RELIGION AND SOCIEtY AMONG THE c00lI.

GS OF soum INDIA
Tradition and modernity in Coorg dress (Photo: T . S. S.
 «> 1952, 1965 M. N. SRINIVAS

First Edition: 1952

Reprinted: 1965

PRINTED IN INDIA
BY S. C. GHOSE AT THE CALCUTTA PRESS PRIVATE LIMITED,
1, WELLINGTON SQUARE, CAL~UTTA-13 AND PUBLISHED BY
P. S. JAYASINGHE, 'ASIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, BOMBAY
To the memory
of
my brother
M.N.GOPAL
 FOREWORD

THE study of religions can be approached in many different

ways and can present a number of different kinds of problems.
For social anthropologists, or for some of them, one major
pro blem is that of the social function of religion-how does religion
contribute to the existence of society as an ordered and continuing
system of relationships amongst human beings? It is recognized
that religion is a binding force among~t individuals, and it would
seem that the etymology of the word indicates this. The scientific
problem is how religion does this; how, in other words, it functions.
The problem is one of very considerable complexity, and it cannot
be said that at present we know very much about this subject. The
only method by which we can hope ultimately to arrive at an under-
standing of it is by a number of analytic descriptive studies of
religions of diverse types, so that by systematic comparison it
may be possible to arrive at some general theory. This work of
Dr. Srinivas is an important contribution to that investigation.
It gives us a description and analysis of the religious practices of a
people of India, the Coorgs of Coorg.
For the social anthropologist the religion of a people presents
itself in the first instance not as a body of doctrine, but as what we
may call 'religious' behaviour as a part of social life. Social anthro-
pology is behaviouristic in the sense that we seek to observe how
people act as a necessary preliminary to trying to understand how
they think and feel. This book, by a trained anthropologist, who is
himself an Indian, and who has therefore an understanding of
Indian ways of thought which it is difficult for a European to
attain even over many years, gives us a scientifically valuable and
objective account of the religious behaviour of a particular Indian
community.
In an investigation into the social function of religion in a parti-
cular society the first thing required is to examine the relation of
the religion to the social structure. In this respect the religion of the
Coorgs is of very special interest and value. For we may say that
there are three different structural systems in which the individual
Coorg is involved, and each of thest: has its own system of religious
behaviour and obligations.
viii FOREWORD

In the first place the Coorg individual is a member of a domestic

group, the okka or patrilineal joint-family. His closest social ties
are with this group and its members, and the well-being of this
group is something that is for him of supreme importance. Each
such group has its own religious cult. There are daily religious
observances of the members of the joint family. There are recurrent"
occasions on which ritual performances are called for. Any event
which affects the solidarity or well-being of the group is an occasion
of ritual, such as in births, deaths, and rna rriages. Piety, for a Coorg, is
in the first place the observance of the requirements of this domestic
cult.
Dr. Srinivas has described for us the various features of this
domestic cult, but he has done more than that. He has helped us to
sec the social function of these rituals as expressing and maintain-
ing the solidarity and continuity of the structural system. Further,
he has sought, with some considerable measure of success, to reveal
the meaning of the ritual idiom of the Coorg domestic cult. In any
system of ritual eaeh ritual action has its meaning, and the totality
of such meanings constitutes the idiom of that system. Just as
different societies have different languages so also they have their
systems of ritual idiom, and it is the task of the social anthropolo-
gist to investigate a system of ritual idiom in the same way that he
studies a language. To understand the way a people talk it is neces-
sary to know the idiom of their language; to understand a religion
it is necessary to have some understanding of the ritual idiom in
which they express their religious sentiments. We do not under-
stand the Coorg domestic cult unless we understand the religious
meaning to the Coorgs of the lamp hanging in the hall of the house;
and other features of their rites and ceremonies.
Besides being a member of a joint family (akka) the Coorg indivi-
dual is a member of a village community which includes not only
persons of his own caste but also members of other castes. The
village community has its own religious cult, with its god or gods
and its temple or shrine or tempics. The village-deities, when
properly propitiated, protect the village and its inhabitants from
smallpox and plague and other supernatural evils, and afford
blessings such as good health and abundant crops. Thus the cult of
the village-deities is a collective action of the community. Just as
the domestic cult has for its ostensible aim the preservation of the
well-being of the particular group, so the village cult has for its
 FOREWORD ix
aim the well-being of the village. Both these cults emphasize for
an individual his membership of a particular social group, the
joint family in the one instance and the village community in the
other.
Three other features of social structure have to be considered in
connexion with the village cult. In the first place, though the whole
village community takes part in the ceremonies, different caste
groups have different parts to play and are thus differentiated.
Some, for example, take part in the animal sacrifice, while others
have nothing to do with it. Thus a caste group within the village is
able, within the cult, to establish its own unity and its separation
from other groups. This is a significant feature of the caste
structure of the village.
In the second place, though each village community has its own
unity as exhibited in the cult performances, there is co-operation
between different villages, and members of one may take part in the
ceremonies of another. Thus the Coorg villages are groups within
a single Coorg religious community. It is therefore not only the
solidarity of the village that is exhibited in the village cult but also
the religious solidarity and unity of the people of Coorg.
Thirdly, there is the fact that the local deities of the villages have
been assimilated to the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon,
as when a particular local deity is identified with Shiva or Parvati.
In this way the Coorg religious community has become incor-
porated as a part of that wider Hindu religious community. The
incorporation, however, is only partial. In an orthodox Hindu cult
the temple should be served by a Brahmin. Orthodox Hindu deities
are vegetarian and dislike alcohol. But some of the Coorg village-
deities demand the blood and flesh of animals and offerings of
toddy. What Dr. Srinivas calls the process of Sanskritization of the
Coorg village cults is therefore very far from being complete.
There are very important remains of paganism. This need not sur-
prise us when we remember the many survivals of local pag;;nism
in the Christian countries. What is significant is that in his partici-
pation in the worship of the village-deities the Coorg individual is
able to think of himself as a member of the widespread Hindu
religious community.
The individual in Coorg belongs to a particular joint-family, and
to a particular village, but in addition he belongs by birth to a
particular social group of the kind to which we apply the name
x FOREWORD

'caste'. There are some thousands of such groups in India as a

whole. A caste is in its essence a religious group, membership of
which entails certain ritual observances. The rules of caste
behaviour are rules of religion.
The caste system of India presents a kind of social structure that
is of special interest to comparative sociology. There are two major
features. The first of these is what we may call 'separatism'. There
are important rules which limit the social contact of members of
different castes. The rule of endogamy prohibits marriage between
members of different castes or sub-castes. There are caste rules as to
the persons with whom one may partake of a meal, or from whose
hands one may accept food or drink. The second important feature
is that there is religious or ritual inequality of castes. Any man born
as a Brahmin is holy; he might therefore become a priest and per-
form the priestly functions even if in actuality he becomes a cook
or a water-carrier. At the other, lower, end of the scale are the people
now called 'Untouchable'-leather-workers, sweepers, and so on,
who are by birth 'unclean' or 'polluted' and with whom contact
produces pollution in the members of superior castes. The in-
equality between persons that is an essential feature of the caste
system is a religious or ritual inequality. The caste structure is one
of a system of rigid partitions dividing caste from caste. At the
same time the totality of all the various separate castes constitutes
a single religious community the unity of which is provided by
Hinduism as a system of ritual and belief. The social separation of
caste from caste is something very different from the social separa-
tion of Hindus and Muslims.·
In connexion with the study of the inter-relations of religion and
social structure, therefore, the material presented by Dr. SriJJivas
is of very special interest and value. To define the position of an
individual Coorg in the total structural system of the society in which
he lives we have, in the first place, to consider him ac a member
of a particular joint-family (okka). To this there corresponds,
in the field of religious behaviour, his participation in the domestic
cult. This cult, with respect to its most general features, may be
compared with domestic cults of the kind usually referred t,) as
'ancestor worship' which are found in many other peoples.
The Coorg individual is also a member of a village community,
which is itself part of the Coorg local community, and so part of
the wide Hindu community. Religious behaviour in this conncxion
 FOREWORD xi
is participation in the worship of the gods, who are both Ioca I gods
and also identified with the gods of the Hindu pantheon.
But the Coorg is also a member of onc of the hundreds of caste
divisions of Hindu social structure. Religious behaviour in this
connexion consists of the careful observance of the caste rules, so
that ritual pollution is avoided. I believe that Dr. Srinivas intends
to give us at some time an account of how the caste structure
actually affects the social life within a village, a subject on which,
hitherto, we have had no information.
In the kinds of societies with which anthropologists are chiefly
concerned a direct relation between religion and social structure is
to be discovered in the belief that is held that the due performance
of religious rites contributes to the well-being of a group, or to the
maintenance of a certain social order. This is seen in Coorg in both
the domestic cult which is carried out in order to ensure the well-
being of the joint-family, and also in the village cult. In what are
sometimes called the higher religions there appears a different
feature in the belief in some kind of personal salvation as something
to be aimed at by the individual in his observance of religion. Like
Christianity and Buddhism, Hinduism in its more philosophical
form also holds out to the individual the hope of personal salvation,
often conceived as release from the round of reincarnation. The
problem of the social function of religious beliefs of this kind is
highly complex. It is clear, however, that to examine the social
effects of such religions we have to consider them as formulating
for the members of a church an ideal of human conduct.
The rich religious life of the Coorgs is compounded of several
strands. We can separate these by successively considering the
individual as a member of a family group, as a member of a village
community, as a worshipper of the deities of the Hindu pantheon,
as a member of a particular caste and therefore having his place in
the whole widespread caste structure, and finally as being at least
influenced by the religious and philosophical ~ystem of Hinduism
with its formulation of ideals of human conduct. For the student of
comparative religion. and particularly for those interested in the
sociological study of religion, this book of Dr. Srinivas offers
matcrial of exceptional value.
A. R. RADCLIFFE-BRO\VN
 PREFACE
IN 1940 I was awarded, for a period of two years, a research
fellowship in sociology by the University of Bombay and this
enabled me to do the field-work on which this book is based. I
thank the University of Bombay for making it possible for me to
study the Coorgs, and I am grateful to Professor G. S. Ghurye for
advice and criticism during field-work and subsequent writing.
In June 1942, a few months after returning from Coorg, I was
appointed Research Assistant in Sociology in the School of Econo-
mics and Sociology in Bombay, and the duties of my new post
prevented me from finishing the writing of my field material until
the end of 1944. 1 then came to Oxford, where Professor Radcliffe-
Brown's teaching greatly modified my approach to the study of
human society. At his suggestion, I started applying some of his
ideas regarding the inter-relation of religion and society to the
material I had already gathered, and this task proved exciting and,
to me, fruitful, even though I was more an ethnologist than a
sociologist at the time of my field-work. I am greatly indebted to
Professor Radcliffe-Brown for his teaching and for many kind-
nesses.
I have been greatly helped and stimulated by the teaching and
friendship of Professor Evans-Pritchard, who succeeded to the
Chair of Social Anthropology at Oxford after Professor Radcliffe-
Brown's retirement. I have also benefited from the advice and
criticism of Professors M. Fortes and M. Gluckman.
All previous writers on the Coorgs ha ve contri buted to my under-
standing of the social institutions and culture of the Coorgs. I
gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to them, and especially
to Moegling, Richter, N. ChiI)J).appa, and Professor M. B. Emeneau.
Coorg is a beautiful and hospitable country, and I met with kind-
ness everywhere. I should like to thank the people of Coorg
generally before mentioning certain individuals who have helped
me greatly by giving me hospitality as well as information. I am
under a great debt to Shri K. J. Chengappa, who has consis-
tently and patiently supplied me with information over a period
of ten years. Shri K. Kalappa and Shri P. M. Ponnappa have also
given me information and helped me in other ways. I wish to thank
xiv PREFACE

Shri H. Tirumala Char, B.A., B.L., and his family for their
hospitality to me in Mercara ..
I am very grateful to the Carnegie Research Fund for a generous
grant which enabled me to pursue my studies at Oxford. I thank
Dr. A.A. Bake, and the Films Division of the Ministry ofInforma-
tion and Broadcasting, Government of India, for the loan of some
of the photographs reproduced in this book.
My friends Mr. R. G. Lienhardt, Mr. K. O. L. Burridge, and
Dr. Kathleen Gough have helped me by critically reading the type-
script.

040rd M. N. S.
April 1951

NOTE TO SECOND PRINTING

NEARL Y twelve years have passed since this book first appeared
in print. Since then many changes have occurred in Coorg and
in India but I have made no attempt to bring the book up-to-date.
I would only like to mention here that Coorg became an integral
part of the Mysore State on 1st November, 1956 when the States
were reorganised by the Government of India.
I would like to thank the Ministry of Information and Broad-
casting of the Government of India, and Shri T. S. Satyan and
Shri T. S. Nagaraj, for their kindness in allowing me to make use
of their photographs. I must also express my gratitude to my
colleague Shri G. S. Aurora M.Sc. (Lond) for correcting the
proofs.

Delhi School of Economics M. N. SRINIVAS

September 1964
 CONTENTS

Foreword
Preface
Note to Second Printing xiv

1 INTRODUCTORY 1
2 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 24
3 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS: (1) THE RITUAL
COMPLEX OF MANGALA 70
4 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS: (2) THE CONCEPTS
OF POLE AND MADI 102
5 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 124
6 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 177
7 HINDUISM 213
8 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 229

Appendix 243
Glossary 248
Bibliography 251
Index 253
 MAPS AND PLANS

Position of Coorg in South India 2

2 Coorg 4
3 Administrative Divisions in Circa A. D. 1850 58
4 PIan of the Temple of Bhiidrakali of Kunda 188

PLATES

Frontispiece

Tradition and modernity in coorg dress

Between pages 96 and 97

Coorg bridegroom and bride

The Murta ritual for the bridegroom
The harvest festival of PuM: Combat with stick and shield
Typical Coorg landscape
A mountain road in Coorg
The sacred river Kaveri
Terraced rice-land
The harvest festival of Putri: Dancing on the village green
The harvest festival of Putri: Dance with sticks
Women and children at a wedding
A bride's ornaments
The harvest festival of Putri: Men getting ready for a dance
Children going to school
Coorgs in their Ceremonial Dress-shooting is a popular pastime
A coffee estate
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTORY

COORG is a tiny, mountainous province in south India, bounded on

the north and east by Mysore State, and on the west and south by
the South Canara and Malabar Districts of Madras Presidency.
Its greatest length, north to south, is sixty miles, and its greatest
breadth, east to west, is forty miles. The total area is 1,593 square
miles, of which 519 square miles constitute 'reserve forest'.
The Western Ghat mountains which run along the West coast
of India from Gujerat to Ca1_)e Comorin 1_)ass tlllough Coorg.
They generally make a precipitous descent to the west while they
slope more gradually to the east. The plateau of peninsular India
generally slopes to the east, and most of the bigger south Indian
rivers flow from west to east.
The main range of the Western Ghats skirts the southern and
western frontier of Coorg. Starting from Brahmagiri Peak (5,276
feet) in the extreme south it runs in a north-westerly direction
till Tala Kaveri, where it turns east for a few miles before it turns
north-west again. It proceeds in this direction for some distance
and then runs due north till Pushpagiri Peak (5,260 feet).
Spurs strike out in all directions from the main range of the
Western Ghats. In the south they form either a ramification of
narrow-ridged hills, or subside into undulating slopes enclosing
innumerable broad valleys in which rice is grown.
That part of the main range of the Western Ghats which runs
east from Tala Kaveri is called Benguniic;l Betta, and a high spur
proceeds eastwards from it at the point it turns abruptly northwest.
At Mercara this spur forks, the southern fork ending in the peak of
Nurokkal Betta, while the northern fork zigzags towards Fraserpet
in the east. The Nurokkal spur continuing the Benguniid Betta
is important, as, together with the Western Ghats running south-
east from Tala Kiiveri, it constitutes the watershed of the upper
basin of the K1lveri river.
The western half of Coorg to the north of Mercara is a plateau
6 INTRODUCTORY

ferns and the useful rattan cane creeper and ~'i5te reeds are
also found close to the mountain streams flowing in these
forests.
Coorg fauna is the same as that of the rest of south India. In its
forests are found elephant, tiger, bison, panther, boar, bear, porcu-
pine, deer, and wild dog and jackal. The extensive clearing of the
mountain-sides for coffee and orange plantations, the general love
Df hunting, and the possession of firearms have resulted in the
decimation of wild life in Coorg.

II

The isolation and inaccessibility of Coorg, with its steep moun-

tains, dense forests, and heavy rainfall, contributed to the main-
tenance and ela boration of the distinctive mode of life and culture
of Coorgs. The Lingayat Rajas, who saw certain political and
military advantages in the natural isolation of Coorg, tried to
increase it. Richter tells us that they closed down certain roads
leading to Mercara, and prohibited travelling by them.!
'But under British rule the existing roads were improved and
new ones were built. Nowadays buses run regularly on all the
main roads connecting different parts of Coorg with each other,
and Coorg with her neighbours. Yet even now no railway line passes
through Coorg and this restricts the amount of contact it has with
the rest ofIndia.
The isolation of Coorg in the past was far from absolute. Contact
always did exist with neighbours, though such contact was limited
and difficult. For instance, Coorgs in south-west Coorg w~nt
annually in caravans to Malabar to sell their surplus rice, and to
buy jaggery, 2 coconuts, coconut oil, tobacco, and areca-nuts. Coorgs
in south-east Coorg bought cattle in Mysore and went on pil-
grimages to certain shrines like the Shrikanteshwara Temple in
Nanjanagfld. Coorgs in central and north Coorg went on pil-
grimages to the Subrahmaf.lya Temple in South Canara.
Though Coorg is a very small country, it shows considerable
cultural diversity. The areas to the north and east of Mercara, and
the entire eastern fringe of Coorg have many cultural features in

lOp. cit., p. 426.

Crude brown sugar, either in the form of square blocks or small round
2
cakes, made from sugar-cane juice or the saps of various palms.
 INTRODUCTORY 7
common with Mysore. The areas to the west of Bhagaman<;lla, and
the north-western parts, have many cultural forms in common
with South Canara, while the south-western fringe has many
features in common with Malabar.
The quadrilateral formed by Mercara in the north, Siddapur in
the east, Srimangala in the south, and Bhagaman<;ila in the west has
been called Coorg Proper by earlier writers. Coorg Proper is an
area of greater homogeneity within Coorg, and formerly the bulk
of Coorgs lived there. This area might be described as the core and
centre of the culture of Coorgs.
When we speak of Mysore (or Kanna4a) culture, or Malabar (or
Malayalam) culture, or South Canara (or TuIu) culture, we are not
thinking of entities unrelated to each other. Malayalam and Tulu
cultures have certain features in common and, similarly, Tulu and
Kanna<;la. Again, all three share some features. In fact, the whole
of India constitutes, in a very broad sense, a single culture-area
within which each linguistic area constitutes a region of greater
cultural homogeneity. The recognition of the greater homogeneity
of each linguistic area should not lead to the ignoring of the larger
unity, and still less should it ignore the special connexions with
some or all of the neighbouring areas.
A village in the Kanna<;ia, Telugu, or Tamil country is a group
of houses and huts huddled together in a confined space with fields
and gardens stretching all round. But a different type of village
prevails in Coorg Proper where Coorgs predominate: every Coorg
house is built on its ancestral estate, and near it live the servants of
the house, usually men of low caste, in huts of mud and bamboo
with thatched roofs. On the other side of the hilI or valley lives
another Coorg joint family with its satellite families living close by.
A few such houses and their dependent huts scattered over the
hills and valleys are lumped together and called a village (ur). An
eastern plainsman used to seeing villages as close physical entities
would be tempted at first to assert that there are no villages, in
Coorg Proper. Such a view, however, would be wrong. A village
in Coorg Proper is real in the sense that its boundaries are known
to elders, and the people of the village see themselves as a unity
against other villages.
The members of a village have to co-operate on certain occasions
such as weddings, funerals, festivals of the village-deity, harvest
festival, hunts, dances, and thatching a newly built house. Rivalry
8 INTRODUCTORY

between villages is still prevalent, and formerly feuds (maradaM)

between villages were frequent.
Most people in Coorg live in villages, either themselves cultivat-
ing or supervising the cultivation of land. Exact figures are avail-
able only for 1931 when sixty out of every thousand lived in towns,
while the rest lived in villages: i.e. 94 per cent of the population
lived in villages. 1 Even now, excepting educated men in govern-
ment service, or in one of the learned professions, and a few
commercial men, others in general prefer to live in their natal
villages on account of their close attachment to their ancestral
lands.
There are only two towns in Coorg, Mercara, the capital, 'with
a population of 7,112 and Virarajpet, with 4,106.
The 1941 Census mentions the total population of Coorg as
168,726 but it does not enlighten us as to the composition of this
population. The details are, however, available for 1931 when the
total population was 163,327 and of this, 146,007 were Hindus,
13,777 Muslims, 3,425 Christians, and the balance of 118 was
accounted for by Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis. Coorgs, with a
strength of 41,026, formed the largest single group amongst the
Hindus. 2

In
All the important languages spoken in Coorg are Dravidian,
with the exception of HindustMni and English. Again, detailed
figures are available only for 1931 when 62,769 spoke KannaQa,
44,585 Ko<;lagi, the dialect of Coorgs, 14,914 Malaya}am, 14,275
Tulu, and 10,026 Yerava, the dialect of the Yerava tribe. There
were 3,007 Tamil-speakert-" fewer in fact than the speakers of the
Indo-Aryan Janguage, Hindusthani, who numbered 4,378. 3
Professor M. B. Emeneau considers that 'the Dravidian language
spoken by Coorgs is an independent language, and shows charac-
teristics that in part connect it closely with KannaQa, in part with
the languages of the Malabar coast, especially Malayalam'.4
Coorgs make use of the Kanna<;la script on those occasions when
they wish to reduce Ko<;lagi into writing. Such occasions are not,
however, very common. Kanna<;la was the court and official lan-
1 Census afIndia, 1931, vol. xiii, p. 7. 3 Ibid., p. 38.
2 Ibid., pp. 41-42. 4 In a Jetter to the author.
 INTRODUCTOR Y 9
guage of Coorg under the Lingayat Rajas, and nowadays it is the
medium of instruction in schools. Besides, every Coorg is able to
speak it.
Educated Coorgs are usually trilingual, knowing KOQagi, Kan-
na9a, and English. Ko<;lagi is used in the home, Kanna<;la in talk-
ing to most non-CoDrgs excepting Malayans, and English in official
matters, and occasionally in conversation with strangers. English is
popular with Coorgs, and even womcn, especially those under
thirty, have some acquaintance with it.
In 1931 there were 44,585 KOQagi-spcakers though the total
number of Coorgs was only 41,026. This discrepancy is due to the
fact that several castes and tribes have taken over the language of
Coorgs, who have throughout been the dominant group in Coorg.
In fact, only a few castes havc escaped the temptation to imitate
Coorgs in dress, customs, and manners. In the past some families
of WynaQ Chettis, Kanna\la Okkaligas, Tulu Gau\las, and others
did succeed in entering the Coorg fold. Even no\v some non-Coorgs
aspire to be Coorgs. For instance, during the 1931 Census, a num-
ber of Kanna\la Okkaligas and Tulu Gau\las in north Coorg suc-
ceeded in getting themselves enumerated as Coorgs as they had
been described as 'Jamma K04agas' in the title-deeds conferring
on them the right to hold land under the concession tenure of
jamma (see pp. 16-17). The enumerators, in spite of their strict
instructions to check all doubtful cases thoroughly, had to enu-
merate such persons as Coorgs. It is presumed, however, that their
number did not exceed a thousand. 1

IV
Coorg enters history in the ninth century A.D., but the informa-
tion we possess at present about the period between the ninth and
seventeenth centuries is very little indeed. We do know, however,
that ever since the period for which we have any information, the
fortunc~ of the powerful south Indian Kingdoms in the east have
had effects on Coorg. In the ninth and tenth centuries the Chan-
galvas, who ruled some parts of Coorg, were feudatory to the
Gangas of Talka4 in Mysore. The Changalvas (Kings of Changa-
nac;1) ruled certain areas to the west of Mysore city and the eastern
and northern parts of C"org excluding E!usavirashlme H6bji, at
1 Census of India, 1931, vol. xiii, p. 42
10 INTRODUCTOR Y

present called Shaniviirasante H6bJi. This latter area was part of

the territory ruled by the Kongiilva Kings in the eleventh century.
Both the Changa}vas and KongaJvas were Jains by faith, and
Changiilva inscriptions have been found in Ye<;lavana<;l in the
north and BettyetnaQ in the south (see Map 3). It is probable
that their territory included Tala Kaveri as well.
The CMJas of the Tamil country defeated the Gangas in the
beginning of the eleventh century, and they claim to have con-
quered Coorg as well. Both the Changalvas and Kongalvas now
became feudatory to the Ch6jas.
The Hoysalas, a dynasty which rose to power in western Mysore
after the fall of the Gangas, succeeded in the twelfth century in
driving the Chajas out of Mysore. The Changajvas, who had ac-
cepted the overlordship of both the Gangas and Ch6jas, refused to
accept the overlordship of the Hoysalas and claimed independence.
Several battles took place between the two before the Hoysalas
were a bIe to establish their authority. These battles are importa nt
for us, for the first reference to Coorgs as a body occurs in an
inscription referring to one of them. We find Coorgs fighting for
their Changalva ruler against the invader from Mysore.
In 1145 the Hoysala king Narasimha I slew the Changalva ruler
in battle and captured his elephants, horses, gold, and jewels.
Thereafter the Changiilvas appear to have withdrawn into Coorg,
for in 1174 Bal1ala II sent his general Bettarasa againft them in
Palpare in Hattugattana<;l in Kiggatna<;l (see Map 3). Bettarasa
was victorious, and he built a town at Palpare which he made his
capital. But Pemma-Virappa, joined by Budigon<;leya Nandideva,
Udiyiiditya of Kurchi (village), and others, 'the Ko<;lagas of all the
niicjs', marched against Piilpare and attacked BeHarasa, who seems
to have got the worst of it at first, but was finally victorious. This
is the earliest reference to Coorgs by name. 1
The defeated Changalvas seem to have accepted the suzerainty
of the Hoysalas. In 1252 the Hoysala king Someshwara visited
them at Ramanathapura, when the Chang alva capital was at
Shrirangapatlfa, south of the Kaveri near Siddapur. The Chan-
gatvas had now changed their faith from Iainism to Lingayatism,
a popular sect devoted exclusively to the worship of Shiva, which
arose in the Kanna<;la country in the twelfth century A.D.
When the Vijayanagar kingdom replaced the Hoysalas in the
1 Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition, Oxford, 1908, vol. xi, p. 10.
 INTRODUCTORY 11
fourteenth century the Changalvas became feudatory to them.
The Vijayanagar kingdom, extending over a great part of south
India, remained in power till 1565 when it was defeated by the
Muslims at the Battle of Talikota.

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Vijayanagar kings had bestowed
on, or confirmed to, vassal chiefs bearing various titles, sundry tracts in Mysore,
on the condition of paying tribute and rendering military service. Those in the
north were controlled direct from the capital. The southern chiefs were under a
viceroy, termed the Sri Ranga Rayal at Seringapatam. After the disaster of
Talikota, although nominal allegiance continued to be paid to the viceroy,
such of the chiefs as had the power gradually declared their independence. 1

Among the chiefs who became independent were the Nayakas of

Beonur, the Changalvas who ruled over a good part of Coorg, and
the WOQeyars of Mysore. The last-mentioned of these rose to I
power after the fall of Vijayanagar, absorbing many of its former
dependencies.
The authority of the viceroy seems to have been recognized in
a shadowy way even after the fall of Vijayanagar until 1610 when
Mysore captured Seringapatam, the seat of the viceroy's govern-
ment. The Changa}vas seem to have been friends with the viceroy
who, in 1607, confirmed the MalalavacJi country 2 to Piriyaraja (or
RudragaDa), the Changalva king of the NanjarajapatDa branch.
A clear account of the history of the Changa}va kings in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is not yet available. It is
known, however, that in the beginning of the sixteenth century
Nanjaraja founded their capital of NanjarajapatQa. In 1589 Piriya
Raja (RudragaDa) rebuilt SingapatQa and named it after himself,
PiriyapatDa. A branch of the Changalvas seem to have ruled in
PiriyapatQa in the seventeenth century. The exact date when this
dynasty came to an end is not certain as, according to the existing
account, the last Raja was killed in 1644 while fighting Mysoreans.
According to the same account Do<,l<,la Virappa (Vira Raja II) was
reigning in Coorg at this time, but we know for certain that he did
not ascend the throne till 1686, forty-two years after 1644.

1 Imperial Gazetteer ofIndia, vol. xviii, p. J76.

2 He did this because the deity Annandani Mallikarjuna on the Bettadapura
hill in HUl)sur taliik (or Ma!alavaQi) was the family deity of the Changa!vas ofthe
Nanjarajapat1J.a branch, and the viceroy wanted the worship of the deity to
continue as long as this branch of the Changalvas continued to exist. Imperial
Gazetteer ofIndia, vol. Xl, p. 11.
12 INTRODUCTORY

Firishta, the historian of Akbar and Jahiingir, states that at th'e

end of the sixteenth century Coorg Proper was ruled by its chiefs
or Nayakas, who acknowledged the supremacy of Vijayana gar, but
constantly fought among themselves. 1 The chaotic situation was
taken advantage of by a prince of the neighbouring Ikkeri or
Be<;lniir dynasty, who at first settled in Haleri, north of Mercara, as
a Jangama or Lingayat priest, and succeeded in gradually bringing
the entire country under his control. j
The Nayakas of Be<;lniir, the R~lers of Piriyapatl)a, and the
Rajas of Coorg were all related to each other. It is even possible
that the Rajas of Coorg were thought of as in some way dependent
upon the Nayakas of Be<;lnur: this \vould help to explain Haider
Ali's regarding himself as liege lord of Coorg when he had con'-
quered Be<;lnur in 1763.
The prince of the Beqmlr dynasty who settled down as ajangama
or Lingayat priest in Haleri in north Coorg was an astute strategist.
He was well aware of the fact that a jangama commanded a great
deal of respect from Lingayats who predominated in north COOig.
He lived in a village council house (chiivarji), teaching children and
preaching to adults. People voluEtarily gave him uncleaned paddy
(dhu/i bhatta) at harvest. Later, when he was certain of his hold
over the people, he changed the voluntary contribution to a com-
pulsory levy of one and a half bha!tis (bhatti = 80 seers) of rice,
and a sum of nine annas and eight pies per house per annum. He also
called upon his followers to guard his dwelling in turns. The watch-
men were called chdvarjikiiras or 'men of the chiivarji', a name
which was later used for the Raja's troops. The priest-politician
next declared himself ruler of Haleri and surrounding niirjs, and the
chiefs ruling over small areas of Coorg Proper submitted to his
authority on condition that he allowed them to keep to themselves
three-quarters of the revenue coUected by them from their sub-
jects, and pay only a fourth to him as their overlord. The Raja's
authority continued to increase. The troublesome chiefs were
gradually eliminated, and only those who did not constitute a
threat to his authority were allowed to survive. But their capacity
for mischief had not entirely been destroyed, as will be seen later.
Muddu Raja(I 633-86), the grandson of the founder of the dynasty
of the Lingayat Rajas, moved the capital from Haleri to Mercara
1 Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. Xl, p, 11.' Niiyaka' in Kannaga means 'leader',
and it seems to have been a title assumed by anybody with a following.
 INTRODUCTORY 13
in 1681, and this continues to be the capital today. It is not certain
whether it was Muddu Raja or his son Doc;l<;1a Virappa (Vira
Raja 11) who reorganized the administration, altering the existing
niiijl boundaries and creating a clear hierarchy of headmen (takkas),
and four appellate courts (pa!{is) for the settlement of disputes.
The consolidation of the authority of the Rajas which began with
the founder was completed only during the time of his great grand-
son Do <;1 <;1 a Virappa (Vira Raja Ul. During the latter's reign we
hear of the efforts of Uttu Nayaka, a chieftain in Armeri in Bep-
punaQ, to get the country invaded from the south by K6tangac;ii
Vira Varma while Vir a Raja II was defending the country from
the Mysoreans in the east. Vira Raja II was luckily able to beat off
both the eastern and southern invaders.
The struggle between Mysore and Coorg which began during
the time of thc HoysaJas and continued till the end of the reign of
Vira Raja II assumed a particularly severe form in thc later half
of the eighteenth century, after the usurpation of the Mysore
throne by Haider Ali. The sev._;rity reached its climax during the
reign of Tippu Sultan, Haider's son, and only ended with his
death in 1799. Coorgs fought repeatedly for their king and country
against the invaders, paying a heavy price for their loyalty.
Haider conquered Bec;inur in 1763, and he seems to have thought
that this entitled him to suzerainty over Coorg, a claim which he
tried to assert by force as well as cunning. In the complicated
struggle between him and the Rajas of Coorg, he does not seem
to have made any considerable progress so long as the question of
succession to the Coorg throne was clear and undisputed.
But the death in 1770 of Muddu Raja II and Muddayya Raja,
who were both jointly ruling Coorg as representatives of the dif-
ferent segments of the dynasty of Lingayat Rajas, gave rise to
succession disputes between Linga Raja I, younger brorher of
Muddu Raja II, and Deyappa Raja, son of Muddayya Raja.
Devappa Raja was successful in the struggle, and the unsuccessful
Linga Raja I sought the help of Haider, who was eagerly waiting
for such an opportunity. Haider helped Linga Raja I to ascend the
Mercara throne, and after the latter's death in 1780 he assumed
entire possession of Coorg, under the pretence of being guardian of
the dead king's sons till they came of age. Meanwhile the sons were
1 Coorg was traditionally divided into thirty-five niit!s, each nat! containing
several villages.
14 INTRODUCTORY

made to reside at the Gonir fort. A Muslim garrison was stationed

at Mercara, the capital, and a former official of the Raja was
appointed governor.
These measures were extremely unpopular with Coorgs who
rose in rebellion in 1782 and drove out the Muslim garrison at
Mercara. They escaped Haider's retaliation as he was just then
busy fighting the English in the south, and died soon after. In 1784
Tippu Sultan, Haider's son, marched through Coorg on his way
from Mangalore to Seringapatam and threatened Coorgs that he
would make an example of them if they rebelled again. Coorgs
replied to this by open insurrection in l78S, and a force sent to put
them down was driven back. Thereupon Tippu himself marched
into Coorg with an army and,

having lured most of the Coorgs to meet him at Tala Kaveri, under the pretence
of peaceable intentions and conciliatory measures, he suddenly seized them,
and hunting out their families, drove them, altogether about 70,000 souls,
like a herd of cattle to Seringapatam, where all the males were forcibly cir-
cumcised. Coorg itself was partitioned among Musalman Landlords, to whom
the slaves of the country were made over, and additional labour provided
from Adoni in Be!!ary District. The only condition laid on the new owners
was that they were to search out and slay all such Coorgs as might have escaped
his vengeance, as he was resolved on their extermination. The country was
held by garrisons in four forts, at Mercara (Jaifarabad), Fraserpet (Kushalnagar),
BhagamanQla and Beppuna<,l; and on account of the accessions he had made
to the faith Tippu now assumed the title of Badshah (kingp

The Coorg princes who had been removed from Gorlir to

Piriyapatlla by Tippu Sultan managed to escape to Coorg in 1788,
after six years' confinement, and at onCe Coorgs rallied round
their princes. Before long, Vira Raja IV, the eldest of the princes,
occupied the entire country. Tippu sent a large force to reoccupy
Coorg but this had to be diverted to the west coast at the eleventh
hour to subdue a revolt in Malabar.
From 1788 till the defeat and death of Tippu in 1799, Vira
Raja IV helped the English in their wars against Mysore. Richter
tells us that in 1792 when Lord Cornwallis had driven Tippu into

1 Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. xi, p. 13. The slaves referred to above were
the Poleya servants of Coorgs and other high-caste masters. The number of
Coorgs who were driven out of Coorg into Seringapatam by Tippu is variously
estimated. Lewis Rice, for instance, estimates it at 85,000 in Mysore and Coorg,
vol. iii, Bangatore, 1878, p. 111. Shri N. Chi17l;lappa estimates it at 110,000,
Pat Ie Pa/lIme, p. 45.

