CHAPTER XXIV

ARTS AND AMUSEMENTS

The arts of life among the Todas are extremely simple. The fact that their agriculture is done for them by the Badagas and that all the objects they use in their daily life are made for them by the Kotas leaves them free to devote their whole attention to the care of the buffalo and the dairy. This employment has acquired so ceremonial a character that, having dealt with the ceremonies of the Todas, we find little left to consider in connexion with the regulation of the affairs of daily life.

The artistic side of life among the Todas is but little developed. Their interest is so much absorbed in ceremony that little is left for the development of art, even of a primitive kind. The decorative arts are of the simplest and are directed only to the adornment of the clothing or the person, and even here we shall find that the methods of wearing the clothes or the hair are quite as much influenced by ceremonial as by æsthetic considerations. In their amusements again we shall find that the influence of ceremonial is so great, that many of the games are merely imitations of ceremonial occupations.

I have included in this chapter an account of the ideas which are held about the heavenly bodies, the primitive astronomy of the people. To the Todas, though in a less degree than to many people of low culture, it is the sun, moon, and stars which are the chief objects of those observations and speculations which are the beginnings of science.

CLOTHING

The clothing of the men consists of a large cloak called the putkuli, a loincloth called tadrp, and a small perineal cloth called kuvn, kept in its place by a string round the waist called pennar.

The putkuli is made of a large piece of double cloth, which is usually worn by placing one side over the left shoulder and then throwing the whole garment round the back and over the right shoulder and across to the left shoulder, so that it completely envelops the body. This method of wearing the cloak, which is shown by the third man of Fig. 61, is called kai ulk üt nidvai, “hand into laid who stands,” or “who stands with hand placed within the cloak.”

The double layer of cloth of which the cloak is made is sewn together at the edges except at the upper part of one side, leaving the opening of a large pocket which is bounded by lines where the two layers of the cloak are again sewn together. This pocket is called kudsh and is very capacious, so that a Toda may produce a surprising number of articles from it. As we have seen, many of the articles given to the dead are placed in this pocket.

There are two methods of wearing the cloak adopted on special occasions. One of these is that called kevenarut (adopted by the second man in Fig. 61), with which we have already often met. The right arm is put out of the cloak, so that the arm and shoulder are bare whenever a Toda approaches certain sacred personages or objects. The cloak is worn kevenarut whenever the wearer is engaged in prayer or employed in any way at the dairy. It is also worn in this way when approaching a palol, when performing the kaimukhti salutation, and when crossing either of the sacred streams.

The other method is that shown by the fourth man in Fig. 61 and is called mad âr mitch nidvai, “head on covered who stands.” The cloak is worn in this fashion by a widower between the middle of the first funeral ceremony and the final scene of the azaramkedr. It is also worn in this way by those who throw earth in the puzhutpimi ceremony of each funeral.

The tadrp is a loincloth worn in the ordinary way, as shown by the first man in Fig. 61. The tadrp of a young child has a pocket called terigs, but I do not know whether this pocket also exists in the tadrp of an adult.

Both putkuli and tadrp are manufactured by Hindus, probably in the Coimbatore district. Thirty years ago, according to Breeks, the cloth was procured from weavers who came from Serumuge in Coimbatore, but at the present time the garments are bought by the Todas at the bazaar. When obtained by the Todas they have certain red and blue lines, and sometimes the Todas supplement this decoration by embroidery called pukuru, which is the work of the women, and a cloak so decorated is called pukuruputkuli. The decoration is shown in Figs. 1 and 9. Some women are especially expert at this work, and one woman who has recently had to change her name is now called Pukuruveli on account of her special skill.

The chief point of interest in connexion with the kuvn is the string by which it is supported. This string is called pennar, or “butter string,” and forms a special contribution made by relatives, and especially the sister’s son, at a funeral. Further, the string is of especial significance in the dairy ceremonial, where it is sometimes called kerk.

Both putkuli and tadrp are also worn by women. The garments are of the same kind as those of the men and are worn in the same ways.

