Part 17

Widow remarriage is permitted. But it is essential that the contracting parties should be widower and widow. For such a marriage no pandal is erected, but all the elders countenance it by their presence. Such a marriage is known as naduvittu tali, because the tali is tied in the mid-house. It is usually a simple affair, and finished in a short time after sunset instead of in the day time. The offspring of such marriages are considered as legitimate, and can inherit. But remarried couples are disqualified from performing certain acts, e.g., the distribution of pan-supari at weddings, partaking in the harathi ceremony, etc. The disqualifications attaching to remarried people are, by a curious analogy, extended to deformed persons, who are, in some cases, considered to be widowers and widows.

Among the ordinary names of males are Basappa, Linganna, Devanna, Ellappa, Naganna; and of females Ellamma, Lingi and Nagamma. It is said that all are entitled to the honorific Saudri; but the title is specially reserved for the agent of their sect. Among common nicknames are Chikka and Dodda Thamma (younger and elder brother), Andi (beggar), Karapi (black woman), Guni (hunch back). In the Mysore Province the most becoming method of addressing a Lingayat is to call him Sivane. Their usual titles are Ravut, Appa, Anna, and Saudri.

The child-naming ceremony is a very important one. Five swords with limes fixed to their edges are set in a line with equi-distant spaces between them. By each sword are placed two plantain fruits, a cocoanut, four dried dates, two cocoanut cups, pan-supari, and karamani (Vigna Catiang) cakes. In front of the swords are also placed rice-balls mixed with turmeric powder, various kinds of vegetables and fruits, curds and milk. Opposite each sword five leaves are spread out, and in front of each leaf a near relation of the family sits. The chief woman of the house then brings five pots full of water, and gives to each man a potful for the worship of the jangama linga which he wears. She also brings consecrated cow-dung ashes. The men pour the water over the linga, holding it in the left hand, and smear both the linga and their faces with the ashes. The woman then retires, and the guests partake of a hearty meal, at the conclusion of which the woman reappears with five vessels full of water, with which they wash their hands. The vessels are then broken, and thrown on a dung-heap. After partaking of pan-supari and chunam (lime), each of the men ties up some of the food in a towel, takes one of the swords in his hand, and leaves the house without turning back. The headman of the family then removes the limes from the swords, and puts them back in their scabbards. The same evening the child is named. Sometimes this ceremony, which is costly, is held even after the child is a year old.

When a death takes place, information is sent round to the relations and castemen by two boys carrying little sticks in their hands. Under the instructions of a priest, the inmates of the house begin to make arrangements for the funeral. The corpse is washed, and the priest's feet are also washed, and the refuse-water on the ground is poured over the corpse or into its mouth. Among certain sections of Lingayats it is customary, contrary to the usual Hindu practice, to invite the friends and relations, who have come for the funeral, to a banquet, at which the priest is a guest. It is said that the priest, after partaking of food, vomits a portion of it, which is shared by the members of the family. These practices do not seem to be followed by the Chingleput Lingayats. A second bath is given to the corpse, and then the nine orifices of the body are closed with cotton or cloth. The corpse is then dressed as in life, and, if it be that of a priest, is robed in the characteristic orange tawny dress. Before clothing it, the consecrated cow-dung ashes are smeared over the forehead, arms, chest, and abdomen. The bier is made like a car, such as is seen in temple processions on the occasion of car festivals. To each of its four bamboo posts are attached a plantain tree and a cocoanut, and it is decorated with bright flowers. In the middle of the bier is a wooden plank, on which the corpse is set in a sitting position. The priest touches the dead body three or four times with his right leg, and the funeral cortège, accompanied by weird village music, proceeds to the burial-ground. The corpse, after removal from the bier, is placed in the grave in a sitting posture, facing south, with the linga, which the man had worn during life, in the mouth. Salt, according to the means of the family, is thrown into the grave by friends and relations, and it is considered that a man's life would be wasted if he did not do this small service for a dead fellow-casteman. They quote the proverb "Did he go unserviceable even for a handful of mud?" The grave is filled in, and four lights are placed at the corners. The priest, standing over the head of the corpse, faces the lamps, with branches of Leucas aspera and Vitex Negundo at his feet. A cocoanut is broken and camphor burnt, and the priest says "Lingannah (or whatever the name of the dead man may be), leaving Nara Loka, you have gone to Bhu Loka," which is a little incongruous, for Nara Loka and Bhu Loka are identical. Perhaps the latter is a mistake for Swarga Loka, the abode of bliss of Brahmanical theology. Possibly, Swarga Loka is not mentioned, because it signifies the abode of Vishnu. Then the priest calls out Oogay! Oogay! and the funeral ceremony is at an end. On their return home the corpse-bearers, priest, and sons of the deceased, take buttermilk, and apply it with the right hand to the left side of the back. A Nandi (the sacred bull) is made of mud, or bricks and mortar, and set up over the grave. Unmarried girls and boys are buried in a lying position. From enquiries made among the Lingayats of Chembarambakam, it appears that, when a death has occurred, pollution is observed by the near relatives; and, even if they are living at such distant places as Bellary or Bangalore, pollution must be observed, and dissolved by a bath.