\ '\.')1) .
 INTRODUCTORY 15
Seringapatam and the British occupied that island, 'about 5,000
Coorgs who had been carried away by Tippu, with their wives and
children, altogether about 12,000 souls, made their escape in the
confusion that ensued and returned to their native country'.1
Their old homes and lands were restored to the returning exiles,
and they seem to have been accepted back into the Coorg fold
without difficulty.
Vira Raja ruled till 1809 when he died, leaving behind only
daughters. This gave rise to the inevitable succession disputes in
which, in the end, Linga Raja II, younger brother of the dead king,
emerged triumphant in 1811. He ruled till his death in 1820 when
he was succeeded by his twenty-year-old son Chikka Vira Raja
(Vira Raja V). The latter was an incompetent and sensuous tyrant,
and in 1834 he was deposed by the British who annexed Coorg.
The rule of the Lingayat Rajas had come to an end.

v
Lewis Rice tells us that Coorgs formed the bulk of the armies of
the Rajas. 2 He writes:

these mountaineers (Coorgs) had a considerable share of intrepidity and per-

severance; stratagem entered largely into their system of tactics, in war they
were remarkable for their predatory habits, and their neighbours accused
them on those occasions of adding cruelty to pillage. Like the modern guerilla,
though they were unable to contend openly with regular troops, they intercepted
their supplies, cut off their communications, and harassed them by surprises,
a species of warfare admirably adapted to second the natural difficulties that
a hilly country must present. An intimate knowledge of it, a strict obedience,
and a singular devotion to their chief [Le. Raja] accompanied by a remarkable
attachment to their wilds and an equal gallantry in defending them, may in
some measure perhaps have compensated the want of military skill. 3

The system of land tenure prevalent in Coorg directly con-

tributed to the maintenance and development of the military
tradition of Coorgs. Land revenue was the principal source of the
wealth of the Raja. The assessment was based on a survey and
classification of all cultivated land in Coorg. In 1812, during the
reign of Linga Raja II, a general settlement was made and this was
recorded in a book called Hukum Nama. All cultivated land was
lOp. cit., vol. iii, p. 327. 3 Op. cit., p. 326.
I Ibid.
 16
divided ' l~TRODUCTORY
Into f:
register 1 arllls (v '
a onh' h argas), and every farm was entered In the
The jal'fII)Ja It the type of tenure it was held under.
I

(lnd 'Ylten f
I' eVen nQw h 10 land tenure under which most Coorgs held
t ,was an here,r old) land was the basis of their military tradition.
t h Jsreas ~ltary r' l. '~h ..
0ll call d ' 19l1t passmg lram fat er to son, and was lor
means 'bhth' Ie ]anlfna, a corruption of the Sanskrit janma which
OkkaIi ,t II
_ , gas, Tu) as not, however, confined to Coorgs. Kanna<,ia
Map~!la ill1n/ Gaudas, smiths (Airis), potters (Kumbaras), and
prcstlge of hOl~:alltS from Malabar enjoyed the privilege and
offe~ed iaihl1Ja t Lng land on jamma tenure. The Rajas occasionally
;radmg caStes f tnure as a bait both to induce certain artisan and
ocal peoPle t f0ll] Outside to settle down in Coorg and to induce
The'Jaih11z 0 recta'lln forest or waste land,
,
bClJ1g a tenll
Only g re Was a very light one in terms of money,
hundred JiVe ,
b bhQ1f' rupees or a hundred bhat{ls of wet land, A
d undred bh~;:s of Wet land mc:ans an area of land producing a
lice that a~'zs of paddy. The area of land required to pro-
and arable I oU!)t varies according to the fertility of the soil,
aSSCSShn
",ent,
and IS' clas"ified into seven grades for purposes of
Along ,
f 1 Wlth th
Q and: one C assessed rice-field went two unassessed stretches
cl~thed With ~as blb;e, the highland adjacent to the rice-field and
ta1l1ed its sUp J~llg1e from which the cultivator's joint family ab-
was barz'ire, loP YOf fuel, timber, and forest produce; and the other
LegallY,j(l] W-IYing pasturage for the cultivator's cattle.
S~blet Withotl~ltzQ land was impartible, inalienable, and could not be
a l' peOPle h (the permission of the Raja, and, most important of
ca led 0 d' , '
, up fo l?g land on the Jamma tenure were hable to be
jamma rYOts r 111[litary service. Richter writes in 1870 that 'the
°nutward ag g (CUltivators) are still liable to be called out to repel
a p}' re'
E a ICe. and SSIan or quell internal disturbances, and to furnish
very fa", 'I treasure-guards, escorts, &c" in time of peace'.l
f or fift
, cell <"11 d Y holdmg ' Jamma
. land had to perf arm guar d d utles '
mamtai
, , ' necI ays'In t 1le year, dunng ' W1lIe
' htIme
' t h e guar d s were
; JOInt fal11.i~,t j)ublic expense though not paid. Not all the men of
Oille Were 1Y Were employed on guard duties at the same time.
post~d "'ft
t: on g" '- free to look after land, and even those who were
Jallll1l
Q te
LIard d Ulles ' were posted near thelr , fi eId s.
lOp, C;t" f) !lUre conferred a double prestige on the holder in
. 402
 INTRODUCTORY 1 I

addition to the undoubted economic advantage. It signified that

the holder had his roots in Coorg, and the duty of rendering
military service to the state in times of emergency conferred on
him the second type of prestige. The other important tenure in
Coorg was sagu, in which not only was land assessed at ten rupees
per hundred bhattis of land, being twice the rate for janrma land,
but also the holder was liable to render every type of service to the
state except military service. During Richter's time, but for forty
Coorgs, all tIl<" people holding land on sagu tenure were non-
Coorgs.l
The Rajas occasionally granted land on jamma tenurc to non-
Coorgs as a special mark offavour. Occasionally, Coorgs who held
land onjamma tenure were transferred to the sagu class as punish-
ment for wrongs done by them.

VI

During the two centuries of rule by the Rajas, Coorg underwent

a number of changes, political, administrative, and social. The
authority of the local chieftains or Nayakas was destroyed and the
administration was centralized. The Rajas established a postal
service (anche) for the use of officials only. Land was surH;yed
thoroughly, and the type oftenLlre under which e8ch farm was held
was recorded in the Hukum Nama of Linga Raja II (1811-20). The
Hukum Nama also contained a few paragraphs dealing with the
powers of officials to try cases, civil and criminal, without reference
to the Raja. Serious offences like adultery, murder, and treason
were tried by the Raja himself. The recognition of the authority of
the headman of a village and his council of elders was a general
feature of the administrative system of the Rajas. They also
recognized the authority of caste elders to try and settle caste
disrlUtes.
The long and bitter struggle with Haider and Tippu increased
the sense of national identity of the inhabitants of Coorg. Ccorgs
played an important part in this struggle as they formed the bulk
of the Rajas' soldiery, and also because they were specially selected
for barbarous treatment by Tippu Sultan.
The Rajas were KannaQigas and under their rule the importance
of KannaQa culture increased in Coorg at the expense of Mala-
lOp. cit.,p. 406.
2
18 INTRODUCTOR Y

yalam. They were also Lingayats, who are staunch vegetarians and
:teetotallers, and possess a powerful and highly organized church of
their own. Fifty-seven Lingayat n/a(has or monasteries, some of
them heavily endowed, existed in north Coorg during Richter's
time. 1
The religion of the Rajas left its mark on the general population,
and especially on Coorgs. The latter constituted the aristocracy
.under t he Rajas, and a number of them held important posts at the
Rajas' courts. Members of the royal family occasionally married
Coorgs. The close contact which Coorgs enjoyed with the Rajas
certainly helped in the spread of the culture and religion of the
latter.
Many Coorgs even today adorn their foreheads with three
horizontal, finger-wide, stripes of vibhuti or sacred ashes, a mark
used by devotees of Shiva in all parts of India. Coorg folksongs
frequently refer to a man or woman praying to Shiva soon after
getting up in the morning. Most of the important temples visited
by Coorgs are Shaivite in character.

VI[

The annexation of Coorg by the British in 1834 marks the be-

ginning of the operation of vast political, economic, social, and
ideological forces on the people of that tiny province. For instance,
the British gavejagirs or assessment-free lands to those Coorgs who
had helped them in the suppression of the Canara Rebellion of 1837,
and later these were allowed to be treated as gifts to the individuals
concerned and not to their joint families. Traditionally, the joint
family was the unit which owned land, and individuals owned only
a little cash and a few movables. But by 1870, less than forty years
after the annexation of Coorg by the British, some individual
Coorgs had acquired for themselves farms and coffee plantations.
Richter applauds the change:

... these individual enterprises seem to be the natural transition to an im-

pending general social reform-the breaking up of the great houses, and the
independent establishment of each married couple residing near their own
paddy-uelds, and eating the fruit of their own labour. The indolent will then
have to work for subsistence or sink into misery, the industrious and
'thrifty will prosper and after a period of no little angry strife a happier
lOp. cit., pp. 175-6.
 r~TRODUCTORY 19
life of personal freedom and domestic felicity will be the illneritance of
future generations. '

One of the first reforms introduced by the British was the

abolition of slavery. Every high-caste landholder had apportioned
~o him, from ancient times, one or more families of slaves according
to the size of his estatc. These slaves belonged to a very low caste
like the Poleyas. The legal abolition of slavery did not, however,
materially affect the landholders, many of whom were Coorgs. But
when, in the fifties of the last century, coffee plantations were
opened up all oyer Coorg and there was a sudden demand for
coolie labour, many of the slaves deserted their former masters to
work for cash wages on the plantations. It was only then that the
condition requiring a person holding land on thejamma tenure not
to sublet his land was relaxed to the extent of permitting him to
sublet a fourth of his estate.
Before the coming of coffee, rice was not only the staple crop,
but also the chicf commercial crop, as not many people owned the
evergreen forests where cardamom throve. The cultivation of rice
was the most important concern of every landholding joint family
and its slave-families. Excess of rice was disposed of in Malabar
where articles not available in Coorg were bought.
As a food crop rice has an intrinsic importance which no purely
commercial crop can adversely affect, but coffee soon took a place
next only to rice in its importance. It is necessary to mention here
that the cultivation of coffee, in the beginning at any ratc, was
subject to the hazards of destruction by pests like the 'bug'
and 'borer'. It was also bound up with the yagaries of a world
market.
Coffee changed the face of Coorg. It brought in European
planters who settled down all over Coorg; it cut the bonds binding
the slaves to their traditional masters; it induced the seasonal
inflow of labour from Mysore and South Canara, and finally it
brought money to the planter as well as to the labourers on the
plantations and to the total community.
The annexation of Coorg by the British did not mean a complete
break with past administration. The British administrative system
was at first based on the old system, and the modifications intro-
duced were few and far between. The authority of village elders
lOp. cit., p. 130.
20 INTRODUCTORY

and of the hereditary village headman was recognized and the

established administrative institutions were continued.
This phase, however, ended soon after 1858 when the administra-
tion of India was taken over by the British Government from the
East India Company. Coorg then became part of the territories ad-
ministered directly by the British in India and of the elaborate
administrative and judicial machinery stretching over the whole of
India. Numerous Acts like the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Pro-
cedure Code, and Indian Stamp Act applied to every part of India
including COOl"g.
Under the British, Coorg was a Chief Commissioner's Province,
a position which continues even today. Until 1942 the British
Resident in Mysore State was also the Chief Commissioner of
Coorg, and Coorg was governed from Bangalore, the headquarters
of the Resident. In 1942, the two offices of Resident of Mysore and
Chief Commissioner of Coorg were separated and a distinguished
Coorg, Dewan Bahadur Ket6!ira Chengappa was appointed Chief
Commissioner. Below the Chief Commissioner was the Superin-
tendent who lived in Coorg. A legislative council consisting of
twenty members (fifteen elected and five nominated), presided over
by the Chief Commissioner, was constituted in 1924. The council
had the nght to vote on the budget, move resolutions, and ask
supplementary questions.

A NOTE ON SLAVERY IN COORG

Slavery was widely prevalent in pre-British Coorg. The slaves

and agriculturalla bourers did most of the actual work of the farm
under the supervision of their masters who held the land from the
state on one of the several forms of tenure prevalent in Coorg.
The number of slaves in 1834, when the British annexed Coorg,
was estimated at 6,089, but we do not know whether this included
the slaves on the Raja's farms (or pmJyas), who were variously
estimated at 1,757, 1,720, 1,500, and 1,233.
Slaves were referred to as jammada d{u (or 'jamma servants'),J
and there were two classes of slaves, one praedial, caned bhiimr
jammada d{u (bhumi=land), and the other personal, called okkalu
jammada ii{u (okkalu=farm, house, family). The former could
1 It probably meant that they were slaves of the man holding land on jamma
tenure.
 INTRODUCTOR Y

not be sold apart from the land on which they worked, and when~
land was sold, they went with it automatically. The personil
slaves, on the other hand, could be sold or mortgaged" and had to
move with the masters wherever the latter went. Tliey were, in
fact, the movable property of the masters.

The proprietors of the okkalu jal11l1lada alu in Coorg have the power of setting
them [the slaves], but not to a person who will carry them outofthe country,
unless the slaves themselves consent. The rights of slaves consist'in receiving
subsistence and protection for themselves and their families from their masters,
who are bound to observe the custom of the country with respect to the quantity
of food and clothing given to them. Three seers of rice for a male slave, two
for a female, and one and a half to a boy or girl, are given by their master,
independently of salt and curry stuff which are supplied by them, sometimes
monthly, and at other times daily. The slaves are likewise entitled to a load of
grain once a year, at the time when the crops are reaped. This quantity is called
horay, which varies in different narjs. The slaves reside in houses provided
for them by their masters in the small village, and a piece of land is appropriated
to their use in which they usually grow vegetables or tobacco. Besides the
subsistence given to the slaves, and the allowance above-mentioned at the
time of the harvest, they are supplied by their masters with clothing twice
a year, first, when the seed is sown, and secondly, when the crops are
reaped}
In regard to the treatment of slaves by their masters, it is said that the culti-
vators in Coorg, activated by self-interest, if not a better motive, pay much
attention to their comfort. Aware as they are that any act of severity on their
part will induce their slaves to abscond, a circumstance which would subject
them to much trouble and inconvenience, they protect and treat them with
kindness as forming a part of their family. The proprietors in Coorg possess
no power to inflict severe punishment upon their slaves but they have authority
to chastise them moderately for any faults they may commit .... The wealth
of a cultivator is generally estimated by the number of his slaves, as in pro-
portion to the number he has lands under cultivation .... 2

Certain incidents described in Coorg folklore make it clear that

frequently great affection prevailed between master and slave.
The slave was a member of the master's household and a proverb
compares him to one's eldest son. The master had to provide
funds for the slave's wedding and have him looked after during
illness and old age. On his side the slave was required to perform

1 'Memorandum 'respecting the condition of the slaves in Coorg, transmitted

with Col. Fraser's letter to Mr. Secretary Macnaughten, dated 14th July, ]834',
in the volume of appendixes giving the evidence on the subject of slavery,
annexed to the Report of the Indi. n Law Commission, 1 February 1839, pp. 545-6.
2 Op. cit., p. 546.
22 INTRODUCTOR Y

every type of service. He was also liable to be called upon to bear

arms in times of war .
The remedy at the disposal of the slave against harsh treatment
was running away either to a different part of Coorg, or to cross
the border into a neighbouring country. There was, of course, the
risk of being pursued, but it is presumed that the slave took this
extreme step only when harsh treatment made his position intoler-
able. Between the farmers of Kiggatnag in the extreme south and
those in Wynag, however, there was an agreement by which
neither followed up absconding slaves who had crossed the
frontier. This usually worked in favour of Coorg, where wages
were higher than in Wyna4, though work was correspondingly
heavier. The slaves in Kiggatnad and Wynaq regularly crossed the
frontier once every few year and they had masters on either side.
It was very probable that these slaves belonged to one of the
several tribes inhabiting the mountains of Wynaq, like the Yeravas,
Betta Kuruba, lenu Kuruba, and so on. They had the reputation
of being absconders and thieves and idlers in comparison with
Poley as from the Kanna4a country. Yeravas and Kurubas from
Wynac,i fetched a lower price than Poleyas in the market. In any
case the price of a slave never exceeded Rs 13 (about £1).
Slavery had a caste component. The masters invaria bly belonged
to the higher castes while the slaves belonged to very low castes.
In Coorg the masters generally belonged to castes like Coorgs,
Tulu Gau<;las, Kanna<;la Okkaligas, and Airis (smiths) while the
slaves came from Untouchable castes like Po1eyas, Pa1eyas, and
Madigas, and tribes like Yeravas, A~iyas, Kuqiyas, and Betta
Kurubas, and }enu Kurubas. It is probable that very poor mem-
bers of the high castes and castes just above the Untouchables,
like the Medas (makers of basket{·y work), hired themselves out as
agricultural labourers.
It has already been said that a large body of slaves worked on
the farms of the Rajas. In 1834 when the British annexed Coorg
there were twenty such farms producing nearly 47,000 bhattis of
rice with about 1,757 (according to the highest estimate) slaves
working on them. The British, who wanted to abolish slavery,
started by freeing the slaves 011 the royal farms, and this was later
extended to include all slaves.
There was a landslide in the general economy of the country when
the slaves suddenly left their masters to work on the coffee plan-
 INTRODUCTORY 23
tations. The masters then found that they were unable to cultivate
all the wet land in their estate, but under the conditions of jamma
tenure they were required to pay an assessment of five rupees per
hundred bhattis of land on all wet land irrespective of whether it
was under the plough or not. It was then that the government
permitted them to sublet 110t more than a fourth of the wet land. l

1 'No remlSSlOn of jamma-rent is ever made, except under extraordinary

circumstances, such as the death of several members of a family, the entire
destruction of property by fire or the loss of a large number of cattle. In these
cases and when the produce of their lands has been very meagre, the jamma
ryots [peasants1 are allowed to pay Rs 10 per 100 bhattis for the quantity of land
which has been cultivated, instead of fiFe rupees for tile whole farm. It is also
customary, under such circumstances, or when only women and young children
are left in the house to permit the whole of the jamma lands to be sublet on
vara tenure [division of the crop in equal halves between the tenant and land-
lord] for periods ranging from one to five years according to the particulars of
each case.' Richter, op. cit., pp.402-3.
 CHAPTER TWO

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

THE existence of subdivisions among Coorgs does not prevent

them from regarding themselves, and from being regarded by
others, as a single group. Coorgs consider themselves to be
Kshatriyas, who constitute the caste of rulers and soldiers in the
traditional hierarchy, and rank next only to Brahmins, who are
priests and scholars. It is necessary to give here a very brief and
general account of the caste system in order to make clear the
implications of the Coorg claim to be Kshatriyas.
Caste is an institution of great complexity. It has its roots deep
in history, and even today it governs the lives of 300 million
Hindus in several important respects. It is popularly understood
as the division of society into a fivefold hierarchy with the
Brahmins at the head, followed in order by the Kshatriyas, Vaish-
yas or traders, Shudras or servants and labourers, and, lastly, the
Untouchables. The first three castes are called 'twice-born' (dvija)
as they alone are entitled to undergo the ceremony of upanayana
which constitutes spiritual rebirth. Only the twice-born castes
are entitled to study the Vedas and to the performance of Vedic
ritual on certain occasions. Caste in the above sense is referred to as
var~la and has an All-India application.
The idea of caste as the fivefold division of society represents
a gross over-simplification of facts. The real unit of the caste
system is not one of the five varf}as, but jati, which is a very small
endogamous group practising a traditional occupation and enjoy-
ing a certain amount of cu1tura1, ritual, and juridical autonomy.
Every jati, or the members of a jiiti in a particular village or a
group of neighbouring villages, constitutes a caste court which
punishes caste offences.
There are innumerable jatis. Professor Ghurye calculates that
there are 2,000 sub-castes (jatis) in each linguistic area. l This
should give some idea of the total number of endogamous sub-
1 Caste and Race in India, London, 1932, p. 27.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 25
castes in India as a whole. The importance of the var~a-system
consists in that it furnishes an All-India frame into which the
myriad j(itis in any single linguistic area can be fitted. It system-
atizes the chaos of jatis and enables the sub-castes of one region to
be comprehended by people in another area by reference to a
common scale. Further, the var~a-system represents a scale of
values, andjiitis occupying the lower rungs have throughout tried
to raise their status by taking over the customs and ritual of
the top jiitis. This has helped the spread of a uniform culture
throughout Hindu society.
The attempt to fit the jiitis of any region into the fivefold hier-
archy is a very difficult affair. It is possible everywhere to say who
are the Brahmins and Untouchables, but there is great confusion
in the middle regions. Confining our remarks to south India for
the moment, we find that the claims of localjdtis to be Kshatriyas
and Vaishyas are frequentty questioned by others. For instance, it
is well known that a ruling house claiming to be Kshatriyas were
originally potters. Similarly, the claim of a local tradingjdti to be
Vaishya, one of the three twice-born varl;1as of the Vedas, is hotly
contested by the other castes in the area. It is not uncommon to
find ajdti included under the Shudm varna claiming to be higher
than the local jdtis claiming to be Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. Dis-
putes as to relative status are ail essential feature of the caste
system. This is especially so in the numerousjdtis belonging to the
fourth var~a of Shadra. In south India the term 'Shiidra' in-
cludes the vast majority of non-Brahmin jatis and even some
reformist sects.
A man is born into a sub-caste (jiiti) and this is the only way of
acquhing membership. According to tlee traditional view, how-
ever, birth is not an accident. Certain Hindu theological notions
like karma and dharma have contributed very greatly to the
strengthening of the idea of hierarchy which is inherent in the
caste system. The idea of karma teaches a Hindu that he is born
in a particular sub-caste because he deserved to be born there.
The actions he performed in a previous incarnation deserved such
a reward or punishment, as the case might be. If he had performed
better actions in his previous incarnation he would have been born
in a higher caste. Thus the caste hierarchy comes to be an index
of the state, If an individual's soul. It also represents certain mile-
stones on th·: soul'sjourneyto God.
26 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE CaORGS

Thus the idea of deserts is associated with birth in a particular

caste. A man is born in a high caste because of the good actions
performed by him in his previous life, and another is born into a
low caste because of bad actions performed in his previous life.
The other important concept is dharma, which has many mean-
ing'), one of which is 'that which is right or moral'. The existing
moral code is identified with dharma. A man who accepts the
caste system and the rules of his particular sub-caste is living
according to dharma, while a man who questions them is violating
dharma. Living according to dharma is rewarded, while violation
of dharma is punished, both here and hereafter. If he observes the
rules of dharma be will be born in his next incarnation in a high
caste, rich, whole, and well endowed. If he does not observe them
he will be born in a low caste, poor, deformed, and ill endowed.
Worldly position and success indicate the kind oflife a man led in
his previous incarnation.
One may also reap the reward of one's actions very soon after
their performance. For purposes of such reward and punishment,
a person is identified with his joint family. A man may become
blind because his father, the head of the joint family, made money
in the black market during the war.
The concept of pollution governs relations between different
castes. This concept is absolutely fundamental to the caste system,
and along with the concepts of karma and dharma it contributes
to make caste the unique institution it is. Every type of inter-caste
relation is govcrned by the concept of pollution. Contact of any
kind, touching, dining, sex, and other relations between castes
which are structurally distant results in the higher of the two
castes being polluted. Ordinarily, contact between members of
the same caste, or between members of castes which are structur-
ally very near each other, does not result in pollution. Where
contact does result in pollution, however, the polluted member of
the higher caste has to undergo a purificatory rite in order to be
restored to normal ritual status. Such a purificatory rite is fairly
simple where the structural distance between the castes is not
very great and the type of contact is not serious. Sometimes, as
when a Brahmin eats food cooked by an Untouchable, the resultant
pollution is so great that he or she has to be excommunicated.
Normally, in every caste, women observe the pollution rules much
more strictly than men.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 27
Contact is culturally defined. Touch is contact in all cases.
Frequently the maintenance of a minimum distance between
castes is insisted upon. This matter has received systematization in
Kerala, where elaborate rules have been laid down requiring the
minimum distance that should prevail between the various castes.

Aiyappan, in 1937, gives a scale of distance pollution for several castes: a Nayar
must keep 7 ft. from a Nambudri Brahman, an Iravan (llavan,Izhuvan, Tiyan)
must keep 32, a Cheruman 64 and a Nayadi 74 to 124. The respective distances
between these lower castes are calculated by a simple process of subtraction:
the Iravan must keep 25 feet from the Nayar and Cheruman 32 feet from the
Travan. 1

The ban on contact between castes, and the solidarity of a sub-

caste, express themselves in the spatial segregation of castes in a
village. The Untouchables live everywhere at somc distance from
the others, while each of the other sub-castes occupies a street or
a quarter of the village or town.
Normally a man may accept cooked food and water from a
member of the same or equal or superior caste. Food cooked by a
member of a lower caste may not be eaten because such food defiles
a man belonging to a higher caste. Mutual acceptability of cooked
food denotes equality between the castes concerned, while the
movement of food in one direction only indicates that the acceptor
is inferior to the giver.
People living in rural areas, and thc orthodox, exhibit a pre-
occupation with the matter of acceptance or rejection of cooked
food from different castes. The ki~d of food, the question whether
it is cooked in butter or water, the castc of the person cooking it,
and the place (whether temple or home) whcre the food is cooked.
all go to determine its acceptability or otherwise. A tendency to
define and systematize is obvious everywhere.
There is a general correlation between diet and status. Brahmins
are usually vegetarians, abstaining even from eggs. The Shudra
castes eat eggs and meat. Pork is inferior to mutton, and usually
pork-eaters to mutton-eaters. Beef-eaters are the lowest of all.
The consumption of toddy, too, begins at some point low down
in the caste hierarchy.
Facts havc been over-simplified in order to make some general
tDr. A. Aiyappan, The Anthropology of the Nayadis, pp. 18 seq., quoted by
J. H. Hutton, Caste in Illdia, p. 70.
28 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

statements. For instance, while Brahmins are usually vegetarians,

the Saraswat Brahmins of the west coast, and some Brahmins of
Bengal, eat fish, while the Kashmiri Brahmins eat meat. Again,
castes claiming to be Kshatriyas generally eat mutton. The Linga-
yats of south India, who are non-Brahmins, are vegetarians and
teetotallers. It must be mentioned here that from the earliest times
vegetarianism has been held up as an ethical ideal, it being con-
sidered wrong for an individual to kill other sentient creatures in
order to keep himself alive. Vegetarianism goes hand in hand with
teetotalism, the drinking of alcoholic liquors being forbidden to
the high castes.
The acceptance of cooked food by a high caste man from an
Untouchable constituted as serious an offence as having a liaison
with an Untouchable, and in the old days both offences were
punished, by the caste court concerned, with excommunication
from caste. It is not only the high castes who are particular about
the caste of the person from whom they accept food and water,
but the Untouchables too are very particular. In Mysore, Un-
touchables do not accept food and water from smiths, and from
Marka Brahmins. Theybelieve such acceptance would defile them.
Each caste is traditionally associated with a separate occupation.
Some of the earlier students of caste were so impressed with this
feature of caste that they ascribed the origin of caste to the
systematization of occupational differentiation. In rural India the
bulk of the castes continue to practise their respective traditional
occupations, though agriculture is common to all castes from the
Brahmin to the Untouchable.
Some occupations are considered defiling because of the contact
with some defiling object or other necessary to their practice.
Swine-herding is defiling because swine defile. Leather defiles,
and consequently the making and repairing of shoes is an occupa-
tion of the Untouchables. Certain other occupations, while not
being defiling, are so strongly associated with low castes that no
high caste man will take to them. The tapping of toddy would be
a case in point. Finally, any occupation however remotely imply-
ing the destruction of sentient life in any form would be prohibited
to the high casteS. Thus not only butchery, the catching of fish and
game, and the raising of sheep and fowls would be prohibited,
but even the selling of dried fish and eggs would be regarded as an
improper occupation for a high-caste man, especially a Brahmin.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 29
But, nowadays, under the influence of industrialization, the old
association of caste with occupation is beginning to break down.
The mcmbers of a sub-caste tend to regard their traditional
occupation as the natural one for them. Taking up any other
occupation is regarded as improper. There is a pride in the skill
required for the practice of the traditional occupation, and this
skill is a secret which is not easily divulged to members of other
castes. In fact, formerly, castes tended to be guilds, and the mem-
bers of castes regarded their traditional occupation as their mono-
poly. A violation of this monopoly would result in a fight. The
matter could also be taken before the village court and before the
king of the region.
Things associated with high castes, their houses, clothes,
customs, manners, and ritual, tend to become symbols of superior
status. Consequently there is a ban on the lower castes taking them
over and, formerly, such a ban was sanctioned by the political
authority at the top. In Malabar, until 1865, only the Brahmins
were allowed to clothe their bodies above the waist, even the
women of the lower castes being prohibited from doing so. In
many parts of India the lowest castes were not allowed to have
tiled roofs for their houses. Nor were they allowed to build two-
storied houses.
A consequence of the extreme stratification implied in the caste
system is the tendency of each sub-caste, or each level of sub-
castes, to live in a separate social world. The members of a sub-
caste inhabit the same quarter of the village or town and frequently
are all related to each other by agnatic or affinal links. They share
a common culture and ritual idiom. They observe common re-
strictions regarding food and drink, and have certain caste festivals
and rites not shared with others. They practise a common, tradi-
tional occupation, the secrets of which they do not share with
others. They have caste courts and assemblies where elders of the
sub-caste belonging to different villages assemble and decide
matters of common concern. The members of a sub-caste share
certain common values and are actively aware of this fact when
they come into contact with other castes. The autonomy of a sub~
cttste does not, however, mean that it can live independently of
other sub-castes. An Indian village usually consists of a few sub-
castes which are mutually dependent and also possess certain
interesl s in common.
30 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THI: (OORGS

The sub-caste or jtiti is the unit of endogamy. Occasionally we

.und ajtiti split up into several groups each of which is endogamous.
The rule about endogamy is still strictly observed, though a con-
temporary tendency among the educated members of the higher
sub-castes is to marry into another sub-caste of the same level and
sharing the same culture. Thus a member of the ManGyam division
of the Sri Vaishl).ava Brahmins might nowadays marry a member
of the Hebbar division of the same larger group, though formerly
they would not have done so.
Hypergamous unions occasionally occur between castes. By
this a man belonging to the higher caste takes a girl from the lower
caste. It is never the other way about. Hypergamous marriages are
·common in Malabar and Bengal. They occur in other parts of
India too.
The caste system is far from a rigid system in which the position
of each component caste is fixed for all time. Movement has always
been possible, and especially so in the middle regions of the hier-
archy. A low caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a
higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and
teetotalism, and by Sanskritizing its ritual and pantheon. In short,
it took over, as far as possible, the customs, rites, and beliefs of the
Brahmins, and the adoption of the Brahminic way of lifc by a low
caste seems to have been frequent, though theoretically forbidden.
This process has been called 'Sanskritization' in this book, in
preference to 'Brahminization', as certain Vedic rites are confined
to Brahmins and the two other 'twice-born' castes.
The tendency of the lower castes to imitate the higher has been
a powerful factor in the spread of Sanskritic ritual and customs,
and in the achievement of a certain amount of cultural uniformity
not only throughout the caste scale, but over the entire length and
breadth oflndia.
Another point which needs specially to be stressed is that tile
idea of hierarchy embodied in the caste system has been pcriod-
ically questioned in India. Buddhism and Iainism questioned it
quite early in the recorded history of caste. Lingayatism challenged
it in the south in the twelfth century A.D. These attempts more
or less met with failure, and occasionally the reformist sect either
became a caste or reproduced within itself a caste system.
Many of the sanctions supporting the caste system tended to
disappear under British rule. The British withdrew the explicit as
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 31
well as implicit support Wl1ich caste usually enjoyed under an
Indian monarch. For instance, people who had been punished by
caste courts could sue the caste elders responsible for defamation
in courts esta blished by the British.
Formerly, an offender against the code of the caste was punished
with either fine or, in very serious cases, excommunication from
caste. Between themselves, caste councils and village councils
completely controlled the conduct of an individual. Caste elders
and village elders supported each other's authority.
Caste guarantees autonomy to a community, and at the same
time it brings that community into relation with numerous other
communities all going to form a hierarchy. The importance of such
an institution is obvious in a vast country like India which has
been the meeting-place of many different cultures in the past and
which has always had considerable regional diversity. While the
autonomy of a sub-caste was preserved it was also brought into
relation with others, and the hierarchy was also a scale of generally
agreed values. Every caste tended to imitate the customs ami
ritual of the topmost caste, and this was responsible for the spread
of Sanskritization. When this process is viewed on a continental
scale and over a period of at least 2,500 years, it is easy to see how
Sanskritic ideas and beliefs penetrated the remotest hill tribes in
such a manner as not to do violence to their traditional beliefs.
Caste enabled Hinduism to proselytize without the aid of a
church.
Caste, which was so successful in absorbing autonomous groups
everywhere, also provided the pattern for relations with n011-
Hindu groups. Christians and Muslims were regarded as castes,
too, and they accepted such a status. Even revolutionary move-
ments which had aimed at the overthrow of the castc system ended
by either becoming castes themselves or reproduced the caste
system within themselves. The main body of Hindus regarded
these sects as castes and not as sects. Thus the caste system effec-
tively neutralized aU attempts to change it.

II

Caste ties cut across territorial ties, and members of the same
caste living in different villages have a great deal in common.
This type of solidarity has been called in this book 'horizontal
32 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

solidarity', and it contrasts with 'vertical solidarity', which is

common to a number of castes occupying different positions in
the hierarchy. For instance, the members of a village community,
whatever their caste, have certain interests in common. Similarly,
people speaking the same language have a certain solidarity. The
Brahmin and the Untouchable speaking the same language have
certain cultural forms in common, even though they belong to the
extremes of the hierarchy. The structural situation everywhere in
India is subject to the pulls exerted by these opposed types of
solidarity.
In any large geographical area in India it is usual to find a minor-
ity of sub-castes who speak a ,language differentfrom the one which
is locally dominant. Sometimes two or three such minor languages
are found in a single area. Migrations from one part of India to
another have been extremely common in the past, and this has
been specially so within each of the two major geographical areas
of India, continental and peninsular India. The immigrant castes
usually claim a higher place in the local caste structure than is
conceded by the others.
The speakers of the same language, whatever their caste, possess
certain cultural forms in common, and when, in the same geo-
graphical area, there are castes speaking different languages, each
becomes aware of the cultural forms which mark it off from others.
It will be seen that any geographical area in India exhibits
enormous structural and cultural complexity. In a tiny province
like Coorg, speakers of every Dravidian Janguage, and of Konkal)i,
Marathi, and Hindusthani, are found.

