof, the sapindas. At a fixed spot near the grave, on which all corpses are placed, a cross is drawn on the ground, the four lines of which represent the four cardinal points of the compass. Close to the corpse are placed betel leaves and nuts, and a copper coin. All present then proceed to the spot where the grave is to be dug, while the corpse is left in charge of a Yanadi called the Bathyasthadu, who, as a rule, belongs to a different sept from that of the deceased. The corpse is laid on a cloth, face downwards, in the grave. The eldest son, followed by the other relatives, throws three handfuls of earth into the grave, which is then filled in. On their return home, the mourners undergo purification by bathing before entering their huts. In front of the dead man's hut, two broken chatties (pots) are placed, whereof one contains ash-water, the other turmeric-water. Into each chatty a leafy twig is thrown. Those who have been present at the funeral stop at the chatties, and, with the twig, sprinkle themselves first with the ash-water, and then with the turmeric-water. Inside the hut a lighted lamp, fed with gingelly oil, is set up, before which those who enter make obeisance before eating.

The chinnadinamu ceremony, whereof notice is given by the Bathyasthadu, is usually held on the third day after death. Every group (gudem) or village has its own Bathyasthadu, specially appointed, whose duty it is to convey the news of death, and puberty of girls, to all the relatives. Tupakis will never nominate a Tupaki as their Bathyastha, but will select from a Mekala or any sept except their own.

On the morning of the chinnadinamu, the eldest son of the deceased cooks rice in a new pot, and makes curries and cakes according to his means. These are made up into six balls, which are placed in a new basket, and taken to the burial-ground. On reaching the spot where the cross-lines were drawn, a ball of rice is placed thereon, together with betel leaves and nuts and a copper coin. The Bathyasthadu remains in charge thereof, while those assembled proceed to the grave, whereon a pot of water is poured, and a stone planted at the spot beneath which the head lies. The stone is anointed with shikai (fruit of Acacia Concinna) and red powder, and milk poured over it, first by the widow or widower and then by the relations. This ceremony concluded, the son places a ball of rice at each corner of the grave, together with betel and money. Milk is poured over the remaining ball, which is wrapped in a leaf, and buried over the spot where the abdomen of the deceased is situated. Close to the grave, at the southern or head end, three stones are set up in the form of a triangle, whereon a new pot full of water is placed. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and the water trickles out towards the head of the corpse. This concludes the ceremony, and, as on the day of the funeral, purification by bathing, ash-water and turmeric-water, is carried out.

The peddadinamu ceremony is performed on the sixteenth, or some later day after death. As on the chinnadinamu, the son cooks rice in a new pot. Opposite the entrance to the hut a handful of clay is squeezed into a conical mass, representing the soul of the deceased, and stuck up on a platform. The eldest son, taking a portion of the cooked rice, spreads it on a leaf in front of the clay image, before which incense is burnt, and a lamp placed. The image, and the remainder of the food made up into four balls, are then carried by the son to a tank (pond). As soon as the relatives have assembled there, the recumbent effigy of a man is made, close to the edge of the tank, with the feet towards the north. The conical image is set up close to the head of the effigy, which is anointed by the relatives as at the chinnadinamu, except that no milk is poured over it. The four balls of rice are placed close to the hands and feet of the effigy, together with betel and money, and the son salutes it. The agnates then seat themselves in a row between the effigy and the water, with their hands behind their backs, so as to reach the effigy, which is moved slowly towards the water, into which it finally falls, and becomes disintegrated. The proceedings conclude with distribution of cloths and cheroots, and purification as before. The more prosperous Yanadis now engage a Brahman to remove the pollution by sprinkling water over them. During the peddadinamu incessant music and drum-beating has been going on, and is continued till far into the night, and sometimes the ceremonial is made to last over two days, in order that the Yanadis may indulge in a bout of music and dancing.

The Yanadis are expert anglers, catching fish with a triangular net or wicker basket. They also excel in diving for and catching hold of fish concealed in crevices of rocks or buried in mud, and assist European sportsmen by marking down florikin. Those who are unable to count bring in a string with knots tied in it, to indicate the number of birds marked. They catch bandicoot rats by a method known as voodarapettuta. A pot is stuffed with grass, into which fire is thrown. The mouth of the pot is placed against the hole made by the bandicoot, and smoke blown into the hole through a small slit in the pot. The animal becomes suffocated, and tries to escape through the only aperture available, made for the occasion by the Yanadi, and, as it emerges, is killed. They are fearless in catching cobras, which they draw out of their holes without any fear of their fangs. They pretend to be under the protection of a charm, while so doing. A correspondent writes that a cobra was in his grounds, and his servant got a Yanadi, who had charge of the adjoining garden, to dislodge it. The man was anxious to catch it alive, and then, before killing it, carefully removed the poison-sac with a knife, and swallowed it as a protection against snake-bite.

The Yanadis are good shikaris (huntsmen), and devoid of fear in the jungle. They hold licenses under the Arms Act, and being good shots, are great at bagging tigers, leopards, porcupines, and other big and small game. After an unsuccessful beat for spotted deer, a friend informs me, the Yanadis engaged therein erected a cairn of twigs and stones several feet high, round which they danced with gradually quickening step, to the refrain in Telugu 'Nothing comes.' Then, to the same tune, they danced round it in the opposite direction. The incantation concluded, the beat was continued and a stag duly appeared on the scene--and was missed!