The higher grades of dairymen wear garments called tuni, made of a different material, a grey cloth, which has been said to be manufactured by the Badagas of Jakaneri, but is probably only procured by their help. A cloak of similar material called än is, or should be, used to enwrap the bodies of the dead; and, as we have already seen, there is some reason to believe that garments of this material may have been the original clothing of the Todas, for in the legend of Kwoten, the wife of this hero wore a cloak of this kind.

The Todas themselves manufacture a special kind of material called twadrinar from the bark of a plant, and this is largely used in the ordination ceremonies. In the ordination of a Teivali palikartmokh, it may take the place of the petuni; at that of a wursol, twadrinar may be used as a girdle; and on the fourth day of the ordination ceremonies of the palol, the candidate manufactures and wears a rough kuvn made of this material. Its use in ceremony appears to be limited to the Teivaliol, and it is possible that it also is a survival in ceremony of clothing once in general use by this or both divisions of the Toda people.

Many of the older and more important Todas now wear the turban called madpâri, but there is no doubt that this is an innovation. The Todas themselves sometimes speak of the Badagas as “they who wear the turban,” and it seemed clear that the custom has been adopted in imitation of these people. Harkness and other of the earliest writers state that the Todas never wear any covering to the head, and there is little doubt that the practice has been adopted during the last century.

At the present time a man always removes his turban when performing any act of reverence (see Fig. 10) and when crossing one of the sacred rivers.

Mr. Thurston mentions that on his first visit, the man whom he chose as his guide adopted the turban in honour of his appointment, and my guide, Kòdrner, although much younger than most of those who wore turbans, also adopted this custom when he was with me.

METHODS OF WEARING THE HAIR

There are various methods of wearing the hair, each of which has its special significance. The ordinary method for men is to allow it to grow to a certain length, so that it forms a compact mass, as shown by the first man of Fig. 61, or as in Fig. 15.

When a member of a clan dies, all the men of the clan tie their hair in knots in front till the funeral ceremonies are completed. This is called mad tutvai, “head (or hair) who rolls,” and the second man in Fig. 61 is wearing his hair in this fashion, a girl of his clan having died not long before, whose second funeral ceremonies had not yet taken place.

Another method of wearing the hair is shown by the third man in Fig. 61. This method is called mad nadrk vai, “head (or hair) long to who.” It is adopted by anyone who has made a vow. In Fig. 62 another man is shown in the same condition, but his head has a different appearance owing to the fact that he has tied two locks behind in order to keep the long hair away from his face. This tying back has no other significance.

Women wear their hair as shown in Figs. 3 and 11, in long ringlets, and there do not appear to be any differences in the method of wearing the hair under different conditions corresponding to those of males.

After a funeral the Tarthar division of the Todas except the Melgarsol shave their heads, and this may also happen in connexion with vows made at the Hindu temple at Nanjankudi or elsewhere.

The hair of a child is shaved about the third month of life (see p. 332), so that the head has the appearance shown in Figs. 63 and 64. The head is shaved on the top and sides, and in a strip from the top to the forehead, so that three locks are left, two in front, called the mîkuti (? meikuti), and one behind, called the kut.

In the case of a girl, there is some difference in the method of shaving according to the position of the child in the family. If a girl is the eldest of the family, she wears three locks like a boy, but younger girls and the eldest girl, if she should have an elder brother, wear only the two front locks, the mîkuti.

SKIN-MARKS

The only kind of skin-mark made on males takes the form of a cicatrix on the right shoulder and, less commonly, on the elbow. It is produced by means of a stick made hot by the drill method of producing fire, exactly as in the production of fire for ceremonial purposes. The operation is not, however, accompanied by any ceremonial and may be performed by anyone. The marks are made when a boy is about twelve years old, at which age he begins to milk the buffaloes. The object of the marking is to cure the pain arising from the fatigue of milking. If the operation has not the desired result and the boy still feels the fatiguing effect of milking, a second mark is made, and occasionally a third or fourth may be necessary. In one case, in which a man had three marks one on the shoulder and two on the elbow, the third mark was not made till he was fifteen or sixteen years of age, three or four years after the first mark had been produced. This was done because, even after this lapse of time, he still suffered from aching in his arm after milking the buffaloes. Another man had four scars on the shoulder, this being the largest number I observed.

