Part 14

In 1905, an elaborate Badaga memorial ceremony for ancestors called manavalai, which takes place at long intervals, was celebrated on the Nilgiris. I gather from the notes of a Native official that an enormous car, called elu kudi teru (seven-storeyed car) was built of wood and bamboo, and decorated with silk and woollen fabrics, flags, and umbrellas. Inside the ground floor were a cot with a mattress and pillow, and the stem of a plantain tree. The souls of the ancestors are supposed to be reclining on the cot, resting their heads on the pillow, and chewing the plantain, while the umbrellas protect them from the sun and rain. The ear ornaments of all those who have died since the previous ceremony should be placed on the cot. "A Badaga fell and hurt himself during the erection of the car. Whereupon, another Badaga became possessed, and announced that the god was angry because a Kurumba had something to do with the building of the structure. A council meeting was held, and the Kurumba fined twenty-five rupees, which were credited to the god. Sixty-nine petty bazars and three beer taverns had been opened for the convenience of all classes of people that had assembled. One very old Badaga woman said that she was twelve years old when the first European was carried in a chair by the Todas, and brought up the ghat to the Nilgiris from Coimbatore. On Wednesday at 10 A.M. people from the adjoining villages were announced, and the Kota band, with the village people, went forward, greeted them, and brought them to the car. As each man approached it, he removed his turban, stooped over the pillow and laid his head on it, and then went to join the ring for the dance. The dancers wore skirts made of white long-cloth, white and cream silks and satins with border of red and blue trimming, frock dresses, and dressing-gowns, while the coats, blouses, and jackets were of the most gaudy colours of silk, velvet, velveteen, tweed, and home-spun. As each group of people arrived, they went first to the temple door, saluted the god, and went to the basement of the car to venerate the deceased, and then proceeded to dance for an hour, received their supplies of rice, etc., and cleared off. Thursday and Friday were the grandest days. Nearly three thousand females, and six thousand males, assembled on Thursday. To crown all the confusion, there appeared nearly a thousand Badagas armed with new mamotis (spades). They came on dancing for some distance, rushed into the crowd, and danced round the car. These Badagas belonged to a gang of public works, local fund, and municipal maistries. On the last day a sheep was slaughtered in honour of the deity. The musicians throughout the festivities were Kotas and Kurumbas. The dancing of the men of three score showed that they danced to music, and the stepping was admirable, while the dancing of young men did not show that they had any idea of dancing, or either taste or knowledge of music. They were merely skipping and jumping. This shows that the old art of the Badaga dance is fast decaying." The cot is eventually burnt at the burning-ground, as if it contained a corpse.

A kind of edible truffle (Mylitta lapidescens) is known as little man's bread on the Nilgiris. The Badaga legendary name for it is Pandva-unna-buthi, or dwarf bundle of food, [85] i.e., food of the dwarfs, who are supposed once to have inhabited the Nilgiris and built the pandu kulis or kistvaens.

The story goes that Lord Elphinstone, a former Governor of Madras, was anxious to build a residence at Kaiti. But the Badagas, who had on the desired site a sacred tree, would not part with the land. The Governor's steward succeeded in making the Badaga headman drunk, and secured, for a rental of thirty-five rupees annually, the site, whereon a villa was built, which now belongs to the Basel Mission. [86]

In a recent work, [87] Mr. A. H. Keane, in a note on the "Dravidian Aborigines," writes as follows. "All stand on the very lowest rung of the social ladder, being rude hillmen without any culture strictly so called, and often betraying marked negroid characters, as if they were originally Negroes or Negritos, later assimilated in some respects to their Dravidian conquerors. As they never had a collective racial name, they should now be called, not Dravidians or proto-Dravidians, but rather pre-Dravidians, as more collectively indicating their true ethnical relations. Such are the Kotas, Irulas, Badagas, and Kurumbas." It may be pointed out that the Badagas and Kotas of the Nilgiri plateau are not "wild tribes," have no trace of negroid characters, and no affinities with the Kurumbas and Irulas of the Nilgiri slopes. The figures in the following table speak for themselves:--