They gather honey from bee-hives on hill tops and cliffs which are precipitous and almost inaccessible, and perilous to reach. The man climbs down with the help of a plaited rope of pliant bamboo, fastened above to a peg driven firmly into a tree or other hard substance, and takes with him a basket and stick. He drives away the bees at the first swing by burning grass or brushwood beneath the hives. The next swing takes him closer to the hive, which he pokes with the stick. He receives the honey-comb in the basket, and the honey flows out of it into a vessel adjusted to it. When the basket and vessel are full, he shakes the rope, and is drawn up by the person in charge of it, who is almost always his wife's brother, so that there may be no foul play. He thus collects a considerable quantity of honey and wax, for which he receives only a subsistence wage from the contractor, who makes a big profit for himself.

The following list of minor forest products, chiefly collected by Government Yanadis, is given in the Nellore District Gazette:--

Chay root (Oldenlandia umbellata), which, by a quaint misprint, appears as cheroot. Kanuga (Pongamia glabra). Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indicus). Nux vomica (Strychnos Nux-vomica). Tangedu (Cassia auriculata). Soap nut (Sapindus trifoliatus). Achilla weed (lichens). Ishwarac (Aristolochia indica). Vishabuddi (Sida carpinifolia). Kukkapala (Tylophora asthmatica). Honey. Rattan (Calamus Rotang). Tamarind (Tamarindus indicus). Neredu (Eugenia Jambolana). Surati bark (Ventilago Madraspatana).

In the interests of the Yanadis it is laid down, in the Gazette, that "the Yanadi villages must be encouraged, and the people paid at least once a week for the produce they collect. This must be done by the maistry (overseer) going up and down the main ride every day during the collection season, checking the collections, and paying for them on the spot. The Yanadis will, of course, camp out in the reserve when collecting produce, and not return, as heretofore, every three days to Sriharikota, thus wasting 45 per cent. of their time in the mere coming and going, apart from the fact that, under the old system, the produce from some parts of the reserves was never collected at all, as no one visited them."

The Yanadis dance on festive occasions, at ceremonies, and occasionally for begging, smearing the body with turmeric, wearing flowers, singing meaningless songs, and drumming in rude fashion "dambukku, dambukku." Their only wind instrument is the bag-pipe, but they play on the snake charmer's reed as an accompaniment. Their dance is full of indecent suggestion. They have of late trained themselves for the stage, and there are several troupes of Bhagavathulu.

To the Rev. G. N. Thomssen, of the Telugu Mission, Bapatla, I am indebted for the following account of a Yanadi dance. "Especially at night, they love to gather in some part of the jungle where they have their huts, and, having gathered a pile of palmyra leaves, burn them one by one as torches, while a number of men and women begin to dance their quaint, weird jungle dance, which is to represent the experiences of the hunters in their wanderings. The chief actors, or dancers, are dressed fantastically. They are almost nude, but dangling from their loins are palmyra baskets, in which they gather edible bulbs and roots, dead rats, snakes, etc., which are prized as something to fill the stomach. Suddenly the actors fell on the ground. One of them cries out 'thelu' (scorpion). Then the other asks where, and is shown the place where the scorpion is supposed to have stung the sufferer, while the choir sing:--

Alas! the scorpion stings. O! O! the scorpion stings. Which finger? Ah! the middle one. As soon as I was stung, The poison into my head ascends. Ayo! Ayo! What shall I do? Bring down the poison with yilledu.

This chant is kept up for a long time, when suddenly another of the actors falls on the ground, and writhes like a snake. The Yanadis are a very supple race, and, when dancing, especially when writhing on the ground, one sees a display of muscular action that makes one believe that the human body is capable of all the twists and turns of a serpent. When the actor is representing the man bitten by a snake, one hears quaint cries while the snake is sought in the hair, ears, and nose, basket and loin-cloth. The choir now sings the following:--

Come down to catch the snake, O! snake-charmer, behold the standing snake. Be sure the pipe sounds well. Come, come, with the big snakes in the basket, And the little ones in the lock of your hair. When I went down the bank of the Yerracheru, And saw the harvest cut, The cobra crawled beneath the harvester. Ayo! Ayo! Ayo!

To see this action song, and to hear these strange people, is one of the queerest experiences of native aboriginal life. The dancers, and the spectators who form the choir, all become very excited, and even the European, seeing the tamasha (spectacle), is infected with the excitement. The actors are bathed in perspiration, but the dance is kept up nevertheless, and only when their large stock of palmyra leaf torches is exhausted will they stop and take their rest."

In their nomadic life the Yanadis have learnt by experience the properties and uses of herbs and roots, with which they treat fever, rheumatism, and other diseases. They have their own remedies for cobra bite and scorpion sting. It is said that the Yanadis alone are free from elephantiasis, which affects the remaining population of Sriharikota.

It is noted by the Rev. G. N. Thomssen that "while it has been impossible to gather these people into schools, because of their shyness and jungle wildness, Christian missionaries, especially the American Baptist missionaries, have succeeded in winning the confidence of these degraded children of nature, and many of them have joined the Christian Church. Some read and write well, and a few have even learned English. We have a small, but growing settlement of Christianised Yanadis at Bapatla."