Occasionally I observed a man without any of these scars, and, in more than one of these cases, the reason given was that the man had been one of a large family and had not had to do much milking. The cicatrices are usually raised well above the surrounding skin and are often distinct lumps of scar tissue (keloid). This appears to be the result of special treatment of the burn. A leaf called kudiers is put on the wound with butter, and this keeps it open for a considerable time. If the wound remains open too long, another leaf, called pöturers, is used to hasten the healing.

Similar, but less raised, marks are occasionally seen on the wrist or elsewhere. In men these are always the result of treatment for pain or illness and are made in the same way by means of a hot stick. Sometimes a metal instrument called sunurkudi is now used for this purpose.

The ceremonial burns made on the wrists of women during the first pregnancy have already been fully considered.

Tattooing is only practised by women. The patterns consist of rings and dots arranged in straight lines, and they are most commonly to be seen on the chest, shoulders, and upper parts of the arms. [230]

I believe that there is some kind of ceremonial connected with tattooing, but unfortunately I failed to obtain satisfactory information about it. When I began the subject one day, I received an intimation that it was not a matter to be discussed in public, and later the subject slipped my attention and was never properly investigated.

The tattooing is performed by certain women, but it seemed that any woman who had learned how to tattoo might undertake the business. The following are at present recognised as experts: Achaveli (43), Sinpurs and Edjog (20), Sinpurs being probably the same woman who acts as one of the utkòren. The woman who tattoos is given eight or twelve annas and she also receives food.

The tattooing must not take place before puberty, but it may be done either before or after childbirth.

Little use is made by the Todas of pigments. The juice of a fruit called îlpom, which has a red colour, is sometimes used to adorn the forehead, and another reddish juice from a fruit called puthimulpom [231] is used for the same purpose. The yellowish juice of the pelkurthpom is rubbed on the face, but this was said to be done in frosty weather only, as a protection against the cold. Ashes are now occasionally rubbed on the face and head, especially by women at the ceremony of going to the seclusion-hut after childbirth. The last is certainly a recently borrowed custom, and I suspect the other adornments just mentioned to be modern imitations of the forehead marks of the Hindus.

ORNAMENTS

The men usually wear silver rings on the fourth digit of one or other hand. Often earrings are worn by the men and these are not uncommonly of gold. Harkness says that men sometimes wore chains of silver round the neck, but it is doubtful whether these are ever worn now. Formerly it seems that men used to wear far more solid rings, and one such ring is preserved which is said to have belonged to the hero or god Kwoten.

The ornaments of the women are more numerous and take the form of bracelets or bangles; armlets, often adorned with bunches of cowries; necklaces, sometimes made of silver coins; earrings; and a brass circlet worn round the waist. These ornaments are usually of brass or silver. At one time they seem to have been very massive, Breeks recording that a pair of brass armlets worn on one arm weighed six pounds. Formerly gold ornaments seem to have been commonly worn, and, so far as one can judge from older accounts and illustrations, it seems that Toda jewellery has greatly degenerated and is of a very paltry kind compared with that worn in the past.

FOOD

The chief foods are milk, buttermilk, ghi, grain, rice, and sugar. The chief drink is buttermilk, and milk is used chiefly when boiled with rice or grain.

In clarifying their butter the Todas add some grain or rice, and this forms a sediment on the bottom of the cooking vessel which is called al, which is the chief food of the dairymen, and it is probably also used largely as a food in ordinary life.

A list of various herbs, fruits, &c., eaten by the Todas is given by Mr. Thurston. [232] There is very little doubt that at one time these were used much more largely than at present, when the grain provided by the Badagas is supplemented by rice and grain bought in the bazaar. The Todas have a tradition of a time when they lived chiefly on roots, herbs, fruits and honey, and the importance of honey comes out in several of their legends.

