Part 6
Writing concerning the Mogers, Buchanan [45] states that "these fishermen are called Mogayer, and are a caste of Tulava origin. They resemble the Mucuas (Mukkuvans) of Malayala, but the one caste will have no communion with the other. The Mogayer are boatmen, fishermen, porters, and palanquin-bearers, They pretend to be Sudras of a pure descent, and assume a superiority over the Halepecas (Halepaiks), one of the most common castes of cultivators in Tulava; but they acknowledge themselves greatly inferior to the Bunts." Some Mogers have abandoned their hereditary profession of fishing, and taken to agriculture, oil-pressing, and playing on musical instruments. Some are still employed as palanquin-bearers. The oil-pressers call themselves Ganigas, the musicians Sappaligas, and the palanquin-bearers Bovis. These are all occupational names. Some Bestha immigrants from Mysore have settled in the Pattur taluk, and are also known as Bovis, The word Bovi is a form of the Telugu Boyi (bearer).
The Mogers manufacture the caps made from the spathe of the areca palm, which are worn by Koragas and Holeyas.
The settlements of the Moger fishing community are called pattana, e.g., Odorottu pattana, Manampade pattana. For this reason, Pattanadava is sometimes given as a synonym for the caste name. The Tamil fishermen of the City of Madras are, in like manner, called Pattanavan, because they live in pattanams or maritime villages.
Like other Tulu castes, the Mogers worship bhuthas (devils). The principal bhutha of the fishing community is Bobbariya, in whose honour the kola festival is held periodically. Every settlement, or group of settlements, has a Bobbariya bhuthasthana (devil shrine). The Matti Brahmans, who, according to local tradition, are Mogers raised to the rank of Brahmans by one Vathiraja Swami, a Sanyasi, also have a Bobbariya bhuthasthana in the village of Matti. The Mogers who have ceased to be fishermen, and dwell in land, worship the bhuthas Panjurli and Baikadthi. There is a caste priest, called Mangala pujari, whose head-quarters are at Bannekuduru near Barkur. Every family has to pay eight annas annually to the priest, to enable him to maintain the temple dedicated to Ammanoru or Mastiamma at Bannekuduru. According to some, Mastiamma is Mari, the goddess of small-pox, while others say that she is the same as Mohini, a female devil, who possesses men, and kills them.
For every settlement, there must be at least two Gurikaras (headmen), and, in some settlements, there are as many as four. All the Gurikaras wear, as an emblem of their office, a gold bracelet on the left wrist. Some wear, in addition, a bracelet presented by the members of the caste for some signal service. The office of headman is hereditary, and follows the aliya santana law of succession (in the female line).
The ordinary Tulu barber (Kelasi) does not shave the Mogers, who have their own caste barber, called Melantavam, who is entitled to receive a definite share of a catch of fish. The Konkani barbers (Mholla) do not object to shave Mogers, and, in some places where Mhollas are not available, the Billava barber is called in.
Like other Tulu castes, the Mogers have exogamous septs, or balis, of which the following are examples:--
Ane, elephant. Bali, a fish. Deva, god. Dyava, tortoise. Honne, Pterocarpus Marsupium. Shetti, a fish. Tolana, wolf.
The marriage ceremonial of the Mogers conforms to the customary Tulu type. A betrothal ceremony is gone through, and the sirdochi, or bride-price, varying from six to eight rupees, paid. The marriage rites last over two days. On the first day, the bride is seated on a plank or cot, and five women throw rice over her head, and retire. The bridegroom and his party come to the home of the bride, and are accommodated at her house, or elsewhere. On the following day, the contracting couple are seated together, and the bride's father, or the Gurikara, pours the dhare water over their united hands. It is customary to place a cocoanut on a heap of rice, with some betel leaves and areca nuts at the side thereof. The dhare water (milk and water) is poured thrice over the cocoanut. Then all those assembled throw rice over the heads of the bride and bridegroom, and make presents of money. Divorce can be easily effected, after information of the intention has been given to the Gurikara. In the Udipi taluk, a man who wishes to divorce his wife goes to a certain tree with two or three men, and makes three cuts in the trunk with a bill-hook. This is called barahakodu, and is apparently observed by other castes. The Mogers largely adopt girls in preference to boys, and they need not be of the same sept as the adopter.