=========+=======================+====================== | Stature. | Nasal Index. +=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+====== | A | B | C | D | E | F =========+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+====== Badaga | 164.1 | 180.2 | 159.9 | 75.6 | 88.4 | 62.7 Kota | 162.9 | 174.2 | 155. | 77.2 | 92.9 | 64. Irula | 159.8 | 168. | 152. | 84.9 | 100. | 72.3 Kurumba | 157.5 | 163.6 | 149.6 | 88.8 | 111. | 79.1 =========+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+======

Column Headers: A = Average cm. B = Maximum cm. C = Minimum cm. D = Average. E = Maximum. F = Minimum.

Badagi.--The carpenter sub-division of Panchalas.

Badhoyi.--The Badhoyis are Oriya carpenters and blacksmiths, of whom the former are known as Badhoyi, and the latter as Komaro. These are not separate castes, and the two sections both interdine and intermarry. The name Badhoyi is said to be derived from the Sanskrit vardhaki, which, in Oriya, becomes bardhaki, and indicates one who changes the form, i.e., of timber. Korti, derived from korto, a saw, occurs as the name of a section of the caste, the members of which are wood-sawyers. Socially, the Badhoyis occupy the same position as Doluvas, Kalinjis, and various other agricultural classes, and they do not, like the Tamil Kammalans, claim to be Viswakarma Brahmans, descended from Viswakarma, the architect of the gods.

The hereditary headman is called Maharana, and, in some places, there seem to be three grades of Maharana, viz., Maharana, Dondopato Maharana, and Swangso Maharana. These headmen are assisted by a Bhollobhaya or Dolobehara, and there is a further official called Agopothiria, whose duty it is to eat with an individual who is re-admitted into the caste after a council meeting. This duty is sometimes performed by the Maharana. Ordinary meetings of council are convened by the Maharana and Bhollobhaya. But, if a case of a serious nature is to be tried, a special council meeting, called kulo panchayat, is held in a grove or open space outside the village. All the Maharanas and other officers, and representatives of five castes (panchapatako) equal or superior to the Badhoyis in the social scale, attend such a council. The complainant goes to the Swangso Maharana, and, giving him fifty areca nuts, asks him to convene the council meeting. Punishment inflicted by the caste council usually assumes the form of a fine, the amount of which depends on the worldly prosperity of the delinquent, who, if very indigent, may be let off with a reprimand and warning. Sometimes offences are condoned by feeding Brahmans or the Badhoyi community. Small sums, collected as fines, are appropriated by the headman, and large sums are set apart towards a fund for meeting the marriage expenses of the poorer members of the caste, and the expenditure in connection with kulo panchayats.

Concerning the marriage ceremonies, Mr. D. Mahanty writes as follows. "At a marriage among the Badhoyis, and various other castes in Ganjam, two pith crowns are placed on the head of the bridegroom. On his way to the bride's house, he is met by her purohit (priest) and relations, and her barber washes his feet, and presents him with a new yellow cloth, flowers, and kusa grass (also called dharbha grass). When he arrives at the house, amid the recitations of stanzas by the priest, the blowing of conch shells and other music, the women of the bride's party make a noise called hulu-huli, and shower kusa grass over him. At the marriage booth, the bridegroom sits upon a raised 'altar,' and the bride, who arrives accompanied by his maternal uncle, pours salt, yellow-coloured rice, and parched paddy (rice) over the head of the bridegroom, by whose side she seats herself. One of the pith crowns is removed from the bridegroom's forehead, and placed on that of the bride. Various Brahmanical rites are then performed, and the bride's father places her hand in that of the bridegroom. A bundle of straw is now placed on the altar, on which the contracting parties sit, the bridegroom facing east, and the bride west. The purohit rubs a little jaggery over the bridegroom's right palm, joins it to the palm of the bride, and ties their two hands together with a rope made of kusa grass (hasthagonti). A yellow cloth is tied to the cloths which the bridal pair are wearing, and stretched over their shoulders (gontiyala). The hands are then untied by a married woman. Sradha is performed for the propitiation of ancestors, and the purohit, repeating some mantrams (prayers), blesses the pair by throwing yellow rice over them. On the sixth day of the ceremony, the bridegroom runs away from the house of his father-in-law, as if he was displeased, and goes to the house of a relation in the same or an adjacent village. His brother-in-law, or other male relation of the bride, goes in search of him, and, when he has found him, rubs some jaggery over his face, and brings him back." As an example of the stanzas recited by the purohit, the following may be cited:--