A much prized substance called patcherski is made from samai grain (Panicum miliare), which is roasted and pounded so as to get rid of the husk. It is used in the preparation of a food which is eaten on all the chief ceremonial occasions. When they prepare it the Todas say “ashkkartpimi,” and this verbal form is used as the name of the food. In making ashkkartpimi, patcherski is put into a basket (tòdri) which has been carefully cleansed by rubbing it all over with dried buffalo-dung. Buttermilk and jaggery are added and the whole mixed together and rolled into balls, each about as large as a cricket ball. When eating, a hole is made in the ball into which ghi and butter, sometimes honey, are poured, and then the hole is covered with rice. [233] A man will usually eat two of these balls at a feast, but a greedy man may manage three or four.

The Todas do not like others to see them eating, and if this happens, the same consequences may ensue as are produced by the evil eye. Their natural politeness also makes the Todas uncomfortable when they see others eating, and in the early part of my visit I sometimes dispersed a group surrounding me by taking sandwiches out of my pocket and beginning to eat.

I did not ascertain definitely who cooks among the Todas. I had some reason to suppose that all the cooking is done by the men and that the women have nothing to do with this part of domestic economy, but I am not clear about this. It is possible that it is only food containing milk which must be cooked by the men.

The Todas are an example of a people who have no native intoxicant, but they have now taken to alcoholic drinks, though I do not believe that they indulge in these habitually. The only occasions on which I saw Todas under the influence of alcohol were when they were returning from the bazaar on market days. I was only once asked by a Toda for alcohol and then by a woman. Tobacco is now largely used and opium is certainly also used, though I do not believe that it is taken in excess. It may be employed, however, as a means of committing suicide.

FIRE-MAKING

We have already seen that the fire used for several sacred purposes must be made by friction with the fire-sticks. The method employed is a variety of the drill method shown in Figs. 65 and 37. In the former the wursol of Taradr is making fire in order to enable me to procure a photograph; the latter is the result of a snapshot taken when the fire was being produced during a ceremony. In the horizontal stick, which is held firmly by the foot, a hole is made for the insertion of the vertical stick, and in this a little charcoal is placed. A small groove is cut on one side to assist the falling of the spark on the tinder beneath. The vertical stick is inserted into the hole and twirled between the two hands. In the only case in which I saw fire produced by friction in a ceremony (Fig. 37), the continued efforts of the two old men were unavailing, and a third younger man was called upon, and with a few powerful manipulations he was rapidly successful.

Several kinds of wood are used for the fire-sticks, the Toda names of these being kiaz or keadj, mòrs, parskuti, and main. Only the first of these, however, may be used if fire is being made for sacred purposes, and I was told that it was much easier to make fire with this than with any other.

In some Toda villages a stone is kept called tütmûkal, which was used at one time for making fire by striking it with a piece of iron. Probably this method was employed for non-sacred purposes in the period between giving up the fire-sticks for ordinary purposes and the introduction of matches.

The Todas have two kinds of fireplace, the waskal, consisting of three stones, and the kudrvars, with four stones. The former is found in the dwelling-hut, in the wursuli, and in the ti dairy, and the latter in the tarvali and kudrpali; but I did not discover why the more sacred dairies should have the same kind of fireplace as the house. According to one account waskal is the name used by the Teivaliol and kudrvars by the Tartharol, and it may be that this is the explanation of the apparent anomaly.

THE HOUSE

Various parts of the house have definite names, and may only be used for certain purposes. As we have already seen, there are raised seats both outside and inside the house, the latter being used as beds. These are made of earth, the upper surface of which is made level, and the whole is usually well coated with a layer of dried buffalo-dung, sometimes nearly half an inch thick. The general name for these raised parts is tün, the seats outside the building on either side of the door being called kwottün, while the bed on the right side of the interior is the meitün, and that on the left side the kitün. The part of the hut where the bed or beds stand is called the idrtul.