On the seventh day after the birth of a child a Madivali (washerwoman) ties a waist-thread on it, and gives it a name. This name is usually dropped after a time, and another name substituted for it.
The dead are either buried or cremated. If the corpse is burnt, the ashes are thrown into a tank (pond) or river on the third or fifth day. The final death ceremonies (bojja or savu) are performed on the seventh, ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth day, with details similar to those of the Billavas. Like other Tulu castes, some Mogers perform a propitiatory ceremony on the fortieth day.
The ordinary caste title of the Mogers is Marakaleru, and Gurikara that of members of the families to which the headmen belong. In the Kundapur taluk, the title Naicker is preferred to Marakaleru.
The cephalic index of the Mogers is, as shown by the following table, slightly less than that of the Tulu Bants and Billavas:--
Av. Max. Min. No. of times index 80 or over.
50 Billavas 80.1 91.5 71. 28 40 Bants 78. 91.2 70.8 13 40 Mogers 77.1 84.9 71.8 9
Mogili (Pandanus fascicularis).--An exogamous sept of Kapu and Yerukala.
Mogotho.--A sub-division of Gaudo, the members of which are considered inferior because they eat fowls.
Mohiro (peacock).--An exogamous sept or gotra of Bhondari and Gaudo,
Moksham (heaven).--An exogamous sept of Devanga.
Moktessor or Mukhtesar.--See Stanika.
Mola (hare).--An exogamous sept of Gangadikara Holeya and Gangadikara Vakkaliga.
Molaya Devan.--A title of Kallan and Nokkan.
Moliko.--A title of Doluva and Kondra.
Monathinni.--The name, meaning those who eat the vermin of the earth, of a sub-division of Valaiyan.
Mondi.--For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Mondi, Landa, Kalladi-siddhan (q.v.), and Kalladi-mangam, are different names for one and the same class of mendicants. The first two names denote a troublesome fellow, and the last two one who beats himself with a stone. The Mondis speak Tamil, and correspond to the Bandas of the Telugu country, banda meaning an obstinate person or tricksy knave. [The name Banda is sometimes explained as meaning stone, in reference to these mendicants carrying about a stone, and threatening to beat out their brains, if alms are not forthcoming.] They are as a rule tall, robust individuals, who go about all but naked, with a jingling chain tied to the right wrist, their hair long and matted, a knife in the hand, and a big stone on the left shoulder. When engaged in begging, they cut the skin of the thighs with the knife, lie down and beat their chests with the stone, vomit, roll in the dust or mud, and throw dirt at those who will not contribute alms. In a note on the Mondis or Bandas, [46] Mr. H. A. Stuart writes that these beggars "lay no claim to a religious character. Though regarded as Sudras, it is difficult to think them such, as they are black and filthy in their appearance, and disgusting in their habits. Happily their numbers are few. They wander about singing, or rather warbling, for they utter no articulate words, and, if money or grain be not given to them, they have recourse to compulsion. The implements of their trade are knives and ordure. With the former they cut themselves until they draw blood, and the latter they throw into the house or shop of the person who proves uncharitable. They appear to possess the power of vomiting at pleasure, and use it to disgust people into a compliance with their demands. Sometimes they lie in the street, covering the entire face with dust, keeping, it is said, their eyes open the while, and breathing through the dust. Eventually they always succeed by some of these means in extorting what they consider their dues." Boys are regularly trained to vomit at will. They are made to drink as much hot water or conji (gruel) as they can, and taught how to bring it up. At first, they are made to put several fingers in the mouth, and tickle the base of the tongue, so as to give rise to vomiting. By constant practice, they learn how to vomit at any time. Just before they start on a begging round, they drink some fluid, which is brought up while they are engaged in their professional calling.