III

Coorgs constituted the aristocracy under the Lingayat Rajas,

holding important positions in the administration and very nearly
monopolizing the army. All the other castes in Coorg, excluding
the Brahmin, K6mti (Telugu-speaking trading caste of south
India), and Lingayat acknowledged their dominance by taking
over their customs and manners, and in some cases even their
speech. It has already been mentioned that high castes like
Kanna4a-speaking Okkaligas and Tu~u-speaking Gaugas, both
peasants, in north Coorg tried to pass off for Coorgs. In the recent
past a few of them, those with a little money, married Coorgs, and
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 33
this is probably the reason why we find in the north one branch of
a joint family speaking Ko<;lagi while another speaks Kanna<;la.
Until recently Coorgs living south of Mercara had a prejudice
against marrying those living in the north. The latter were re-
garded as inferior and derisively referred to as those living 'beyond
the hills' (bottat me/e), the implication being that Coorgs south of
Mercara were the best Coorgs.
Coorgs formed a compact unit in relation to other castes. They
possessed wealth and power, they liked dancing, competitive
games involving the exercise of skill and strength, hunting, and
soldiering. In the Vedic or classical caste system these virtues are
attributed to Kshatriyas, the caste of warriors and kings, who are
next only to the Brahmin in the hierarchy. The resemblances bet-
ween Coorgs and the Vedic Kshatriyas are striking indeed in the
matter of values, and it is understandable that Coorgs should
regard themselves as Kshatriyas. But the classical Kshatriyas, as
one of the three 'twice-born' castes, were entitled to perform
certain rituals at which sacred verses (mantras) from the Vedas
were recited by the priests. Coorgs do not perform any of these
rituals and Vedic mantras are not recited when a Coorg is given a
name, or marries, or dies.
Coorgs, like other Caste Hindus, object very strongly to the
eating of beef, and the strength of their objection was early recog-
nized by the British who banned all slaughter of cattle for the table
in Coorg in 1835. But the Coorg dietary includes pork and liquor,
and this is occasionally singled out for comment by the other castes.
The correlation between status and dietary is particularly strong
in the interior of south India, and the Coorg claim to be considered
as Kshatriyas comes up against this fact. Coorgs rightly point out
that the Rajputs of north India eat pork and that this has not
prevented them from being generally regarded as Kshatriyas.
However, Rajputs eat only the wild pig and not the domesticated
one.
In the Sanskritic myth (Kdveri Purdl)a or Kiiveri Miihdtmya)
about the River Kaveri, Coorgs are said to be Ugrasl, or the de-
scendants of the marriage of a Kshatriya prince and his ShfJdra
wife. The Kaveri Myth thus cleverly reconciles the economic and
1 Ugra means 'strong, formidable, terrible, violent, angry, passionate, cruel,
fierce, pungent, hot, high and noble. It is also the name of a mixed tribe, de-
scended from a Kshatriya father and Shudra mother, and of Malabar.' M.
Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford, 1899, p. 172.
3
34 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

military power of Coorgs with their lack of certain rituals and

their somewhat catholic dietary. It is interesting to note that Shri
N. Chil)1).appa considers the account of the origin of Coorgs given
in the Kaveri Myth to be a true, historical account. He, however,
mentions that the m<Jjority of Coorgs regard themselves as
Ksbatriyas and not as U gras. 1
Coorgs seem to be a distinct community in occupation of the
forested mountains of Coorg for many centuries, and with a way
of life of their own. But they were throughout in contact with
Sanskritic Hinduism, and religious movements like Lingayatifm
affected them considera bly.
There are two subdivisions among Coorgs today: the first
division is 41,026 strong, while the second contains only 666 in-
dividuals, according to the 1941 Census. Members of the latter
division are called Amma Ko¢agas, or Amma Coorgs, and they are
highly Brahminized in their customs and ritual. They are vegetar-
ians and teetotallers, and nowadays they constitute an endogamous
unit. Like the Brahmins they wear the &acred thread and observe
annual shriiddhas or ancestor-feasts at which only vegetarian food
is offered to the dead ancestors.
It is said that Amma Coorgs are the descendants of a Coorg man
and a Brahmin girl of Wyna¢, daughter of one Tayikat Tambiran,
who expelled his daughter from his home as she attained puberty
before marriage. (Formerly, among Brahmins, it was regarded as
both sinful and shameful to have in the house an unmarried girl
who had attained puberty.) This girl married a Coorg, and her
descendants came to be known as Amma Coorgs (amma =mother),
and they observed the customs of their mother. The name of an
Amma Coorg man has the suffix 'amma' even though 'amma'
means 'mother', and is normally a suffix to a woman's name in
certain parts of south India. In Coorg, a woman's name has the
suffix 'avl'a' which is the &ame as 'amma', and a man's name has the
suffix' appa' which means 'father'. It is said that formerly Amma
Coorgs, who were concentrated in south Coorg, used to claim
kinship with a similar group of people in Wyna<;].
In the last few years of the reign of the last Raja of Coorg, Amma
Coorgs claimed to be 'Kaveri Brahmins', the descendants of the
Brahmin disciples of the sage Agastya, husband of Kaveri, before
the latter flowed away as a river. The disciples twitted the master
IPat!oie Pa/urne, pp. 19-20.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 35
with having deserted Kaveri for Kanake, a semi-divine woman,
who later assumed the form of a river, joining the Kaveri at Bhaga-
mandla. This annoyed Agastya who cursed his disciples, 'Brahmins
of Matsyadesha (traditional name for Coorg in the Sanskritic
myths), let not the people of this land 0 bey you. Let them not give
you enough to support you.' The distressed disciples appealed to
Mother Kaveri against her husband's curse. She took pity on them
and told them that so long as they believed in her they would not
find it difficult to support themselves.
In November 1834 some Amma Coorgs donned the sacred
thread at Balmuri on the banks of the Kaveri. They became fol-
lowers of the Brahmin monastery (ma!ha) in Ramachandrapura in
Shimoga District in Mysore State. In 1847 the head of this monas-
tery sent them instructions as to the ritual they were entitled to
perform. Amma Coorgs from Kiggatnac;l who had not donned the
sacred thread in 1834 did so a few years later at the lrpu temple
under the auspices of the Brahmin monastery at Kanur in UQipi
in South Canara. Sometime afterwards a few Amma Coorgs who
still remained unattached to a monastery became disciples of the
monastery at Su bramaDya in South Canara. 1
Amma Coorgs exemplify a tendency which has always been
present in the caste system: a small group of people break off
from a larger whole of which they are a part, Sanskritize their
,customs and ritual, and achieve a higher status than their parent
body in the course of a few decades.
The main body of Coorgs do not contain any su bdivisions today,
but formerly, during the time of the Rajas, they were divided into
two groups called 'SaDI;la' and 'MalIa' Coorgs. These are KannaQa,
and not KOQagi, terms, and elderly informants say that these terms
were used only by the Kanna<;la-speaking outsiders and not by
Coorgs themselves. This sounds somewhat far-fetched, though
there does not seem to have been a sharp line dividing the SaI;lI;la
and Malla Coorgs. 'SaI;lI;la' in Kannac;la means 'small', and 'MaHa'
means 'big', and the terms were derived from the two different
varieties of rice, one big a nd the other small. The latter variety is
superior to the former, and SaI;lI;la Coorgs regarded themselves as
:superior to MalIa Coorgs.
Richter tells us that 'Sa1).I;la Coorgs may originally have formed
a small nucleus connected with their Nayakas or chiefs who were
1 N. ChiQJ).appa, Parro/e Palume, pp.20-21.
36 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

exterminated by the usurping Rajas of the Ikkeri family, and may

in their own eyes have constituted a sort of aristocracy; while
Malia Coorgs represented the aggregate main body which was
augmented by new accessions from kindred tribes'. He further
states that Malla Coorgs include 'those whose descent from Wyna<;l
Chettis or other foreign connexions is traditionally known, for it
is no secret among the Coorgs that such additions have been made
to their number and the house-names of such bear witness to the
fact' .1
He also mentions that a poor Coorg was relegated to the inferior
group, while a well-to-do Coorg, or one who held a high post in the
government, claimed to be a Sa1ma Coorg.
Cole tells us that Sal)l!a Coorgs greatly outnumbered the MalIa
Coorgs, that marriages between the two were not frequent, and
that the SaI:ll)a Coorgs were scattered all over Coorg while Malla
Coorgs were more or less confined to north Coorg. 2
The last point made by Cole seems particularly open to doubt
as there seem to have been some Malla Coorgs in the extreme
south. Again Sal)l)a Coorgs seem to have been concentrated in
Coorg, south of Mer car a, and it has already been mentioned that
the southerners regarded themselves as being sllperior to the
northerners.
The early writers on Coorg refer to a division of Coorgs called
'Boqqu Coorgs'. Coorgs south of Mercara set:med to have regarded
the Coorgs settled in north Coorg, in Ye<;lavanaq, Gaqinad, and
Surlabhimuttuna<;l as inferior to themselves in intelligence. Hence
the appellation 'bocj¢u', which means 'stupid'. Richter and Cole 3
differ as to who the Boqqu Coorgs were, but it seems certain that
Boqqu Coorgs were small pockets of the Coorg community
scattered in areas inhabited mostly by Tulu Gauqas and Kannaqa
Okkaligas. They were influenced by the customs a-nd manners
of the latter castes, and occasionally these groups even inter-
married. The situation was further complicated by the fact that
both Tu!u Gau4as and Kanna4a Okkaligas aspired to pass off for
Coorgs.
B044u Coorgs were then Coorgs who lived at some distance
from the main core of their group. Marriages between B09Qu

1 G. Richter, Castes alld Tribes found in Coorg, Bangalore, 1887, pp. 21-22_
2 R. A. Cole, Manual of Coorg Law, 186], secs. 3, 5, 6.
3 Ibid., sec. 3; Richter, Castes and Tribes found in Coorg, pp. 21-22.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 37
Coorgs and other Coorgs were not very frequent. Sal)l)a Coorgs
looked down upon BOQQu Coorgs whose customs and manners were
somewhat different from their own: differences between cognate
groups as to minute points of custom and ritual frequently come
to stand for the identity of each of them as against the others.
This is a common feature of caste.
A point which needs stressing because it is not very typical of
the caste system is the comparative ease with which Coorgs
admitted into their fold non-Coorgs belonging to fairly high castes.
Moegling wrote in 1855, 'strangers are received among them and
naturalised without difficulty, and such as have been excommuni-
cated are received without much ado'. 1 Richter, writing sixteen
years later, says that 'even within the memory of the present
generation strangers were received by and incorporated with the
Coorgs. There is now a dispute pending about six families in
KiggatniiQ, who ten years ago were, by the Head Sheristedar
Nanchappa, received as Coorgs, but after his death were expelled
from the clan [caste] by the rest of the people. The settlement of
the dispute will perhaps be only a matter of time ... .'2 Formerly
some families of WyniiQ Chettis, KannaQa Okkaligas, and Tulu
GauQas were received into the Coorg fold. The complete absorp-
tion of recruits from other castes naturally took some time, and till
it was accomplished the conservative Coorg families did not freely
intermarry with the new recruits. Even now one hears a Coorg
elder saying, 'such-and-such a family are really KannaQa Okkaligas
who called themselves Coorgs 50 or 60 years ago. Until recently
Coorgs would think twice before inter-marrying with them.'

IV

There are more than forty main castes and tribes in Coorg, but
Coorgs come into intimate contact with only a few of them. A
very brief account of their relations with each of these castes will
now be given. It is important to add that the duties mentioned
against each caste might frequently be performed by similar castes
of equivalent status: for instance, it might be either a Tulu Brahmin
or Malabar Brahmin who performs the priestly duties at a village
temple, and the Tulu Brahmin is again split up into ShivaHi and
1 Coorg Memoirs, p. 55.
II Manual ofCoorg, pp. 231-2.
38 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Havik subdivisions. Similarly, Poteya is a blanket term for anyone

of the following Untouchable sub-castes, Kembatti, Aqiyas,
Piileya, Poleya, Kukka Poleya, Baqaga Poleya, and Miidiga.
Piileyas are split into further subdivisions.
The Brahmins, KU1!iyas, and BalJ1)as (or PU1;1ikus) are the three
castes with whom Coorgs come into contact mostly in ritual con-
texts. The Brahmins are priests not only in the great shrines at
Tala Kl1veri, Bhagaman<;llu, and Irpu, but also in numerous small
temples scattered all over Coorg. Coorgs from every part of Coorg
go on pilgrimage to the great shrines, and at Bhiigamanqla, where
the Kl1veri and Kanake meet, it is customary for them to offer balls
of rice to their ancestors under the guidance of a Brahmin priest.
In those villages where a Brahmin is functioning as priest he is
paid annual1y, at harvest time, a certain quantity of paddy by every
house in the village. In this respect he is treated like the barber.
washerman, smith, and others. The priest is an essential member of
the village organization.
In addition to being priest of the village temple, the Brahmin per-
forms certain ritual services for Coorgs. These services varyfrom one
part of Coorgtoanother,and not infrequentlyfrom one jointfamily
to another: Coorgsin Kiggatna<;l, for instance, are more Sanskritized
in their ways than Coorgs elsewhere, and again some Coorgfamilies
are more Sanskritized than their neighbours. But every where the
Brahminpriests perform certain minimum duties: at putri, the har-
vest festival of Coorgs, he comes with consecrated water which he
gives the members to drink, and also sprinkles a little of it on certain
parts of the house. When a wedding takes place in a Coorg house,
he comes to bless the bridal pair and give them consecrated water.
The formation and crystallization of the division of Amma
Coorgs is itself an acknowledgement of the strength of the influence
of the Brahmins on Coorgs. But the Brahmins do not always oper-
ate at the Sanskritic level. Nearly a hundred years ago Dr. Moegjing
wrote that Coorgs were greatly afraid of the Tantri Brahmins of
South Canara.
The Coorgs have an extraordinary dread of the power of these men. They
say that if one of the Tantri Brahmins be offended and curse a man he will lose
his sight or hearing or even his life. It is enough, they believe, for one of the
masters of the black art to say to a man, 'do you not see?' or 'do you not hear?'
and the poor fellow is doomed to blindness or even death. '
1 Coorg Memoirs, pp. 56-57.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 39
Occasionally temples dedicated to Bhagavati or Bhadrakiili
were under the control of Tantri Brahmins in South Canar~.
The latter had the right to appoint the priest and orade to each of
these temples: the priest was a Brahmin while the oracle belonged
to a.ny high caste like Coorgs.
'fhe Tantri Brahmins knew the ritual surrounding the construc-
tion of a temple and consecration of images. They visited the
temples under their management once every few years when their
Coorg followers made money-offerings to them. Moegling tells
us that a single such visit would yield the priests between Rs
200 and Rs 300, a substantial sum in those days, and which testifies
to the hold exercised by the Tantri Brahmins over Coorgs.l
The fact that the Tantris sanctioned the institution of oracles
at their temples shows the extent to which they had compromised
with non-Sanskritic modes of propitiation ;

Some Coorg is also chosen as a subject for possession by Bhagavati. He

likewise, and his successors, must be instituted by the ruling Tantri. They are
selected from a large number of candidates presented by the community con-
nected with the temple. The Tantri takes one of the men, pronounces some
mantra and puts some holy ashes upon his face, when immediately the indi-
vidual commences to shake and to dance and to speak as one possessed.'

The KalJiyas are another caste with whom Coorgs come into
intimate contact in ritual contexts. They are astrologers and magi-
cians from Malabar who have settled in Coorg for a long time, and
their hold on Coorgs was very much greater in the past than it is
today.
Every important task must be begun in an auspicious moment,
or it will fail. Only the Kal)iya knows the auspicious and in-
auspicious moments, and this is revealed to him by his knowledge of
astrology. The first ploughing of the rice-fields, the first sowing,
and the cutting of the sheaves have all to be performed during
auspiciolls periods. A wedding has to be performed on an auspi-
cious day and at an auspicious hour, and if there are horoscopes for
the boy and girl, they are examined to find out if they are mutually
compatible. But not all Coorgs have horoscopes, and marriages
are frequently arranged without resorting to the Ka:t;liya astrologer.
Coorgs formerly resorted to the Ka:t;liya on every conceivable
occasion. If an ox strayed, or if someone was ill in the house,
lOp. cit., pp. 56-57. 2 Moegling, op. cit., pp. 56-57.
the Kal)iya was consulted. It was believed that he was able to
tell, by consulting the planets, whether the strayed oX would re-
turn and whether the patient would recover. Sometimes he
suggested the performance of some rite which would enable,
for instance, the ox which had strayed to return home and the
patient to recover. Perhaps a minor deity or spirit like Gulika, or
an ancestral spirit, was annoyed because it had not received the
necessary attention from the members of the particular joint
family. The Kal)iya would then suggest the performance of appro-
priate propitiatory ritual.
The Bal)l)a and Pal)ika are two low castes, originally from
Malabar, who are very similar to each other and who actually
perform the ritual which the Kal)iya prescribes for his Coorg
client. These two castes stand in a relation similar to the one in
which the dispensing chemist stands to the doctor in the Western
world. The Kal)iya says, for instance, that the ancestors of his
client are angry because they have not been propitiated for a long
time, and he suggests the performance of the karm;avatere which
is an elaborate propitiation of ancestors lasting over a day. The
Bal)l).a (or Pal)ika) actually performs the elaborate ancestor-
propitiation at which the ancestors of the Coorg joint family
possess the Bal)f.la oracle,1
Each Bal)l)a family serves a group of villages which they are
under an obligation to serve. Besides ancestor-propitiation and
other occasions when their services are wanted by families, Bal)l)as
play very important parts at the festivals of village-deities where
they are oracles, dancers, and cutters of the sacrificial animals.
Coorgs come into contact with the blacksmith, carpenter, and
goldsmith usually in non-ritual contexts. The blacksmith and
carpenter make the agricultural implements and domestic articles,
and also help in building the massive houses of Coorgs. Some of
the articles made by them, like the bier and palanquin, are used on
ritual occasions.
The goldsmith, in addition to making the gold and silver orna-
ments, ritually bores the ears of boys and girls. Formerly, the
ritual boring of a boy's ears was an important initiation rite, mark-
ing his transition from boyhood to adulthood.
The clothes washed by the washerman (Magivaja) are not only
1 Richter's Manual of Coorg, pp. 169-70, contains an example of the kind of
service which the Kal)iya performed with the aid of the Bal)l)a.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 41

clean but ritually pure (magi), and ritually pure clothes should be
worn on ritual occasions. The washerman's services are necessary
on every ritual occasion. For instance, at a Coorg wedding he has
the duty of supplying clean cloths for the bridal pair to walk on, and
cloths to cover the ceiling above the bridal seat. He has similar
duties at the festival of the village-deity. He also acts as the ritual
purifier when a birth or death occurs in a Coorg house. But some
Coorgs, especially those in Kiggatna<;l, resort to the Brahmin for
ritual purification.
Contact with a barber defiles a Coorg, and every Coorg has a
purificatory bath after being shaved by a barber. Such a bath is
necessary in order to restore the shaved person to normal ritual
status. The barber's services are, however, indispensable at a
wedding and a funeral, and shaving is an essential preliminary act
for men on ritual occasions.
The Meda occupies a very low position in the caste hierarchy.
He makes artifacts like baskets, fish-traps, and receptacles of cane,
vote reed, and bamboo. He is indispensable at a Coorg festival,
dance or hunt, where he beats his tom-tom. The M eda is a byword
for stupidity in Coorg folklore.
The strength of the bond prevailing between the Coorg master
and his Poleya servant expressed itself in ritual. Formerly, one or
two members of the Poleya servant-family observed ritual mourn-
ing for their dead master or mistress. On the day their mourning
terminated they were given gifts of cloths and provisions by their
masters. The Poleya servants (men) also performed a mourning
dance (anga ka!i) in front of the master's house before the corpse
was removed to the burial-ground.
At a Coorg wedding,just as the bridal pair are about to leave the
bride's house for the groom's, a Poleya servant of the bride's
family comes forward, holding a torch in his left hand, while he
spreads a cloth before them. The groom throws money, equivalent
to a pa1)a (about three annas), on the cloth. The Poleya then re-
moves the cloth, thus enabling the bridal pair to proceed: contact
with a cloth touched by a Poleya defiles a member of a high
caste.
Sometimes ritual occasions stress the structural distance that
prevails between the higher castes and Poleyas. For instance,
Poleyas may not come out of their huts during the first eighteen
days of the biennial festival of the deity Ketrappa at Bengur. It is
42 REUGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

believed that they will suffer some misfortune if they come out and
see the festival-priests (kavukaras) going about their sacred work.
Quite the opposite attitude prevails towards Poleyas at the
festival of the Bhadrakaji of Kunda. The Poleya oracles have many
duties at the festival, though they are not permitted to enter the
temple of Bhadrakaji. They may not touch a high caste person, but
they have the right of barring anyone from entering the temple.
They stopped me presumably because they considered my dress-
I was wearing a suit-improper, and they let me in only after a
Coorg friend had explained who I was.
Ritual occasions might either emphasize the structural cleavages
that normally exist bet ween high and low castes, or they might
tend to minimize them. The former leads, among other things, to
the exclusion of the lower castes from ritual, while the latter leads
to their inclusion. But inclusion does not mean that structural
distance is abolished totally for the duration of the ritual occasion.
What happens may be more accurately described by stating that
certain individuals belonging to the low castes have ritual roles
which place them temporarily in a superior position vis-a-vis the
high castes.
At an ancestor-propitiation in a Coorg house, a Bal)l)a acts as
oracle: he is possessed by each of the ancestor-spirits in turn, and
while the possession lasts, he is identified with the particular
ancestor possessing him. As the temporary vehicle of the spirit of
an ancestor he is entitled to say and do things which he normally
would not dream of saying and doing. As ancestor, he might cen-
sure the head of the joint family for not attending to his duties
properly.
Nowadays young Coorgs who are sceptical about their traditional
beliefs tend to see the Bal)T,Ia oracle at an ancestor-propitiation as
an actor playing several roles in a play, and not as the vehicle of
the spirits of their ancestors. A young Coorg told me that he had
seen a Bal)l)a oracle saluting a big official while he was alleged to be
possessed by an ancestor-spirit, and this was proof to him of the
fact that 211 possessions were just make-believe and not real.
Another Coorg youth told me that while he was witenssing an
ancestor-propitiation at a friend's house, the Bal)l)a oracle, address-
ing him, said 'bd kllnyi' (come, child). My informant, incensed at
being called a 'child' by a low-caste Balfl)a promptly slapped him.
The term 'child' is normally used by an elder towards a youth, but
 SOCIAL SrRUCTURE 43
only an elder of the same or equivalent or superior caste is en-
titled to this privilege, and not an elder of a low caste. My infor-
mant regarded the oracle as a BaI)l)a, and not as the ancestor of a
friend: he had projected the normal structure into the ritual con-
text. Needless to say he did not belieye that a Coorg ancestor
possessed a BaIwa oracle at an ancestor-propitiation.
The BaI)I)a normally occupies a low position in the hierarchy,
but the fact that he is the master of the complicated technique of
ancestor-propitiation, and that he is possessed by these spirits
during the propitiation, temporarily put him in a high position.
The contemporary decline of belief in ancestor-spirits, as well as
the increasing lack of appeal of the mode of propitiation adopted
by the BaDl)a, have tended to confine him to the position normally
occupied by him in the caste structure.
The Brahmin occupies the highest position in the hierarchy and
is also the master of a highly complicated ritual technique. But in
spite of this there is frequently a certain inconsistency between the
positions occupied by him in ritual and secular contexts respec-
tively. In secular affairs power is actually possessed by the man who
has wealth and a large following, whatever his caste might be.
But even he has to accord the Brahmin the highest place in ritual
contexts. The complex relation prevailing between a wealthy and
powerful Shiidra Hindu and his poor Brahmin priest comes to
mind: the Brahmin is in the Shiidra's pay and protection, but still
he has to be respected as a Brahmin and especially in ritual contexts.
Where the Brahmin priest is also a scholar or holy man there does
not seem to be any inconsistency between his ritual and secular
roles.

v
Caste has a tendency to stress horizontal ties. It unites members
of the same caste living in different villages and distinguishes
them from other castes in the same village. It is extremely unlike
the village community in which members of different castes are
united by certain common values and are marked off from other
villages. The existence of feuds between villages in the past
emphasized the solidarity of the village and offset the separating
influence ofcaste.
The solidarity prevalent between the various castes in a village
44 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

(or mit;!) finds ritual expression during putri, the harvest festival of
Coorgs. On this occasion, the representatives of the priestly,
artisan, and servant castes living in the village (or naej) visit the
house of every Coorg in their area, and either give a gift or per-
form a service characteristic of their caste. They are given in
return gifts of provisions like rice, rice-flour, pepper, salt, jaggery,
coconut oil, coconuts, and a giant yam (putri gelJasu) which is
harvested during putri.
The local Brahmin priest visits, in turn, each Coorg house in his
village (or niit;l). He purifies the house by sprinkling it with a little
consecrated water which he carries in a ritually pure vessel. He
also gives each member of the house a tiny spoonful of consecrated
water to drink. The priest is sent away with a gift of provisions.
Like the priest, the Kal}iya astrologer visits the various Coorg
houses in his village (or niit;!). He informs the head of each house
when the rites of nere kattuvudu (see pp. 230-1) and cutting the
paddy sheaves should be performed. These rites are performed
only during auspicious periods.
The members of the artisan castes follow the Kal}iya. The
Tachchayiri or carpenter brings with him a gift of a new wooden
ladle with which to stir the festival curry made with all the vege-
tables grown at this time of the year. He also brings a bamboo
receptacle (kutti) in which the severed paddy sheaves are brought
home. The Kolla or blacksmith brings a new sickle with which the
sheaves are cut. The Meda brings a new harvest basket (putri
pachchiya) which is used in the festival. The Kumbara or potter
brings a new pot in which the harvest curry is cooked. Finally,
the Poleya brings a new mat which is used in the festival.
The harvest festival is the biggest of the various calendar festi-
vals of Coorgs, and on this occasion each of the several castes with
whom Coorgs live in close and intimate contact does some service,
or brings some gift, characteristic of it. Gifts are given in return to
each of them. The exchange of gifts strengthens the bonds preva-
lent between Coorgs and other castes.
At the harvest festival each of several interdependent castes
living in a village performs some essential service which cannot be
performed by another, and this fact is brought home to the
villagers on a ritual occasion. If the institution of caste has a
tendency to Jay stress on 'horizontal unity', the harvest festival
tends to counterpoise it by stressing the unity of the village.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 45
VI

The nuclear unit of Coorg society is the okka or patrilineal joint

family, and only the male members of an okka have any rights in
the ancestral estate. Women born in the okka leave it on marriage,
while the women who come into it by marriage have extremely
limited rights in the ancestral estate. No woman may be head of
an okka. A Coorg proverb says, 'a woman may not be the head of
an okka, and a bitch may not be given a share of the game it helps
to kill in a hunt'.l
Only sons can continue the okka. But when there are no sons, a
daughter, or widow of a dead son is married in either the okka
parije or makka parije way (see pp. 129-30), which has the effect
of granting the children of either form of union membership of
their mother's natal okka. If it is not possible to perpetuate the
okka in either of these ways, a boy from 2 not her okka is adopted.
There is a sexual division of labour, men generally doing the
work outside the house while women do the work inside. The tasks
done by men are in a vague way regarded as superior to those done
by women. The men cultivate or supervise the cultivation of land
by low-caste labourers. However, agriculture is not, and has never
been, their sole occupation. The army has always attracted Coorgs,
and nowadays educated Coorgs are to be found in every profession.
Village-assemblies and nag-assemblies were formerly vigorous
institutions and only men normally took part in them. The men
went in annual caravans to Malabar, in the dry season, to sell their
surplus rice and buy salt, jaggery, coconut, coconut oil, tobacco,
and fish. They also had the privilege and duty of conducting the
elaborate festivals of village-deities and calendar festivals such as
the harvest festival.
Coorg women's activities are on the whole confined to the house.
They cook food for the twenty or thirty members of the okka. They
look after the children and servants, the storing offood, the raising
of pig and fowl, and so on. The younger .;:Women have to bring
water from the domestic pond or well and carry manure in reed
baskets to the fields.
The sexes are generally segregated. The outer veranda serves
as a club for the men, and they sit down on the benches there,
1 Even today at a collective hunt bitches are not entitled to any share in the
meat of the hunted animal, while each of the dogs is given a share.
46 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

drinking, chewing betel, and talking. The women rarely visit the
veranda. 1 Similarly, men rarely join the women who are all
presumably sitting in the kitchen, or in one of the inner rooms.
Men and women dine separately, the women dining after the
men.
When relatives visit a Coorg house, the men guests join the
men hosts in the veranda, whereas the women guests join the
women hosts in an inner part of the house. During the harvest
festival and festival of the village-deities the men sing and dance
while the women watch them from a distance. Usually the men
playa more active part in the festivals than the women. There is
an oracle in the festival of every village-deity, and the oracles are
usually men. Women oracles are indeed rare, but where they func-
tion they are important.
Women are expected to observe a stricter code of conduct than
men. For instance, formerly, a Coorg woman who had committed
adultery with a low-caste man was summarily thrown out of caste,
whereas a lapse on the part of a man was not treated with equal
seriousness. Again, there was some difference in the punishment
meted out to a man and woman: a man was liable to be fined or
excommunicated, whereas excommunication was the only punish-
ment for a woman.
Different ideals are held up for men and women. Strength, skill
in fighting and hunting, and courage are admired in a man. A
proverb states, 'men should die on the battlefield, and women
should die in child-bed'. The killer of a tiger or panther and
mother of ten children were both accorded the honour of a
mangala ceremony. (See Chapter III.)
Formerly women seem to have enjoyed greater freedom than
they do nowadays. Elderly informants remember that even as
recently as fifty years ago women used to sing and beat cymbals in
public on festive occasions. Coorg folksongs tell us of women who
killed tigers and beld assemblies of men to ridicule. In some folk-
songs it is the woman. who takes the initiative in a love affair and
seduces the man with whom she falls in love.
The general impression one gets from the folksongs is that women
enjoyed much greater freedom in the past than they do today. It is

1 Frequently a Coorg house has a separate entrance which enables the women
to move in and out of the house without being seen by the men who are gathered
in the veranda.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 47
probable that in the last 200 years Coorgs have orientated them-
selves more and more towards the patrilineal Kanna<Jigas and
moved away from the matrilineal Nayars. This was accompanied
by denying women active roles at the caste dances and festivals,
and the home was seen more and more as their proper sphere of
action.
But nowadays, under the influence of Western ideas, the Coorg
woman is once again coming to the fore. Education is more wide-
spread among Coorg women than among the women of other
castes, including Brahmins. They are nurses, teachers, and doctors,
and do not hesitate to live outside Coorg. The economic position of
Coorgs and the fact that they marry comparatively late are some of
the factors responsible for the greater spread of education among
Coorg women. The greater ease with which Coorg women have
'emancipated' themselves is probably because they have not been
as long under patriarchal ideas regarding womanhood as their
sisters in the eastern part of the Peninsula.

VII

Among Coorgs, as among other Indians, respect has to be shown

to elders. When a Coorg meets an elder on a ritual occasion he has
to salute the latter by bending the upper half of his body and touch-
ing the elder's feet thrice with both hands. Mter each touch the
younger man takes his hands to his forehead, where he folds them
together. The elder touches the bent head of the younger man
with both hands and then brings them together at the chest or
forehead. A woman elder is expected to take only her right hand
to the right side of her forehead, but I have seen women acknow-
ledge a salutation in exactly the same manner as men.
When he is saluted an elder usually utters a blessing like 'may
you live long', or 'may you live happily'. But sometimes the bless-
ing might be a long one, carrying a prayer to God and the ancestors
to grant the younger person longevity, happiness, and 'eleven
children, boys as well as girls'.
When two equals meet they salute each other merely by bringing
their palms together at the chest, and one asks the other 'saukhya?'
(happy?), and the other replies 'saukhya' (happy).
Shri K. J. Chengappa tells me that, over fifty years ago, when he
was a boy, he had to go on a walk every evening with his male
48 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

cousins and elders. The boys walked, with their arms folded across
their chests, several yards behind the elders.l They took care to
speak in a low tone and to avoid laughing aloud. Young people had
to behave very circumspectly in the presence of their elders: they
were forbidden, for instance, to cross or stretch their legs before an
elder.
A senior, let alone an elder, has to be addressed by the appropriate
kinship term. It shows disrespect to address him by name. Even
when one meets a senior who is not related he is addressed by a
suitable kinship term. For instance, a very old man is addressed
as 'grandfather', whereas someone only a few years senior to the
speaker is addressed as 'elder brother'. An elder usually addresses a
younger person by name, or by some term like 'child'. Two people
address each other by name only when they are approximately
equal in age and when there is some familiarity between them.
There is an important exception to the rule that an elder may
address a younger person by name: a woman may not address her
husband's younger brother by name, even if the latter is her
junior by many years. In such a case the ancient Coorg rule, 'even
a seventy-year-old woman should salute a seven-year-old boy',
applies. Leviratic unions are preferred in Coorg, and this means
that a woman's husband's younger brother might one day be her
husband. And a husband may not be addressed by name. A man's
wife uses the honorific plural towards him, whereas he uses the
singular towards her.
Relatives who are placed in a position of respect are not addressed
by name, but by the suitable kinship term. This is because calling
a person by name is not regarded as consistent with putting him in
a position of respect. A woman is required to show respect to her
husband and to his younger brother who is her potential husband.
She calls him bava (brother-in-law).
Respect for seniority of age is so deep-rooted in Coorgs that
whenever they want to place a person in a position of honour they
endow him with artificial or social seniority. There is the classic
instance of Kaiyandira Appayya who saved the honour of his niirJ
and its temple by defeating and killing the fighter Kullachenda
Chondu. A grateful niig decreed that none, not even elders to
Appayya, may address him by name. He was not permitted to
1 Both the folding of the arms across the chest and walking behind the elders
show the respect the younger people have for the elders.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 49

salute an elder by touching the latter's feet. He was also prohibited

from doing a number of things which ordinary Coorgs did, as, for
instance, wearing the black Coorg gown (only the white gown is
sacred), ploughing, and eating bamboo-shoots.
At the harvest festival the astrologer may choose a young boy to
perform the rite of cutting the sheaves. Such a boy is put into a
position of ritual respect till the festival is over. He wears a white
gown and he may not be touched till he has brought the severed
sheaves home. Further, he is not permitted to salute an elder till
the ritual is over. In other words the accordaIlce of extreme respect
to him necessitates the endowment of seniority for the duration of
the ritual.

VIII

The Coorg okka seems to be stronger and more sharply struc-

tured Hmn the joint family elsewhere in south India, with the
possible exception of the matrilineal tarwat} of the Nayars, and the
patrilineal illam of the Nambudris. Every okka has an ancestral
house (ain mane) built on the ancestral estate. Formerly, most of
the members of the okka lived in the ancestral house, but nowadays
only one or two segments inhabit it, while the rest are scattered all
over Coorg and, occasionally, all over India. All the members of
'0 the okka gather together only on certain occasions, such as the

marriage or death of a member, the harvest festival, the festival of

the local village-deity, and the periodical ancestor-propitiation.
The ancestral house and estate are accorded respect, and it is
usual to have ancestor-shrines (kaimat;la) or ancestor-platforms
(kara~wva tare) near the ancestral house. Coorgs, even those who
are living away from the ancestral house, have some attachment
towards it, and this expresses itself in having marriages and an-
cestor-propitiations performed there in preference to anywhere else.
Also, a Coorg prefers to be buried after death in his ancestral
burial-ground which is a corner of the ancestral estate used for
disposal of the dead members of the okka.
The ancestral house is usually a substantial building of stone and
mortar, with solid, carved woodwork. Masons and carpenters
from Malabar build them, and Coorg ancestral houses conse-
quently resemble greatly the houses of well-to-do Nayars. The
house is usually situated on an elevation, and a narrow, high-
4
50 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG nIE COORGS

walled and winding lane (olJi) leads up to it. From the windows in
the upper story one usually obtains a fine view of the surrounding
country. Formerly, in the days when feuds, or kwjupi (kurjippaka
in Malayalam), between joint families were common, and a
surprise raid (ka!la parje) from a hostile okka was always a pos-
sibility, anyone coming with unfriendly intentions exposed him-
self to view from the windows of the ancestral house. The house
was built like a fortress and was able to stand a siege for several
days.
The ancestral estate usually includes an extent of jungle, some
grazing land, and valleys in which rice is grown. The jungle
provided the household with the necessary timber and fuel. A
part of the jungle is reserved for burying or cremating the dead
members of the okka. There is a kitchen-garden near the main
building. A well or pond provides water for domestic purposes.
Every house includes an ancestor-shrine or ancestor-platform.
Uncarved stones, representing cobra-deities, are planted on plat-
forms built around the trunk of a milk-exuding tree. There may
also be other uncarved stones representing minor deities like
Puda and Gulika.
According to Lewis Rice,l in the seventies of the last century
the Coorg okka frequently consisted of twenty or thirty, and occa-
sionally even fifty members, all residing under one roof. He further
tells us that previous to the invasion of Coorg by Tippu Sultan in
the later half of the eighteenth century, it was not uncommon to
find in a house thirty or forty adult male relatives living together.
Many okkas seem to have had 120 to 150 people, allliving in the
ancestral house.
Nowadays the okka commonly consists of two or three genera-
tions of agnatically-related males, their wives, and their children.
Girls born in the okka go out on marriage as residence is patrilocal,
but it sometimes happens that a woman remains unmarried for a
variety of reasons. In such a case she stays in her natal okka. An
okka also includes the widow of a deceased member. As mentioned
earlier, leviratic unions are preferred amongst Coorgs, and a widow
of marriageable age marries a younger brother of her dead husband.
Even if she does not do so, she stays in her husband's okka looking
after the children. She goes out of her conjugal okka only if she
marries a member of a different okka.
1 Mysore and Coorg, Bangalore, 1878, vol. iii, p. 329.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 51
All the members of an okka are descended from a common an-
cestor. The spirits of the dead ancestors (kiirm;avas) are regarded
with great reverence and propitiated periodically. It is believed
that they continue to take an interest in the affairs of the okka.
They expect the surviving members to look after the property
and interests of the okka, to observe the rules of the moral code,
and to show piety towards the various deities and themselves.
They have the power to reward those who are pious and to punish
with disease and misfortune those who are impious.
The eldest male member of the most senior agnatic branch is
the head (koruvukara or pat/Mara) of the okka whose properties
he looks after and whose affairs he administers. The younger male
members are called kikkararu and they have to obey the head in
all matters concerning the okka as a whole. The head of the okka
is usually also the eldest male member of it, and this union of
headship and seniority in the same person results in his enjoying
a great amount of power in domestic matters. Personal qualities
such as hard work, sobriety, chastity, pie:ty towards manes and gods,
unselfishness and impartiality increase the headman's powers.
The headman's powers are balanced by his duties: he has to see
that the expenses of the household are met, the members of the
okka do not quarrel with each other, the ancestral lands are pro-
perly cultivated, and so on. He has always to weigh in his own
mind how every act of his is regarded by the adult men in the okka.
It is not known whether formerly every okka had a council composed
of the adult men in it, but it is known definitely that when a head-
man proved himself very incompetent all the adult men in the
okka met together and proceeded to elect a new headman. In the
last seventy years the Karavan<;la okka twice elected new headmen
to replace the existing ones. The right to replace an old but in-
competent headman with a young and competent man is sanc-
tioned by the Coorg law (palanjol =old saying), 'ariyuvavane
periyavan', which means 'the wisest is the eldest'. We call
attention here to the equation of wisdom with seniority, an
equation which is used even in repiacingan old man by a young one.
Until the beginning of the last century the immovable pro-
perty of an okka was regarded as impartible, and property de-
scended from one generation to another without being split up in
the process. In this respect Coorgs differed from other Hindus and,
consequently, Coorg agriculture escaped the two great drawbacks
52 RELIGION Al"D SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

of agriculture elsewhere in India, the subdivision of land into

minute holdings and fragmentation or scattering of holdings over
a wide area.
All earlier writers on Coorg-Connor, Moegling, Cole, and Rice l
-are unanimous in holding that the immovable property of a
Coorg okka is traditionally impartible. But some time after the
defeat of Tippu in the closing years of the eighteenth century, some
Coorg okkas were permitted by the Lingayat Rajas,2 used to the
Hindu idea of partition, to divide off. The example of these Coorgs
was followed by many others. Consequently, 'in 1858 the takkas
(social heads) and headmen of the Coorgs represented that the
loss and ruin occasioned to their ancient houses by this innovation
(was very great), and the Judicial Commissioner in additional
Special Appeal Suit No. 117 of 1858-9 passed a decree declaring
that division was contrary to the ancient custom of Coorg'.3 The
fact that the ancestral property was impartible was responsible to
a great extent for preventing the okka from splitting.
The British also encouraged, although indirectly, the idea of
partition of the ancestral property. They granted, for instance,
jagirs or assessment-free lands to Coorgs who had taken part in
the suppression of the Canara Rebellion of 1837. These jag irs
were granted to individuals and not to the okkas of which they
were members.
Coorgs who were government officials under the British bought
farms and coffee-and orange-gardens with their savings, and the
law courts established by the British permitted these to be regarded
as the property of the individual acquirer and not of the okka of
which he was a member.4 In addition to this, recent changes in
Hindu law, which apply to Coorgs also, have been such as to en-
courage individual acquisition at the expense of the okka.
The ancient custom of Coorgs recognized individual property
only to a very limited extent, and that too only in movables. For
1 Connor, MI'IHoirs of the Codagu Surrey, pt. ii. Bangalore, 1870, pp. 29-30;
H. Moegling, Coorg Alell/oirs, 1855, p. 30; R. A. Cole, Alam{al of Coorg Law,
secs. 115-17; L. Rice, Mysore alld Coorg, vol. iii, p. 329.
2 Rice tells us that the Lingayat Rajas encouraged the idea of partition in
order to break up the huge joint families of Coorgs. The Rajas wanted to increase
the area under cultivation and also, according to Rice, they disliked intensely the
fraternal polyandry of Coorgs. Rice remarks, 'Coorgs still viewed any deviation
from this ancient custom [of polyandry1 with the greatest abhorrence.' Op. cit.,
p.329.
3 Cole, op. cit., sees. 160,165,182.
• G. Richter, Manualoj'Coorg, p. 130.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 53
instance, the younger members of an okka could cultivate, in the
non-paddy season, and after they had contributed their daily
quota of work to the joint estate, crops like ginger and turmeric.
When these were sold a share was given to the okka for having
provided the land on which they were grown.
The encouragement given to the ideas of partition and indivi-
dual acquisition, the uprooting of Coorgs from their ancestral
estates owing to the new political and economic structure stretch-
ing all over India, and the growing appeal of individualist ideas to
the people, are all adversely affecting the solidarity of the okka.
The elementary family, which was a weak entity in the traditional
structure, is emerging with greater distinctness nowadays.