The floor is called kuter, and this is divided into two parts by the hole in which the women pound the grain. The part near the door is called kikuter, and it is in this part only that dairy operations may be carried on. The part behind the pounding hole is especially assigned to the women and is called meilkuter. [234]

The end wall, on which various objects, such as sticks, are kept is called tashten, and the fireplace, usually on one side, is called waskal. The part above the fireplace where firewood is kept is called waskalkûbi, and the place of the cooking vessels is called adikudi. The western side of the hut is sometimes called the meilmakol, and the eastern side the kimakol, but I do not know if this implies any rule as to the orientation of the houses.

The method of building is illustrated by Fig. 66, which shows a hut only partially built. Certain Todas have special reputations as architects, and the most famous of these at the present time is Kijievan (50), who superintended the building of the hut at Kiudr shown in Fig. 7, the most spacious and artistic of the strictly Toda dwellings which I saw on the hills. Especial care is often taken with the arrangement of the rattan on the front of the hut, which is shown in Fig. 20. This is a picture of a dairy, but it shows the arrangement which is also found in the best of the houses.

The hut used for the seclusion of women before and after childbirth is a rough structure of wood and thatch, but its name, puzhars, means “mud house,” which suggests that huts made of earth may at one time have been used by the Todas.

IMPLEMENTS AND UTENSILS

The most important objects in the economic life of the Todas are their dairy vessels, which have been already amply considered. Cooking vessels and implements used for cutting wood or for any other purpose are, like the vessels of the village dairy, procured chiefly from the Kotas, though at the present time the source of supply is probably supplemented by purchases in the bazaar.

As the Todas practise few arts, their need of implements is very small. At one time they used thorns as needles, but now steel needles have taken their place. Thorns are also used for tattooing. Leaves are used as plates and cups, and the fingers take the place of forks. The only definite implements used are knives and axes, the latter being especially needed for procuring firewood.

In some of their ceremonies, the Todas have preserved practices which may possibly be survivals of the use of stone implements. In the funeral ceremonies the buffaloes destined for the next world are killed with the back of an axe, but the buffaloes killed at the koòtiti ceremony and at the ceremony of purifying the funeral places must be killed with a stone. Further, the bark of the tudr tree used in so many ceremonies must always be knocked off the tree by means of a stone. The latter of these practices must certainly be very ancient, and may well be a relic of an age in which implements were made of stone.

THE POUNDER, SIEVE, AND BROOM

The interest of these articles lies in the fact that they are evidently regarded as the emblems of woman. When the wursol sleeps in the village hut, these articles are removed from the hut, and when the ti buffaloes pass the village of Kiudr, the women who leave this village take with them the pounder, sieve, and broom.

In the case of the wursol, this sacred personage may associate with the women themselves if the three objects which seem to be emblematic of womanhood are removed.

The pounder, sieve, and broom are burnt at the funerals of women, who use the pounder on their journey to the other world. A special kind of sieve called kudshmurn is also burnt at the azaramkedr, but I believe that this is burnt at all funerals, both of males and females.

The pounder, sieve, and broom are widely endowed with magical properties, and this is especially the case in India, [235] but I do not know of any other instance in which they are especially regarded as the emblems of woman.

WEAPONS

At the present time it cannot be said that the Todas use any weapons, but they retain in their ceremonies weapons which were, no doubt, formerly in use. These are the club and the bow and arrow.

The club only remains in the funeral ceremonies, in which it is called nanmakud (see Fig. 67), and is burnt at the azaramkedr, and several other special sticks are also burnt, which may have been of the nature of clubs.

The bow and arrow have left more traces of their former importance. They are burnt at the azaramkedr of a man, and the weapons for this purpose are provided by the Kotas. The bow and arrow are also used in the koòtiti ceremony of a Tarthar funeral. In the pursütpimi ceremony the husband gives an imitation bow and arrow to his wife. The bow gives its name to the ceremony and its gift forms the essential incident of the ceremony. Further, the bow has a special name different for each clan. The use of an arrow lingers in name in other ceremonies. In the erkumptthpimi ceremony, the knife used for cutting up the sacrificed calf is called ab, or arrow. In the ceremony of tersamptpimi a lock of hair is cut from a young child with a piece of sharpened iron called kanab, or “eye arrow,” but this name is only in use among the Tartharol. The use of these words seems to point to a time when iron-tipped arrows were used as cutting instruments, and it is even possible that this is a survival of a time when the Todas were so much isolated that their only iron was that of the tips of their arrows.