There are several proverbs relating to this class of mendicants, one of which is to the effect that the rough and rugged ground traversed by the Kalladi-siddhan is powdered to dust. Another gives the advice that, whichever way the Kalladi-mangam goes, you should dole out a measure of grain for him. Otherwise he will defile the road owing to his disgusting habits. A song, which the Mondi may often be heard warbling, runs as follows:--
Mother, mother, Oh! grandmother, Grandmother, who gave birth. Dole out my measure.
Their original ancestor is said to have been a shepherd, who had both his legs cut off by robbers in a jungle. The king of the country in compassion directed that every one should pay him and his descendants, called mondi or lame, a small amount of money or grain.
The caste is divided into a series of bands, each of which has the right to collect alms within a particular area. The merchants and ryots are expected to pay them once a year, the former in money, and the latter in grain at harvest time. Each band recognises a headman, who, with the aid of the caste elders, settles marital and other disputes.
Marriage is usually celebrated after puberty. In the North Arcot district, it is customary for a man to marry his maternal uncle's daughter, and in the Madura district a man can claim his paternal aunt's daughter in marriage. The caste is considered so low in the social scale that Brahmans will not officiate at marriages. Divorce is easy, and adultery with a man of higher caste is condoned more readily than a similar offence within the caste.
Mondolo.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as an Oriya title given by Zamindars to the headmen of villages. It is also a title of various Oriya castes.
Mora Buvva.--A sub-division of Madigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a winnowing basket (mora) at marriage.
Morasu.--The following legendary account of the origin of the "Morsu Vellallu" is given in the Baramahal Records. [47] "In the kingdom of Conjiveram, there was a village named Paluru, the residence of a chieftain, who ruled over a small district inhabited by the Morsu Vellallu. It so happened that one of them had a handsome daughter with whom the chieftain fell in love, and demanded her in marriage of her parents. But they would not comply with his demand, urging as an excuse the difference of caste, on which the inflamed lover determined on using force to obtain the object of his desires. This resolution coming to the knowledge of the parents of the girl, they held a consultation with the rest of the sect, and it was determined that for the present they should feign a compliance with his order, until they could meet with a favourable opportunity of quitting the country. They accordingly signified their consent to the matter, and fixed upon the nuptial day, and erected a pandal or temporary building in front of their house for the performance of the wedding ceremonies. At the proper time, the enamoured and enraptured chief sent in great state to the bride's house the wedding ornaments and clothes of considerable value, with grain and every other delicacy for the entertainment of the guests, The parents, having in concert with the other people of the sect prepared everything for flight, they put the ornaments and clothes on the body of a dog, which they tied to the centre pillar of the pandal, threw all the delicacies on the ground before him, and, taking their daughter, fled. Their flight soon came to the ears of the chief, who, being vexed and mortified at the trick they had played him, set out with his attendants like a raging lion in quest of his prey. The fugitives at length came to the banks of the Tungabhadra river, which they found full and impassable, and their cruel pursuer nigh at hand. In the dreadful dilemma, they addressed to the God Vishnu the following prayer. 'O! Venkatrama (a title of Vishnu), if thou wilt graciously deign to enable us to ford this river, and wilt condescend to assist us in crossing the water, as thou didst Hanumant in passing over the vast ocean, we from henceforth will adopt thee and thy ally Hanumant our tutelary deities.' Vishnu was pleased to grant their prayer, and by his command the water in an instant divided, and left a dry space, over which they passed. The moment they reached the opposite bank, the waters closed and prevented their adversary from pursuing them, who returned to his own country. The sect settled in the provinces near the Tungabhadra river, and in course of time spread over the districts which now form the eastern part of the kingdom of Mysore then called Morsu, and from thence arose their surname."