I have presented with my mind and word, and also with kusa grass and water.

The witnesses of this are fire, Brahmans, women, relations, and all the devatas.

Forgive this presentable faithful maid.

I am performing the marriage according to the Vedic rites.

Women are full of all kinds of faults. Forgive these faults.

Brahma is the god of this maid.

By the grace of the god Vasudeva, I give to thee the bridegroom.

The Badhoyis are Paramarthos, and follow the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They further worship various village deities. The dead are cremated. The corpse of a dead person is washed, not at the house, but at the burning-ground.

The most common caste title is Maharana. But, in some zemindaris, such titles as Bindhani Rathno, and Bindhani Bushano, have been conferred by the zemindars on carpenters for the excellence of their work.

The carpenters and blacksmiths hold inams or rent-free lands both under zemindars and under Government. In return, they are expected to construct a car for the annual festival of the village deity, at which, in most places, the car is burnt at the conclusion of the festival. They have further to make agricultural implements for the villagers, and, when officials arrive on circuit, to supply tent-pegs, etc.

Bagata.--The Bagatas, Bhaktas, or Baktas are a class of Telugu fresh-water fishermen, who are said to be very expert at catching fish with a long spear. It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "on the Dasara day they worship the fishing baskets, and also (for some obscure reason) a kind of trident." The trident is probably the fishing spear. Some of the Bagatas are hill cultivators in the Agency tracts of Vizagapatam. They account for their name by the tradition that they served with great devotion (bhakti) the former rulers of Golgonda and Madugula, who made grants of land to them in mokhasa tenure. Some of them are heads of hill villages. The head of a single village is called a Padal, and it may be noted that Padala occurs as an exogamous sept of the Kapus, of which caste it has been suggested that the Bagatas are an offshoot. The overlord of a number of Padals styles himself Nayak or Raju, and a Mokhasadar has the title of Dora. It is recorded, in the Census Report, 1871, that "in the low country the Bhaktas consider themselves to take the rank of soldiery, and rather disdain the occupation of ryots (cultivators). Here, however (in hill Madugulu in the Vizagapatam district), necessity has divested them of such prejudices, and they are compelled to delve for their daily bread. They generally, nevertheless, manage to get the Kapus to work for them, for they make poor farmers, and are unskilled in husbandry."

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that "Matsya gundam (fish pool) is a curious pool on the Macheru (fish river) near the village of Matam, close under the great Yendrika hill, 5,188 feet above the sea. A barrier of rocks runs right across the river there, and the stream plunges into a great hole and vanishes beneath this, reappearing again about a hundred yards lower down. Just where it emerges from under the barrier, it forms a pool, which is crowded with mahseer of all sizes. These are wonderfully tame, the bigger ones feeding fearlessly from one's hand, and even allowing their backs to be stroked. They are protected by the Madgole zamindars--who on several grounds venerate all fish--and by superstitious fears. Once, goes the story, a Brinjari caught one and turned it into curry, whereon the king of the fish solemnly cursed him, and he and all his pack-bullocks were turned into rocks, which may be seen there till this day. At Sivaratri, a festival occurs at the little thatched shrine near by, the priest at which is a Bagata, and part of the ritual consists in feeding the sacred fish.