The bow and arrow are also mentioned in the legend of Kwoten. Teikuteidi was killed by an arrow shot by a lame man who lay down when he shot. It is possible that this legend points to an ancient custom of shooting the bow and arrow by means of the legs.

MEASURES AND NUMERALS

The Toda measure of length is the mogai or mogoi, which corresponds to the cubit, being the length from the elbow to the tips of the fingers. The word is probably related to mogal, the term for fore-arm.

The usual measure of capacity for liquids is the kudi, said to be equal to about four pints. Another measure is the kòni, two of which make one kudi. The kòni probably corresponds to the milking vessel, or pun.

For measuring out grain, the Todas use a special table of measures consisting of âk and kwâ, eleven âk making one kwâ. When measuring out grain, modifications of the ordinary numerals are used.

In the following lines I give these on the right-hand side of the page, those on the left being the ordinary numerals. Urâk is the equivalent of ud âk, or one measure.

ud one ûrâk erd two îrâk mûd three mâk nonk four oponi udz five oiâk âr six ârâk ö or eu seven öâk or euâk öt eight ötâk unpoth nine unpâk poth ten pothâk ponud eleven ukwâ ponerd twelve ponerdâk ponmûd thirteen ponmûdâk ponnonk or pânk fourteen ponnonkâk ponudz or podz fifteen ponudzâk pâr sixteen pârâk pö or pör seventeen pöâk pût eighteen pûtâk ponpoth nineteen ponpothâk evoth twenty evothâk evoth ud twenty-one evothudâk (doubtful) evoth erd twenty-two ikwâ evoth mûd twenty-three ikwâ ûrâk : : : : : : mopoth thirty ikwâ ötâk : : : : : : mopoth mûd thirty-three mûkhwâ : : : : : : nâpoth forty mûkhwâ öâk : : : : : : nâpoth nonk forty-four nâkhwâ : : : : : : epoth fifty nâkhwâ ârâk : : : : : : epoth udz fifty-five aiiwâ : : : : : : âroth sixty aiiwâ oiâk : : : : : : âroth âr sixty-six ârwâ : : : : : : övoth seventy ârwâ oponi : : : : : : övoth ö seventy-seven ökwâ : : : : : : ötvoth eighty ökwâ mâk : : : : : : ötvoth öt eighty-eight ötkwâ : : : : : : unvoth ninety ötkwâ ârâk : : : : : : unvoth unpoth ninety-nine unpawâ : : : : : : anûr hundred unpawâ ud

Above a hundred the numbers of kwâ are continued to potkwâ, ponudkwâ, &c., up to twenty kwâ, which make one siligh, and then the people begin again at the beginning.

This occurrence of the number eleven is probably a consequence of the transactions between Todas and Badagas. There was some reason to believe that the true Toda measure is the âk (probably a contraction of achok) and that the Badagas brought their grain to the Todas in vessels called kwâ. The kwâ contained eleven of the Toda âk, and hence came about the very unusual proportion between two measures.

In giving ages or any other period of time, the word for year, kwòdr, is often abbreviated to wâ; thus nâpoth kwòdr, forty years, becomes nâpothwâ.

In counting the Todas use their fingers largely and have a special method of indicating the numbers. To signify one, the thumb is placed against the tip of the little finger; for two, against the tip of the ring finger; for three, against the middle finger; for four, against the forefinger; for five, the tip of the index finger is placed over the nail of the thumb; the same position is used for six, while that for seven is the same as for four, and so on, so that when ten is reached the thumb is resting again on the tip of the little finger.