As in Africa, and among the American Indians, Australians, and Polynesians, so in Southern India artificial deformity of the hand is produced by chopping off some of the fingers. Writing in 1815, Buchanan (Hamilton) [48] says that "near Deonella or Deonhully, a town in Mysore, is a sect or sub-division of the Murressoo Wocal caste, every woman of which, previous to piercing the ears of her eldest daughter, preparatory to her being betrothed in marriage, must undergo the amputation of the first joints of third and fourth fingers of her right hand. The amputation is performed by the blacksmith of the village, who, having placed the finger in a block, performs the operation with a chisel. If the girl to be betrothed is motherless, and the mother of the boy has not before been subjected to the amputation, it is incumbent on her to suffer the operation." Of the same ceremony among the "Morsa-Okkala-Makkalu" of Mysore the Abbé Dubois [49] says that, if the bride's mother be dead, the bridegroom's mother, or in default of her the mother of the nearest relative, must submit to the cruel ordeal. In an editorial foot-note it is stated that this custom is no longer observed. Instead of the two fingers being amputated, they are now merely bound together, and thus rendered unfit for use. In the Census Report, 1891, it is recorded that this type of deformity is found among the Morasus, chiefly in Cuddapah, North Arcot, and Salem. "There is a sub-section of them called Veralu Icche Kapulu, or Kapulu who give the fingers, from a curious custom which requires that, when a grandchild is born in a family, the wife of the eldest son of the grandfather must have the last two joints of the third and fourth fingers of her right hand amputated at a temple of Bhairava." Further, it is stated in the Manual of the Salem district (1883) that "the practice now observed in this district is that, when a grandchild is born in a family, the eldest son of the grandfather, with his wife, appears at the temple for the ceremony of boring the child's ear, and there the woman has the last two joints of the third and fourth fingers chopped off. It does not signify whether the father of the first grandchild born be the eldest son or not, as in any case it is the wife of the eldest son who has to undergo the mutilation. After this, when children are born to other sons, their wives in succession undergo the operation. When a child is adopted, the same course is pursued."
The origin of the custom is narrated by Wilks, [50] and is briefly this. Mahadeo or Siva, who was in great peril, after hiding successively in a castor-oil and jawari plantation, concealed himself in a linga-tonde shrub from a rakshasa who was pursuing him, to whom a Marasa Vakkaliga cultivator indicated, with the little finger of his right hand, the hiding-place of Siva, The god was only rescued from his peril by the interposition of Vishnu in the form of a lovely maiden meretriciously dressed, whom the lusty rakshasa, forgetting all about Siva, attempted to ravish, and was consumed to ashes. On emerging from his hiding-place, Siva decreed that the cultivator should forfeit the offending finger. The culprit's wife, who had just arrived at the field with food for her husband, hearing this dreadful sentence, threw herself at Siva's feet, and represented the certain ruin of her family if her husband should be disabled for some months from performing the labours of the farm, and besought the deity to accept two of her fingers instead of one from her husband. Siva, pleased with so sincere a proof of conjugal affection, accepted the exchange, and ordered that her family posterity in all future generations should sacrifice two fingers at his temple as a memorial of the transaction, and of their exclusive devotion to the god of the lingam. For the following account of the performance of the rite, as carried out by the Morasa Vakkaligaru of Mysore, I am indebted to an article by Mr. V. N. Narasimmiyengar. [51] "These people are roughly classed under three heads, viz.: (1) those whose women offer the sacrifice; (2) those who substitute for the fingers a piece of gold wire, twisted round fingers in the shape of rings. Instead of cutting the fingers off, the carpenter removes and appropriates the rings; (3) those who do not perform the rite. The modus operandi is as nearly as possible the following. About the time of the new moon in Chaitra, a propitious day is fixed by the village astrologer, and the woman who is to offer the sacrifice performs certain ceremonies or puje in honour of Siva, taking food only once a day. For three days before the operation, she has to support herself with milk, sugar, fruits, etc., all substantial food being