IX

In a sense, only men are full members of the okka, but such
rights as women do possess in it are of paramount importance to
them, and the granting of these rights in the bridegroom's okka is
the crucial point in the marriage ritual. The granting of rights to
the bride in the groom's okka is accompanied by the severance of
her connexion with her natal okka. But such severance is not com-
plete and irrevocable. The entire process is symbolized in the
transference of twelve pebbles from the bride's natal okka to her
conjugalokka.
After marriage, then, a girl is a member of her conjugal okka,
and her membership does not become extinct even if she becomes
a widow. She is entitled to stay in her conjugal home and to be
maintained out of its income. She has also the right to be buried
after death in its burial-ground.
The bride is given membership in the groom's okka, and not
rights in the groom's share in the ancestral property of his okka.
The entire idea of an individual having a share in the ancestral
property of his okka is a comparatively recent introduction into
Coorg law. Traditionally, the immovable property of an okka
was both inalienable and impartible. But when partition did actu-
ally take place, it was done with the consent of all the members.
Nowadays, occasionally, a Coorg widow who is marrying her dead
husband's younger brother is given rights anew in the okka of her
new husband. This novel custom proceeds from the idea referred
to above, that the bride is only given rights in her husband's share
54 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

of his okka's property. It indicates, however, the growing impor-

tance of the elementary family among Coorgs.
When, however, the widow wants to marry someone who is not
a member of her dead husband's okka, her connexion with the
latter is first of all ritually broken. She then reverts to her natal
okka, and at her new marriage her connexion with her natal okka
is ritually severed, and rights are granted to her in her (new)
husband's okka.
That is to say, a woman is compensated for the lack of the same
quality of rights which a man has in his natal okka by the fact that
she always enjoys a double membership: she never completely
ceases to be a member of her natal okka, and at the same time she
is a member of her husband'.;; okka. She can go back to it under
certain circumstances like widowhood or divorce.
Membership of the okka is extremely important, and lack of
membership in some okka or other is tantamount to social extinc-
tion. Elders consequently try hard to see that the children of
extra-marital alliances get berthed somewhere. It is right and
proper that the father of the children should secure them mem-
bership of his okka, but if for some reason or other he cannot be
persuaded to do so, the children are made members of their
mother's okka.

x
The wife of the headman of the okka is the mistress of the house-
hold. She is called 'manepm;ikiirti' (house-work-woman). Ideally,
all the women in the okka have to work under her guidance. The
relationship between the various women in the joint family is
frequently one of conflict. There is first of all the relationship
between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, which is cele-
brated in Coorgand other South Indian folklore as one of conflict.
In a society where the sexes are segregated even inside the house-
hold and where elders are very highly respected, the mother-in-law,
at least in the first few years of marriage, is a much more important
relative for a girl than even her husband. And this relationship is
basically one of conflict. A girl is also in a relation of conflict with
her husband's sisters, married as well as unmarried, and with her
husband's brother's wives.
The conflicts between the women in the patrilocal okka strike
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE E 5S
atits solidarity. Elsewhere in south India where partiti~fi~
lead to division of the joint family. But in COO!g wneJ.e-'t1ieokka
is a very strong entity, and where partition is legally f))rbidden,
they make the harmonious working of the okka extremely difficult.
Besides the conflicts mentioned above, certain lines of cleavage
in the okka are 0 bvious. The distinction between the sexes, which
is present in the whole of the society, is also presen,t in every unit
of it. So is the distinction between members of different genera-
tions. Enormous emphasis is laid on seniority, and this is visible
not only between members of different generatio~. bU,t ,also
between members of the same generation. The younge'r member
has to behave deferentially towards the older.
Before the introduction, in however grudging a form, of the
principle of partition, and of the new ideals associated with in-
dustrialization and Westernization, the elementary family was not
a powerful unit. It .obtained only a grudging recognition in ritual,
which was quite consistent with its relative lack of emphasis in the
total structure. A tendency of recent times is the strengthening of
the elementary family at the expense of the okka. The elementary
family is increasingly becoming the real residential, commensal,
and economic group with certain ties with the okka from which it is
emerging, or has just emerged.
The existence of these divisions inside the okka did not prevent
it from acting as a unit in relation to other okkas. The okka was the
basic unit of society, and certain offices like the headman ship of
the village, nar;l, and the local temple traditionally ran in certain
okkas. Again, contribution to collective tasks was on the basis of the
okka. For instance, each local high caste okka had to send at least
one man and one woman for every Coorg wedding in the village.
Similarly, it had to send representatives to the festival of the village-
deity, and for repairing roads and building bridges. All the adult
men in an okka were required to attend a collective dance or hunt.
Individual responsibility was not entirely ignored, however. An
old usage lays down the maximum fine that could be levied on a
guilty man l (as distinct from the okka of which he was a member)
as nine annas and three bhattis of paddy. Again, when a person was
guilty of a grave offence even his okka joined with his caste in
excommunicating him.

1 It is likely that the fine was paid out of the private funds of the guilty man,
and that where he had none, his okka came to his rescue.
56 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

XI

The institution of family friendship (aruvame) was formerly far

more important among Coorgs than it is today. In a Coorg village
houses are scattered over a wide area, and a Coorg's nearest Coorg
or other high-caste neighbour is usually several hundred yards
away on the other side of a hill or valley. Formerly, the jungle was
heavier and there were no good roads, and these increased the
difficulties of communication between neighbours. Besides, feuds
were common, and hostile raids from unfriendly villages or nacjs
were always a possibility. A Coorg sometimes had to get up in the
middle of the night to fight for his life.
Under the circumstances it is easy to see the need for socially
stressing the tie of neighbourhood. Two okkas usually, though not
always, stood in the relation offamily friendship to each other, and
were frequently related by marriage. The tie of family friendship
was a traditional one, so that two okkas found that they had in-
herited this relationship. In the marriage rites, the aruva, or head
of the friendly okka, is asked whether he is the traditional aruva or
the aruva hired with gold for the occasion. The traditional family
friend, it is hardly necessary to add, commanded much more
respect than the family friend 'hired' for the occasion.
The relationship of family friendship was between two okkas
and not between two individuals. The headman of the okka and
his wife were certainly more important than the other members in
this relationship, but this was in virtue of the positions they occu-
pied in the okka.
At a wedding or death in an okka the members of the 'friendly'
okka had certain duties, duties which are even now performed.
The headman of the 'friendly' okka is the master of ceremonies on
ritual occasions. The younger members of his okka and womenfolk
are also required to render help. For instance, at a funeral the
womenfolk of the 'friendly' okka were required to cook and serve
food to the mourners.

XII

No reference has been made so far to territorial groups in Coorg

except for mentioning, in Section V, an instance of the co-operation
that prevails between the various castes living in a village or nad
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 57
during the harvest festival. The village is the smallest and most
important of the territorial groups, and the niicj, consisting of
several villages is the next bigger group. Traditionally Coorg was
divided into thirty-five niicjs and twelve kombus. A Kombu literally
means 'horn' or 'branch', and in the administrative context it means
the area covered by the sound of a brass horn. It is not known
what purpose was served by this unit. The twelve kombus together
formed the kingdom of Coorg ru1ed by the Lingayat Rajas.
It has already been mentioned that a village in Coorg Proper is
not as physically compact as a village in the eastern plains. But
this does not make it any the less real. The village acts as a unit
on certain occasions and its unity obtains ritual expression. The
people of a village have a great attachment for it. Besides, every
village has a council of elders, and the council is presided over by
the 111" takka or village headman, whose office is hereditary. The
headmanship (or any other traditional office) is always conceived of
as belonging to a certain okka and not to an individual.
Like the village, the niicj is a unit which corresponds to the
sentiments of the people, and is not merely an administrative
division imposed by the Rajas. The number of villages in a na<;l varies
from niicj to nacj: there are 11 villages in Benguna<;!, 5 in
Ballatna<;l, 16 in Ka<;liyetna<;l, 10 in E<;lenalkna<;l, and 9 in Miirna<;!.
These are ancient nacjs, but the boundary of a niicj has frequently
been changed in the past. It was changed, for instance, when the
entire administration of the country was reorganized by either
Muddu Raja (1638-86) or his son Do<;l<;la Virappa (Vira Raja II,
1687-1736). The number of nacjs remained 35 as before, but their
boundaries were changed. Subsequently, under the British, the
number of !lads were reduced successively to 28, 24, 19 and 11.
The headman of a nacj is called niieJ takka, and while every
village has only one headman, a nacj might have an indefinite
number varying from one to seven.
In Map 3 (c. 1850) Coorg is divided into 28 nags, and this is
the earliest map we have of Coorg. If the nacj-headmen existing
today are related to the 28 niicJs of Map 3, it will be found that
9 nacjs have 1 n.#-headman each, 10 have 2 each, 3 have 3 each,
2 have 4 each, another 2 have.6 each, 1 has 5, and another 7. Only 1
of the 9 nacjs having 1 n#-headman each is in Coorg Proper, and
2 of the lO nacjs having 2 nacj-headmen each are in north Coorg.
All the nacjs which have more than 2 nacj-headmen each are in
58 llELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

ADMINISTRATIVE
DMBIONS
IN A.Q 1850
(Aeeordi"9 to Rir.hter)

MiI.s
....~'S:;~r
.:'~~.f-=====1~9

3. Map Showing Administrative Divisions in circa 1850

 SOCIAL STllUCTU1E

Coorg Proper. Out of a total of 70 nd{l-hea

Proper and only 12 in north Coorg.
It has been mentioned earlier that Coorgs
Proper, which more or less forms a distin
Coorg. Most headmen are Coorgs, and it is wei
non-Coorgs who hold headmanship have done by virtue ofhav-
ing bought the lands of okkaa in whom headman 'p was vested.1
It is then not unreasonable to conclude that nd4-headmen are
indigenous only to Coorg Proper and that they have been extended
to north Coorg by the Rajas. This is the reason why the takka-
organization in north Coorg has such a formal appearance. Again,
there are neither sime-(or desha-) takkaa, the highest category of
headmen, nor iir takkas, in north Coorg. In this part of Coorg the
headman of a village (ur) is called palel as he is in Mysore, and he
is usually not a Coorg.
It is likely that the proliferation of nd4-headmen in Coorg
Ptopet \'& due to th.e fact th.at eve~ okka whlch. achlevtd ptomm.
ence in local aWairs claimed headmanship. Mer the annexation of
Coorg by the British, individuals occupying high positions in the
administration and who had acquired wealth were able to call them-
selves headmen. This fact is very generally known to old Coorgs.
Like the village, the ndrl, too, has an assembly consisting of the
representatives of the various okkas in it; and it acts as a unit on
certain occasions. An appeal lies from the decision of the village-
assembly to the nd{l-assembly.
Above the nd{l-headmen there are sime-(or desha-) headmen, of
whom there are eight in all. The simi-headman has precedence over
the ndrj-headman at a gathering where both are present.
The division of the country into twelve kombus or 'horns', and
the establishment of four paUis (literally, the open paved yard
before a Coorg's house) or courts ' for hearing appeals from village
and nd{l-assemblies, appear to be only administrative devices
imposed from above, and not traditional institutions of the people
which functioned vigorously. The desha kelt pdl, a folksong which
gives an account of the administrative system introduced by
either Muddu Raja or DOQ4a Virappa,!II mentions the existenc e
1 The lands of the two simi-headmen in Tavuna4. Poreyan4,a and Paruvanda,
who were Coorgs, have now been bought by the Ku4upajje and Stlratale okkas
respectively, and the latter are immigrants from South Canara belonging to the
caste of Gau4as or peasants.
IN. Chiooappa. op. cit., p. 29.
 60 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

twelve kombus, and gives a list of the eight simi-headmen and four
appellate courts. A caution should be entered here against treating
this song as evidence of the system as it actually existed. The
picture it presents is too tidy and systematized, and it is not im-
probable that it sacrifices accuracy for ncatness and order.
It is likely that before Coorg was conquered by the Lingayat
Rajas the biggest territorial unit was a group of two or three or
more niicjs led by a chief who called himself Nayaka. The chiefs
constantly fought among themselves, and this made it easier for
the Lingayat Rajas to conquer them and extend their authority
over the whole of Coorg.
Two or three naifs seem to have also come together for purposes
of defence against a common enemy, for hunting, and for hearing
appeals from the decisions of lower assemblies like the village-
assembly and naif-assembly. It is interesting to note, however,
that while folklore contains occasional references to an appeal to
an assembly composed of the men of two or three nacjs, there is no
reference to an appeal to a patti, one of the four appellate courts
mentioned in the desha keft pat .
•
XIII

The village represents a different type of solidarity from caste.

The latter (stresses the ties prevalent between members of the same
caste scattered in different villages, whereas the former stresses
the ties of the different castes living in the same village. Caste
stresses the importance of the high castes and more or less ignores
the lowest castes. When a Coorg says that when there is a wedding
in a village every okka must send at least one man and one woman
to help in the work of the wedding, what he really means is that
when there is a wedding among Coorgs or other high castes, every
high caste okka must send one man and one woman. This does
not, however, apply to the lowest castes. The latter, of course, do
their share of the wedding work, but they are not included in the
rule mentioned above. The contribution of the low castes is
essential on every occasion, but they co-operate at a different level
from the high castes. Again, where there is a wedding or death
among the lowest castes, the high castes certainly help, but do
not otherwise participate in the event. In brief, the solidarity of a
caste results in a stressing of the ties between the members of the
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 61
same caste living in different villages, while the solidarity of a
village results in stressing the ties between members of different
castes living in the same village. Caste ties cut across village ties,
while village ties both limit the extension of caste ties beyond the
village and stress the interdependence of the various castes forming
a local community.
The unity of the village is stressed when disaster overtakes one
of the okkas. For instance, when a house is destroyed by fire every
okka in the village has to contribute in cash, kind, and labour
to\vards the building of a new house and the maintenance of the
unlucky okka till they are able to stand on their own feet. The
latter are required to repay the money and goods given to them
some time after they have recovered from the disaster. Several
years ago the Kotera house in Badaga village was destroyed by fire
and the entire village co-operated in building them a new house.
When a death occurs among Coorgs, the news is announced by
the firing of a rifle at regular intervals. Everyone who hears the
shots has to suspend all work, including agricultural work, and
proceed at once to the mourning house. The news of the death is
also communicated through messengers belonging to the Poleya
caste, and the Poleya servant of any Coorg house may be com-
mandeered for this purpose. The master may not object.
Every okka in the village has to stand by the bereaved okka
during the mourning period. They are required to attend to the
fields and gardens of the bereaved okka till the latter are freed
from the ritual mourning. They have also to supply the bereaved
okka with food until the corpse is removed from the house: there
is a taboo on cooking being done in the mourning house till the
corpse is removed.
On certain occasions the entire village co-operates, though the
lower castes co-operate at a different level from others. An example
will make clear what we mean. Every caste in the village co-operates
during the harvest festival of Coorgs. It is the harvest festival of
Coorgs alone, and not, for instance, of the Medas or Poleyas.The
Medas beat the tom-tom and Poleyas play on their pipes to the
dancing of Coorgs. Every Coorg okka has to send all the adult men
in it to the village dance and hunt. Poleyas and Medas act as
beaters at this hunt while the other castes do the shooting. Later,
there is a dinner for the entire village, called, appropriately
enough, urorme, i.e., 'village harmony', where the game killed in
 62 ->', .:;:';'.t ~LIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS
, "' .. ~
flie 11Unf is '_9ooked. Every male member of the village participates
{il thi~ dtriiler, Coorgs and equivalent castes sitting togcther, while
Medas .and Poleyas form scparate groups. The meat is cooked by
Coorgs and equivalent castes, while every house brings its own
supply of pUt!, or cooked rice-flour, which is eaten with the curry.
Tlt~ Brahmin does not participate in the village dinner as it is
cooked"'by castes lower to him in the hierarchy. Besides, he is a
vegetarian and teetotaller. It may be noted that the Brahmin
is almost as frequently excluded from village activities as the
Untouchable. The Brahmin does not hunt or dance, nor does
he favour the propitiation of deities with animal sacrifice and
liquor.
Every member of the villagc is required to observe certain rules
during the harvest festival. He has to keep the door of his house
opcn and the sacred domestic lamps lit. He must be hospitable to
parties of singers and dancers and mix with other villagers. He
must refrain from abusing and fighting even if there is provocktion
from the other party.
Though parties of Coorg singers did not visit the houses of
Medas and Poleyas, c\ en the latter were required to 0 bserve the
rules. Every caste, including Medas and Poleyas, was present when
inquiry into cases of breaches of rules took place.
A wedding in a Coorg house requires the co-operation of all the
castes in the village, and the fee payable to them is fixed by custom.
It is the same with the festival of the village-deity, though some-
times the Poleyas are almost entirely excluded from this festival.
During the festival of Ketrappa at Bengfrr, the Poleyas may not be
seen by any high caste villager till the eighteenth day of the festival,
but on the eighteenth evening they march in procession with
pipe and drum to the Ketrappa temple and watch the ritual from
a nearby knoll. They bring offerings of fowls to Ketrappa, and the
birds are decapitated by Medas, who have an important part in
the festival. The Ketrappa festival seems to be an extreme instance
of the exclusion of Poleyas. In the festivals of other village-deities
they participate to a greater extent, though on a different level
from the rest.
Every village has an hereditary headman called takka. It is the
headman's duty to see that the village greens (mandus) where
dances and dinners are held, and the village assembly meets, are
kept in good condition. He has to ensure that the bridges and
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 63
ferries in the village are in constant repair and that the village
tank is clean. He has to look after pilgrims and travellers passing
through the village.
Coorgs have a keen appreciation of leadership and precedence.
From their folklore it appears as though they are incapable of
conceiving of any group, of no matter what, without a leader. The
epithet consistently applied to a headman is 'mupayanda' which
means 'precedence-having'. A sense of precedence and respect for
seniority helped to introduce order into their meetings, just as a
respect for precedents produced a consistent body of decisions on
any particular matter.
Formerly a headman wielded great influence in his village (or
niirj) and a good headman was a powerful factor for stability. If the
headman was a bad man, the entire village was ruined : as a pro-
verb has it, 'when the takka is a loafer the entire village is like the
area inhabited by Untouchables'. In the management of village
affairs and the settlement of village disputes the headman was
assisted by an assembly consisting of the representatives of the
various okkas in the village. The assembly was called kufa, which
means a 'gathering' or 'group'. It met on one of the several greens
in the village. There were separate village greens for transacting
business (panchiiyati mandu), for dancing at the harvest festival
(iir mandu), a third for dancing at the festival of the village-deity
(devara mandu), and so on. Sometimes there was a roofed enclosure
(ambala) on the green, which provided shelter from rain and sun for
the assembly to meet, and for women to watch the dances.
The village-assemblies were far more powerful in the past than
they are today. They controlled the public conduct of a Coorg very
thoroughly. The principal sanctions at the disposal of the assembly
were poteviirju or finc, and poramarji or excommunication. There was
a regular scale of fines laying down the maximum that could be
levied on an individual, and on an entire okka, village, or niirj. The
maximum fine on a village headman guilty of an offence was very
much higher than the maximum for an ordinary individual, and
similarly, the maximum for a narj-headman was higher than that for
a village-headman.
Fines are levied for minor offences such as failure to attend a com-
munal dance or hunt, or to observe the requisite food restrictions
during the festival of a village-deity. Failure to pay the fine resulted
in the guilty person being excommunicated from the village. He
64 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

was not permitted to attend the village-assembly or a communal

dance or hunt. He was not allowed to enter the village temple or
take part in the festival of the village-deityl, but he was allowed to
remain in any house in which he had a right to stay, such as his natal
house, or his wife's natal house. The guilty person could resume
his normal social status after he had paid the fine, half of which
went to the village temple and the other half to the elders who
levied the fine.
Serious offences were punished by the offender's being ex-
communicated from caste. Such a punishment was usually for a
prescribed period, during which the offender was not entitled to
stay or dine even in his natal house. Not only was he prohibited
from attending a dance or hunt, but he was also prohibited from
going into any house in the village. The barber was not allowed to
shave him, the washerman was not allowed to wash his clothes, and
similarly artisan castes could not make anything for him. Even his
cattle were not allowed to graze on the common pasture.
After the prescribed period of punishment was over, the offender
had to go on a pilgrimage to Bhagamanqla where the river Kanak6
joins the Kaveri. He had to have his head and face shaved, and
bathe in the sin-cleansing waters of the sacred Kaveri. He then
went to the temple of Bhaganqeshwara for worship, and this was
followed by a visit to the source of the River Kaveri, which is
probably the most sacred spot in Coorg. He bathed in the bigger of
the two springs and worshipped the smaller spring. He then
returned to his village and gave a feast to the headmen and
villagers. This completed his readmission to society.
The man who commits an offence against the moral code of the
community is treated as an extremely impure person; and the
purificatory rites which he performs before being readmitted to
society are the same as those which first-grade mourners perform
before attaining normal ritual status. An offence against the ethical
code results in pollution, a fact which makes clear to everyone the
nature of the offence. Such an offence also angers the ancestors and
deities.
When a person was, however, guilty of a very great offence
against the caste code, like adultery or fornication with someone
belonging to a very low caste, the offender was irrevocably excom-
1 A person polluted by the occurrence of a birth or death suffers from similar
disabili ties.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 65
municated. Moegling mentions l the case of a Coorg woman who
was guilty of adultery with a man belonging to one of the Untouch-
able castes and who was consequently thrown out of the caste
irrevocably. She was forced to live among Untouchables. Finally,
both she and her Coorg husband, who was personally ready to
forgive her, became converts to Christianity.
A person guilty of the offence mentioned above was considered
as good as dead, and the rite of excommunication was called,
appropriately enough 'k6efi kittuvudu' or 'tearing the cloth'. The
offender and his relatives held a hemmed cloth, such as the one
used by Coorgs for tying round the head, between them, and this
was torn in two. Thereafter the offender ceased to exist for them.
Even his son was not bound to maintain him while alive or perform
funeral rites after his death.

XIV

A nih} is a bigger unit than a village, and it is usually more homo-

geneous culturally than a larger area which includes it and a few
other niiefs. The differences between niiefs are considerable if we
compare geographically extreme instances like Kiggatnac.i and
Nalknac.i, but even if we take two neighbouring niicfs they are
bound to differ in certain respects, differences in matters of detail
which might appear unimportant to the outsider, but which appear
as extremely important to the inhabitants of the niiefs in question.
In fact, each niief sees the points in which it differs from its neighbours
as symbols of its identity and individuality, if not superiority.
The saw 'iir niiefku nur piij(?, which might be translated as 'six
niiefs, hundred customs', testifies to the great cultural diversity
within Coorg.
A ndcf might differ from other ndcfs in the matter of the date of
observance of important festivals such as the harvest festival and
festival of arms. It might also differ in the articles used in the
festival ritual: for instance, the plants used in the harvest festival
ritual vary in different niicjs, and this is due to the fact that in each
area the plants locally prolific are chosen to express a wish for
growth.
The various villages of a niief co-operate on certain occasions
as the harvest festival and the periodical festival of the local
lOp. cit., pp. 213-14.
5
66 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMO::-.lG THE COORGS

village-deity. During the harvest festival, on the day after the

village dance (ur kOlu), a dance for the entire niit;l (na{i kolu) is held
in which all the men of the na{i take part. Games testing the strength
and skill of individuals are also held on this occasion, and this
provides an opportunity for the canalization of inter-village
rivalry, just as at a festvial in a village the games played canalizes
inter-okka rivalry.
When the bridegroom is marching in state to the bride's house
it is customary for the villages in the groom's na{i to offer him the
'plantain honour' (bale birudu): a row of three stout plantain stems
are fixed to the ground near the boundary (mundale) of the village
or nd¢, and the groom is asked to cut the stems with his sword.
The groom delegates someone to cut the stems on his behalf.
The man offering the groom the 'plantain honour' should be
wearing a Coorg gown, and he offers the party warm water to wash
their hands and feet mats to sit on, and betel leaves and areca-
nut to chew. (Warm water, mat, and betel and nut are all
symbols of hospitality and respect in Coorg as elsewhere in India.)
If the party arrive at night the host provides them with torches for
the road. The groom has to pay a money gift of two palJas (about
six annas) to the host in acknowledgement of the honour and
hospitality done to him and his party.
A man has a great love for his nag. This comes out repeatedly in
Coorg folklore. An infant boy, called Chondu, was orphaned, and
the ntiq elders had to make arrangements for his care. When
Chondu reached the years of discretion he wanted to show how
deeply he appreciated what his nikJ had done for him. He deter-
mined to become a great fighter: he would challenge every village
and naq to produce someone to fight him in single combat (otte
poyit). He would defeat them all and this would bring great glory
to his na¢. He travelled about Coorg sitting in a palanquin, chal-
lenging every village either to produce someone to fight him or
give him a sum of money in acknowledgement of defeat. His
technique was to go to the village temple and order the priest to
stop worshipping the deity till either his challenge was met or the
sum of money asked for was paid. The latter course was chosen by
most villages.
His challenge was, however, accepted by a mere boy called
Appayya (of the Kaiyandira okka) in Arapat village in Ka4iyetnacJ.
When Appayya's mother remonstrated at his having accepted the
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 67
challenge of a great fighter like Chondu, the spirited boy replied,
'Until now you were my mother, but from now on my mit} is my
mother.' Appayya defeated and killed Chondu by resorting to
trickery: he first of all blinded Chondu by suddenly throwing sand
into his eyes and then stabbed him.
Honours were showered on the boy-hero by a grateful nat}. The
ceremony of mangala (see Chapter III) was performed for him.
He was placed in a position of seniority to everyone in the nat} and
none was allowed to call him by name. He had to be addressed as
'periya moli' which means 'big elder'. He was prohibited from
touching anyone's feet in salutation. Also, as he had ensured the
continuity of worship at the Choli Povvedi temple in Arapat,
certain privileges were conferred on Appayya vis-a-vis the temple:
he could go there even when under pollution (pole), and he could
go to the annual festival of the deity sitting in the palanquin in
which his opponent had sat during his journey through
Coorg.
The office of the 'big elder' was hereditary in the Kaiyandira
okka till the latter became extinct. The headman of the okka was
the 'big elder', and when he died his successor became the 'big
elder'. The honour was conferred at a mangala ceremony which was
performed in the open quadrangle of the Kaiyandira house.
Coorg was traditionally divided into twelve kombus, but the
kombu appears as a shadowy unit beside the nat} and the village;
and the occasional coming together of two or three na(is under a
chief during the pre-Lingayat days, or to discuss a matter of
common interest, cannot be treated as a permanent feature of the
structure.
While groups wider than the mit} are shadowy, the same cannot
be said of the sime-headmen, who are higher than na(i-headmen.
There are eight slme-headmen in Coorg Proper, and they are
usually mentioned in pairs. Each pair of sime-headmen comes from
the same nat}: KaHangala and BoHera from Tavalagerimurna<;i,
Matan<;ia and Bu<;iuvan<;ia from Beppuna<;i, Pan <;lira and Paradan<;la
from Nalkna<;l, and finally, Poreyan<;la and Paruvan<;la from
Tavuna<;i.
Feuds between okkas seem to have continued well into the latter
half of the last century. In 1870 Richter wrote: 'It may still happen,
that the head of a Coorg house on his dying bed will solemnly
charge his sons to seek vengeance on his personal enemies, a bequest
68 RElIGION AND W(lETY AMCI\G THE COORGS

which occasions calamitous feuds between succeeding generations.'l

A feud between okkas was called kwjupi, while a feud between
villages or between niit;!s was called maradaJe. It is likely that feuds
between okkas in the same village were extremely rare as the village
was too compact a unit to permit of feuds within it. But the same
cannot be said of villages within the same na(.l. The annual dance,
at the harvest festival, for all the villages of Ballatnaq, is nowadays
attended only by Perur, and this is attributed to the former
prevalence of feuds between the variolls villages composing this
nt'it;!.
Formerly feuds between nat;!s were very common, and folklore
bears ample testimony to this fact. There was a long feud between
Bengunaq and Ballatnaq in the course of which they conducted
raids on each other. A hero called ApPaJ)J)a, who later came to be
famous as Kappar.ll)a or 'robber', was born in BallatnaQ, and when
he was born all the people of Bengunaq suffered from headache.
Later he raided the Povvedi temple in Bengur, and robbed it of the
two wooden pins (kilu) with which the temple's see-saw( rate) was
fixed to two wooden posts. Pilgrims used to sit on the see-saw at
the periodical festival of Povvedi of Bengur.
The robbing of the wooden pins belonging to the Bengiir
Povvedi temple was a triumph for Balmavti. The latter had a see-
saw made and used it at the biennial festival of the Povvedi of
Balmavti. At the beginning of the festival of Povvedi of Balmavti
there is a rite at which a festival-priest enumerates the restrictions
which have to be observed during the festival period, and one of
these restrictions states that no one from Bengur may approach
the sacred see-saw. Several years ago my friend Shri Pattamaqa
Ponnappa of Bengiir was asked, during the biennial festival, not to
touch the see-saw.
The entire atmosphere of Coorg folklore is martial: secret raids,
fights, heroes, and intrigues are the stuff out of which a folksong is
made. The bards delight when a hero is born in their niit;!. They
describe the event with gusto. There is a storm, the earth trembles,
and the men in the hostile mit;! suffer from headache. On the other
hand, the bards wail with self-pity when their ndt;l suffers a defeat
in a fight. The men of the nat;! go on pilgrimage to their patron-
deity and pray to him for the birth of a hero in their midst.
In a fight between two nat;!s, the temples belonging to either side
1 Manual of Coorg, p. 126.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 69
were commonly attacked. In fact, a temple constituted the most
sensitive part of a nih). the prevention of the offer of worship to
the deity of another nacj inflicted a very deep humiliation on the
latter; and the stealing of the property of the temple of another
nacj was as bad. In a struggle between two nacjs which centred
round their temples, the deity of the triumphant nad was regarded
as having triumphed over the deity of the defeated nacj. A devotee
of the deity of a nacj was also a patriot of that nacj. He had to take
up arms to ensure the continuance of the offer of worship at the
temple of his nacj or village, and to see that raiders did not succeed
in carrying away the property of the temple.
Patriotism for one's nacj was widespread and deep, and even
women and children were imbued with it. Women were in an un-
fortunate position as they were torn between their love for their
natal nacj and their duty towards their conjugal nacj. There are
instances of women working for their natal nacj against their
conj ugal n{i(j when the two were at feud with each other.
The widespread prevalence of feuds did have one important
structural consequence. They very effectively counteracted the
tendency of caste to stress the horizontal ties at the expense of the
vertical ties. But with the conquest of Coorg by the Lingayat
Rajas and the decrease of feuds, the horizontal emphasis of caste
increased. Thus wider political integration strengthened caste.
 CHAPTER THREE

THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS

(1) THE RITUAL COMPLEX OF MANGALA

EVERY society has a body of ritual, and certain ritual acts form-
ing part of the body of ritual repeat themselves constantly.
Not only ritual acts, but also ritual complexes, which are wholes
made up of several individual ritual acts, frequently repeat them-
selves. Several such ritual complexes and some individual ritual
acts might be together knit into a still wider ritual whole which
repeats itself occasionally.
Salutation is an individual ritual act. It might be of two kinds,
either elaborate as that adopted by a young person towards an
elder on a ritual occasion, or simple, like that prevailing between
two equals. In the former case the younger person thrice touches
the older man's feet with both hands, and after each touch he takes
the hands to his forehead where he brings them together. In the
simpler form of salutation which prevails between equals, each
person folds the palms before his chest, and as he does this he
moves his head slightly to indicate a bow. The folding of the palms
and bowing of the head are the most important parts of the ritual
act of salutation.
Salutation of the elaborate kind is only one of several ritual acts
in the ritual complex of miirta (vide infra), and miirta is again part
of mangala. Formerly there were several kinds of mangalas and the
narrowing down of mangala to mean marriage exclusively is a
fairly recent phenomenon.
Formerly mangala was performed to mark the attainment of
social adulthood by a boy when his ears were ritually bored by the
goldsmith. This mangala, the first to be performed for a boy, was
called kemmi kutti mangala, or 'the mangala at which the ears are
bored'. The wearing of ear-rings was symbolical of the attainment
of social adulthood. One who was physiologically an adult, but
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 71
who had not undergone the ear-boring mangaia, did not count as
an adult for ritual and social purposes.
The counterpart of the ear-boring mangala for a girl was the
mangala performed when she attained puberty. This was called
'pole kancJa mangala' or 'mangala performed on the sighting of
defilement'. The menstrual flow was regarded as defiling, and
formerly a woman observed seclusion for three days during her
periods. Mangala was also performed when a woman became
pregnant for the first time (ku/iyamme mangala). A woman who
had given birth to ten children, all of whom were alive, was entitled
to a form of mangala known as paitiincJek alapa.
A man who kIlled a panther or tiger had the right to nari mangala
or 'tiger mangala' being performed in his honour. Marriage
increased a man's status, and a bachelor was regarded as socially
and ritually inferior to a married man. Mangala was performed to
a bachelor's corpse before burying or cremating it, presumably in
order to raise the status of the soul of the dead bachelor.
A man who had lost two wives in succession was ritually married
to a plantain tree before marrying his third wife. The marriage to
the plantain tree was called 'biilf'k mangala', or 'plantain mangala',
and the tree was cut down soon after the mangala.
The number three, in certain contexts, is considered very
unlucky everywhere in south India. When a man has lost his first
two wives in succession, and intends marrying again, the third wife
is considered certain to share the fate of the first two. The per-
formance of 'bii/ek mangala' and the cutting down of the tree soon
after frees the human wife from the fate which would have other-
wise overtaken her.
Formerly when a man built a new house he performed 'mane
mangala' or 'house mangala'. Mangala was performed for the head
of the house on this occasion. Another form of mangala which has
entirely disappeared now is 'ettu mangala' or 'ox mangala'.
The ideal and usual marriage in Coorg is for a virgin to marry a
bachelor and this is called 'kanni mangala' or 'virgin mangala'. The
marriage rites are fullest when a virgin marries a bachelor, and
they are abbreviated to some extent when a widower marries a
virgin. They are still further abbreviated when a widow marries a
widower, and many old Coorgs would even refuse to accord to
such a marriage the name of mangala.
The ritual that is performed at the 'marriage of a virgin' may be
72 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

divided into two parts, one which might be called the mangala part,
and the other the non-mangala part. The mangala-part of marriage
is considered in this chapter while the non-mangala part is con-
sidered in Chapter V.
There are, then, several mangaias, of which marriage is one, and
at each of these mangalas, miirta is performed. J'yfiirta may be
regarded as a typical ritual complex. The ritual complex of miirta
consists of several ritual acts, and it is proposed to discover the
meaning of each of them by the application of the three rules
formulated by Professor Radcliffe-Brown. (1) 'When the same or
similar custom is practIsed on different occasions it has the same
or a similar meaning in all of them.'! (2) 'When different customs
are practised on one and the same occasion there is a cornman
element in the customs.'2 (3) 'If two rites are found associated with
one another on different occasions then there is something in
common between the different occasions.'3
The central figure of a rite is referred to in this book as the
subject. But the subject of miirta is referred to as the 'subject of
mangala' as milrta is always a part of rnangala. The term has been
retained even where the rite in question is peculiar to marriage, as
marriage is also a mangala, and the term 'subject' is applicable to
the bride as well as the groom. It is only when a rite is performed
by either the bride or groom exclusively that 'subject' is discarded
in favour of either of the former, more specific terms.