Basava attached no importance to pilgrimages. The Chingleput Lingayats, however, perform what they call Jatray (i.e., pilgrimage), of which the principal celebration takes place in Chittra-Vyasi (April-May), and is called Virabhadra Jatray. The bamboo Lingayats of Chembarambakam send word, with some raw rice, to the rattan Lingayats of Kadaperi to come to the festival on a fixed day with the image of their god Virabhadra. The Gauliyars of Kadaperi and other villages accordingly proceed to a tank on the confines of the village of Chembrambakam, and send word that they have responded to the call of their brethren. The chief men of the village, accompanied by a crowd, and the village musicians, start for the tank, and bring in the Kadaperi guests. After a feast all retire for the night, and get up at 3 A.M. for the celebration of the festival. Swords are unsheathed from their scabbards, and there is a deafening noise from trumpets and pipes. The images of Virabhadra are taken in procession to a tank, and, on the way thither, the idol bearers and others pretend that they are inspired, and bawl out the various names of the god. Sometimes they become so frenzied that the people break cocoanuts on their foreheads, or pierce their neck and wrists with a big needle, such as is used in stitching gunny bags. Under this treatment the inspired ones calm down. All along the route cocoanuts are broken, and may amount to as many as four hundred, which become the perquisite of the village washerman. When the tank is reached, pan-supari and kadalai (Cicer arietinum) are distributed among the crowd. On the return journey, the village washerman has to spread dupatis (cloths) for the procession to walk over. At about noon a hearty meal is partaken of, and the ceremony is at an end. After a few days, a return celebration takes place at Kadaperi. The Virabhadra images of the two sections, it may be noted, are regarded as brothers. Other ceremonial pilgrimages are also made to Tirutani, Tiruvallur and Mylapore, and they go to Tiruvallur on new moon days, bathe in the tank, and make offerings to Vira Raghava, a Vaishnava deity. They do not observe the feast of Pongal, which is so widely celebrated throughout Southern India. It is said that the celebration thereof was stopped, because, on one occasion, the cattle bolted, and the men who went in pursuit of them never returned. The Ugadi, or new year feast, is observed by them as a day of general mourning. They also observe the Kama festival with great éclat, and one of their national songs relates to the burning of Kama. When singing it during their journeys with the curd-pots, they are said to lose themselves, and arrive at their destination without knowing the distance that they have marched.