"In 1901, certain envious Bagatas looted one of the villages of the Konda Malas or hill Paraiyans, a pushing set of traders, who are rapidly acquiring wealth and exalted notions, on the ground that they were becoming unduly arrogant. The immediate cause of the trouble was the fact that at a cockfight the Malas' birds had defeated the Bagatas'."

In a note on the Bagatas, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that the caste is divided into exogamous septs or intiperulu, some of which occur also among the Kapus, Telagas, and Vantaris. Girls are married either before or after puberty, and the custom, called menarikam, which renders it a man's duty to marry his maternal uncle's daughter, is the general rule. An Oriya or Telugu Brahman officiates at marriages, and the bride is presented with jewelry as a substitute for the bride-price (voli) in money. It is noted, in the Census Report, 1901, that, at a wedding, the bridegroom is struck by his brother-in-law, who is then presented with a pair of new cloths. The Bagatas are both Vaishnavites and Saivites, and the former get themselves branded on the arm by a Vaishnava guru, who lives in the Godavari district. The Vaishnavites burn their dead, and the Saivites bury them in the customary sitting attitude. Satanis officiate for the former, and Jangams for the latter. Both sections perform the chinna and pedda rozu (big and little day) death ceremonies. The hill Bagatas observe the Itiga Ponduga festival, which is celebrated by the hill classes in Vizagapatam.

Bahusagara (many seas).--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a synonym of Rangari. The Rangaris are tailors and dyers, and the signification of the name is not clear.

Baidya.--See Vaidyan.

Bainedu.--The Bainedu, or Bainedi, as they are called in the Census Report, 1901, are the musicians and barbers of the Malas and Madigas. At the peddadinamu death ceremony of the Gamallas, a Mala Bainedu takes part in the recitation of the story of Ankamma, and in making the designs (muggu) on the ground.

Bairagi.--The Bairagis are a class of religious mendicants, who roam about all over India, and are for the most part recruited from North Indian castes. They are followers of Ramanand, who founded the order at the end of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century. According to common tradition, the schism of Ramanand originated in resentment of an affront offered him by his fellow disciples, and sanctioned by his teacher. It is said that he had spent some time in travelling through various parts of India, after which he returned to the math, or residence of his superior. His brethren objected to him that in the course of his peregrinations it was impossible he could have observed that privacy in his meals, which is a vital observance of the Ramanuja sect; and, as Raghavanand admitted the validity of the objection, Ramanand was condemned to feed in a place apart from the rest of the disciples. He was highly incensed at the order, and retired from the society altogether, establishing a schism of his own. [88]

The name Bairagi is derived from the Sanskrit vairagya (vi + rag), denoting without desire or passion, and indicates an ascetic, who has subdued his passions, and liberated himself from worldly desires. The Bairagis are sometimes called Bavaji or Sadhu.

The Bairagis are Vaishnavites, and bear the Tengalai Vaishnava mark (namam), made with sandal-paste or gopi, on the forehead. Bairagis with a Vadagalai mark are very rare. The Bairagis wear necklaces of tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) beads or lotus (Nelumbium speciosum) seeds. Every Bairagi cooks his food within a space cleansed with cow-dung water by himself or his disciple, and will not leave the space until he has finished his meal. The Bairagis are not particular about screening the space from the public gaze. They partake of one meal daily, in the afternoon, and are abstainers from flesh dietary. They live mainly on alms obtained in the bazars, or in choultries (rest-houses for travellers). They generally carry with them one or two brass vessels for cooking purposes, a salagrama stone and a conch-shell for worship, and a chillum (pipe) for smoking ganja (Indian hemp) or opium. They are, as a rule, naked except for a small piece of cloth tied round the waist and passed between the thighs. Some wear more elaborate body-clothing, and a turban. They generally allow the beard to grow, and the hair of the head is long and matted, with sometimes a long tail of yak or human hair tied in a knot on the top of the head. Those who go about nearly naked smear ashes all over their bodies. When engaged in begging, some go through the streets, uttering aloud the name of some God. Others go from house to house, or remain at a particular spot, where people are expected to give them alms.