II

The astrologer selects an auspicious day for the performance of

mangala, and an even more auspicious part of that day for the
performance of milrta, which is the most important part of mangala.
It is interesting to note that the Coorg term miirta is the corrupt
form of the Sanskrit milhurta, which means a 'particular division
of time, the thirtieth part of a day, a period of 48 minutes'. 4
The house in which the mangala ritual takes place is cleaned,
and its wans are colour-washed, and a decorated booth (pandal) of
five pillars, one of which is a branch of a milk-exuding tree, is
erected in front of the house. Poleyas and Medas beat tom-toms
The Andaman Islanders, Cambridge, 1933 (2nd edition), p. 235.
1
Ibid.,p. 2.
2
• Taboo, Cambridge, 1939, p. 36.
4 Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 825.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 73
and play pipes in front of the house, and Coorg youths dance to
the music.
Four Coorgs beat the small Coorg drum called 'dugi' and sing
some traditional songs at various points during mangala. These
songs give an account of the ritual that is being performed. The
singers also sing the 'road song' (batte par), while conducting the
subject of mangala from one part of the house to another, and the
road song gives a traditionally exaggerated account of everything
that is found en route. At night, after dinner, Coorg singers sing
songs about the groom, bride, their ancestors, and the guests who
are present.
The elaborate preparations for mangala and the selection of an
auspicious day for its performance stress the social importance of
the occasion. Mangala indicates the movement of the subject from
one position in the social structure to another, it marks a change
in his social personality. M urta ritual is the most important part of
mangala, and, consequently, it is performed during the most auspici-
ous part of the auspicious day, and the subject undergoes a series
of preparatory and purificatory rites before sitting down for
murta.
The subject of mangala, if male, is ritually shaved by the barber,
after which he is given a bath by three women relatives whose
husbands are alive. 1 Women whose husbands are alive enjoy a
higher ritual and social status than widows. Only an unmarried
girl, and a woman whose first and only husband is alive, are en-
titled to take part in auspicious ritual. Not only widows, but also
remarried widows, are excluded from auspicious ritual, but such
exclusion is not as thorough among Coorgs as it is, for instance,
among the Brahmins.
After a bath, the subject wears ritual garments, and proceeds to !

the sacred central hall (nellakki nagubage), where all rituals ought
to take place, ideally speaking. In the central hall is the sacred
tripod stool (mukkdli =three-legged) on which the subject sits,
and on either side of the stool stands a bell-metal lamp (kuttum
bo!icha). The subject thrice walks round the tripod stool and lamps,
and then salutes the lamps and the tripod stool before sitting down
on the latter. Circumambulation is clock-wise in auspicious ritual
and anti-clockwise in mourning.
1 The subject sits on the floor fully clothed while the women relatives pour
vesselfuls of hot water on him.
74 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

In front of the sitting subject is another such stool covered with

a red silk cloth. An earthen lamp burns in a metal dining dish (tali)
which is kept on the stool before the subject. The lamp rests on a
thin bed of rice spread inside the dish. A few betel leaves and
areca-nuts are also kept alongside the lamp. The dish, rice, lamp,
and betelleaves and nuts are all collectively referred to as 'tafiyakki-
holuk' which literally means 'dish-rice-lamp'. It will be referred to
as 'dish-lamp' in future, and a dish-lamp is considered essential
on all ritual occasions.
At mangala, in addition to the earthen lamp, a kincji full of milk
is kept on the dish-lamp. A kincji is a bell-metal vessel with a long
spout at the side. At mangala every relative performs vis-a-vis the
subject a series of solidarity rites collectively called murta, and
one of these rites consists in giving the subject a little milk to drink.
This is done by the relative holding the kincji in such a way that the
tip of the spout touches the subject's mouth. The subject sucks in
a few drops of milk through the spout.
Each of the assembled relatives singly performs mUrta, described
below, towards the subject of mangala. Three married women, close
relatives of the subject, are required to perform it before anyone
else. If the subject's mother is alive and not a widow, she is en-
titled to be one of the three, and what is more, perform it first,
even if the other two are her seniors.
The mother, or senior married woman, begins by sprinkling
rice on the two beU-metal1amps on either side of the subject, and
then salutes them. The sun-god is saluted next after throwing
some rice backwards, over the shoulders. This is followed by the
relative depositing a little rice successively at the joints of knees,
elbows, and shoulders, and on the head of the subject. The relative
then holds the spouted vessel before the subject and he sucks in a
little milk through the spout. After this she presents the subject
with a gold or silver coin. The subject salutes her by touching her
feet with both his hands and carrying the latter back to his fore-
head. This is done thrice. The married woman blesses him by
touching his head and saying, 'may you live long', or 'may you
live happily'.

III

It has been mentioned before that mangala is an auspicious or

 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 75
good-sacred ceremony and that it has to be performed on an auspi-
cious day. All over India, among Hindus, it is believed that certain
periods of time have ritual value while others do not. 'Ritual value'
is synonymous with the term 'sacred' in its widest sense, as in-
clusive of good-sacredness as well as bad-sacredness, auspicious-
ness as well as inauspiciousness. Certain periods of time are
auspicious while others are inauspicious. One occasionally finds
in Coorg homes a sheet of cardboard nailed to the wall which
mentions the inauspicious periods in each day of the week. Impor-
tant work is not begun during an inauspicious period.
Adult Coorgs are usually able to read the panchdnga which may
be described as the ritual calendar of the Hindus. Panchdngas are
nowadays printed and sold in towns, and it is customary for a
Coorg house to have a panchdnga. It is frequently referred to as it
gives the auspicious and inauspicious periods in each day, the days
on which one may have one's face shaved, the days on which one
may travel in a particular direction, when an eclipse will occur,
and so on.
Hindu astrology is based on the idea of karma and touches Hindu
theological beliefs at every point; and, strange as it may seem to
Westerners, astrology involves a knowledge of astronomy. Events
like an eclipse, and the day and period of time when the sun passes
from one zodiacal sign to another are significant for ritual purposes,
and they are all mentioned in the panrhdnga.
Astrology may be regarded as a Sanskritizing agent, and the
more a tribe, local group, or caste resorts to astrology the more
do its beliefs become Sanskritized. Sanskritic Hinduism is
Hinduism which transcends provincial barriers and is common to
the whole ofIndia.

IV

Mangala has not only to be performed on an auspicious day, but

also in an auspicious place: a Coorg likes to have it performed in
his ancestral house which he regards as sacred and for which he
has a strong attachment. Only certain high castes like the Brahmins,
Okkaligas, and Gau<;las may enter all parts of the ancestral house.
Medas and Poleyas, on the other hand, have to stop at the paved
yard in front of the house. Castes like the smiths (Airis), washer-
men (Ma<;livala), and Bal).t;tas may come to all parts of the house
76 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

except the kitchen, central hall, and south-western room. If, how-
ever, they have to come in to perform their duties on certain
occasions like a marriage or an ancestor-propitiation, then the house
is purified after their departure.
The sacredness or ritual purity of the ancestral house was better
preserved by the fact that a woman was not allowed to stay within
it during her periods. Such a woman is in a defiled condition and
defilement is contagious. It also cuts off the person affected by it
from normal participation in social life.
Every ancestral house has an outhouse called iile pore in which
a woman stayed for three days during her periods. She attained
normal ritual status only on the fourth day after taking a bath.
During her periods she had to avoid going near people and objects
in a condition of normal ritual status.
The death of even an unrelated adult in the house defiles it and
the members of the particular household. After the corpse is
removed, both the house and the members of the household have
to be purified.
Certain parts of the ancestral house are more sacred than the
others. The central hall is very sacred. In the western wall of the
central hall is a niche in which burns an earthen or metal lamp.
The container is fillcd with oil, and there is a cotton wick, one end
of which comes through the lamp's lip while the rest trails in the
oil held by the container. The wick is lit just beyond the lip, and
the lamp burns with the lip facing east, the sacred direction. This
lamp is called nellakki bo!uk (central-hall lamp). It is lit every
morning and evening by a woman of the house who salutes it after
lighting it. It will be referred to as wall-lamp throughout this book.
A bell-metal lamp, hung from the ceiling of the central hall, is a
common sight in Coorg houses. It is called fag boluk or hanging
lamp, and it is saluted on 0.11 ritual occasions. Shri K. J. Chengappa
considers the wall-lamp to be the more ancient and more sacred
of the two lamps.
The south-western room (kanni kombare kOlJe) and the kitchen
(umbala mane') are very sacred parts of the ancestral house. The
south-western direction is a sacred direction, and the south-
western pillar (kanni kamba) in the central court of a quadrangular
house receives ritual respect. On certain occasions like an ancestor-
propitiation, a lamp is lit in the south-western room. The kitchen
is sacred as food is cooked there: food ought to be cooked in a pure
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 77
place and care is taken to see that impure persons and objects do
not get into the kitchen. Sometimes the periodical offerings of food
to dead ancestors, which are made in every Coorg house, are made
in the kitchen alone instec.d of in the ancestor-shrine or anywhere
else.
There are two types of houses in Coorg, one which has an open
quadrangle in the middle and the other in which there is no such
open quadrangle. In the former type, the four corners of the open
quadrangle are supported by four pillars, and four planks (aimaras)
connect the four pillars at a height of about 2t feet from the
ground. These planks are regarded as sacred: none may step across
them, and no woman may sit on one ofthem.
Planks are affixed to the top of the parapet wall in the veranda.
One of these planks is called the 'ancestors' plank' (kiira~1GvaTJda
aimara), and it is regarded as sacred. None may sleep on it. I have
beard tbat anyone sleeping on tIle 'ancestors' plank' ill tbe bouse
of the Karavan<;la okka is thrown down to the floor by the spirits of
the ancestors.
Women very rarely visit the veranda (kaiyiile), and when they
visit it they may not sit on one of the planks there. Nor are they
allowed to sit on the planks in the central hall, though very old
women occasionally take the liberty of doing so when the senior
males are away. On the second day of marriage the bride sits on a
plank in the veranda of the groom's house, and this is part of the
ritual of admitting her into her husband's house.
At some distance from the main building is a shrine (kaimacJa)
devoted to the worship of the ancestors. During the periodical
ancestor-propitiations (kiira1Java tere), small figurines representing
the ancestors are kept in the shrine and worshipped. During
festiva1s, a lamp is lit in the shrine, and cooked food is placed
beforc the lamp.
Kaimarjas or ancestor-shrines seem to be a recent phenomenon,
and before they became popular the dead ancestors were repre-
sented by unhewn stones fixed in earthen platforms which were
built round the trunks of milk-exuding trees. These platforms were
called' kiirmJava tare' or 'ancestors' platform'. Even today in Kig-
gatna<;l there are only ancestor-platforms and no ancestor-shrines.
Like the ancestors, cobra-deities are represented by unhewD
78 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS
l
stones and fixed in platforms built round the trunks of milk-
exuding trees. The vegetation growing near a cobra-platform is
considered sacred, and it is not permitted to cut it down. A woman
in her periods is not allowed to go near the platform as cobra-
deities are considered to be specially sensitive to defilement. If this
rule is not respected, she, and probably the okka of which she is a
member, will suffer misfortune. The cobra is a sacred creature and
he who kills it will suffer from a skin disease like leucoderma.
There is an attitude of ritual respect towards the ancestral rice-
field. This is specially noticeable when the crop is standing: a man
may not wear sandals while walking through it, or hold an umbrella
over his head, or whistle.
The rice-field is divided into a number of ridged-up plots and
the central plot of the rice-field is regarded as particularly sacred.
Formerly it was the custom to bury the umbilical cord of the eldest
son in the central plot. A man is supposed to have a special affinity
to the place where his umbilical cord is buried. If a Coorg boy is
found going to a particular place frequently, his elders twit him,
<Is your umbilical cord buried there?' Nowadays the umbilical
cord is buried in the yard of the palace of Mercara, or in a school-
compound, because Coorgs want their sons to do well in examina-
tions and become high government officials.
A part of the ancestral estate is used for burying or cremating the
dead members of the okka. The part where corpses are buried is
called kekala while the adjoining part llsed for cremation is called
!u!angala. 2 It is sacred, but in an undesirable way: the term
'bad-sacred' has been used to denote such a ritual condition. (Bad-
sacredness includes within itself both 'defilement' and <inauspi-
ciousness'.) A visit to the burial-ground defiles a person and a bath
is necessary to restore him to normal ritual status.
The burial-ground for children may be near the house, whereas
that for adults must be as far away as possible. The ghosts of adults
are harmful, while children's ghosts are comparatively harmless.
An adult has a social personality, whereas a child does not have one.
An adult occupies a social role or several social roles. The ghost of

1 Minor deities like Piida and Gujika are also represented by similar stones,
and occasionally found alongside stones representing cobra-deities.
2 Amongst Coorgs, the corpses of elders and important people are cremated,
while the corpses of children and unimportant people are buried. The Brahmins,
however, cremate all dead persons except infants, and in many parts of south
India castes which want to rise in ~tatus give up burial for cremation.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 79
a headman or a hero or a particularly evil man is more powerful
than that of an ordinary man. The mourning-period also varies
according to age and social importance of the deceased.

It is not only places which have ritual value, but also points of
the compass. East is a sacred direction because the sun rises there,
and Hindus in all parts ofIndia regard the sun as a deity.
The ancestral house faces east and so does the ancestor-shrine.
The lip of the sacred wall-lamp in the central hall faces east. The
subject of a mangala ceremony sits facing east.
On getting up from his bed in the morning a Coorg salutes the
wall-lamp and the sun. The cultivation of rice is accompanied by
ritual at every stage, and on all these ritual occasions the subject of
the rites begins by saluting the sun.
South is an inauspicious or bad-sacred direction. A corpse is
buried or cremated with its head towards south. In Sanskritic
Hinduism, south is the abode of Yama, the god of death.
Coorgs, like Hindus in other parts of India, regard east as a
good-sacred direction and south as a bad-sacred direction. East is
associated with Churiya (sun-god), and south with Yama. Both
these deities have an All-India spread. Coorgs worship these two
deities along with other Hindus all over India. The possession of
common values binds people together and Coorgs form a single
community with Hindus all over India when they worship the same
deities.

VI

Murta is the crucial part of mangala, and the rites performed

prior to murta prepare the subject for it. The subject is shaved by
the barber, given a bath by three married women, and dressed in
ritual robes and ornaments before sitting down to murta. Shaving,
the first of several preparatory rites, will be briefly considered here.
It is necessary to repeat here that shaving is done by barbers
who form a caste. Contact with the barber defiles a member of a
higher caste, and consequently shaving is invariably followed by a
purificatory bath.
The subject of mangala wears a white cotton kupya while he is
80 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

being shaved by the barber. The kupya is like a dressing-gown, and

it is either black or white. The white gown is of cotton, has long
sleeves, and covers the neck up to the throat. This is the traditional
ritual dress of Coorgs. The black gown is a Westernized version of
the white original: it is of wool, has short sleeves, and a V-shaped
neck permitting the display of a collar and tie. The white gown is
ritually superior to the black gown.
Usually the gown is secured at the waist by a tasselled red silk
sash called eMle, but when the subject is sitting for the shaving
rite, a red cotton scarf is used instead of the silk sash.
The subject salutes the lamp in the south-western room, the
south-western pillar, and the wall-lamp before sitting on the
tripod stool placed on a mat. Near the mat is a dining-dish (tali)
containing milk, and a harvest-basket containing some rice, a
coconut, a bunch of plantains, and betel leaves and areca-nut.
Water may not be used for shaving on this occasion. Milk is used
instead. The shavings are put into the dining-dish, and later the
barber empties the dish at the foot of a milk-exuding tree.
A distinctive form of shaving prevails at marriage, and perhaps
at subsequent mangalas (it does not, however, prevail at the ear-
boring mangala). The front of the head is shaved in such a manner
that it leaves two 'horns' above the temples, formed by the shaved
patches. This mode of shaving is called 'kombanjavara' which
means 'horn shave'.
The harvest-basket containing rice, plantains, and the bell-metal
dining-dish, and the scarf at the subject's waist, are given as gifts
to the barber.
Two other men get themselves shaved after the subject. All over
south India it is common at a wedding for two or four companions
of the subject to 'accompany' him (or her) in certain rites. For
instance, two men are given a bath along with the groom, and two
girls are given a bath along with the bride.
In the south-western parts of Coorg the bride undergoes, before
murta, a rite called 'kurangodi muripa', which is analogous to
shaving. The bride's brother's wife removes from the bride's head
a thin wisp of hair, and pares her nails. (The barber normally pares
the nails after shaving a man.) These are put into a dining-dish
containing milk. Later, the dining-dish is emptied at the foot of a
milk-exuding tree.
Coorgs are generally more Westernized in their ways than others
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 81
in Coorg, and there are more cropped heads among them than
among others. But formerly they, like other Hindus, had their
entire heads shaved but for a tuft of hair at the crown. Tufts
started giving place to cropped heads towards the close of the last
century. The exclusive shaving of the face as distinct from the
shaving of the face along with the head also came into vogue at the
same time, and moustaches, which were only removed at the death
of a very close relative, began to disappear entirely.
Marriage conferred on a man the right to have his head shaved
periodically, and a bachelor was not entitled to it unless he had
undergone the ear-boring mangala. The latter ritual conferred
social adulthood on a male: in the folksong about the hero Kaiyan-
dira Appayya it is seen that he successfully claims to be an adult on
the strength of the fact that his friends, all boys tending cattle,
performed this ritual for him in the jungle.
The ear-boring mangala has now entirely disappeared, and I
learn that even fifty years ago it was only performed very rarely,
and that, too, as a votive offering to a deity. But though the ritual
had disappeared the concepts associated with it continued to exist
for some time afterwards. It was considered improper for an adult
to be without ear-rings, and such men were not admitted to the
temple of Iggutappa in NalkniiQ. If a Coorg died without his ears
being bored, the corpse's ears were pierced before burial.
The ear-boring mangala was the first of several mangalas for a
male, and the head was shaved for the first time on this occasion.
The performance of this mangala conferred certain privileges
on the individual in question, one of which being that he could
have his face shaved periodically by a barber.
At the various mangalas shaving is a preparatory ritual act. On
these occasions it is followed by a bath and by the wearing of
ritually pure robes. These preliminary rites make the subject
pure, and while in this condition he performs certain rites, or others
perform certain rites towards him.
The form of shaving prevalent normally is different from that
prevalent at mourning. Normally the tuft at the crown and the
moustache have to be left untouched at shaving, while at mourning
it is obligatory, at any rate for the chief male mourners, to have their
heads and faces shaved entirely. Other close relatives who are
junior to the dead person are recommended to follow the example
of the chief mourners, but it does not seem to be obligatory for
6
82 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

them. The mourners get themselves shaved on the morning

following the disposal of the corpse; and this shave marks the
beginning of ritual mourning. The mourners may not have another
shave while ritual mourning lasts. In the case of the eldest son and
widower, ritual mourning lasts sometimes six months, and during
this entire period shaving is forbidden.
The restriction on shaving is only one of several restrictions
imposed on the mourners, and in order to understand its meaning
completely all the restrictions have to be taken into consideration.
The mourners are forbidden to consume meat, honey, betel leaves
and areca-nut, mushrooms, and liquor. They may not go to a
temple, or wedding, or dance. They have to wear mourning dress,
and they have to perform certain ritual. It is necessary to emphasize
that these restrictions have to be observed. They show to the out-
side world that the mourner is 'concerned' in the death that has
occurred.
There are degrees of 'concern': the close relatives have to show
greater concern than distant kindred. The mourning period is
longer for them, and they are marked off from the others in other
ways too. The obligatory expression of concern in the culturally
defined manner serves to maintain a certain kinship and social
structure.

VII

The preparatory, purificatory ritual act which comes after shaving

is a ritual bath. It is usual for three 1 married women to give
this ritual bath to the subject. The gu4¢a or bathroom is a room
outside the main building of the ancestral house, and the subject
marches in state to it. The procession is headed by pipers and
drummers followed by four Coorgs beating a tiny drum and
singing the traditional 'road song'. At a wedding, after the groom
returns in state from his bath, the best man 2 helps to dress him in
ritual robes and ornaments.
A Coorg washes his hands, feet, and face before saluting the
sacred wall-lamp every day, morning and evening; and on festival
1 Odd numbers have ritual value in Coorg as elsewhere in south India. Number
'3' is specially sacred. A person usually walks thrice round a sacred object like
a tripod stool, temple, and funeral pyre.
2 The best man (b6jakara) is a married man, and the bride has a matron of
honour (bOjakarati).
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 83
days he takes a bath and changes into clothes washed by the
washerman. Both bath and change of clothes are preliminary to
prayer.
It is usual to approximate physical impurity to ritual impurity.
An unwashed state is an impure state, and taking a bath and chang-
ing into clean clothes alter the ritual status of the subject. While
this is generally true we must, however, guard ourselves against
completely identifying physical purity or cleanliness with ritual
purity. It is not every bath that changes the ritual status of the
subject.
A ritual bath alters the subject's ritual status. It adds to his
ritual purity and makes him fit to pray, or to be possessed by a
deity. But sometimes the emphasis is on the bath terminating a
condition of ritual impurity. That is to say, instead of a bath adding
purity to normal ritual status, it might only be putting an end to
ritual impurity, which is a condition inferior to normal ritual status.
For instance, a mother is ritually impure for fifty-nine days after
the birth of her child. On the twelfth day, however, she attains
partial purity after a bath and this enables her to enter the central
hall and kitchen hut not the south-western room. The child is
ritually given a name on the twelfth day.
But complete purity is only attained on the sixtieth day when a
ceremony called aruvud (literally, the sixtieth) is performed. The
mother has a bath, changes her clothes, marks her forehead with
three horizontal stripes of vibhuti or sacred ashes,1 and then per-
forms certain rites.
The important point to note here is that on both the twelfth and
the sixtieth days a bath marks the termination of ritual impurity.
It is also preliminary to the performance of certain rites.
That a ritual bath is different from an ordinary bath is made
dear from the fact that the confined mother has an elaborate
massage and bath every day, beginning with the day the baby is
born. The massage and bath last several hours, but their object is
therapeutic and not ritual. It is only on the twelfth and sixtieth
days that a bath alters the ritual condition of the mother. 2 All baths
dean the body, but only some purify as well as clean.

1 All over south India devotees of the god Shiva mark their foreheads every
morning with three horizontal stripes of vibhUti or sacred ashes.
• Orthodox Brahmins frequently keep a cloth which they dip in water and
.
squeeze dry and tie round their waists while performing certain rites. This
84 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Greater ritual purity or merit ensues from a cold-water bath than

from a hot-water bath. If the subject takes a cold-water bath while
wearing his ritual robes, even greater ritual merit is acquired. Thus
mourners are required to perform certain rites while their clothes
are wet and dripping.
On the twelfth or sixteenth day of the death of a person the
ceremony of miida is performed and this puts an end to ritual
mourning for all except the first-grade mourners. Until the per-
formance of mtida, the mourners offer food every day to the
spirit of the dead person. When making these offerings they are
required frequently to take a plunge in a well or pond with their
clothes on. But this is not a pleasant thing to do, and especially so
in the wet and cold seasons, and consequently, after the first plunge
for the day, the mourners content themselves by washing their
hands and feet, and wetting a corner of their waist-cloths. This is
regarded as sufficient to meet the ends of ritual purity. Such a
traditionally sanctioned mechanism makes ritual simpler and less
inconvenient to the persons concerned.
The widower (or widow) and eldest son go, after the mourning
period is over, to Bhagaman<;lla where the rivers Kaveri and
Kanak6 meet. After a shave, they bathe in the confluence of the
two rivers, and then offer baIls of rice-flour to the dead person's
spirit. This is followed by a visit to the temple of Bhagan<;leshwara
where the mourners offer worship. Subsequently they go to the
source of the River Kaveri, bathe in the larger spring, worship the
smaller spring, and then return home.
Two ideas can be distinguished in the above ritual acts: (1) a
ritual bath alters the ritual status of the subject; and (2) bathing
in a sacred river is not only purifying in a ritual sense, but also
removes the sins of the bather. This latter idea is shared by Hindus
all over India, and when a Coorg bathes in the Kaveri he partici-
pates in a ritual idiom that spreads all over India. The Kaveri is a
sacred river for Hindus in every part of south India, and it is even
called the 'dakshilJa ganga' or the Southern Ganges. Bathing in the
Ganges, or in any other sacred river, rids a person of the sins he
has committed both in this and in a previous existence. It confers.
on him spiritual merit (pulJya).
Sanskritic Hinduism has incorporated into itself the idea that
cloth is frequently not very clean, whereas a snow-white dhoti brought by the
washerman is ritually impure.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 85
bathing changes the ritual status of the bather, and has elaborated
it in such a manner that pious Hindus believe in the sin-cleansing
and merit-conferring powers of sacred rivers.
On the seventh or twelfth day after the birth of a child in a Coorg
house, the washerman comes with a vessel full of water in which
coutu or salt-impregnated earth! has been dissolved. With the aid
of a few mango leaves he sprinkles the solution all over the house
and this act rids the house of its impurity and restores it to normal
ritual status. Nowadays, however, Coorgs increasingly call on a
Brahmin to purify the house on the twelfth day.
It is probable the washerman was employed as purifier because
of his occupation. But such a duty is not consistent with the posi-
tion he normally occupies in the caste hierarchy. For instance, he is
prohibited from entering the more sacred parts of an ancestral
house, like the kitchen and central hall, as he defiles them by his
presence. If, however, he has to enter them in the exercise of his
duties-at marriage he covers the ceiling of the central hall with
clean white sheets-they are purified subsequently. But no such
inconsistency exists in the case of the Brahmin, and the increasing
tendency to employ him is part of the general process of Sanskrit i-
zation of Coorg customs.

VIII

After having been given a bath by three married women, the

groom is helped into his ritual robes and ornaments by the best
man. He has to wear a white cotton gown for the mitrta, and this
is worn in such a way that the right side comes over the left side.
A red silk sash secures the gown at the waist. The ornamental
Coorg knife, piche katti, is tucked into the sash in front, and the
broad Coorg sword, o<;li katti, hangs from its clasp at the groom's
back. The clasp is fixed to a chain which is tied round the groom's
waist. The groom also wears a number of ornaments.
The groom wears the Coorg turban (piini man<;/e tUl)i) which is
fiat at the top and also covers the back of the head. He may not
wear any sandals, however, as leather defiles. He carries in his hand
a staff (gejje tan<;l) with small bells tied to it near the top.
The bride wears a uniform of red silk: a red silk sari, a red silk
full-sleeved Coorg blouse (kala kupya), and a red silk scarf which
1 The washerman uses couTu for washing clothes.
86 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

is tied round her head. She wears bangles, necklaces, ear-rings, and
also ornaments on her ankles, feet, and toes.
The best man and matron of honour hold a white cloth umbrella
over the groom and bride respectively.1
Nowadays, the black, woollen, half-sleeved gown is coming into
fashion. Every Coorg who can afford it sports it at festivals, dances,
and weddings. It has become a mark of wealth and status, and the
white cotton gown which has superior ritual status is becoming
almost a symbol of poverty. But even now the subject of a mangala,
as distinct from others who are not as important, wears a white
gown. Any suggestion that he should discard the white gown in
favour of the black would meet with opposition from one and all.
It may be mentioned here that the hero Kaiyandira Appayya, to
whom reference has already been made, was prohibited from doing
a number of things which an ordinary Coorg did, such as handling
a plough, eating bamboo shoots, and wearing a black gown. He was
required to wear a white gown always.
The corpse, which is in some respects treated as similar to the
subject of a mangala, is dressed in a white gown, but with the
underside on top if it is going to be cremated, and with the left
side over the right if it is going to be buried.
Formerly, mourners also wore the white gown, but in a particular
way: the right hand did not pass through the right arm of the gown,
but instead it was allowed to hang limp from the right shoulder.
The gown was secured at the waist by a black sash instead of a
red one.
The white gown is worn on all important ritual occasions.
Ritual occasions are either auspicious or inauspicious, and there is
need to differentiate between them. Hence, though the subject of
mangala, corpse and mourner, are all dressed in a white gown, the
mode of wearing it is different in each case. The subject of mangala
wears it in the normal way, while in the case of a corpse it is
reversed, and in the case of the mourner the right arm drops loosely
from the shoulder.

1 Round about Mercara the bride and groom both wear a red silk veil during
mlirta. In the southernmost part of Coorg, however, the veil is not worn by
either party. Between Mercara and the Wynaq border, in Kiggatnaq, only the
bride wears a veil, and the groom removes her veil prior to consummating the
marriage on the second night. The veil is generally uncommon among Hindus in
south India and is worn only by the women of the ruling castes. It is likely
that the women of the royal families in pre-British Coorg wore the veil regularly.
 , THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 87
Nowadays, however, all active mourners wear a white waist-cloth
(mumju) and shoulder-cloth (tun(lu). In the case of women mourners,
two of the four corners of the shoulder-cloth are tied in a knot in
front in such a way that the breasts are covered. A waist-cloth
and shoulder-cloth are normally the ritual dress of Hindus in
Malabar.
Red colour seems to have greater ritual value than white, and
silk greater ritual value than cotton. For instance, at a wedding
the ceiling of the sacred central hall is covered with white cloths,
except for the part just above the bridal seat which is covered with
red clothes. All the bride's clothes are of red silk, and according to
the ancient marriage song the groom wore a red silk gown and red
silk turban.
When a man (or woman) dies his relatives have to carry gifts
of white cotton cloths to him. But the dead man's sisters' children,
or dead woman's brothers' children, have to carry gifts of red silk
cloths. Those who bring gifts of red silk cloths are considered to be
closer relatives than those who bring white cotton cloths. It is
those who bring red silk cloths who take part, along with the dead
man's eldest son and widow, in the important pot-breaking rite
(ko(la kukkuva) which ritually severs the dead man's connexion
with his living relatives.
The ritual preference of silk to cotton is widespread all over
peninsular India among Brahmins, and it is very likely that Coorgs
borrowed the use of red silk from the Brahmins of the west coast.
The use of red silk in ritual is not very clearly defined-at least it
is not as clearly defined as the use of the white gown.
The turban is worn OJ:! very important auspicious occasions like
a wedding. On less formal occasions a Coorg ties a scarf round his
head. Both men and women tie a scarf round their heads out of
doors. But no form of head-dress, turban, scarf, or cap, is worn
inside the house. When a kinswoman comes into the house the
hostess removes her scarf. Failure to do so would be an insult, as it
would amount to treatipg the kinswoman as a stranger. Absence
of head-dress indicates the intimacy that prevails among the mem-
bers of a household. It is presumably for this reason that everyone,
including the senior mourners, has to remove his scarf and
sandals before the corpse. Such removal shows that the dead man
• and mourners are members of one household. They are kindred,
and kinship is intimacy. When two people are able to appear before
 88 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

each other without scarves they are intimate, they are members of
the same household. It is an expression of the solidarity prevalent
between the two.
There is a great social and ritual elaboration of the distinction
between a married woman and a widow. A married woman or
garati is one whose first and only husband is alive. Remarried
widows and divorcees have a slightly higher status than widows,
but this does not entitle them to be classed as garatis.
The Coorg widow's dress consists of a white cotton sari, a white
cotton blouse, and a white cotton scarf. None of these clothes may
have a coloured border. The corpse of a widow, too, is dressed in
clothes without a coloured border. The corpse of a married woman,
on the other hand, is dressed in a coloured sari with a coloured, or
silver, or gold, border.
The distinction between a widow and married woman is abso-
lutely fundamental in every part of south India. Married women
have a great number of privileges, whereas widows have a great
number of ritual disabilities. A married woman is auspicious, she
is everywhere welcome, whereas a widow is inauspicious, and she
is unwelcome everywhere. This deep cleavage expresses itself in
the matter of dress also.

IX

1 After being dressed in ritual robes, the subject of mangala salutes

, the various lamps in the house before sitting down for murta.
On either side of him is a dish-lamp placed on a tripod stool.
The dish-lamp is indispensable on every ritual occasion.
Every day, early in the morning and again just before nightfall,
the housewife sweeps the house and sprinkles it with a purifying
solution of cow-dung. She then lights the wall-lamp and salutes it.
While saluting it she prays to the ancestors of the okka, to Mother
Kaveri and Shiva. Every member of the okka salutes the wall-lamp
after getting up in the morning, and again at night.
The ending of night as well as of day is marked by sweeping and
purifying the house, and by lighting and saluting the wall lamp.
The period between the ending of the day and the beginning of
night is regarded as a"'critical time, and children are not given food
or allowed to sleep at that time. This is a common south Indian
custom.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 89
It is regarded as a bad omen if the lamp goes out while a Coorg
is having his dinner. The sudden extinction of the lamp indicates
the approach of disaster. The diner gets up from his meal, deans
the dish and washes his hands. He sits down to dinner again a few
minutes later. This makes it a different meal altogether and not
the one that was interrupted.
A Coorg never says that a lamp has gone out. He says instead,
'the lamp is brighter' (bo{icha dumb pochi). This kind of euphemism
is employed on other occasions also: the Ko<;lagi word for a tiger is
'nari' which means a jackal in every other Dravidian language.
Again, no Coorg says that 'a cobra has bitten So-and-so'. He
says instead, 'a creeper has bitten So-and-so'. Finally, after nightfall
no one mentions the barber. If they have to refer to him they say
instead, 'the scraper of heads'. Amongst the Hindus in Mysore the
barber is referred to after nightfall as 'one whose name may not be
mentioned'. A barber is inauspicious, and contact with him is
defiling. He is also associated with inauspicious occasions such as
death, as mourners have to be shaved. Women specially dread the
barber, as until recently among the highest castes widows were
required to have their heads shaved entirely.
In everyone of the cases we have mentioned circumlocution is
employed to avoid reference to an unpleasant object or event. The
bite of a snake is always unpleasant and frequently fatal; a barber
suggests death and widowhood; and it is much better to think of a
tiger as a jackal. The euphemistic reference to the extinction of a
lamp has a similar purpose: a lamp is the symbol of the solidarity
and strength of the okka, and its sudden extinction refers to the
decay and extinction of the okka. It also refers to the withdrawal of
the protective power of the ancestors and the deities who are
invoked while saluting a lamp.
Among the Hindus of the eastern plains it is obligatory to light a
lamp in the house as soon as it is dark. A house without a lamp
suggests that everyone is dead in the house, or that they are too
poor to light one.
The ritual attitude prevalent towards the domestic lamp is easily
extended to fire generally, and to the sun. These again provide
points of contact with Sanskritic or All-India Hinduism.
The kitchen stove is a convenient focus for the general ritual
attitude existing towards fire. The kitchen stove, like the domestic
lamp, stands for the unity, strength, and protective power of the
90 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

okka and this fact finds ritual expression. When a member of the
okka is dead and it is decided to cremate his body, the funeral pyre
is fired with a torch lighted from embers from the kitchen stove.
The torch is made with twigs collected from the domestic burial-
ground.
The belief in the protective power of teli nir is again the result of
a ritual attitude towards the kitchen stove. A few embers from the
kitchen stove and a few grains of cooked rice from a vessel on the
stove are put into a dining-dish. Water is poured on the embers and
rice, and a thick, ashy liquid is formed in the dining-dish. This
liquid is teli nir, and great protective powers are attributed to it. The
mourners returning home on the eleventh day after performing the
rites in the burial-ground, a daughter-in-law returning to her
conjugal home with her baby born in her natal home, a member of
the house returning from a long journey, and a newly bought calf
are all sprinkled with it.
In the foregoing instances teli nir removes some inimical or
dangerous power in the person or object that is coming into the
house. People who are 'strangers' to the okka have this power in
them. A child of a male member of the okka born in its mother's
natal house, a newly bought calf, a member long absent from home,
and a mourner are all 'strangers' for purposes of teli nir. Mem-
bers of the okka enjoy its protection and strength while persons
and objects outside it do not do so. Things that stand for the okka
represent its strength and protective power, and the kitchen stove
is an appropriate object to stand for the okka. The embers and
the cooked rice are both taken from the kitchen stove. The kitchen
stove and the dining-dish also stand for commensality which is a
basic feature of the okka in every part of India. In fact, commen-
sality is a legal criterion of 'jointness'. Commensality denotes the
unity and strength of the okka. Commensality is an act of solidarity.
Absence of commensality indicates division. In a country like
India where all kinds of ritual rules surround eating, commensality
assumes even greater importance than what it would have in
another society.
The domestic lamp, as long as it is burning, indicates that the
protective power of the okka is active, and its going out indicates
the withdrawal of such protective power. Such withdrawal spells
dangers to the members of the okka. The domestic lamp led to a
consideration of the significance of the kitchen stove, and this in
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 91
turn led to a consideration of fire generally and the sun. In
Sanskritic or All-India Hinduism, Agni is the god of fire and he
is related to SaviUir or Surya, the sun-god. Agni and Surya are
deities in the Vedas and they are known and understood all over
Hindu India. The local phenomenon of the attribution of sacred-
ness to the domestic lamp and kitchen stove is absorbed into the
All-India worship of Agni and SiIrya. 1 Coorgs are drawn into an
All-India ritual idiom which is mainly Sanskritic in character.

x
The sprinkling of rice on a person or thing is a common ritual
act in Coorg, and it is one of the several acts which together form
the ritual of miirta. An instance of the ritual sprinkling of rice will
be considered now with a view to discovering its meaning.
Birth results in pollution for the mother, the new-born infant,
and the okka of which the mother is a member. While the other
members of the polluted okka attain normal ritual status on the
twelfth day of birth, the mother herself remains polluted till the
sixtieth day. On that day, after a bath which ends her long period
of pollution, she performs a certain ritual which signifies her
resumption of her normal, pre-pollution duties.
One of her normal duties is the bringing of water from the
domestic well into the kitchen, and the resumption of this particular
duty is dramatized in 'Ganga puja' (worship of Ganga or Ganges).
The confined woman has a bath, after which she changes into
ritually pure garments. She then goes to the domestic well accom-
panied by two married women. First of all she salutes the sun by
throwing some rice grains into the air, and this is followed by
putting small quantities of rice thrice into the well. She then drops
a few betel leaves, with the smooth side on top, into the well, and
also empties the milk of a slit coconut into it. Finally, the confined
woman and, after her, her two companions draw water from the
well in vessels and carry the latter into the kitchen.
During the later stages of pregnancy, and for two months after
the birth of the child, the confined woman has been freed from all
domestic duties. The resumption of her domestic duties on the

1 It may be argued, however, that the attribution of sacredness to the domestic

lamp and stove is derived from the worship of Agni and Silrya, and not vice
versa.
92 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

sixtieth day of the birth of the child is dramatized in the ritual of

'Ganga puja'. Her relationship with the domestic well has been
broken for some time and the resumption of this relationship is
not without a certain amount of 'awkwardness', as in the case of
~wo human beings. The worship of the domestic well, the solidarity
rites performed towards it, the offering of betel leaves and a
coconut all make the process of resumption of contact smoother.
While white rice is used in auspicious ritual, rice yellowed with
turmeric is used in inauspicious ritual. At the very important
funeral rite of 'breaking the pot', each of the mourners sprinkles a
little rice, yellowed with turmeric, on the corpse before saluting it.
The ritual sprinkling of rice on objects and persons usually
accompanies salutation. In murta, the sprinkling of rice occurs with
salutation and with the giving of milk and money presents. All
these rites affirm a bond which exists between the subject and all
those who perform them to him. These are members of his kin-
group, caste-group, and village. They constitute his community.
These rites of solidarity which affirm the existence of a bond
between the subject and the community serve also to stress the
importance of the particular mangala the subject is undergoing.
It is entirely proper that rice and not any other grain or article
should be used in the most common solidarity rite in Coorg.
Even today rice has a very important place in the social and
economic life of Coorgs, and formerly, before the introduction of
coffee and oranges into Coorg, it was the most valuable crop.!