In addition to the grand Virabhadra festival, which is celebrated annually, the Ariservai festival is also observed as a great occasion. This is no doubt a Tamil rendering of the Sanskrit Hariservai, which means the service of Hari or worship of Vishnu. It is strange that Lingayats should have this formal worship of Vishnu, and it must be a result of their environment, as they are surrounded on all sides by Vaishnavite temples. More than six months before the festival a meeting of elders is convened, and it is decided that an assessment of three pies per basket shall be levied, and the Saudri is made honorary treasurer of the fund. If a house has two or more baskets, i.e., persons using baskets in their trade, it must contribute a corresponding number of three pies. In other words, the basket, and not the family, is the unit in their communal finance. An invitation, accompanied by pan-supari, is sent to the Thadans (Vaishnavite dramatists) near Conjeeveram, asking them to attend the festival on the last Saturday of Paratasi, the four Saturdays of which month are consecrated to Vishnu. The Thadans arrive in due course at Chembrambakam, the centre of the bamboo section of the Lingayats, and make arrangements for the festival. Invitations are sent to five persons of the Lingayat community, who fast from morning till evening. About 8 or 9 P.M., these five guests, who perhaps represent priests for the occasion, arrive at the pandal (booth), and leaves are spread out before them, and a meal of rice, dhal (Cajanus indicus) water, cakes, broken cocoanuts, etc., is served to them. But, instead of partaking thereof, they sit looking towards a lighted lamp, and close their eyes in meditation. They then quietly retire to their homes, where they take the evening meal. After a torchlight procession with torches fed with ghi (clarified butter) the village washermen come to the pandal, and collect together the leaves and food, which have been left there. About 11 P.M. the villagers repair to the spot where a dramatic performance of Hiranya Kasyapa Natakam, or the Prahallada Charitram, is held during five alternate nights. The latter play is based on a favourite story in the Bhagavatha, and it is strange that it should be got up and witnessed by a community of Saivites, some of whom (Vira Saivas) are such extremists that they would not tolerate the sight of a Vaishnavite at a distance.

The Chembrambakam Lingayats appear to join the other villagers in the performance of the annual puja (worship) to the village deity, Namamdamma, who is worshipped in order to ward off cholera and cattle disease. One mode of propitiating her is by sacrificing a goat, collecting its entrails and placing them in a pot, with its mouth covered with goat skin, which is taken round the village, and buried in a corner. The pot is called Bali Setti, and he who comes in front of it while it is being carried through the streets, is supposed to be sure to suffer from serious illness, or even die. The sacrifice, filling of the pot, and its carriage through the streets, are all performed by low class Occhans and Vettiyans. The Chembrambakam Lingayats assert that the cholera goddess has given a promise that she will not attack any of their community, and keeps it faithfully, and none of them die even during the worst cholera epidemics.

Kanni (rope).--A gotra of Kurni.

Kapata.--A name for rag-wearing Koragas.

Kappala (frog).--An exogamous sept of Madiga, and sub-division of Yanadis, who are said to be frog-eaters. It is also a gotra of Janappans, who have a legend that, when some of their family were fishing, they caught a haul of big frogs instead of fish. Consequently, members of this gotra will not injure frogs. I have seen frogs hanging up for sale in the Cochin bazar.

Kappiliyan.--The Kappiliyans, or Karumpuraththals, as they are sometimes called, are Canarese-speaking farmers, who are found chiefly in Madura and Tinnevelly. It is noted, in the Manual of the Madura district, that "a few of the original Poligars were Canarese; and it is to be presumed that the Kappiliyans immigrated under their auspices. They are a decent and respectable class of farmers. Their most common agnomen is Koundan (or Kavandan)."

Some Kappiliyans say that they came south six or seven generations ago, along with the Urumikkarans, from the banks of the Tungabhadra river, because the Tottiyans tried to ravish their women. According to another tradition, similar to that current among the Tottiyans, "the caste was oppressed by the Musalmans of the north, fled across the Tungabhadra, and was saved by two pongu (Pongamia glabra) trees bridging an unfordable stream, which blocked their escape. They travelled, says the legend, through Mysore to Conjeeveram, thence to Coimbatore, and thence to the Madura district. The stay at Conjeeveram is always emphasised, and is supported by the fact that the caste has shrines dedicated to Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal." [103]

The Kappiliyans are one of the nine Kambalam castes, who are so called because, at their caste council meetings, a kambli (blanket) is spread, on which is placed a kalasam (brass vessel) filled with water, and decorated with flowers. Its mouth is closed by mango leaves and a cocoanut. According to the Gazetteer of the Madura district, they are "split into two endogamous sub-divisions, namely the Dharmakattu, so called because, out of charity, they allow widows to marry one more husband, and the Munukattu, who permit a woman to have three husbands in succession." They are also said to recognise, among themselves, four sub-divisions, Vokkiliyan (cultivator), Muru Balayanoru (three bangle people), Bottu Kattoru (bottu tying people), Vokkulothoru, to the last of which the following notes mainly refer.

They have a large number of exogamous septs, which are further divided into exogamous sub-septs, of which the following are examples:--

Sept. Sub-sept.

Basiriyoru { Hennu (female) Basiri. { Gandu (male) Basiri.