MONEY

The Todas use the ordinary Indian currency. In their legends and ceremonies there is frequent reference to the panm, or four-anna piece.

Among the coins used by the Todas at the funeral ceremonies there are many of considerable age with Arabic inscriptions, and the earlier visitors to the hills describe the Todas as possessing old Venetian gold pieces. In the legend telling how the kaltmokh of the Nòdrs ti dispersed the invading Coorgs (p. 114), the boy made use of a small gold coin called pirpanm, which he had in his possession.

THE CALENDAR

The Todas have twelve months, each of which begins with the new moon. The first month of the Toda year is Tai, which begins with the new moon in October, so that this month usually includes part of October and part of November. Some of the chief Toda ceremonies, such as that of teutütusthchi and the more important ceremonies of erkumptthpimi, take place soon after the new moon marking the commencement of this month, and these ceremonies were sometimes said to signalise the beginning of a new year. The following are the names of the Toda months, with the periods of our year to which they approximately correspond:—

Tai October—November Emioti November—December Kûdrl December—January Alâni January—February Nalâni February—March Âni March—April Âtheri April—May Âdi May—June Ovâni June—July Peritâthi July—August Tudeivi August—September Kirdivi September—October.

Each month has thirty days. A record is kept of the number of days from one new moon to the full moon, and from that to the next new moon. The full moon is counted as being on the fifteenth day after the new moon, and the new moon as being on the sixteenth day after the full moon.

THE WEEK

The names for the days of the week are as follows:—

Âsvom Sunday Tûvom Monday Òm Tuesday Pûthvom Wednesday Tâm Thursday Pîlivom Friday Thanivom or Tanivom Saturday.

According to Schmid, who wrote in 1837, Òm is regarded as the first day of the week. Schmid also notes that the names for Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday agree in etymology with Tamil, Wednesday being Buddha’s day and Friday the day of Venus. He gives Etnat as an alternative name for Saturday.

ASTRONOMICAL IDEAS

We have already seen that the Todas reverence the sun, and that the period of the moon is of the greatest importance in the regulation of the times for their ceremonies. In this chapter we have to deal with their views as to the nature of these bodies and of the stars.

THE SUN

The Todas believe that when the sun goes down in the west, it goes to Amnòdr. The same sun illuminates both worlds, and this is shown very well in the story of Kwoto; when this demi-god tied down the sun, there was darkness both in this world and in the other, and the people of Amnòdr joined with those of this world in imploring that the sun should be restored to its proper place.

When the Todas know that there is going to be an eclipse of the sun, they abstain from food, but they do not shout out during the eclipse as we shall see they do in the case of the moon. When the eclipse is over, they have a feast with ashkkartpimi.

THE MOON

The new moon is called mut and the full moon nêrv. We have already seen the enormous influence of the period of the moon in Toda ceremonial and I have given above the method of counting between the periods of new and full moon so as to know the correct day of the new moon if for any reason it should not be visible.

The Todas see a figure in the moon which they call mürs, the hare. [236] The following story not only shows how the hare comes to be there, but also furnishes the explanation of eclipses of the moon and the origin of the Paikara river. [237]

Two men who were matchuni (see p. 501) went out one day to fetch honey. After a time they separated, and one found honey, while the other found none. The man who found the honey put it into a dairy vessel called pun, which he hid in a tree, and when he met the other did not tell him of his good fortune. After a time the pun containing honey which had been put in the tree suddenly broke, and the vessel became a snake, while the honey became the Paikara river. The snake ran after the man who had hidden the honey, and when the man saw the snake coming after him, he ran away. As he was being pursued, a hare came between the man and the snake. Then the man threw his cloak over the hare and hid himself, and the snake ran after the hare. The hare ran to the sky followed by the snake, and they came near the sun, which said, “Don’t come near me because I am very hot. Go to the moon!” So the hare went to the moon, and the moon said, “Do not be afraid; I will protect you till the end of the world.” The snake still goes sometimes to catch the hare in the moon, and when he goes the moon becomes dark and some people fire guns and send up rockets and the Todas shout. When it is known that there is going to be an eclipse the Todas abstain from food, and when they see the moon being eclipsed they shout out.