XI

The ritual of giving milk to the subject follows the sprinkling

of rice on him. This, like the other ritual acts mentioned earlier, is
performed at every mangala including marriage, While the struc-
ture of every mangala is, broadly speaking, the same, there are
minor differences between one mangala and another. The ritual
giving of milk at marriage makes the meaning of ritual milk-giving
particularly clear.
On the first day of marriage murta is performed separately for
the bride and groom in their respective homes. The bride's relatives
and the high-caste members of her village perform murta to her in
1 Among the Brahmins of south India the assembled priests and relatives
bless the bridal pair by sprinkling on them rice yellowed with turmeric.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 93
her house, and the groom's relatives and members of his village
perform marta to him in his house.
On the second day, the groom's relatives go in state to the
bride's house, and the groom's relatives perform m(ma to the
bride. For this purpose they carry some of their own rice and milk
with them.
The bride's relatives perform milrta to the groom and, finally,
the groom performs mitrta to the bride. Later in the day the bride
leaves her natal home and accompanies the groom to his home.
Relatives of the groom who did not accompany him to the bride's
house now perform miirta to the bride.
When a marriage takes place, it is not only two persons who
come together but two kin-groups. They come together through
the acquisition of two common objects of interest. But before
marriage the bride was only an object of common interest to her
natal kin-group, and the groom to his natal kin-group.
When a marriage takes place, there is a change in the social per-
sonalities of the bride and groom. It gives them new rights and
obligations. Some of this is symbolized in marriage ritual: for
instance, the bride loses her rights in her natal okka and acquires
them, instead, in her conjugal okka; she carries water from the
groom's okka's well to his kitchen; and finally she carries manure
to the groom's ancestral paddy-field.
Every mangala marks a change in the social personality of the
subject: he moves from one position in the status system to another.
On such an occasion the group concerned performs towards him a
series of solidarity rites. The performance of these solidarity rites
shows that the group concerned authorizes and approves of the
change in the social personality of the subject. A casteman or
relative who fails to attend the particular mangala is understood as
not approving of it. Relations between him and those who attend
become strained. He has effected a breach in the solidarity.
Like the sprinkling of rice, the giving of milk is a common
ritual act in Coorg. At the naming ceremony of a child, the mother
puts the infant into the cradle and says, 'Chengappa, get up to eat
rice mixed with milk.' She smears the child's tongue with a little
cream, using a gold coin to scoop the cream contained in a bowl.
A child is given solid food to eat six months after birth: and this
food usually consists of cooked rice mixed with milk and sugar.
On the second day after marriage, when the bride enters her con-
94 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

jugal home, her mother-in-law combs her hair and gives her rice
mixed with milk to eat. The latter dish is considered a great delicacy.
Milk is used not only on good-sacred occasions but also on bad-
sacred occasions. When an infant dies, a coconut-shell contain-
ing milk from its mother's breasts is placed over the grave; and
if it is a few months old, rice mixed with milk is placed there
instead.
On the day after the cremation of a corpse, the dead man's son
goes to the burial-ground, and on the spot where the dead man was
buried he pours successively a vessel of water and a vessel of milk.
Milk is a very valued commodity, and the ritual giving of milk
indicates that solidarity is, or ought to be, prevalent between the
giver and the recipient. It is also a symbol of pleasure, luxury, and
happiness, and consequently mourners abstain from it while they
offer it to the spirit of the departed person. The mourners also
abstain from other valued objects like curd, honey, mushrooms,
meat, and betel leaves and areca-nut, which are again offered to
the dead person's spirit.
A kinsman who drank milk during the mourning period would
be guilty of impiety towards the dead person. In the neighbouring
KannaQa country it is considered a very bitter abuse to tell a
person, 'I will drink milk when you die.'
The use of milk is extended from solidarity rites to other rites
which have either no reference to solidarity at all or at best only a
very indirect one. While ordinarily water is used in shaving a man,
milk is used while shaving a bridegroom. The dish containing the
milk and the shavings is later emptied at the foot of a milk-exuding
tree like the jack tree (artocarpus integrifolia). The placenta is
similarly buried at the foot of a milk-exuding tree. One of the five
pillars of a marriage pandal has to be a branch of a milk-exuding
tree. After a corpse has been cremated the bones are consigned
either to a river or buried at the foot of a milk-exuding tree. At
mourning, leaf-cups made from the leaves of the jack tree are used
to offer food to the spirit of the departed person.

XII

Everyone who performs miirta to the subject should give a money-

gift, and the three married women are expected to give a gold
coin (pombalJa) each. At a wedding the mother of the bride
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 95
(or groom), and the groom while performing mitrta to the bride,
have to give a purse containing several coins, one of which should
be a gold coin.
A money-gift has to be given not only at mangala but on other
occasions as well: relatives who come to pay their last respects to
the dead man perform a series of solidarity rites at the end of which
they give a money-gift. Again, an infant has to be given a money-
gift on the occasion of giving him (or her) a name. In fact, a
relative who is seeing an infant for the first time must give a money-
gift. On the second day of marriage, when the bride visits the
groom's house, she gives a money-gift to every infant in her con-
jugal okka. Later the groom does the same in the bride's okka.
It is hardly necessary to state that the giving of a money-gift
does not always constitute a solidarity rite. It may be given in
return for a service, which, however, might be purely nominal. A
guest to a wedding gives a pG1Ja to each of the two girls holding a
dish-lamp in his honour at the entrance to the bridal house.
At the wedding the elders of the groom's village publicly examine
the box containing the bride's trousseau. They are collectively
given five palJas (fifteen annas), and this money is called 'witness
money' (sakshi palJa). Subsequently, if there is a dispute as to the
contents of the bride's box the elders will be called upon to give
evidence. Such disputes do not normally occur, however; except
in the event of the woman wanting to return to her natal okka on
becoming a widow, or after being divorced. Again, when the bride's
family friend consents to hold himself responsible for her good
behaviour in the groom's house he is paid a palJa as 'witness-
money'. The groom's family friend is paid similarly for holding
himself responsible for the good behaviour of the groom's
relatives.
In the above instances the passing of money from one hand to
another has the effect of sealing a contract. It may also be inter-
preted as payment in advance for some service to be rendered in
the future. An occasion might not, and usually does not, arise
requiring the elders or either of the family friends to render the
service expected of them or him, and the strictly nominal character
of the payment might be attributed to this fact. Such an interpreta-
tion is plausible, but does not appear to us to be true. In the in-
stance just mentioned the emphasis seems to be much more on the
fact of the acceptor of the money binding himself to a particular
96 RBLIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COOllGS

course of action in the future rather than on the services to be

rendered in the future.
A gold coin is placed in the mouth o( a dead man if the latter was
a married man. This coin is referred to as 'money for the road'. It
probably refers to the expenses which the dead man's soul incurs
on its journey. No gold coin is, howevet, placod in the mouth if the
dead man was a bachelor, or had the reputation of being very
wicked. In such a ease a very bitter fruit called 'lc4n,Q1}Qt kdyi' is
placed in his mouth. A bachelor and a wicked man are both in a
spiritually Unsatiafact01 y condition, and it is believed that their
ghosts are likely to trouble survivors. The bitter fruit is an
appropriate symbol of his unsatisfactory spiritual condition, of the
fact that he is a danger to the surviving relatives and others.
It may be recalled here that a gold coin is used in ritually feeding
a child on tho occasion of conferring a name on it. A gold (or silver)
coin which is used in solidarity rites itself becomes a symbol of a
satisfactory spiritual and ritual condition. It was seen that this
happened to a much greater extent in the case of milk.

XIII

The various forms of salutation prevalent among Coorgs have

already been described. It is interesting to note that there is no
difference between the mode of salutation adopted towards another
Coorg and that adopted towards a deity. A deity might be saluted
either by bowing the head and folding the palms at the chest, or by
first of all prostrating oneself completely before the image and then
getting up and bowing the head and folding the palms. The former
mode is adopted normally towards the wall-lamp, while the latter is
adopted at a famous temple, or towards the wall-lamp on a special
occasion.
The Coorg form of salutation is prevalent among Hindus all
over India, and it is only one of several instancer-where Coorgs
participate in a ritual idiom common to all Hindus.
Salutation brings into relief a particular aspect of solidarity
rites: solidarity does not necessarily mean the equality of the
persons participating in the particular solidarity rite. Conversely,
inequality between the participants does not denote lack of
solidarity. When a young Coorg salutes his father's elder brother
he Ii not claiming to be his uncle's equal. The very act of salutation
Coon!; b,;degroom and bride rFhd,! .' T.S.S
 The Murta ritual for the bridegroom [Photo: T.S.S.

The harvest festival of Putri : Combat with stick and shield

[Photo: T .S.S.
Typical Coorg landscape [Photo: T.S.S.

A mountain road in Coorg [Photo: T .S.S.

 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 97
expresses that the junior is inferior to the senior: the former's head
is bent and he touches the latter's feet with both hands. The junior's
hands are later carried back to his forehead.
In fact, a junior who failed to show the respect due to a senior
by not saluting him would be effecting a breach in the solidarity.
Hostility would be the result. Everyone would say that such a
youth did not know his place, that his elders had not brought him
up properly, an~ so on.

XIV

A band is considered essential to every ritual occasion: at mangalas,

calendar festivals, and festivals of village-deities a band plays
most of the time.
A close relative comes to a wedding accompanied by his own
band. He must be received by the hosts with band, and again, I
)
when he departs, the hosts must accompany him a little distance
with their band leading the way. When the relative finally takes I
leave of the hosts he pays the latter's band three PQ1)QS, one for the
men blowing the horns, another for the pipers, and the third for
the drummers.
Relatives coming to pay their last respects to the dead man are
also required to be accompanied by their band. If they are not
accompanied by their own band, they arrange to hire the services
of the local band, at some distance from the mourning-house.
A band plays before a mourning-house too, but the beat (chdvu
pare=death-beat) employed on this occasion is distinctive, and
it may not be employed on an auspicious occasion.
The presence of a band testifies to the social importance of the
occasion or person. A wedding at which there was no band would
be inconceivable to a Coorg. Again, if at a wedding an important
guest were not received with a band, he would regard it as an
insult. Coorgs have an elaborate code of courtesy, and this has to be
scrupulously observed.
The okkas of the bride and groom have each to give several
dinners during the wedding. These dinners are of two kinds: one
in which the chief guests are the members of the particular bridal
party's own village, and another in which the important guests are
from other villages.
The above distinction is important, as it throws light on the
7
 98 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

social structure. A village forms a unity, and ideally speaking it is

not only the bride's (or groom's) okka, but her (or his) entire village
which ought to act as hosts. Formerly they did not sit down to
dinner with the guests from other villages, but waited on the latter
along with the members of the host okka. They sat down to dinner
later.
On the day before the wedding, every house in the village has to
\ send one man and one woman to the bridal house to help in the
wedding work. They have to do every kind of work which the
wedding involves, but their primary duties seem to be cooking the
huge dinners and serving them to the guests, and looking after the
guests generally.
After the villagers have arrived the head of the bridal house
requests them to take charge of the wedding for him and to exercise
due economy in the discharge of their duties. In the evening there
. is a dinner for the villagers which is called uru patti (village dinner),
and which seems to mark their assumption of responsibility. There
is another village dinner on the day after the marriage at which the
villagers return the 'ladle and spoon' to the bridal okka. The return
of the 'ladle and spoon' marks the end of the villagers' duties at the
wedding. The villagers apologize to the head of the bridal okka for
any faults they might have committed in the discharge of their
duties, and the head thanks them for the great help rendered by
them.
The members of a village in which a death has occurred are
required to help the bereaved okka in several ways during mourning
and the latter okka give the villagers two dinners at the conclusion
of ritual mourning to express their thanks. The services rendered,
and the dinners given, are both obligatory, and they are among the
many links which bind together the members of the village
community.
Besides the above dinners the members of a village occasionally
dine together and this is referred to as 'urorme' or 'village harmony' .
The solidarity of the village expresses itself at these dinners, even
though all the castes in the viilage do not sit together at them. It
has to be remembered in this connexion that the nuclear unit of
the Coorg community, the okka, is normally a commensal unit.
The sub-caste too occasionally dines together, and one of the
punishments inflicted on the excommunicated man is that he may
not be admitted to the caste dinners.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 99
On the day after the wedding the bride goes to the groom's
house where a few rites are performed which symbolize the ad-
mission of the bride into the groom's okka. The marriage is con-
summated that night, and the bride returns to her natal house
after spending a few days in the groom's house. She is not allowed
to be seen by members of her natal village until a dinner has been
given to them.
Richter tells us that formerly the bride returning to her natal
home was 'treated as unclean', 'shut up like a woman after child-
birth', and that she was kept in seclusion 'for a fortnight, or a
month, or even two months, according to the wealth and respecta-
bility of the family'.l Elderly informants deny that she was re-
garded as unclean, but they do confirm the fact that she was not
allowed to see the villagers before a dinner had been given to them.
The bride becomes a member of the groom's okka at marriage.
The consummation of the marriage in the groom's house on the
second night also indicates to her that her future position is that of
a mother who contributes children to her husband's okka. Marriage
in a patrilocal and patrilineal kinship system affects a gre,,"ter
change in the bride's social personality than in the groom's. She is
a new person, and this is recognized in her not being allowed to meet
the members of her natal village before a dinner has been given
them. When there has been a break in the continuity of a relation-
ship, or when a relationship with a new person has to be begun,
the best way to do it is with a dinner. Dinner, as we have noted
earlier, is an act of solidarity, and the villagers forge their solidarity
with the new person, the bride returning to her natal house from
the groom's.

xv
All mangalas except marriage have either become defunct or so
rarely performed that nowadays mangala is almost synonymous
with marriage. The ritual performed at marriage may be divided
into two parts, one part being mangala, and the other concerned
with the jural aspect of marriage. Only the former part has been
analysed in this chapter. By means of this analysis it is hoped to
give content to the concept of ritual idiom and to understand the

1 Manual of Coorg, p. 139.

100 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

meanings of certain ritual acts which are very common among

Coorgs.
Murta is the crucial part of mangala, and the subject of mangala
is prepared for murta by a series of preparatory and purificatory
ritual acts such as shaving, bath, and the donning of ritual robes
and ornaments. The various occasions on which each one of these
preparatory ritual acts is performed have been considered in
order to discover their meanings.
Murta itself consists of a series of solidarity rites performed on
the subject of it by each member of the concerned group. The
process of discovering the meaning of each one of the ritual acts
gave us an idea of the ritual idiom of Coorgs.
Solidarity rites are performed on the subject of mangala, and
each mangala marks a change in the subject's social personality.
Thus the ear-boring mangala marked the attainment of adulthood
by a youth. His social personality altered again at marriage as he
then acquired new rights and duties.
A man who killed a panther or tiger in a hunt was entitled to
rnangala being performed. A man who had built a new house
performed mane or house mangala, at which murta was performed
to him.
Pole kanrJa mangala was performed to a girl some time after she
had attained puberty. This corresponded to a boy's ear-boring
mangala. Marriage is another mangala occasion for her and,
formerly, mangala was performed to her in the fifth or seventh
month of her first pregnancy. This marked the attainment of the
status of a mother by her. Motherhood is a valued status, and a
woman who gave birth to ten children, all of whom were alive, was
the subject of a mangala ceremony known as paitiinrJek a!apa.
A child is ritually given a name on the eleventh day of birth, but
this does not constitute a mangala as the child does not count socially
till either the ear-boring or puberty mangala has been performed.
A-fangala is confined to auspicious occasions, and this is the
reason why the ritual disposal of a corpse does not assume the
form of a mangala.
Mangala carries with it the approval of society. This is brought
out clearly in certain cases. For instance, the marriage of a widow
does not constitute a mangala, while the marriage of a widower
does. This is because Coorgs, like Brahmins and other high castes,
do not approve of the marriage of a widow. But in the case of
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 101
Coorgs the disapproval is not sufficiently strong to prohibit
altogether the marriage of a widow, as it is among the Brahmins.
When a man killed a panther, mangala was performed for him
on the village green (iir mandu), whereas it was performed for him
on the naif, green if he killed a tiger. Killing a tiger is worthy of
more honour than killing a panther.
When the youthful hero Kaiyandira Appayya killed the great
fighter ChOndu and thus restored the prestige of Ka<Jiyetna<J, the
general approval with which Appayya's action was regarded
expressed itself in a mangala being performed for him.
 CHAPTER FOUR

THE external world is divided into two parts, the sacred and
non-sacred. The term 'sacred' is used in its wider sense as in-
clusive of 'good-sacredness' as well as 'bad-sacredness'. Good
sacredness includes all forms of ritually desirable states and
conditions like auspiciousness and purity, while bad-sacredness
includes all forms of ritually undesirable states and conditions
such as inauspiciousness and impurity.
'Ilhe Ko<.lagi term for ritual purity is ma(ji, and this term is found
in all other Dravidian languages except Malayalam; and pole,
which means ritual impurity, is found in all Dravidian languages
except Telugu.
Pole is used in Kogagi in two senses: one, in which it means
ritual impurity generally; and another in which it means certain
specific forms of ritual impurity. In the latter cases it is usual to
add the necessary prefixes: for instance, kururju pole (blind pollu-
tion) or tinga pole (monthly pollution) refers to the impurity of a
woman in her periods, and petta pole or pururju 1 pole refers to
birth pollution.
The pollution resulting from the death of a person is called tike.
Tit in Tamil means death-pollution, while tit in Ko<.lagi means
faeces. A house in which an adult has died is referred to as tike
mane (polluted house) till the end of ritual mourning. On the day
ritual mourning ends, in the afternoon, after the mourners have
returned from the burial-ground, the family friend says, 'Until
now mourning, from now on festival' (indiika~1e tamme inya pinya
namme). Tamme is used to mean mourning, while namme is used
to mean festival.
All over India there is a ban on a member of a higher caste
1 Purulju which means the pollution consequent on birth occurs in all Dravi-
dian languages excepting MalayaJam.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 103
touching, or coming very close to, a member of a lower caste. This
is specially so where the structural distance between the two castes
is very great. In Malabar and Coorg the ban on contact between
different castes has been elaborately systematized. People belong-
ing to two different castes have to maintain a certain minimum
distance between them, and failure to do so results in the member
of the higher caste being polluted. TintJu pate means the pollution
that results from the failure to maintain the requisite distance
between two people belonging to different castes.
A man is in a condition of ritual impurity in relation to a member
of a higher caste while he is in a condition of ritual purity towards a
member of a lower caste. The concepts of ritual purity and impurity
systematize and maintain the structural distance between different
castes. Caste hierarchy, on the other hand, makes these concepts
relative, except with reference to castes at either extreme. The
Brahmin is in a condition of purity in relation to all other castes,
while the Untouchable is in a condition of ritual impurity to them.
One of the most important Untouchable castes are the Poley as
(pote+ya). Holeyas are an important Untouchable caste of the
Kanna<;la country, and Pulayans of Malabar. The names of each of
these contain the local term for pollution.
Events like birth and death result in polluting the okka in which
the event has occurred, and certain other relatives. The pollution
resulting from birth is milder than the pollution consequent on
death. But in both cases pollution affects only the concerned
kindred, and it is the means by which concern is defined and made
known to everyone.
A woman is in a condition of pole for three days during her
periods, and she becomes pure only on the fourth day after a bath
in the morning. Formerly, the women of an okka had to live in an
outhouse, at a little distance from the main building, during their
periods. They had to maintain a certain distance from other
members of the okka, and from other people in a condition of
normal ritual status. They were specially required to keep away
from the ancestor-shrine and from the cobra-platform. The cobra-
deity was specially sensitive to defilement, and it was believed that
if a woman approached the cobra-platform during her periods,
the wrath of the deity would descend on the okka of which
she was a member.
Coorg women do not nowadays observe any restrictions during
104 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

their periods. This is surprising as elsewhere in south India these

restrictions are still in force.
Unlike birth and death, menses do not affect the entire okka.
They only affect the particular woman, but the important point to
note is that she is required to avoid touching other members of
the okka and abstain from going near the sacred places on the
ancestral estate. The safety and well-being of the okka will be
jeopardized if she does not observe these restrictions.
It was seen that the concepts of ritual purity and impurity are
very intimately related to permanent features of the social structure
like caste and okka, and later on it will be seen that they are also
related to the village, but these concepts also occur in certain non-
structural contexts. A man, irrespective of the caste to which he
belongs, is in a condition ofritual purity while praying or sacrificing
to an ancestor or deity. He attains this ritual purity by the perfor-
mance of a series of ritual actions like taking a bath and wearing
ritually pure clothes. He comes into contact with an ancestor or
deity when he is praying or making a sacrifice, and such contact
requires that he should be in a condition of ritual purity. This
principle is carried even into ritual mourning: mourners making
an offering of food to the spirit of the departed person are in a
condition of extreme ritual purity while they do it, though their
general ritual condition till the conclusion of mourning is tike, an
extreme form of pollution.

II

Bodily emiSSions and waste matter are ritually impure. Sexual

intercourse resulting in the production of certain fluids from the
bodies of both the partners is prohibited while a person is in a
ritually pure condition: the festival-priests at the festival of
Ketrappa have to observe continence during the twenty-one days
of the biennial festival. In order to ensure that they do observe this
rule they are required to sleep in the outer veranda which women
do not normally enter.
A person who is in a ritually pure condition may not answer a
call of nature. He becomes impure if he does so. Spittle is also
ritually impure. This is so all over India, especially among the
upper castes. A person may not touch his tongue or teeth with his
fingers, and should he do so, he has to wash his hands. Elders come
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS lOS
down heavily on a child who puts his finger into his mouth. A
person is required specially to avoid putting his finger into his
mouth while cooking or serving food.
The Ko<;lagi term for spittle is tupnir (tupparadu in Tamil means
'to spit'), and it is essential to distinguish between spittle and
objects which have come into contact with spittle directly 0r
indirectly. The Ko<,lagi term for the latter class of objects is enji
(Kanna<,la, enja!u, Tamil and Malayalam, echchaJ). A man who
touches his tongue with a finger defiles his entire hand. This is
prohibited normally and especially so while cooking, or serving
food, or praying. If he touches a dish of food with a finger which
has come into contact with his tongue, he defiles the entire dish.
None may eat it.
A Coorg folk-tale illustrates extremely well the power of spittle.
Seven deities, six brothers and a sister, set out frem Malabar in
search of shelter. Three brothers manage, however, to find 'shelter'
in Malabar villages alone. The other three brothers, together with
their sister, cross over into Coorg. As soon as they cross the border
a struggle for supremacy develops between the brothers and sister.
The latter defeats the former in several trials of skill. The brothers
then conspire to overthrow the sister. After dinner they all chew
betel leaves and areca-nut. One of the brothers takes the chewed
stuff out of his mouth and, holding it before the others, says, 'See
how red my stuff is'! The others follow suit. The sister's stuff is
redder than everybody else's. The brothers then pretend to take
the chewed stuff back to their mouths. The sister is taken in and
actually puts the stuff into her mouth. The brothers, after making
certain that the sister has put her stuff into her mouth, throw their
stuff behind their backs. They all exclaim, 'You have eaten enji; you
have lost your caste'. The unfortunate sister is heartbroken, but the
brothers are adamant, and force her to become the deity of Poleyas!
Nail and hair parings are impure, and they have to be tluown
far away from the house. Poverty will result if they are scattered
in the house.
Whiie a person occasionally pares his finger and toe nails, he
does not cut his own hair. This is the barber's job, and the barber's
touch defiles a Coorg. The latter takes a bath and changes his
clothes after he has been shaved. The place where the barber and
his customer sat is purified.
Faeces, urine, semen, menstrual blood, spittle, and parings of
106 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

nail and hair are all ritually impure. 1 As such they are inconsistent
with a condition of ritual purity. It is obvious that in the above
instances physical dirt has been identified with ritual impurity.
Purification consists in taking a bath and wearing pure clothes.
Dirt, then, is seen as ritual impurity, and cleanliness as ritual
purity. It is necessary, however, to stress that they are ritual and
not natural states.
Birth and death both result in ritual impurity for the entire
household for several days. This ritual impurity will not disappear
even if the impure person has a dozen baths a day. But, once the
prescribed period is over, the individual attains his normal ritual
status after a bath. It is necessary to stress that ritual purity is
fundamentally different from cleanliness, though they overlap
frequently. A simple association of ritual purity with cleanliness
and ritual impurity with dirtiness, would be a neat arrangement, but
it would falsify the facts. One comes across ritually pure robes
which are very dirty, and snow-white clothes which are ri.tually
impure.
A corpse is ritually impure and contact with it results in pollu-
tion. The crow, which is a scavenger bird, and is everywhere
associated with death, is also impure. The spirits of dead ancestors
?ssume the forms of crows on certain ritual occasions when they
are propitiated. The conclusion of funeral rites is marked every-
where by the offer of balls of rice to the dead man's spirit. These
balls are kept either on the roof of the house or on the ground at
some distance from the house. If the crows fall to these balls soon,
it is believed that the dead man is satisfied. Delay in the arrival of
the crows indicates that the dead man is dissatisfied.
If the crows perch on a roof and caw, the death of someone
under that roof is presaged. A man who sees two crows mating
will die soon after unless he sends a false message announcing his
death to his kinsmen. Nowadays it is not unusual for a person who
has seen two crows mating to send a telegram announcing his
death to his kinsmen. 2 The mating of crows means their increase,
and the man who sees it L likely to die. The way he can counteract
this is by announcing his death as soon as he has seen the crows
mate. The ends of justice are met by such an announcement.
1 The natural functions of the body are a great source of pollution, and this
idea is at the bottom of the asceticism which is present in Hinduism.
2 Needless to say, this causes the unfortunate kinsfolk a considerable amount
of worry and suffering.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 107
If a crow's droppings fall on a person, he or she will have to dip
in a tank or river a thousand times. This is extremely inconvenient,
and so the person in question sits under a sieve while water is
poured on him through it. The sieve has a few hundred holes,
and every time a vessel of water is poured into it the person under-
neath has a few hundred baths. When the proper observance of a
ritual rule or prohibition involves great trouble and inconvenience,
there come into existence ritual mechanisms which take the edge
off the rules.

III

Bad-sacredness is a wider concept than pollution or ritual im-

purity; and there are several degrees of ritual impurity. The
birth of a child results in a mild form of pollution called petta pole
or pururju for seven or twelve days for all members of the okka
except the mother of the new-born baby, who attains normal ritual
status only on the sixtieth day. During birth-pollution the members
of the okka avoid going to a temple. But they may go to a dance or
wedding where they are bound to touch people in normal ritual status.
Tike or death-pollution is quite a different matter, however. The
members of the dead man's okka have to avoid touching people in
normal status for a period of at least twelve days after death. During
this period they have to observe certain taboos regarding food and
dress. Tike might be described as an acute form of pollution, while
petta pole or PUl"urju pole is a mild form of it. But the latter is a more
serious form ofpollution than normal ritual status.
Normal ritual status is the status which a person enjoys most
of the time. From this point of view, both marji and pole, both
ritual purity and impurity, are deviations from the normal. D(;~lth­
pollution is also an abnormal ritual condition, lasting only for a
short period, comparatively speaking.
There is no term in Kodagi for normal ritual status. When Coorgs
want to describe this condition they resort to the Kallnada (and
also Telugu) term mailige. It is interesting to note that the soiled
clothes which a washerman takes away are mailige, and the clean
clothes which he brings back are marji. The washerman himself is
referred to as marjiva/a.
Ritual impurity, normal ritual status, and ritual purity form a
hierarchy. If a person in an impure condition touches another in a
108 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

condition of either purity or normal ritual status, the latter be-

comes impure. If a person in a condition of normal ritual status
touches another in a pure condition, the latter loses his purity and
is reduced to normal ritual statu~. That is, normal ritual status is a
mild form ofimpurity.
Tike or death-pollution r("presents the highest degree of ritual
impuritY,pole or birth-pollution comes next, and mailige or normal
ritual status is the mildest form of ritual impurity. But macji or
ritual purity is of a different quality altogether, and contact with
impurity in any form usually destroys it.

IV
It has been mentioned earlier that there is an opposition between
good-sacredness and bad-sacredness. This implies that macji which
is good-sacred and pole which is bad-sacred are opposed to each
other. In concrete terms, a man who is in a condition of pole or
tike may not go to a ritually pure place like the temple and village
green. Conversely, a person who is in a condition of macji like the
man who is chosen to cut ritually the paddy sheaves at the harvest
festival may not come into contact with a man enjoying normal
ritual status, still less with someone in a condition of pole. A
person in macji avoids a person inpole.1
There are exceptions to this rule, however. Kaiyandira Appayya,
the boy-hero who saved the honour of Ka~iyetna~, was showered
with honours and privileges by a grateful nacj. One of the privileges
permitted him to visit the temple even when he was suffering from
pole. A similar privilege is even today enjoyed by the Bellitan<;la
okka in the temple of Byturappa in north Malabar. Byturappa, a
form of Shiva, is the patron-deity of a number of okkas in south-
west Coorg. The Bellitan~a okka have the special privilege of being
able to send offerings to their patron-deity even while under pote.
This is because a pregnant woman of the Bellitan~a okka who was
fleeing from Tippu's troops sought and found sanctuary in the
Byturappa temple. She gave birth t6 a boy in the temple and the
boy spent sixteen years in the temple before returning to his okka
in Coorg. There is thus a special bond between the BellitancJa okka

1 A t the annualfestival ofthe deity KiikkotAchchayya, the Brahmin priest carry-

ing the idol of the deity flies into the temple at the sight of the BaI)l)a oracle.
The Brahmin and the idol he carries would both be defiled if he did not do so.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 109
and the deity Byturappa, and this is recognized in the fact that the
former are permitted to send offerings even while under pole.
Macji and pole are opposed to each other, and the normal relation
between them is one of avoidance. But where very great solidarity
is prevalent between two persons or parties, the existence of such
opposition between macji and pote is overruled. In the folksongs
there is an explicit recognition of the fact that the waiving of such
opposition in certain special cases is a favour granted to a human
being for certain reasons.

v
The ritual concepts of macji and pote are intimately related to the
social structure. A member of a high caste is in a condition of macji
in relation to a member of a low caste,andthelatter isin a condition
of pote in relation to the former. There is a ban on contact between
castes belonging to different strata.
It is interesting to note that when a low-caste man touches a
high-caste man, the latter is defiled and the former is not purified.
It is argued by some that this is astructural necessity as the essence
of a stratified society consists in maintenance of the structural
distance between various castes, and this distance would be
destroyed if contact between two men belonging to different castes
led to the lower being purified instead of the higher being defiled.
This argument ignores that egalitarianism is reached not only when
everyone attains purity but also when everyone is defiled. In any
case, normally the change of ritual status consequent on members
of differcnt castes coming into contact with each other is only
temporary. It does not lead to a permanent change of ritual status.l
A high-caste man is no doubt in a condition of ritual purity in
relation to a low-caste man. But considered by himself, his normal
ritual status is mailige, which is a mild form of impurity. He attains
purity on certain occasions, and pote and tike on certain other
occasions. Similarly, the low-caste man, considered by himself, is
mailige normally, and pole and macji only occasionally.
One last point needs to be made before completing our account
of the relation between pote and macji. Thc mourner who is in a

1 It is not always that a magi-object becomes defiled when it comes in contact

with a pote-object: the sprinkling of consecrated water purifies a person or house
in a condition of ritual impurity.
110 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

condition of tike, an extreme form of defilement, is required to

perform certain rites. Usually these rites consist in the offering of
food in one form or another to the .spirit of the departed perSOll.
The mourner has to observe punctiliously a number of rules and
restrictions while making these offerings: he has to have a bath in
cold water, wear ritually pure robes, and observe a fast. He starts
cooking his food only after he has made the ritual offerings for the
day. Many kinds of food are prohibited to him during mourning,
and he may have only one proper meal every day.
Conditions like a bath, the wearing of ritually pure robes, and
the observance of a total fast till the completion of the ritual are
also observed while performing good-sacred ritual. A person takes
a bath and wears ritually pure robes before worshipping a deity.
He breaks his fast only after the worship is over. While pole and
magi are normally mutually opposed, the mourner who is in a
condition of tike fulfils the same preliminary ritual rules as the
devotee about to pray. The mourner when offering food to the
spirit of the dead person is inhabiting a world which is very far
removed from that of the devotee about to pray. The former is
living in a world of ritual impurity, whereas the latter is living in
the world of ritual purity. But within the world of ritual impurity
the mourner attains a form of ritual purity prior to performing the
most important rites: in other words he attains marji in pole.
The concepts of normal ritual status, pollution, and purity apply
not only to Coorgs but to all castes, including Untouchables. An
Untouchable, like any high-caste man, is normally mailige, and
only occasionally and for comparatively short periods is he marji.
or pole. It should not be assumed that an Untouchable is in a
permanent and unalterable condition of ritual impurity. While
contact with an Untouchable always pollutes a high-caste marl, an
Untouchable, considered by himself, is as subject to the various
ritual states as anyone else.

VI

A few worde; are necessary here on the length of the period of

mourning. For everyone except the dead person's spouse and
eldest son, ritual mourning ends on the day the n1lida ceremony is
performed. Nowadays, miida is usually performed on the twelfth
day. But sometimes, in the case of a big headman or official, it is
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 111
performed on the sixteenth or twenty-eighth day. The length
of the mourning period is thus an index of the social importance
of the dead person. This statement receives additional support
from the fact that no ritual mourning is observed for an infant: only
the parents of the dead infant take a bath and change their robes
after the corpse has been buried. An elder, unlike an infant, is
socially important and has a voice in the affairs of hi, okka and
village. Ritual mourning is quite different from grief at the death of
the person in question. The parents of the infant might be steeped
in sorrow, while the death of a decrepit and senile elder might
actually mean very little grief. Still, in the fOlmer case rio ritual
mourning is observed, whereas in the latter case it might be pro~
longed to the sixteenth or twenty-eighth day.
Elderly Coorgs say that mourning periods are becoming shorter,
and this is not surprising as the kin-groups are becoming smaller
and the old values are giving place to new ones. Formerly mada was
usually performed, for an elder, on the twenty-eighth day and not
on the sixteenth. Madam in Tamil means 'month', and there are
twenty-eight days in a lunar month.
As has already been mentioned, the performance of mada puts
an end to ritual mourning for all excepting the surviving spouse
and eldest son. These two have to observe ritual mourning until
they have performed dikshe uttuva (untying of mourning), which
is usually a few weeks, if not months, after mada. Between mada
and dikshe uttuva the two most important mourners do not perform
any rites, but merely observe some of the food taboos and wear
mourning dress.
Speaking very broadly, the length of the mourning period is an
index of the closeness of the bond prevailing between the dead
person and the mourners. This hold& good for birth-pollution too:
while pollution ends for all relatives on the twelfth day, it ends for
the mother on the sixtieth day. The mother-child bond is the
closest of all kinship bonds, and this fact finds expression in the
mother being subject to birth-pollution longer th8-n every-
body else.