{ Loddu. { Palingi Loddu. { Kolingi Loddu. Lodduvoru { Uddudhoru (Phaseolus Mungo, var. { radiatus). { Huniseyoru (tamarind people). { Mottuguni. { Manaloru, sand people.

One exogamous sept is called Ane (elephant), and as names of sub-septs, named after animate or inanimate objects, I may mention Hatti (hamlet), Arane (lizard) and Puli (tiger).

The affairs of the caste are regulated by a headman called Gauda, assisted by the Saundari. In some places, the assistance of a Pallan or Maravan called Jadipillai, is sought.

Marriage is, as a rule, adult, and the common emblem of married life--the tali or bottu--is dispensed with. On the first day of the marriage ceremonies, the bride and bridegroom are conducted, towards evening, to the houses of their maternal uncles. There the nalagu ceremony, or smearing the body with Phaseolus Mungo, sandal and turmeric paste, is performed, and the uncles place toe-rings on the feet of the contracting couple. On the following day, the bride's price is paid, and betel is distributed, in the presence of a Kummara, Urumikkaran, and washerman, to the villagers in a special order of precedence. On the third day, the bridegroom goes in procession to the house of the bride, and their fingers are linked together by the maternal uncle or uncles. For this reason, the day is called Kai Kudukahodina, or hand-locking day.

It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that "the binding portions of the marriage ceremony are the donning by the bride of a turmeric-coloured cloth sent her by bridegroom, and of black glass bangles (unmarried girls may only wear bangles made of lac), and the linking of the couple's little fingers. A man's right to marry his paternal aunt's daughter is so rigorously insisted upon that, as among the Tottiyans, ill-assorted matches are common. A woman, whose husband is too young to fulfil the duties of his position, is allowed to consort with his near relations, and the children so begotten are treated as his. [It is said that a woman does not suffer in reputation, if she cohabits with her brothers-in-law.] Adultery outside the caste is punished by expulsion, and, to show that the woman is thenceforward as good as dead, funeral ceremonies are solemnly performed to some trinket of hers, and this is afterwards burnt."

At the first menstrual period, a girl remains under pollution for thirteen days, in a corner of the house or outside it in the village common land (mandai). If she remains within, her maternal uncle makes a screen, and, if outside, a temporary hut, and, in return for his services, receives a hearty meal. On the thirteenth day the girl bathes in a tank (pond), and, as she enters the house, has to pass over a pestle and a cake. Near the entrance, some food is placed, which a dog is allowed to eat. While so doing, it receives a severe beating. The more noise it makes, the better is the omen for a large family of children. If the poor brute does not howl, it is supposed that the girl will bear no children. A cotton thread, dyed with turmeric, is tied round her neck by a married woman, and, if she herself is married, she puts on glass bangles. The hut is burnt down and the pots she used are broken to atoms.

The caste deities are said to be Lakkamma and Vira Lakkamma, but they also worship other deities, such as Chenraya, Thimmappa, and Siranga Perumal. Certain septs seem to have particular deities, whom they worship. Thus Thimmaraya is reverenced by the Dasiriyoru, and Malamma by the Hattiyoru.

The dead are as a rule cremated, but children, those who have died of cholera, and pregnant women, are buried. In the case of the last, the child is, before burial, removed from the mother's body. The funeral ceremonies are carried out very much on the lines of those of the Tottiyans. Fire is carried to the burning ground by a Chakkiliyan. On the last day of the death ceremonies (karmandiram) cooked food, fruits of Solanum xanthocarpum, and leaves of Leucas aspera are placed on a tray, by the side of which a bit of a culm of Saccharum arundinaceum, with leaves of Cynodon Dactylon twined round it, is deposited. The tray is taken to a stream, on the bank of which an effigy is made, to which the various articles are offered. A small quantity thereof is placed on arka (Calotropis gigantea) leaves, to be eaten by crows. On the return journey to the house, three men, the brother-in-law or father-in-law of the deceased, and two sapindas (agnates) stand in a row at a certain spot. A cloth is stretched before them as a screen, over which they place their right hands. These a washerman touches thrice with Cynodon leaves dipped in milk, cow's urine, and turmeric water. The washerman then washes the hands with water. All the agnates place new turbans on their heads, and go back in procession to the village, accompanied by a Urimikkaran and washerman, who must be present throughout the ceremony.