eschewed. On the day appointed, a common cart is brought out, painted in alternate strips with white and red ochre, and adorned with gay flags, flowers, etc., in imitation of a car. Sheep or pigs are slaughtered before it, their number being generally governed by the number of children borne by the sacrificing woman. The cart is then dragged by bullocks, preceded by music, the woman and her husband following, with new pots filled with water and small pieces of silver money, borne on their heads, and accompanied by a retinue of friends and relatives. The village washerman has to spread clean cloths along the path of the procession, which stops near the boundary of the village, where a leafy bower is prepared, with three pieces of stone installed in it, symbolising the god Siva. Flowers, fruits, cocoanuts, incense, etc., are then offered, varied occasionally by an additional sheep or pig. A wooden seat is placed before the image, and the sacrificing woman places upon it her right hand with the fingers spread out. A man holds her hand firmly, and the village carpenter, placing his chisel on the first joints of her ring and little fingers, chops them off with a single stroke. The pieces lopped off are thrown into an ant-hill, and the tips of the mutilated fingers, round which rags are bound, are dipped into a vessel containing boiling gingily (Sesamum indicum) oil. A good skin eventually forms over the stump, which looks like a congenital malformation. The fee of the carpenter is one kanthiraya fanam (four annas eight pies) for each maimed finger, besides presents in kind. The woman undergoes the barbarous and painful ceremony without a murmur, and it is an article of the popular belief that, were it neglected, or if nails grow on the stump, dire ruin and misfortune will overtake the recusant family. Staid matrons, who have had their fingers maimed for life in the above manner, exhibit their stumps with a pride worthy of a better cause. At the termination of the sacrifice, the woman is presented with cloths, flowers, etc., by her friends and relations, to whom a feast is given, Her children are placed on an adorned seat, and, after receiving presents of flowers, fruits, etc., their ears are pierced in the usual way. It is said that to do so before would be sacrilege." In a very full account of deformation of the hand by the Berulu Kodo sub-sect of the Vakaliga or ryat caste in Mysore, Mr. F. Fawcett says that it was regularly practiced until the Commissioner of Mysore put a stop to it about twenty years ago. "At present some take gold or silver pieces, stick them on to the finger's ends with flour paste, and either cut or pull them off. Others simply substitute an offering of small pieces of gold or silver for the amputation. Others, again, tie flowers round the fingers that used to be cut, and go through a pantomime of cutting by putting the chisel on the joint and taking it away again. All the rest of the ceremony is just as it used to be." The introduction of the decorated cart, which has been referred to, is connected by Mr. Fawcett with a legend concerning a zemindar, who sought the daughters of seven brothers in marriage with three youths of his family. As carts were used in the flight from the zemindar, the ceremony is, to commemorate the event, called Bandi Devuru, or god of cars. As by throwing ear-rings into a river the fugitives passed through it, while the zemindar was drowned, the caste people insist on their women's ears being bored for ear-rings. And, in honour of the girls who cared more for the honour of their caste than for the distinction of marriage into a great family, the amputation of part of two fingers of women of the caste was instituted.
"Since the prohibition of cutting off the fingers," Mr. L. Rice writes, [52] "the women content themselves with putting on a gold or silver finger-stall or thimble, which is pulled off instead of the finger itself."
Morasa Kapulu women never touch the new grain of the year without worshipping the sun (Surya), and may not eat food prepared from this grain before this act of worship has been performed. They wrap themselves in a kambli (blanket) after a purificatory bath, prostrate themselves on the ground, raise their hands to the forehead in salutation, and make the usual offering of cocoanuts, etc. They are said, in times gone by, to have been lax in their morals and to have prayed to the sun to forgive them.
Morasu has further been returned as a sub-division of Holeya, Mala and Odde. The name Morasu Paraiyan probably indicates Holeyas who have migrated from the Canarese to the Tamil country, and whose women, like the Kallans, wear a horse-shoe thread round the neck.
Motati.--A sub-division of Kapu.