VII

Senior relatives of the dead person do not play an active part in

ritual mourning. This does not, however, mean that they are
112 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

completely exempt from it, especially those who are members of

the same house as the cead person. As members of the pollution
house (tike mane), they may not salute anyone, nor allow anyone to
salute them. They may not go to a wedding or dance. In general
senior relatives are not supposed to observe any food restrictions or
wear a special mourning dress, but when they are members of the
same house as the dead person they observe the food taboos, re-
frain from shaving, and wear only white. They have been classed as
mourners of the third grade.
The widow or widower is the most important mourner among
Coorgs, even more important than the eldest son of the dead person.
The conjugal tie receives the maximum amount of emphasis: the
survi ving spouse has to be a mourner of the first grade except when
prevented by serious illness. The eldest son, too, is usually a
mourner of the first grade, though he docs not seem to be as essential
as the surviving spouse. It is interesting to note that a daughter
may sometimes be called upon to be a mourner of the first grade.
The widower is usually senior to his dead wife except in the case
of a leviratic marriage when he might be her junior. With the
exception of the surviving spouse, all 'active mourners' are in-
variably the dead person's juniors. They are either mourners of
the second or first grade. The Ko4agi term for mourning of the
second grade is mengate, which means 'standing apart', or 'not
mixing', and for mourning of the first grade, kulik nippad, or
'standing for bathing'.
All juniors to the dead person in the okka of which the dead
person was a member have to observe mourning of the third grade
at least. Certain relatives, such as a married woman's younger
brother and a man's married sister, are also required to observe
mourning of the third grade eVen though they do not belong to the
same okka as the dead person.
Formerly, a male and female member from the servant Poleya 1
family observed mourning of the third grade for a dead member of
their master's household. They observed all the food and dress
restrictions which third-grade mourners observed, but they did not
perform the rites which the Coorg mourners perform. The head-
man of the master okka gave the Poleya mourners mourning-dress
to wear, and at the conclusion of mourning gave them provisions
for a dinner, and a sari for the woman mourner, and cloth for a
1 The Poleya mourners had to be juniors to the dead person.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 113
gown for the man mourner. Nowadays members of the servant
family do not observe ritual mourning: the tie is not strong enough
to express itself in ritual.
Mourners of the third grade have to abstain from meat, fish,
mushrooms, liquor, honey, milk, and betel leaves and areca-nut.
The men are required to have their heads and faces shaved
completely. They may not wear any jewellery, nor tie the red sash
round their waists. They have to avoid wearing coloured garments,
especially garments coloured red.
Women mourners of the third grade are required to remove their
jewellery, except such as is symbolical of the married state. The
widow of the dead man has to remove even that. Women mourners
dress themselves in a white shoulder-cloth and waist-cloth. The
upper ends of the former are tied in a knot at the chest.
It has been mentioned earlier that all men mourners indicate
the beginning' of mourning by having the head and face shaved on
the morning following the disposal of the corpse. They may not
have another shave till the miida day, when ritual mourning ends
for all except the first-grade mourners.
Nowadays miida is performed usually on the twelfth day of
death, and on this day, after the afternoon meal has been eaten by
all the mourners, three men mourners have their faces shaved by
the barber. This shave is one of the ritual acts marking the end of
mourning and the resumption of normal social life by all except the
first-grade mourners.
The men who are observing first-grade mourning have to wear
either a white gown or a shoulder-cloth (tunr/u) and waist-cloth
(munr/u). A mourner does not usually wear a gown nowadays, but
if he wears one, he may not pass his right arm through the right
arm of the gown.
Until the miida day, first-grade mourners take a cold-water bath
every morning, after which they perform the rites prescribed for
the day. They then start cooking their meal, which is done in
the cattle-shed, or any other sheltered spot outside the main
building. They may not have more than one meal per day, and they
have to pay scrupulous attention to the various food restrictions.
They are, however, allowed to eat a few fruits at night.
The surviving spouse has to observe more restrictions than
other first-grade mourners. He (or she) may not sleep on a cot, or
sit on a plank. He may not eat from a dining-dish (tali), but has to
8
114 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

use a leaf instead. He may not ford a river. A silver chain is wound
round his left wrist, and in his left hand he holds a knife.
The miida ceremony frees all mourners from ritual mourning,
but not, however, the first-grade mourners, who are only freed at
the dikshe uttuva ceremony, which is performed long after the
mada. Until then, honey and milk may not be consumed, orna-
ments and coloured cloths may not be worn. A woman mourner
has to wear the mourning uniform of white shoulder-cloth and
waist-cloth. A man mourner may not have his face or head shaved.

VIn
The offer of food to the spirit of the departed person is a domi-
nant motif in Coorg funeral ritual. When the corpse is still seated
in the paved yard of the house, one of the mOUrners carries
some cooked rice on a plantain leaf and places it at the bottom of
the lane Ieading to the house. He aIso places on the plantain leaf
a lighted cotton wick on a piece of coconut: this serves as a lamp.
As he does this, double shots are fired from a gun. He salutes the
leaf as he would a corpse, and other mourners follow him in
saluting the food-offering and lamp.
The family friend places a food-bundle on the grave directly
above the spot where the corpse's head rests. In case of crema-
tion, the bundle is placed at the spot where the head lay before
cremation.
On the second, third, and fourth days, the first-grade mourners
offer raw, uncooked rice to fish in a pond or lake, and this is called
'water sacrifice' (nir beli). On the fifth, sixth, and seventh days,
'shore sacrifice' (kare beli) is performed: the first-grade mourners
go to the pond or lake, and each of them cooks a little rice on an
improvised stove on the edge of the pond or lake. No vessel may
be used for cooking this rice. A flat bit of a broken pot is used
instead. This rice is then removed on to a plantain leaf which is
kept on a purified spot near the stove.
On the eighth, ninth, and tenth days food is offered to crows.
A sacrificial post (beli mara) of wood is erected in the yard before the
mourning-house. A plank is fixed horizontally to the top of the
post. The dead person's spouse cooks rice and prepares vegetable
curry, and these are mixed and placed on a plantain leaf. The leaf
is then kept on the plank on top of the post. As he (or she) keeps
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 115
this, he claps his hands and shouts 'hi, kd' (in imitation of the
cawing of crows).
On the eleventh (pannand) day, each of the second-grade
mourners attains partial freedom from mourning after he has
offered rice mixed with ghi, curd, and plantain to the spirit
of the departed person. The food is carried on a plantain leaf to
the sacrificial post, where it is placed to be eaten by crows. As each
.)f them comes into the house from the sacrificial post the family
friend gives him (or her) a few betel leaves and areca-nut. The
mourner chews the leaves and nut for a while, and then takes
the chewed stuff out of his mouth and throws it on the roof.
The chewing of the leaves and nut on the eleventh day is one
of the ritual acts symbolizing the end of mourning.
On the mdda day curried meat, rice, arrack, water, and betel
leaves and areca-nut are offered to the dead person's spirit. A
plantain leaf on which some curried meat and rice are heaped is
placed at each of the three spots where the corpse was rested en
route to the burial-ground. At the burial-ground itself the surviving
spouse and two other mourners sprinkle water on the spot where
the dead person was buried or cremated. Above the spot where
the corpse's head rests are kept three leaves, each containing curried
meat, and rice, and three leaf-cups (chal/e) containing arrack, water,
and betel and nut respectively. Each of the mourners takes a betel
leaf and nut from the leaf-cup in which they are kept, and chews
them.
Food is offered to the dead ancestors of the okka at the periodical
ancestor-propitiations. It is also offered to them as a body on the
last days of Taurus and Cancer, and on the tenth of Libra. Besides,
at every festival celebrated in the house, food is offered to the
an~estors before the members of the household sit down to their
meal.
The idea of offering food and drink to the dead person has a
very important place in funeral ritual. The departed ancestors of
the okka are remembered constantly, and food and drink are
offered to them. They are also saluted and prayed to every day.

IX

A village is in a condition of ritual purity during the festival of

the main deity of the village, a festival which usually lasts nine or
116 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

eleven days, and sometimes even twenty-one days. No woman in

her periods may stay in Bengur village during the festival of
Ketrappa. She has to leave the village at once and may return only
on the eighteenth day, in the evening, after the shot has been fired
freeing the village from the restrictions in force during the festival.
Similarly, no Poleya may leave his hut and show himself to a
member of a high caste during the first eighteen days of the festival.
They are specially forbidden to show themselves to the festival-
priests (kdvukdras). The Poleyas are very greatly afraid ofKetrappa.
whom they call 'big god' (dor/r/a devaru) , and it is believed that
Ketrappa will punish them if they show themselves to the villagers
during the festival.
The festival of the village-deity usually includes a ceremony
called tappar/aka (enumeration of restrictions), in which all the
adult villagers assemble together at the temple and take a vow to
the effect that they will observe certain restrictions for the dura-
tion of the festival.
No villager may fire his gun during the festival nor may he
kill an animal for his food. He is not permitted to break an
egg or coconut, or prepare liquor or season his curries. He may
not spread a mat or carpet on the benches in the veranda or
hall.
Sometimes the villagers are permitted to import meat from
another village, the prohibition being only on the animal being
killed within the village. Even where such concessions are made
to the ordinary villagers, the festival-priests are strictly enjoined
to keep off even imported meat.
The festival-priests have to refrain from sexual intercourse
during the festival. They are also enjoined not to touch the ordinary
high-caste villager who, it must be remembered, is himself in a
condition of ritual purity. Such contact defiles them for the rest of
the day, and only a bath in cold water early next morning restores
them to their condition of great ritual purity. There are different
levels of ritual purity, and each level is impurity with reference to
a higher level.
The festival-priests are much more important for the festival
than ordinary villagers. They dress and worship the idol. Usually
one or more of them are oracles of one or other of the deities in
the village temple. Their duties require their being frequently
very near the idols and other representations of the deities they
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 117
worship. Consequently, they have to be in a condition of great
ritual purity. They have to observe more restrictions regarding
food and other matters than ordinary villagers. The degree of
ritual purity becomes, in this case, an index of the degree of con-
cern in the festival. What is interesting to note is the widespread
systematization of 'concern' in Coorg culture. The mother of the
newly born infant has to observe pollution for a longer period than
other relatives; and first-grade mourners have to observe mourning
for a longer period than others. Not only the length of the period
but also the number and character of the restrictions observed are
used to mark off those with greater 'concern' in the event from those
with less 'concern'. The greater the 'concern' the greater the bond.
The festival of a village-deity usually includes a ritual fast or
patlJi: a day towards the end of the festival is called 'patlJi day' and
the villagers observe a ritual fast on this day. The fast day usually
occurs before the festival (namnu?) day. The festival day is
regarded as the most important day of the festival, elaborate
ritual being performed on this day, at the end of which animals are
sacrificed. The various restrictions observed during the festival
are broken on the festival day, usually towards evening. A big
feast follows, which includes meat dishes and liquor, prohibited
until now.
A ritual fast does not necessarily mean actual abstention from
food. Frequently a ritual fast means only abstention from everyday
food, and that too interpreted very narrowly. For instance, cooked
rice grains and vegetable curry are the normal food among Coorgs,
and this is prohibited at a ritual fast. But while cooked rice grains
are prohibited, dishes made with rice-flour are not.
On the fast day Coorgs miss a meal, instead of which they
consume pancakes made of rice-flour, and piiyasa, a sweet liquid
dish made with split green gram. Pancackes and green gram
piiyasa are very commonly eaten during ritual fasts in the Tamil
country.
Coorgs are forbidden to eat pancakes and green gram piiyasa
during weddings and while birth-and death-pollution last. As
far as they are concerned this diet seems to be confined tQ the
fast day during the festival of a village-deity. It is difficult
to see the purpose of the fast day during the festival of a viIlage-
deity. While the observance of a ritual fast on the festival day til
the rites are completed is understandable, a ritual fast on the day
118 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

before the festival day is not easy to understand, especially if the

villagers are permitted to eat the normal festival diet on the
morning of the festival day. The fast day seems to exist quite
unrelated to the rest of the structure of the festival of a village-
deity.1

x
Some of the ritual acts performed and practices observed at
mourning are obviously reversals or inversions of the acts and
practices performed on good-sacred or auspicious occasions. For
instance, the corpse is made to lie on a mat spread with the under-
side on top. It is true that like the subject of mangala the corpse is
dressed in a white gown but the latter is reversed in some way: it
is worn with the underside uppermost, or with the left end of the
gown coming on top of the right end. On auspicious occasions the
proper side has to be on top, and the right end should rest on top
of the left.
After the corpse has been laid in the grave, the surviving spouse
throws three handfuls of earth into the grave. He (or she) twists
his (or her) hand (terangai =twisted hand) while throwing the earth
into the grave. The eldest son and other rclativesfollow the surviv-
ing spouse. If the corpse is going to be cremated instead of being
buried, the surviving spouse sets fire to the pyre by thrusting a
firebrand into it. Again, he employs the twisted hand while setting
fire to the pyre (terangolli = twisted firebrand).
In ritual circumambulation, movement in the clockwise direc-
tion is prescribed for auspicious occasions, while anti-clockwise
movement is prescribed for inauspicious occasions. The groom
goes round the sacred tripod stool clockwise. A devotee goes round
the temple clockwise. But the mourners go round the funeral pyre
in the anti-clockwise way. Similarly, the bier is thrice carried
round the paved yard before the mourning-house, the bier-carriers
moving anti-clockwise.
There is an interesting little problem here: while clockwise
1 Tne restrictions observed during the village-deity's festival vary from village
to village. As regards the food restrictions observed on the fast day the general
idea seems to be to avoid everyday diet and to starve oneself as far as possible.
In some festivals only roots and boiled plantains are allowed. Steam-baked
pudding (putt), a favourite dish of Coorgs, is prohibited in some places. Green
grampiiyasa (liquid dish) is generally allowed except in a few villages.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 119
movement is restricted to auspicious occasions and anti-clockwise
movement to inauspicious occasions, on both kinds of occasions
the subject goes round thrice. That is to say, both the mourner
as well as the groom goes round thrice. How is it that the principle
of 'reversal' operates in some instances while 'identity' operates
in some others? If the principle of 'reversal' had been consistently
carried out in the above instance, the mourners should have gone
round an even number of times.
Whire rice grains are used in auspicious ritual, whereas rice
grains yellowed with turmeric powder are used in inauspicious
ritual. This is not the same as 'reversal' though akin to it. It is
called 'confinement' here : certain ritual acts are confined to
mourning and they may not be performed on auspicious occasions.
A mango or pavili tree which is growing in the burial-ground,
and green, is cut down for the funeral pyre. The entire tree has to
be used for cremating the corpse. If a branch or twig remains over,
a chicken is killed and cremated with it. It is inauspicious not to
use up the entire tree. Similarly, if a.grave which is being dug has
to be abandoned and another has to be started, a chicken is buried
in the former. Otherwise there will be another death in the house
in the near future.
The leaves of the baine palm (caryota urens) are associated with
death: on the day before mada a panda! is put up before the
mourning-house and the roof of the pandal is covered with baine
leaves. The corpse is fanned with a fan of baine leaves. Again,
when a man without relatives wants to have his obsequies per-
formed during his lifetime alone, a pandal of baine leaves is put up
before his house.
While baine leaves are used exclusively in funeral ritual, toddy
is used on all kinds of ritual occasions. Systematization has not
been carried to the extent of confining all products of the baine
palm to funeral ritual.
Rice yellowed with turmeric is sprinkled all along the way from
the mourning-house to the place where the corpse is buried.
Usually a man sprinkles the rice with his hands as he accompanies
the funeral procession to the burial-ground. Sometimes, however,
the rice is put into a bag and loaded on a pack-builock. Two tiny
holes are bored in this bag and the bullock is driven behind the
corpse to the burial-ground. The bullock may not be used for any
other purpose subsequently.
120 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

On the day before miida, first-grade mourners offer to the spirit

of the dead person rice mixed with curd, plantain, and ghl. A
quantity of this mixture is carried by him to the 'sacrificial post'
in front of the mourning-house and placed on the plank on top of
the post. After crows have consumed the offerings, the family
friend kicks the post awry. On the next morning he cuts it down
with an axe. The first-grade mourners pull down the stoves they
had erected to cook their food.
In the above ritual is seen the destruction of articles used in
mourning ritual, and the purpose of such destruction is to ensure
their 'confinement' to mourning. Things associated with bad-
sacredness and pollution themselves become bad-sacred and
polluted. Consequently, they have to be destroyed.
'Inversion' and 'confinement' underlie more funeral rites than
'identity'. But it is important to note that 'identity' also exists.
For instance, the corpse, which is ritually impure, is made to lie
on a pure bench in the central hall. Besides, its head is made to
touch the south-western pillar.

Xl

Almost every Coorg adult chews betel leaves and areca-nut,

and addicts chew all day. Lime paste is spread over the rough side
of the leaf and the leaf is put into the mouth along with small bits
of areca-nut. Frequently bits of catechu and tobacco are chewed
along with betel leaves and areca-nut.
At night, after dinner, the men chew betel leaves in the veranda,
and the women in one of the inner rooms. A man or woman looks
forward to this part of the day: there is no more work to be done
and everyone is at leisure. Talk flows freely.
The chewing of betel leaves is also intimately associated with
married life. The husband and wife frequently chew betel together.
The wife applies the paste, folds the leaf, and gives it to her
husband. Until recently, among the upper castes in south India,
unmarried boys and girls were told to keep away from betel leaves
and areca-nut. Indulgence in betel leaves was a symbol of the
married state.
Guests are offered betel leaves and areca-nut both to chew
and to carry home. Failure to offer betel leaves to a guest would
almost amount to an insult.
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 121
Betel leaves and areca-nut are indispensable on any ritual
occasion. They must accompany every ritual gift or payment,
whether it is made to another person or spirit or deity.
The chewing of betel leaves represents full participation in
social life as well as a happy state. Mourners who have been with-
drawn from participation in social life have to abstain from betel
leaves, and the ritual chewing of betel leaves is one of the symbols of
the end of mourning.
On the twelfth day, at the burial-ground, mourners offer the
dead man's spirit betel leaves and areca-nut along with meat
and liquor. Each of them then takes a betel leaf and areca-nut out
of the leaf-cup in which they are placed and chews them. When
they come home the family friend hands to each of them a few
betel leaves and areca-nut which they chew for a while, and then
take the chewed stuff out of their mouths and throw it on to the
roof of the mourning-house. This is one of the ritual acts symboliz-
ing the end of mourning.
It is pertinent to recall here that the second-grade mourners are
given betel leaves and areca-nut on the eleventh day alone after
the performance of a particular rite called menguva. The first-
grade mourners perform the latter rite on the day before miida,
but they are not given betel leaves and areca-nut to chew at the
end of it as the most rigorous part of mourning ends for them
only on the miida day, after returning home from the burial-
ground. It is appropriate then that they should not be given betel
leaves and areca-nut till the miida day.
A relative who chewed betel leaves during mourning would be
regarded as lacking in affection towards the dead person, if not
actually gloating over his death. It is not very easy to hide the chew-
ing of betel as the mouth and lips become very red after chewing.
It has already been mentioned that there is a great difference,
if not opposition, between the ritual treatment of the mourners
and the corpse. Things forbidden to the mourners are offered to
the spirit of the dead person. For instance, while mourners have
to abstain from meat, liquor, and betel and nut, the spirit of the
dead man is offered these articles. The mourners have to show their
sorrow by abstaining from dietary articles which have come to
stand for happiness or wealth or participation in social life. While
the mourner denies to himself things that he likes or values, he
offers them to the dead man's spirit to show his affection and
122 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

regard. While the mourner abstains from chewing betel leaves, a

paste made by pounding be1elleaves and areca-nut together is put
into the corpse's mouth. Later, the dead person's spirit is offered
betel leaves and areca-nut.
If the ritual chewing of betclleaves takes place earlier than the
mtida day, the chewing only confers partial freedom on the
mourners. The third-and second-grade mourners are completely
freed from riwal mourning only after the mtida day, while the
first-grade mourners are freed only after performing the dfkshe
uttuVG ritual, several days, if not weeks, after the mCida. The latter
may chew betel leaves after miida, but they have to observe certain
other mourning taboos till they perform the dikshe uttuva ritual.

XII

The dikshe utluva ritual consists in the offer of pimja, or balls of

rice or rice-flour, to the spirit of the departed person. The offerings
are made under the guidance of a Brahmin at a centre of pilgrimage.
The dikshe uttuva ritual is frequently performed on the first of
Libra, or on the Shivaratri day. The former occurs in October-
November, the latter in February-March. On both these days,
which are regarded as sacred, people go on pilgrimages to various
places along the course of the river Kaveri, and especially to the
source of the river, Tala Kaveri.
The first of Libra and Shivaratri are not, however, the only
occasions for the performance of dikshe uttuva. It may be performed
on a new-moon day. Generally,first-grade mourners perform dikshC
uttuva after the lapse of what is considered to be a 'decent interval'.
Formerly, first-grade mourners sometimes observed ritual
mourning for as long as six months before performing dikshe
uttuva. This very rarely happens nowadays. The present tendency
is to cut short the mourning period, but even now anyone who
performed dikshe uttuva before a month had elapsed after the death
would be regarded as either wanting in affection or extremely
Westernized, or both.
The first-grade mourners go to Bhagamanc;lla, where the river
Kanake joins the Kaveri. The men mourners have their heads and
faces shaved completely, after which they bathe in the confluence.
They then dress themselves in the mourning uniform of white
 THE RITUAL IDIOM OF COORGS 123
shoulder-cloth and waist-cloth. Women mourners similarly bathe
and put on ritual robes.
Each of the first-grade mourners then offers a ball of ric('-fiour
mixed with plantain fruit, honey, and a small quantity of gingelly
grains. The ingredients of this cffering are sold near by, and they
are mixed and offered to the spirit of the dead relative under the
guidance of a Brahmin priest who is paid a fee for his services.
The performance of dikshe utluva restores first-grade mournus
to normal ritual status. Until then they are ritually impure, though
this impurity is not as great as that which prevailed until the
performance of miido, which puts an end to lhe mourning of an
except the first-grade mourners.
The mourners then go to the temple of Bhagau<;leshwara and
offer worship there. This is followed by a visit to the source of the
river Kaveri at the top of the Brahmagiri mountain. The river
rises in two small perennial springs, after which it disappears
underground for some distance to re-emerge near BhagzmaJ1Qla.
One of the springs is larger than the other, and the mourners
bathe in the larger spring, after which they offer worship to the very
sacred smaller spring. The priests of these springs are Brahmins
who Jive near by. Frequently a tiny representation (ii! nipa=man
form) of the dead person embossed on a thin sheet of silver is
dropped into the smaller spring. (It is in the smaller spring that
the Kaveri is annually reborn on the first of Libra, at the mement
of the sun's transition from Virgo to Libra. Thousands of pilgrims
from all parts of south India go to the source of the river to witness
the annual rebirth.)
The Coorg custom of terminating mourning at a centre of
pilgrimage is a general Hindu custom. It is one of the numerous
points where Coorgs touch the general Hindu ritual idiom. Every
caste, sect, and tribe touches the general Hindu ritual idiom at
varying numbers of points, but some part, small or large, of the
ritual idiom of each group has a more restricted spread. The
number of points where the ritual idiom of a local group touches
the general Hindu ritual idiom has a tendency to increase with
time.
 CHAPTER FIVE

THE CULT OF THE OKKA

THE okka or the patrilineal and patrilocal joint family is the

basic group among Coorgs. It is impossible to imagine a Coorg
apart from the okka of which he is a member. It affects his life
at every point and colours all his relations with the outside world.
People who do not belong to an okka have no social existence at all,
and the elders always bring pressure on the parties concerned to see
that children born out of wedlock obtain membership in their
father's or mother's okka.
Membership of an okka is acquired by birth, and the outside
world always identHies a man witb bis okka. His association with
his okka does not cease even after death, because he then becomes
one of a body of apotheosized ancestors(karavavCl)who are believed
to look after the okka of which they were members when alive.
The ancestors are worshipped, and offerings of food and drink
(bharavi) are occasionally made to them.
Formerly the boys in an okka, all sons of agnatically related
males, grazed the okka's cattle together, hunted birds, and played
games. When they grew up all of them jointly looked after the
ancestral estate under the guidance of the head of the okka.
Membership of an okka determines to a very large extent the
choice of a spouse. First of all, marital relati<)lls are forbidden
between members of the same okka. Where agnation overflows the
okka, the taboo extends to agnatic relatives who are not members
of the okka. Again, children of sisters may not intermarry.
The ancestral, immovable property of an okka was formerly
regarded as impartible. It usually descended from one generation
of agnatically related males to another without being split up in the
process. Partition did, however, occur when every adult mem-
ber of the okka wanted it. But such cases were unusual-at least
that is what one is told. Both the difficulty of partition and the
preference for leviratic unions added to the strength of the
okka.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 125
Offices like the headmanship of a village or nag or temple were
hereditary in certain okkas. The eldest member of the senior
agnatic branch succeeded to the office in question.
Every high-caste okka has to send at least one man and one
woman to a wedding, festival, or a common village task like repair~
ing a road, or weeding a temple compound; and all the adult males
in an okka are required to attend a village dance or hunt. A
defaulting okka is fined.
The members of an okka have to live together from birth till
death. They are bound together by numerous strong ties, and they
co-operate in performing common tasks. After death, they become
ancestors who continue to show an interest in their okka and de~
mand propitiation from their descendants. The okka is something
very much more than the group of living members in it at any
given moment. It is a continuum through time, and the body of
living members at any particular moment form only points on it.
Coorgs themselves clearly state that the okka has a longer life than
its members. They are also aware that an individual lives, in a
social sense, as long as his okka. There is a great desire for the con-
tinuance of the okka, and there is no greater calamity than its
extinction. When an okka is threatened with extinction certain
traditional devices are resorted to perpetuate it.
The ancestral house and estate are sacred, and even today a
Coorg likes to have a wedding or funeral performed in the ancestral
house. The unity and solidarity of an okka find expression in ritual.
Its strength is projected to the 'mystical' plane.
An individual is normally identified with his okka, but such
identification of the individual with his okka is in extra-okka con~
texts, and it does not at all mean that the okka in question is un-
divided from within. Normally the elementary families inside an
okka are potential groups of fission. The principles of segregation
of the sexes and the unity of the members of a generation which
run right through Coorg society are also at work inside the okka,
uniting some members against the others. There are also tensions
between individuals, especially among the women members.
Every Coorg okka is bound by the ties of friendship (aruVlime') to
another neighbouring Coorg okka. This is a traditional relationship
between two neighbouring Coorg okkas, and it involves certain
ritual and social duties. It is frequently mutual, and affinal relations
between the two friendly okkas are common.
126 RELIGlOC'I AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Formerly every Coorg okka had one or more Poleya or other low-
caste families attached to it as slaves. This was again an hereditary
relationship, and between families and not between individuals.

II

In Coorg the agnatically related males form a corporate body

enjoying the bulk of the rights in the okka. Men, thanks to patri
locality, are assured of continuous residence in the okka to which
they belong, whereas the women have to leave their natal okka on
marriage and become members of their conjugal okka. The men
have a sense of belonging to the okka which is absent in all but the
oldest women. A girl has to leave her natal okka on marriage, and
this break in residential continuity is an important factor having
legal and other consequences. It takes a long time 1 for her to be
accepted into her conjugal okka: only when her children are grown
up does she have the assured sense of belonging to her conjugal okka.
Sons are the comfort and hope of parents. They are the pillars of
the okka. They are the means by which the okka continues to exist,
and the continuity of the okka is a matter of the most profound
concern to the members. Daughters are destined to leave their
natal okkas and the children that are born to them enrich and per-
petuate a different okka.
A woman is not a member of an okka in the sense a man is, and
the legal rights she enjoys are always inferior to a man's. There are
compensations, however. A man enjoys his legal rights in one okka,
whereas a woman enjoys hers in two, her natal and conjugal okkas.
A girl is maintained in her natal okka till her marriage, or through-
out her life if she decides to be a spinster. She has the right to
return to her natal okka if, for example, her husband is impotent, or
suffers from an incurable illness, or if her mother-in-law does not
treat her properly. She has a right to return to her natal okka if she
is divorced, assuming of course that she had not been divorced for
a serious offence such as adultery with an Untouchable. Should she
be guilty of such an offence she is thrown out of caste irrevocably
and this means that she loses her rights in both her natal and
her conjugal okkas.
At marriage her relatives give her gifts of jewellery, clothes, and

1 Cross-cousin marriage makes it easier for the girl to be absorbed into her
conjugalokka.
 THE CULT Of THE OKKA 127
vessels. These remain her property, and in the event of her divorce
she brings them back to her natal okka.
A person's rights in his or her okka are represented by twelve
pebbles, euphemistically called 'twelve pieces of gold' (pannaran-
4achchi pon). At marriage a girl loses most of her rights in her natal
okka and obtains them in her conjugal okka instead. The bride's
family friend transfers eleven pebbles to the groom's family friend.
Eleven pebbles are transferred and not twelve. One pebble is re-
tained by the girl's natal okka and this is because the bride retains
some rights in her natal okka. She never loses them entirely. She
has always a home from home. Her natal home is called td mane
(mother's home ?), and a woman always feels tenderly towards it.
A woman has 8_ right to be maintained out of the funds of her
conjugal okka. She is expected to do her share of domestic work
under the guidance of the mistress of the house (manepalJikiirti).
Not infrequently the mistress of the house is also her mother-
in-law.
A woman is entitled to cultivate a patch of ground for ginger and
turmeric, and to raise fowl and pigs, and the income from their sale is
entirely her property which she may hold even against her husband
or children. But she may work on this patch only after doing her
share of domestic work for the day.1
The preference for leviratic unions helped in the assimilation of
a woman with her conjugal family. The Coorg saw, 'I will not come
down the steps I have climbed up', refers to the fact that once a girl
entered her conjugal home she usually stayed there for good,
marrying one of the brothers of the husband in the event of the
death of the latter. A girl on marriage becomes a member of her
husband's okka and widowhood by itself does not alter her legal
status. She continues to be a member of her conjugal okka. In fact,
if there are no heirs to her dead husband's okka she might be called
upon to raise up seed for it by entering into 'okka parije' or 'makka
parije' alliance. She is not permitted, however, to raise up seed for
her natal okka. There was an instance of this in Nalknac;l. many
years ago and it resulted in bitter hostility between the widow's
natal and conjugal okkas.
Rights in a joint family are referred to as sammanda, and sam-

1 Similarly, in the non-paddy season, men could cultivate smaIl patches of

land for ginger and turmeric. But they could only attend to them after they had
done their share of the day's work on the ancestral estate.
128 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

manda may be conferred or withdrawn. At marriage the bride

acquires rights in the groom's house, and this is referred to as the
'giving of sammanda'. Sammanda refers to the legal aspect of
marriage, whereas miirta refers to the solidarity aspect of it. These
two together make up marriage. Miirta has already been discussed
at considerable length, and sammanda will be considered now.

III

The rights of membership in the groom's okka are conferred on

the bride at the ritual of sammanda. The term sammanda is used
both to indicate the rights of membership in an okka as well as the
ritual in which such rights are conferred or withdrawn. The
KOQagi term is a corruption of the Sanskrit sambandha which
means, 'connexion, relation, connexion by marriage, matrimo-
nial alliance, relationship, friendship, intimacy, kinsman, friend,
ally' .1
Usually, when a person acquires rights of membership in one
okka, he (or she) by implication loses rights in another okka, even
though such loss of rights may not be either complete or irrevo-
cable. At an ordinary marriage, for instance, the sammanda ritual
only confers rights on the bride in the groom's okka, but this
acquisition of rights in another okka implies that the bride loses
most of her rights in her natal okka. When a wife is divorced, the
sammanda ritual that is performed severs the divorcee from her
conjugal okka and she automatically reverts to her natal okka. In
the case of a widow who wants to marry someone who is not
a member of her late husband's okka, sammanda is first of all per-
formed severing her connexion with her late husband's okka. On
such ritual severence, she reverts to her natal okka, and sammanda
is again performed, conferring on her rights in her new husband's
okka. Between the loss of rights in her late husband's okka and the
acquisition of rights in her new husband's okka, she is a member of
her natal okka.
The two most important parts of marriage ritual are miirta (part
of mangala) and sammanda. There are three miirtas in an ordinary
marriage, two of which give expression to the solidarity prevalent
between the groom or bride and his or her kindred respectively.
In the third miirta the creation of the new bond between the bride
1 Macdonnell, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 339.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 129
and groom is recognized by the groom'& kindred expressing their
solidarity with the bride and the bride's kindred with the groom.
The two groups of kindred are brought together by the acquisition
of two objects of common interest.
While the murta part of marriage refers to the creation of a new
bond between two individuals and the kin-groups in which each
of them is born, sammanda defines and clarifies the new structural
situation which has come into existence. It brings home to the
participants that a new legal situation has arisen, that an individual
has been transferred from one okka to another. Sammanda ritual is
performed whenever such a structural and legal alteration is
brought about. (See 'Table of Sammanda Rights' on pp. 173-5.)
1. The sammanda ritual performed at kanni mangala ('marriage
of a virgin'), which is, incidentally, the most frequent {ype of
marriage performed, confers on the bride rights of membership in
the groom's okka.
2. (a) When a widow wants to marry a brother of the late hus-
band, no fresh sammanda need be performed as no new legal
situation has come into existence. The girl is a member of the
second hustland's okka even before marriage and she continues to
be one after marriage.
When a girl marries in the kanni mangala way she acquires rights
of membership in the okka of her husband. This is a simple enough
facl, but in recent years the acquisition of property by individml s
for themselves and not for their okkas has confused the issue. A few
educated Coorgs have tried to maintain that a girl, on marriage,
acquires only a share in her husband's share of the ancestral
property, and consequently, when a widow marries the husband's
younger brother, a fresh sammanda has to be performed. This is
absurd. The whole idea of individual ownership of immo~:able
property is recent in Coorg, and even more important is the fact
that sammanda is more than the acquisition of rights in property.
It is the acquisition of membership in an okka, with all its conse-
quences, social, economic, legal, and ritual.
(b) When a widow wants to marry someone who is not a member
of her late husband's okka, she is first of all made to sever her COll-
nexion with it, and such severance restores her to her natal okka.
She is then given sammanda in her second husband's house.
(c) The children of the widow are (usually) members of their
9
130 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

.father's okka except in certain cases which will be mentioned

presently.
3. When a woman is divorced she loses her membership in her
conjugal okka and reverts to her natal okka. Such reversion is
automatic and not conditional upon the unanimous consent of the
members of her natal okka. But if a woman has been divorced for
a grave offence, her natal okka might decide to have nothing to do
with her.
4. Children of unsanctioned unions are referred to as mai ka1)at
makka and they do not enjoy membership of their father's okka as
legitimate children do. In fact, they are not members of any okka.
Usually, however, elders bring pressure on the lover's kindred to
the grant of membership for the children in the lover's okka. But
if this is impossible, the children are made members of their
mother's natal okka.
If the childlen of an unsanctioned union and their mother are
given membership in the lover's okka while both the woman and
her lover are still alive it is called bendu (relative) parije. If, how-
ever, the father dies before the children and their mother have been
given sammanda in his okka, then the elders try to see that sammanda
is given at least before the corpse is disposed of. Such a belated
granting of membership is called kutta (funeral pyre) parije. This
enables the widow to take part in the funeral rites.
5. A boy from outside is adopted when there are no agnatic
descendants in an okka. Sammanda is performed, giving the boy in
question membership of the heirless okka.
6. Adoption is not, however, necessary if there is an unmarried
girl (or even the widow of a dead member) in the okka without an
heir. The girl is then married according to the custom of okka parije
by which the children of the marriage become members of their
motner's natal okka. The man himself ceases to be a member of his
natal okka and becomes instead a member of his wife's natal okka.
The institution of makka (children) parije is resorted to when it is
impossible to find a man willing to leave his natal okka and become
a member of the heirless okka. M akka parije is a sanctioned union
between the daughter of the heirless okka and a man who, while
remaining a member of his natal okka and performing his duties
by it, also agrees to raise up seed for the heirless okka. He usually
stays in his natal home and visits his makka pari}e 'wife' only
occasionally. The children of this alliance are members of their
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 131
mother's okka. It is usual for the makka parUe 'husband' to have
a wife married to him in the normal way and living with him in his
natal home. The children of the latter union, unlike the children of
makka parUe alliance, belong to their father's okka. Thus the makka
parije husband remains a member of his natal okka with a wife
living with him, and in addition to this he undertakes to riase up
seed for another okka which has no male heirs, but has instead
only an unmarried girl. He only occasionally visits his makka parije
wife. Makka parUe has the sanction of custom behind it and it has
to be distinguished clearly from extra-marital alliances which are
disapproved.
7. Children normally and usually belong to their father's okka.
Consequently the children of a divorcee, or a widow who wants to
marry someone not belonging to her late husband's okka, do not
follow their mother but continue to remain in their natal home.
In certain exceptional circumstances, however, the children of
a widow or divorcee are allowed to become members of their
mother's natal okka. The unanimous consent of the children's
natal okka as well as that of their mother's natal okka is required in
order to effect the transfer. If such consent is forthcoming from
both ~ides the children's rights in their natal okka are ritually
severed, after which they are given sammanda in their mother's
natal okka. The marriage of the widow or divorcee subsequent to
the children being given sammanda in her natal okka does not
affect their legal status. They do not follow the mother into her
new husband's okka. This would again require the unanimous
consent of the members of the mother's natal okka and her new
husband's okka.
Rights of membership in an okka are an extremely important
matter affecting all the members in a variety of ways, social,
economic, legal, and ritual. Both the loss as well as the acquisition
of a member make a profound difference in the day-to-day inter-
relations of members. The granting of membership and the loss of
membership both become subject to sammanda ritual. Sammanda
dramatically brings home to the parties concerned the implications
of granting or withdrawing membership. As sammanda is a public
occasion, the parties concerned in it will not be able to go back on
it at a future date. The ritual that surrounds the giving or with-
drawal of sammanda rights brings ritual sanctions into operation.
132 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

IV

The most frequent form of marriage is 'the marriage of a virgin'

(kanni mangala), in which the bride leaves her natal okka and
becomes a member of the groom's okka. Sammanda ritual effects
the transference of the bride to the groom's okka and makes clear
the legal implications of marriage to everyone concerned.
The sammanda ritual is performed at the entrance to the kitchen
of the bride's ancestral house. The bride stands inside the kitchen
while the groom stands outside, with the threshold in between
them. The bride's family friend and two of her kinsmen stand on
one side of the groom, while the latter's family friend, and two of
his kinsmen stand on the other side. The other relatives and guests
watch the proceedings from a distance. The family friends utter
the traditional sammanda formulas.
I give below a free translation of the Ko4agi text, and I should
like to stress the fact that there is some elasticity in the formulae
uttered.
Bride's Family Friend: 'The people of both the narJs, men of the
house, relatives and family friend, are they all standing in rows ?'
Groom's Family Friend: 'They stand.'
Bride's Family Friend: 'To the girl Parvati of Nuchchimane-
yan4a okka whom we are about to give in marriage to the youth
Muttal)l)a of the Malchira okka, will you give the girl sammanda
(rights) in the property of the giOom's okka? Will you give her
rights in the MaJchira okka's land which yields a thousand bha{!is1
of paddy, in the ten kanrJas 2 of pasture, in the cattle-stand, in the
ten pairs of bullocks, in the house, in the garden, in the ten milch
cows, in the bamboo receptacle used for milking, in the cattle-shed
where the cattle are herded, in the paddy-flat,3 in the ridges of the
paddy-flat, in the manure-heap, in the land which has silted up,
in the paddy-field encroached upon by neighbours, in the runaway
servant, in the elephant on heat, in the axe which, swinging, they
cut, in the knife which, lifting, they cut, in the paddy in the granary,
in the two-seer measure used for measuring paddy, in the seer-

1 The term '{lyira Matti bhrimi', or 'land which yields 1,000 Mattis of paddy
is a conventional term and only means that the groom's okka is rich.'
2 A kanqa is a plot of land of a certain size.
S Rice is cultivated usually in small ridged-up fiats or plots. It is very necessary
at various stages in its cultivation to stand water for days, if not weeks, in the
fiats.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 133
measure used for measuring rice, in the bell metal dish leaning
against the wall, in the wa1l-lamp, in the stock of salt, in the kitchen
stove, in the buried treasure, in the stock of thread, in the piece of
cloth used for extracting thread, in the piece of iron used for making
needles, in the tiny chunrjekka 1 fruit, and in brief, in everything
from one to one hundred, will you give her rights (sammanda)?'
Groom's Family Friend: 'We give.'
Bride's Family Friend: 'On the marriage of our child into your
okka our servants will carryon their heads goods worth a thousand
birdns 2 in a box worth five hundred birdns. If this goes, who is the
family friend to be held responsible for the loss ?'
Groom's Family Friend: '1.'
Bride's Family Friend: 'Who are you ?'
Groom's Family Friend: 'I belong to Chiranqa okka, and I am
the family friend of Malchira okka.'
Bride's Family Friend: 'Are you the fmnily friend attached to
their soil (malPJaruva), or have you been hired with gold for the
occasion (ponnaruva)?'
Groom's Family Friend: 'I am both the traditional fami.ly friend
and the family friend hired with gold for the occasion.'
Bride's Family Friend: 'Here, take these twelve pieces of
gold.'
'Pieces of gold' is only a euphemism, however: the groom's
family friend is actually given pebbles. He is given only eleven
pebbles, one pebble being retained as already mentioned.
Groom's Family Friend: 'I have received eleven pieces of gold.
If your innocent child, the girl who is married to our boy, com-
plains that the rice is too hot, or that the curry is too pungent, or
that her father-in-law is abusive, or that her mother-in-law is
niggardly, or that her Husband is impotent, or that she cannot stay
in her husband's house, or that her husband's people are poor, and
thus complaining, she goes back to her natal okka and sits there, who
is the person to be held responsible for telling her what is right and
repairing the wrong, and for providing us (who have gone to fetch
her), for our return journey, with servants for company and torches
to light our way?'
1 ChullrJekka is a tiny fruit growing on a bushy plant used for hedging. It is a
vegetable, and in the above context it means a thing of small value, or a con-
temptible thing.
2 Birtin is a corruption of varaha, an ancient Indian coin worth about
Rs. 3-50.
134 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Bride's Family Friend: 'r.'