I was told that there was another incident of the story connected with shooting stars, but I was unable to obtain an account of it.

PLANETS

The Todas know Venus, which they call Pili, and they also speak of the “morning star.”

CONSTELLATIONS AND STARS

The Todas have names for several stars or constellations. The Pleiades are called Kadsht and the constellation is believed to be composed of six stars.

Another heavenly body which I could not identify is called Keirt. Keirt has already been mentioned in Chap. XIV., and it is the evil influence of this body which is chiefly feared after childbirth. It is said to be a star which is never present in the same part of the sky as Kadsht. The reason for this is that once Keirt and Kadsht fought together. Kadsht had six men and Keirt only one. Keirt broke the leg of one of the six men, so that now there are five stars close together in the Pleiades and one lags behind. On account of this quarrel Swami ruled that Kadsht and Keirt must never be together, but that when Kadsht is on one side of the sky, Keirt must always be on the other.

When talking about Keirt in connexion with the ceremony of going to the seclusion-hut, it was said that Keirt was near the sun and that the sun was dangerous because Keirt was near it. It seemed that Keirt was always near the sun, which led me to suspect at first that it was Venus. It was quite clear, however, that this was not so. No one could show me Keirt, nor was anyone clear as to the part of the sky in which it was to be seen at any time in the night, and I think it most probable that this mysterious inhabitant of the sky is not a star at all, but a being allied to the Hindu Ketu. On the other hand, at a funeral attended by Samuel, the setting of Kadsht and the appearance of Keirt was taken as the sign that the proceedings of the azaramkedr might begin, which looks as if Keirt was a real heavenly body. I think it is most probable that the whole idea of the injurious influence of Keirt is borrowed from the Badagas, and, if this is the case, the Toda word is probably merely an altered form of Ketu. I was told that Keirt was a Badaga word and that the Badagas feared its influence on women after childbirth.

A group of stars called Pòdimin, or porcupine star, corresponds to the stars in the sword of Orion. They are regarded as a porcupine from which the three stars of the belt are trying to escape.

A constellation of seven stars is called Katikâlmin. From the description it appeared to be the Great Bear. This constellation was not visible, but when I made a drawing of its seven chief stars, it was at once recognised as Katikâlmin.

A single star called Ishtkati is almost certainly Sirius. This star was not visible in the evenings during my visit, and at first Jupiter was pointed out to me as Ishtkati, but this was certainly wrong. Ishtkati appeared to correspond to the Badaga etukaḍichi, which means “bull deceiving.” The origin of the name is that one night a Badaga went out from his house and saw a very bright star, so bright that he thought it was the morning star. So he let his bulls out from the enclosure in which he had put them for the night. When a long time passed and it did not become day, the man said, “Let the star be called etukaḍichi.”

A pair of stars to which the Todas give the names of Tûdrvalmokh and Tidiishti are near Aldebaran, forming part of the Hyades (probably γ and ε Tauri). The following story tells how these stars come to be in the sky.

Once on the hills there was a bird with young. The mother went away to get food and a snake came to eat the young ones. When the young birds saw the snake climbing up the tree, they called out to Kudursami, who is above. He heard their cry and took them to the sky. The name of the bird was tûdrval, and so one star is called tûdrvalmokh. The tûdrval still sings “Kudursami trrrrrr.”

According to another version, the bird tûdrval had offended Swami, and as a punishment Swami took its young and they became the two stars.

This story appears to be a well-known Indian folk-tale, and it has certainly been a recent acquisition of the Todas.

It will be seen that there is much reason to believe that the greater part, if not all of the ideas of the Todas about the stars have been borrowed. In their own folk-lore there seems to be very little concerning the heavenly bodies except in the story of the man and the honey, and I even suspect this to be a borrowed legend which has been somewhat modified by Toda ideas.

It is interesting, and I think important, that references to Swami occur in these stars-myths. In an earlier