Some Bairagis are celibates, and others married. They are supposed to be celibates, but, as Dr. T. N. Bhattacharjee observes, [89] the "monks of this order have generally a large number of nuns attached to their convents, with whom they openly live as man and wife." The Bairagis are very particular about the worship of the salagrama stone, and will not partake of food without worshipping it. When so doing, they cover their head with a piece of cloth (Ram nam ka safa), on which the name Rama is printed in Devanagiri characters. Their face and shoulders are stamped, by means of brass stamps, with the word Rama in similar characters. For the purpose of meditation, the Bairagi squats on the ground, sometimes with a deer or tiger skin beneath him, and rests his hands on the cross-piece of his yoga-dandam, or bent stick. A pair of tongs is stuck in the ground on his right side, and sometimes fire is kept near it. It is noted by Mr. J. C. Oman [90] that "a most elaborate ritual has been laid down for the guidance of Bairagis in the daily routine of the indispensable business and duties of life, prescribing in minute detail how, for example, the ascetic should wash, bathe, sit down, perform pranayam (stoppage or regulation of respiration), purify his body, purge his mind, meditate on Vishnu, repeat the Gayatri (hymn) as composed for the special use of members of the sect, worship Rama, Sita, Lakshman, Bharata, and Satringah, together with Rama's bows and arrows, and, lastly, the monkey god Hanuman."

The Bairagis have a guru or priest, whom they call Mahant. Some visit the celebrated temple near Tirupati and pay their respects to the Mahant thereof.

Baisya.--A sub-division of Koronos of Ganjam.

Baita Kammara.--The name, meaning outside blacksmiths, applied to Kamsala blacksmiths, who occupy a lowly position, and work in the open air or outside a village. [91]

Bajantri.--A synonym of Mangala, indicating their occupation as professional musicians.

Bakta.--See Bagata.

Bakuda.--A sub-division of Holeya.

Balanollu.--Balanollu and Badranollu are names of gotras of Ganigas, the members of which may not cut Erythroxylon monogynum.

Balasantosha.--The Balasantosha or Balasanta vandlu (those who please children) are described in the Kurnool Manual as "ballad reciters, whose chief stories are the Bobbili katha, or the story of the siege of the fort of Bobbili in Vizagapatam by Bussy; the Kurnool Nabob's katha or the story of the resumption of Kurnool by the English; and the tale of the quarrels between Ganga and Parvati, the two wives of Siva."

Balegara (bangle man).--An occupational sub-division of Banajiga.

Balija.--The Balijas are described by Mr. Francis [92] as being "the chief Telugu trading caste, scattered throughout all parts of the Presidency. It is said to have two main sub-divisions, Desa (or Kota, a fort) and Peta (street). The first of these includes those, whose ancestors are supposed to have been the Balija (Nayak) kings of Madura, Tanjore and Vijayanagar, or provincial governors in those kingdoms; and to the second belong those, like the Gazulu (bangle sellers) and Perike (salt-sellers), who live by trade. In the Tamil districts Balijas are known as Vadugans (Telugu people) and Kavarais. The descendants of the Nayak or Balija Kings of Madura and Tanjore claim to be Kshatriyas and of the Kasyapa (a rishi) gotra, while the Vijayanagar Rais say they are lineal descendants of the sage Bharadwaja. Others trace their ancestry to the Kauravas of the Mahabharata. This Kshatriya descent is, however, not admitted by other castes, who say that Balijas are an offshoot of the Kammas or Kapus, or that they are a mixed community recruited from these and other Telugu castes. The members of the caste none of them now wear the sacred thread, or follow the Vedic ritual. The name Kartakkal (governors) was returned by those who claim to be descendants of the Nayak Kings of Madura and Tanjore."