Groom's Family Friend: 'Who are you?'
Bride's Family Friend: 'I belong to Appachettolan4a okka, and
I am the family friend of Nuchchimaneyan<Ja okka.'
Groom's Family Friend: 'Are you the traditional family friend,
or have you been hired with gold for the present occasion?'
Bride's Family Friend: 'Both.'
Groom's Family Friend: 'Here, take witness-money.' He pays
a pa1)a to the bride's family friend.
Bride's Family Friend: 'If our young girl comes upon some mis-
fortune, who is the family friend to be held responsible for sending
her to her natal okka with servants for company and torches for the
road l'
Groom's Family Friend: 'I.'
Bride's Family Friend; 'Here, take witness-money.'
He pays a pa1)a to the groom's family friend.
The ritual of sammanda is now over.

v
The transfer of pebbles is an essential part of sammanda. Accord-
ing to an old saying, 'the weight of a person in gold is twelve pieces'
(ponnu tuka manushya pannaranrjachchi). The totality of rights
which a person has in the okka of which he is a member is repre-
sented by twelve pebbles referred to as 'pieces of gold'. At marriage
the bride's family friend gives eleven pebbles to the groom's
family friend as most of the rights which the bride had in her r:atal
okka have been given up and acquired in the groom's okka instead.
One pebble is retained because the bride's connexion with her
natal okka is too deep and fundamental to be totally destroyed. In
fact, if the bride happens to be divorced later, she has a right to
return to her natal home. As the old saying has it, 'when a girl falls
upon evil days, she goes back to her natal home'.
Some Coorgs have taken the theory of the estimation of the
value of the rights of a person in his (or her) okka rather literally.
They argue that each 'piece of gold' represents the traditional
estimate of the price of a part of the ancestral property and at the
marriage of a virgin the bride's relatives buy up her rights in her
natal okka and pay her the price. The bride buys llerself member-
ship of the groom's okka with the money she has acquired.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 135
Pieces of gold do not seem to have been used in the past instead
of pebbles. The use of pebbles is clearly symbolic and it enables
the persons concerned to understand the legal implications of
marriage.
The groom's family friend who receives the eleven pebbles
hands them over to the matron of honour who ties them up in a
bundle. She ties the bundle to the frontal breast-knot (molekat) of
the bride. Just before the bride leaves for the groom's house this
bundle is put into the box containing the bride's trousseau.
Nowadays it is not usual for the pebbJes to be kept for any length
of time. Neither do Coorgs regard these pebbles as sacred. But
elderly informants consider t.hat the pebbles ought to be kept in the
groom's house and returned in the event of divorce or widow-
hood.
When a woman is returning to her natal okka on being divorced,
or when a widow is returning to her natal okka preparatory to
marrying someone who is not a member of her late husband's
okka, the divorcee's or widow's connexion with her conjugal okka
is ritually severed. This is referred to as 'giving up the pebbles
(kallumbara kaipa).l The bride's family friend and groom's family
friend break the connexion in set fmmulas which are the same as
those used in marriage but for certain necessary alterations.
In the sammanda ritual performed at the 'marriage of a virgin',
the emphasis is on the fact of the bride obtaining rights in the
groom's okka, and not on her losing her rights in her natal okka.
When a widow or divorcee is returning to her natal okka, the
sammanda ritual that is performed severs her connexion with her
conjugal okka. In both cases, however, the loss of membership of
an okka is accompanied by gaining membership of another. The
difference in emphasis however leads to the one being described as
the 'conferring of sammanda' and the other as the 'giving up of
pebbles' .
Children normally belong to their father's okka, and they remain
in their natal home even when their mother leaves her conjugal
house on widowhood or divorce. Very young children, however,
accompany their mother to her natal or new home, but they return
to their father's house on attaining their third or fourth year.

1 The same ceremony is also referred to as 'kal mara kaipa', i.e. 'giving up
stone and tree'. Stone and tree are said to stand for the estate of the okka in
question. See N. ChiJ;u;lappa, op. cit., p. 508.
136 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

When a divorcee (or widow who is remarrying into a different

okka from her late husband's) is given permission to visit her
children in their father's house, the eleven pebbles are not returned
by the first husband's family friend to the family friend of her
natal okka. Her connexion with her conjugal house is, however,
ritually severcd with the usual formulas.
In some rare cases the children of a widow or divorcee are given
rights in their mother's natal okka. In such a case the rights which
the children have in their father's okka are ritually given up before
they are acquired in their mother's natal okka. The pebbles are
transferred from the family friend of the children's father's okka
to the family friend of their mother's natal okka. The adopted son
similarly loses his membership of his natal okka and acquires
membership of the adoptive okka. The okka parije husband also
transfers himself from his natal okka to his conjugal okka. Pebbles
are transferred in both the above instances.
The conferment as well as withdrawal of mcmbership has
important results on the relations of the various members towards
each other. The ritual brings home to those present the meaning
of what is taking place. Publicity is ensured by the presence cf
a few local and caste elders in addition to the representatives of the
okkas concerned. Such publicity gives the event a certain finality.
Lastly, as the ritual takes place in a very sacred part of the ancestral
house, before the domestic deities and ancestors, solemnity is added
to the occasion which is also invested with ritual sanctions.

VI

Sammanda constitutes the legal part of marriage: for instance,

the bride will become a widow if the groom dies after sammanda,
whereas his death before sammanda would not have such an
effect on her.
It is usual for a Coorg widow to remarry. If, however, she is past
middle age and has grown-up children, she does not remarry, but
continues to stay in her late husband's house looking after her
children.
A widow who wishes to remarry might marry either a brother,
real or classificatory, of the late husband, or a total stranger. As
mentioned earlier, there is a preference for leviratic unions among
Coorgs, and where it is possible, a widow marries someone who is
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 137
not only related as brother to her late husband, but also belongs to
the same okka as him. In the latter event, no new sammanda is
necessary.
The ritual conferment of membership has been described earlier,
and consequently only the ritual withdrawal of membership will
be described here. Set formulas very similar to those used for
conferment ofmembersilip are used at the witildrawaI.
The ritual is performed in the central hall of the late (or divorced)
husband's house. Two kinsmen of the wielow (or divorcee) and the
family friend of her natal okka stand in a row facing two kinsmen
of the dead (or divorced) husband, and the family friend of his
okka. The articles which the widow (or divorcee) brought with her
to her conjugal house are kept in the central hall in the boxes in
which they were brought at the wedding. The presence of the
widow or divorcee herself is not deemed necessary.
The widow's family friend opens the proceedings by asking the
late husband's family friend whether all the concerned men are
present, and the late husband's family friend replies ~n the
affirmative.
Widow's Family Friend: 'Muthamma of such-and-such an okka
married POllnappa of such-and-such an okka. Ponnappa was 5hort-
lived. Owing to Muthamma's evil ,lestiny, she was not permitted
the good fortune of living together with her husband for a long
time. We will now take back your girl Muthamma according to
the adage, "when a girl comes upon evil days, she goes back to her
natal okka".'
Late Husband's Family Friend: 'Yes, that is according to old
usage.'
Widow's Family Friend: 'When Muthamma married Ponnappa,
her servants carried on their heads goods worth a thousand
biriins in boxes worth five hundred biriins. Whatever goods now
remain, after having been eaten and worn, may I take them back?'
Late Husband's Family Friend: 'Yes, that is according to old
usage.'
Widow's Family Friend: 'Here, take witness-money.'
Late Husoand's Family Friend: 'I have received it. When
Muthamma married Ponnappa she was given membership of
Ponnappa's okka. She lost membership of her natal okka and you
gave us eleven pieces of gold on that occasion which we now
return.'
138 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

He returns eleven pebbles to the widow's family friend.

Widow's Family Friend: 'I have received them.'
Late Husband's Family Friend: 'Here, take witness-money.'
Widow's Family Friend: '1 have received it.'
The goods which the bride, now widowed, brought into her
conjugal house are then removed to the veranda. The widow's
family friend selects two or three pieces of cloth from the widow's
possessions and puts them into a box. He carries the box into the
central hall and says, 'Since our girl ate here we should like to
leave this box here'. The elders of the late husband's okka are
theoretically free to accept or reject this gift. But in practice a
definite sentiment seems to exist against its acceptance. l

VII

Coorg marriages are very stable, and divorce is not at all com-
mon. In fact, an exceptionally able and well-informed elder
could not recall more than seven cases of divorce in the last fifty
years. The niost frequent ground for divorce seems to be adultery
on the wife's part. Incompatibility between the husband and wife,
impotence of the husband, cruelty, and lack of thrift on the wife's
part are also grounds for divorce, though these seem to have been
very rare. A wife was expected to obey the husband in most
matters, and she worked under the supervision of the mistress of
the house in matters of domestic economy, and consequently
incompatibility and lack of thrift became significant only in rare
cases.
Where a Ccorg woman committed adultery with a member of an
Untouchable caste she was summarily thrown out of caste.
Adultery with a Coorg man was not as serious a matter, but still
far from trivial. In the latter case, her husband was certain to turn
her out of his house and her natal okka would be not at all friendly
to her. If, however, her parents were alive, they would offer her
shelter even though they strongly disapproved of what she had done.
The attitude of the public towards a divorcee is different from
that towards a widow. Widowhood is a misfortune, decreed by
1 Shri K. J. Chengappa tells me that where the widow has children by her
first marriage and it is decided to allow these children to remain in their late
father's okka, all the widow's goods are not removed to her natal okka. A good
part is left in the late husband's okka because of the children. She takes to her
second husband's house only a small part of her original trousseau.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 139
God or the result of karma, whereas divorce reveals a serious flaw
in the divorcee's character. This is natural enough if the woman
has been divorced for adultery, or lack of thrift, or incompatibility.
It is a woman's duty to adjust herself to her husband and his okka,
and failure to do so renders her suspect. It is fairly easy for a widow
to secure a husband, while there is great reluctance to marrying
a divorcee. Again, a widow is permitted to marry after a minimum
period of six months have elapsed after the death of her husband,
while a divorcee may remarry only after a year has elapsed since
the granting of divorce. A widow is entitled to visit her children
in their father's house, whereas a divorcee is not entitled to do so.
Finally, a widow who has returned to her natal okka may marry
again into her late husband's okka, whereas the doors of the former
husband's okka are for ever shut to the divorcee. 1
But the divorcee and widow are alike in this, that neither has
a husband, and a woman, normally speaking, should not be with-
out a husband. An unattached woman is a threat to the stability of
existing social relations and to the moral code of the community.
The widow and divorcee are both regarded with a certain amount
of suspicion.

VIII

The children of an ordinary marriage are members of their

father's okka. The fact of birth confers this all-important right on
them and no special ceremony conferring membership is necessary.
In okka parije and makka parije unions, however, the children
belong to the natal okka of their mother, and this is only natural as
the object of such alliances is the continuation of the mother's
natal okka, threatened with extinction for lack of an agnatic male
descendant.
The important fact is that the children of a sanctioned union are
members of an okka, either their father's or mother's, and such
membership they acquire by reason of birth. But the children of
an unsanctioned union do not have membership in any okka, and
they have to be given membership in either their father's or
mother's okka some time subsequent to their birth.
In those rare cases where the existence of very special reasons lead
1 A Coorg saw says that one may marry a widow hut not a divorcee: ketta
p01J?wna biivalu, hutta pOMana biiraktiga.
140 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

to the children of a widow or divorcee being permitted to be trans-

ferred to their mother's okka from their father's okka, the unani-
mous consent of the members of both the concerned okkas is
regarded as essential. After the widow or divorcee has been ritually
severed from her conjugal okka the children are also severed from
their pat;::rnal okka. While the widow or divorcee automatically
reverts to her natal okka, her children have to be given rights at
a special sarnrnanda ceremony.l
If, however, the widow or divorcee marries again, the children
do not follow her automatically into her new husband's okka. They
are members of their mother's okka, and the unanimous consent
of the members of their mother's okka and that of the members of
the mother's new husband's okka is necessary to transfer them
from one to the other.
Elders usually make efforts to ensure that the children of an
ullsanctioned union are given membership of their father's okka.
It is clearly recognized that he who had the pleasure of being
genitor has the duty of becoming pater as well, and this means that
the children of an unsanctioned union have to be made members
of the genitor's okka. Where, however, for various reasons the
children cannot be given membership of their father's okka, they
are given membership of their mother's okka. It is feared that if
the children do not have membership in any okka people will refer
to them contemptuously as 'the children born of adultery' (rnai
km,lat rnakka).2
When a girl becomes pregnant 3;8 the result of union with a man
not married to her, the girl's relatives press for recognition of the
union. The man involved and his people might agree at once, in
which case the girl's relatives have to go to the boy's home and
give a feast to the relatives of the man and members of his village.
The girl's relatives should carry with them all the provisions of this
dinner, excepting mustard and salt. 3

1 The sammanda formulas used on this occasion are fundamentally similar

to the formulas used in other caseS. That is why I have not described them.
2 In the folktale of Kanniac;la Kllmayya, the boy Kiimayya's playmates refer
to him contemptuously as' one who is without a father'. Kiimayya is greatly hurt
by this and tells his mother that he will fast unto death if the identity and where-
abouts of his father are not disclosed. His mother tells him that he is miracu-
lously born, and that his father is the very sacred axe (chandrayudha) which is a
symbol for a deity.
3 Among Coorgs as among other patrilineal and patrilocal castes of south
India, a girl has her first confinement in her natal home. The first confinement is
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 141
Mter the dinner is over, the girl is given sammanda in the man's
okka. When the members of the man's okka agree to give sam-
manda after the girl has given birth to a baby, both the mother
and newly born child are admitted to membership.
Sometimes the agnatic relatives of the man might refuse to give
sammanda to the woman and her children as long as both the man
and woman are alive. But death of one of them might bring about
a change in their attitude as the surviving spouse and children have
important parts to play in the funeral ritual. If it is the woman who
is dead, the giving of sammanda enables the corpse to be buried in
the man's okka's burial-ground.
The members of the genitor's village who are present when
sammanda is given should be collectively paid witness-money of
a rupee.
The procedure which has been described above holds good
whether the woman concerned is a spinster or a widow.

IX

A Coorg proverb says, 'When the cattle-shed was destined to

come to an end only bull calves were born, and when the okka was
destined to come to an end only girls were born'. As mentioned
earlier, an okka is threatened with extinction if there are no male
heirs. If, however, there is an unmarried girl in such an okka she
is married in either the okka parije or makka parije way. In both
these forms the children born of the union perpetuate the mother's
natalokka.
In the sammanda ritual performed at an okka parije marriage,
the bride's family friend definitely asks the groom's family friend
whether in view of the absence of heirs in the bride's okka the
groom is prepared to stand as 'the trunk' of the bride's okka.
No sammanda ritual is, however, necessary at a makka parije
marriage as the groom does not become a member of the bride's

believed to be a dangerous and critical affair, and it is considered best for the
girl to have her mother and other relatives of her natal home with her at this
time.
During the fifth or seventh month of a girl's first pregnancy, her mother and
other relatives go to their affines carrying with them all the provisions of a
dinner, barring salt and mustard. The salt and mustard are provided by the
affines. The affines and members of the affines' village are invited to this dinner
which is called kill beppa (keeping food). After the dinner has been given,
the girl's relatives take the girl to her natal home.
142 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

okka. A rite is performed which makes clear the implications of the

kind of union entered into; the bride's family friend says, 'Since
there is no heir in Muthamma's natal okka, Ponnappa of such-and-
such an okka has agreed to unite with Muthamma, and it is the
responsibility of Mother Kaveri and the ancestors of Muthamma's
okka to see that the couple have sons, and prosper'.
It is essential to note that in a makka parije 1 union the husband
does not acquire any rights in the makka parije wife's house,
except the right to food and clothing during his stay there.
Adoption is resorted to only when there is neither an agnatic
male descendant nor an unmarried girl in the okka. Formerly,
during the time of the Lingayat Rajas, the ruler's permission was
necessary for an adoption, and for an okka parije or makka parije
union. This was because these devices could be used to shut out
a distant agnatic male relative. But it is certain that the local elders
would have tried to prevent an adoption to defraud a distant
agnatic kinsman.
Two of the three devices for ensuring the continuity of an okka
threatened with extinction because of the lack of agnatic descen-
dants involve the granting of membership to an outside male,
while the third does not. But whether membership of the okka is
granted or not, each of the three customary devices is enveloped in
ritual and involves the gathering together of the concerned relatives,
family friends, and villagers. The legal and social consequences of
each device are made clear at a solemn ritual occasion held in the
sacred ancestral house of the okka whose continuity is threatened.

x
The implications of marriage, its rights and duties, are made
clear at the performance of sammanda ritual. Most of the rites
performed subsequent to sammanda dramatize the transfer of the
girl from her natal okka to her conjugal okka.
To begin with, the groom goes to the bride sitting alone in the
kitchen of her natal house, performs murta to her, and presents her
with a purse containing coins (chila pa7;la). The groom ties the
purse to the frontal breast-knot of the bride's sari, but before

1 Makka pari;e is not restricted to unmarried girls only. For instance, a

widow might be called upon to raise up seed for her conjugal okka by entering
into a makka parije alliance.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 143
doing so he unties the purse presented earlier by the mother.
Thus the purse presented by the groom replaces the purse pre-
sented by the bride's mother. The newly created affinal bond
replaces the uterine bond. In a patrilocal and patrilineal society,
when a girl is married she passes from her mother to her husband.
Her mother is the person for whom she has the greatest affection,
and the replacement of the mother's purse by the groom's purse
explains much better what happens than mere words can.
After performing murta to the bride, the groom helps her to get
up, and walks with her to the door of the kitchen. He crosses the
threshold first, and then, standing on the outer side of the threshold,
he offers his right hand to the bride standing in the kitchen. The
bride takes his right hand with her right hand and then crosses
the theshold. This act symbolizes her exit from her natal home: the
kitchen is the normal sphere of activity of a woman, and it stands
for and is associated with women in the minds of ordinary people.
Thus when the groom helps the bride to cross the threshold of the
kitchen of her natal house, the participants are made to realize the
loss occasioned to the bride's natal okka at marriage.
The bridal pair go in state to the groom's house. The bride
salutes the sacred wall-lamp, and then sits on a sacred bench in the
central hall, after which she salutes the elders in the groom's house. l
Normally a woman may not sit on the sacred benches either in the
central hall or veranda, and when an exception is made in the case
of the bride it is as a recognition of the fact that she has acquired
membership in the groom's okka.
Later, the bride goes with two married women to the cattle-
shed where three new reed-baskets, filled with cow-dung, are kept.
Each carries a basket to the groom's rice-fields and empties it in
one of the ridged-up plots where rice is grown.
Accompanied by her two companions the bride then goes to the
domestic well. She worships the water in the well, and this is called
ganga puja or 'worship of the Ganges'. Each of the three women
carries a vessel of water to the kitchen.
The duties of a woman normally include carrying manure to the
fields and fetching water from the domestic well. When the bride
carries manure to the groom's fields and carries water into the
kitchen of his house she is doing something which she will have
1 In some parts of Coorg she also salutes the south-western pillar and the
amp in the south-western room.
144 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

to do every day for the rest of her life. She ritually takes up her
duties in her husband's house, and frequently on ritual occasions
two people accompany the subject in the tasks he or she performs.
-"uc reed-baskets are left at the field for Poleya servants of the
grcpm's okka to collect. The water in the well is worshipped before
takmg a vesselful into the kitchen. (It was seen earlier that the
confined woman similarly worshipped the well before resuming
her contact with it after an absence of several months.)
At night, on the same day, the bride is given a new name by the
women members of the groom's okka. This may be the name of
a dead woman of the groom's okka. Even when the bride is not
given a totally new name, some change is effected in her old name.!
If the bride is divorced later, or if she becomes a widow and wishes
to return to her natal house, at the ceremony in which her con-
nexion with her conjugal okka is severed, the family friend of her
natal okka refers to her by the name given to her in her natal
house, while the family friend of the groom's okka refers to her by
the name given to her at marriage. Thus the giving of a new name
marks a change in the bride's social personality: she loses her
membership of her natal okka and becomes a memebr of the
groom's okka.
Soon after the bride has carried water from the domestic well
into the kitchen, the groom's mother gives her a cup of milk to
drink, or a dish of rice and milk sweetened with sugar. In some
parts of Coorg she also combs the daughter-in-law's hair on this
occasion.
In the patrilocal okka the relationship between mother-in-law
and daughter-in-law is very intimate and important. One might
say that in the first few years of marriage it is even more important
than the husband-wife relationship. The fact of social segregation
of the sexes operates against the young husband and wife spending
any considerable time together before bedtime. Again, it is not
thought proper for the young husband and wife to spend too much
time in each other's company. Such a couple will be 'talked about'.
A young man must attend to his work, must not encourage his wife
to be indifferent to her share of domestic work, and must be

1 Akkamma might be changed, for instance, into Akkavva. 'Amma' indicates

girlhood while 'Avva' indicates womanhood. Some westernized Coorgs do not
change names at marriage. The names of dead relatives are not very popular
nowadays as they are considered old fashioned.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 145
respectful to his elders. All this means that he does not get a real
chance to be with her till he retires to bed at night.
The daughter-in-law must try and please her parents-in-law:
this is one of the main aims of her life. She must do her share of the
domestic work under the close supervision of her mother-in-law.
She spends most of her time with the latter.1
The mother-in-law, too, has her duties towards her daughter-
in-law, though in her case her rights vastly outweigh her duties.
The ideal mother-in-law is one who is 'like a mother' to her
daughter-in-law. She is expected to be kind and protective, and
she is usually sensitive to what her neighbours and others say
about the way she treats her daughter-in-law.
It was seen earlier that the ritual giving of milk is an expression
of the solidarity that is, or ought to be, prevalent between the
persons concerned. In the foregoing instance, the giving of milk
(or sweetened dish of rice and milk) is frequently accompanied by
the mother-in-law's combing the daughter-in-law's hair. Before
a girl's marriage it is usually the mother, or some older female
relative, who combs the former's hair and plaits it. Combing is an
expression of friendliness. Marriage transfers the bride from her
natal house to the groom's house, and the bride passes under the
control of her mother-in-law. Solidarity rites are performed on
this occasion. That the mother-in-law is equated with the mother
is shown in her performing some of the duties which a mother
usually does towards her daughter.
It is not correct, however, totally to identify the mother-in-law
with the mother. The mother-in-Iaw-daughter-in-Iaw relationship
is usually one of conflict and the reasons are not far to seek. The
daughter-in-law has to obey and respect the motber-in-Iaw as long
as the latter is alive. Until her mother-in-law dies her social
personality does not attain completion. Also, there is a struggle
between the two women for the possession of the son, and this
conflict is especially acute in the first few years of marriage. Fre-
quently, the daughter-in:law's relatives do not help to minimize
this conflict. The birth of children, however, reduces the intensity
of the conflict.

1 All over patrilocal India the mother-in-Iaw-daughter-in-Iaw relation is

recognized as a very important relation, and as basically one of conflict. See the
author's Marriage and Family in Mysore, Bombay, 1942, pp. 191-9.
10
146 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORG~

Xl

The Coorg okka is an exogamous unit. Sexual relations with

a daughter or sister of a member of the okka are regarded as
incestuous. A man may not marry the daughter of his father's
brother (classificatory): the father's first, second, and third cousins
are his 'brothers', and a daughter of any of these relatives is avoided
for marriage. Coorgs remember their agnatic connexions even
where they overflow the okka, and marriage with the daughter or
sister of an agnatic relative is avoided.
Every okka has a distinct name, a fact which helps in the avoid·
ance of incestu<:ms relations. When a branch of an okka splits off
and in course of time becomes a separate okka, there is no inter-
marriage between the parent-okka and the offspring-okka. Thus
there are two Biddan4a okkas, and there is no intermarriage between
their members as they remember that they are agnatically related
and that in the past they constituted a single okka.
Sometimes the possession of a common name by several okkas
does not indicate the prevalence of any connexion between them.
For instance, there are several okkas called Mukkatira, a name
originally acquired, in each case, by the founder of the okka hold-
ing a certain office in a temple. In such a case, there is usually
a prefix specifying which Mukkatira okka is meant: Kunjalageri
Mukkatira refers to the Mukkatira okka of Kunjalageri village and
not to any other Mukkatira okka.
A man is also prohibited from marrying the daughter of his
mother's sister (classificatory). Terminologically a man's mother's
sisters are identified with his mother, and their daughters with
his sisters. The mother's line may be called the 'buried line',
and it comes into prominence negatively in the avoidance of a
mother's sister's daughter for marriage, and positively in the latter
relative's being identified with the sister. Such accordance of
importance to maternal relatives is an attempt to balance the
enormous importance accorded to paterpal relatives in a kinship-
system the foundation of which is the patrilineal, patrilocal okka.
The only relative a man may marry is his cross-cousin, his
mother's brother's daughter or his father's sister's daughter.
Coorgs, like other speakers of the Dravidian languages, have a
classificatory kinship terminology which accords with cross-cousin
marriage.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 147
Cross-cousin marriage is preferred and common. It is of the
symmetrical variety though there seems to be a slight preference
for marriage with the father's sister's daughter as compared with
the mother's brother's daughter. A proverb tells us, 'The father's
sister's daughter's body is sweet, the juice of the blue sugar-cane is
sweet'. In the ancient marriage song which is sung at every marriage
the bride is made out to be the daughter of the groom's father's
sister. An old saying tells us, 'tan banda battena marapakaga' (one
should not forget the path by which one has come): a woman is
enjoined not to forget her natal okka from which she has come into
her conjugal okka. One daughter at least ought to go in marriage to
the natal okka of her mother. Such a system binds two okkas very
dosely, and the loss of a girl to an okka is compensated later by the
return of the latter's daughter to her mother's natal okka in
marriage. This is unlike the other variety of cross-cousin marriage
in which one okka is perpetually recruiting girls from another okka
without ever repaying.
The traditional preference for marriage with a cross-cousin
comes out in a rite which is performed at marriage. When the
groom is leading the bride out of her house after the performance
of sammanda, he is obstructed at the main door of the bride's
house by the bride's cross-cousin. The cross-cousin says that the
bride belongs to him and that he will not let her go. It is only when
the groom has given him a gold coin that he lets the bride go. The
cross-cousin adds another gold coin to the one the groom has given
him and ties the two together in a corner of the bride's sari. The
gold coins now belong to the bride. The incident is nowadays
looked upon as ajoke.
The preference for cross-cousin marriage expresses itself in
ritual, and there are structural reasons for such preference. Among
the patrilineal castes all over India, not only is the conflict between
mother-in-law and daughter-in-law a common feature of joint
family existence, the inability of the daughter-in-law to get on
with her affinal kindred is frequently cited as the chief reason for
fission in the joint family: The Kanna<;la peasants of Mysore have
a proverb, 'A thousand moustaches can live together, but not four
breasts'.
The daughter-in-law is a stranger to the groom's kin-group and
her interests frequently do not harmonize with the interests of the
groom's kin-group. The latter want the joint family to remain
148 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

united, and the bride obedient to her mother-in-law, and able to

get on with her husband's brother's wives and the husband's
sisters. The bride finds such an existence irksome, and she would
like her husband to leave his joint family and found a separate
household. Her kin-group are usually behind her in this, either
overtly or covertly. But there are other balancing factors: a girl is
told from childhood onwards by every elder in her natal house-
hold that she should obey her husband and parents-in-law, and
that the greatest thing she could do would be to be approved by
her affinal kindred. Besides, a man is bound by the most powerful
ties to his joint family; and even more important than this is the
fact that he does not want to be known as the one who split his
joint family.
Where an adult male is entitled to demand his share of the
ancestral property, marriage with a stranger girl increases the
chances of the division of the joint family. On the other hand,
marriage with a relative makes such a division less likely. But among
Coorgs certain relatives like the sisters and daughters of agnatical1y
related males and the daughters of one's mother's sisters' daugh-
ters are tabooed for marriage. Only cross-cousins remain eligible.
As has already been mentioned, the Coorg okka is a very much
stronger institution than the joint family of the higher castes of
south India. Tlle theory of the impartibility of its traditional
property and the preference for leviratic unions buttress it strongly
against fission. Add to it the fact that a cross-cousin is commonly
chosen for marriage and it becomes almost impregnable.
The departure of a bride from her natal to her conjugal house
on the second day of marriage is an occasion charged' ,vith emotion:
I have seen an adult Coorg brother break down with grief when
his sister left for her husband's home after the sammanda ceremony.
Parents are aware that when they marry their daughter they lose her.
This breaking of the brother-sister bond which is inevitable in
a patrilocal society leaves a void which is only filled when the
children of the brother and sister intermarry. It may be said that
tIle wound takes a generation to heal. This is only so if it is regarded
as an individual instance, as the completion of a single cycle. But it
is seen differently if each marriage is regarded as the repayment of
a debt incurred a generation ago, as the working out of the principle
of reciprocity. The links which are forged today by marriages
between two okkas are only a continuation of the links which have
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 149
been forged in the past. The individual instances appear only as
points on two or more parallel lines which are linked all the way
through. Such a view mitigates the sense of loss which the parents
of the girl experience, and also gives them a sense of security as far
as the girl is concerned. The prior kinship bonds which prevail
between the two affinal groups ensure not only the stability of the
marriage, but also contribute to the solidarity of each of the two
okkas connected by the marriage, and especially of the groom's okka.

XII

A woman is socially identified with her sisters, and a person's

mother's sisters are identified with his mother. As sororatic unions
are preferred among Coorgs, a mother's younger sister steps into
the mother's shoes in the event of the mother's death before her
sister's marriage. It is regarded as naturalfor the step-mother to hate
her step-children, and a widower marries his.dead wife's younger
sister because he believes that the latter is more likely than any-
body else to treat her step-children well.
A man's mother's sisters' children are regarded as his brothers
and sisters. He may not marry his mother's sister's daughter: such
a union would be incestuous. The importance of the mother's
sisters is stressed in their identification with the mother and in
identifying their children with one's brothers and sisters.
It has been remarked earlier that the marriage of a girl causes a
change in the established relations of the members of her natal as
well as conjugal okka. The former okka loses a member, whereas
the latter gains one. The members of one group have to adjust
themselves to the loss of a member who was with them for seven-
teen or eighteen or more years, and whom they all love deeply,
whereas the other group have to admit a grown stranger into their
okka. This is the inevitable result of the rule of patrilocal residence.
The marriage of a daughter means her exile from her natal home.
But cross-cousin marriage ensures that the daughter in question
goes into an okka with which strong bonds of solidarity already
exist. Further, the daughter's daughters return to their mother's
natal okka on their (former's) marriage, while the daughter's sons
provide a home for their mother's brother's daughters. In other
words, marriage with a cross-cousin minimizes the disturbances
resulting from marriage.
150 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

The maternal uncle is an important relative: he is the mother's

brother, and represents the mother's natal okka. Perhaps he him-
self has married his sister's husband's sister-cross-cousin marriage
is symmetrical among Coorgs. He is also likely to be father-in-law
to his sister's children. But he belongs to a different okka from his
sister's son. His importance is stressed in ritual and in the exchange
of gifts.
A man whose maternal uncle is alive may not eat curry made of
bitter oranges or green plantains. A proverb tells us that a diver for
pearls must make certain that his maternal uncle is holding the
rope above. Diving for pearls is a notoriously hazardous occupation
and the life of the diver is in the hands of the man who is holding
the rope above. It requires the greatest vigilance on the latter's
part. It is significant that the maternal uncle should be chosen for
this task. It is a tribute to the strength of bond between a man and
his mother's brother.
The maternal uncle, paternal aunt, and the married sister are all
required to bring gifts, provisions, and sheets of cloth called ketiime
at the marriage of a man. An informant told me that he remembered
his mother carrying twenty head-loads of ke{iime gifts to her younger
brother's wedding.
A party bringing ketiime gifts is honoured with 'plantain honour'
(bafe birudu): the leader of the party is asked to cut with his Coorg
sword a row of three stout plantain stems fixed to the ground. A
man who cuts through a stem at one stroke is a skilled swordsman:
the blow must fall at an acute angle and must be delivered with
firmness and strength.
The bringers of ketiime gifts are given in return token gifts of
cooked pork and sweet dishes. The host's band accompanies them
a little distance when they leave.
Those relatives who brought ketiime at wedding bring gifts of
provisions and cloths called a(lataJe at death. They come accom-
panied by their band, and they are again given in return token
gifts of cooked meat and sweet dishes.
Just before the corpse is buried or cremated certain important
relatives perform a rite of segregation called ko(la kukkuva, the
purpose of which is to break the bond between the dead person and
his (or her) relatives. The relatives who have to take part in this
rite are the dead person's spouse, eldest son, and 'cross-nephew'
(i.e. a man's sister's son, or a woman's brother's son). The surviv-
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 151
ing spouse takes a mud pot, the son a tender coconut, and the 'cross-
nephew' a bell-metal vessel with a spout at the side (kim/i).
The three relatives march to a p()nd or well in the burial-ground
after the bier has been deposited near the funeral pit or pyre.
They have a dip in the pond, after which the family friend or his
wife places on the spouse's head the mud vessel filled with water,
the coconut on the eldest son's head, and the spouted vessel full of
water on the 'cross-nephew's' head. The family friend marks the
forehead of each of these mourners with a few rice-grains yellowed
with turmeric, and adjusts a ring of twisted grass on the ring-finger
of the left hand. A mango leaf is put into the mud pot and another
into the spouted vessel, while the eldest son is given a third leaf to
carry in his hand. A hole is bored in both the mud pot and coconut
to enable the liquid inside to trickle down to the ground from the
head as the mourners march in state from the pond to the bier.
The 'cross-nephew' has to carry the spouted vessel in such a way
that a little water drips from it through the spout all the
time.
The mourners go round the bier thrice, moving anti-clockwise,
and at the end of the third round the spouse stands near the corpse's
left shoulder, the son by the right shoulder, and the 'cross-nephew'
near the feet. A little of the water in each of the three 'vessels' is
poured into a dining-dish.
The three mourners then salute the corpse, after which they
again go round the corpse thrice, moving anti-clockwise, sprinkling
rice yellowed with turmeric as they go. After the final round is
completed each takes up his original position by the corpse. The
spouse touches the bier thrice with his (or her) pot and then smashes
it to pieces by knocking it against the frame of the bier. As he (or
she) does this, he utters the funeral cry, 'Thou art ruined ... (hus-
band, father, &c.)'.
The son follows next and he cuts the coconut into two halves
after touching the bier thrice with it. He throws the halves under-
neath the bier and utters the funeral cry. The 'cross-nephew' who
comes last repeats his predecessors' actions, at the end of which he
throws the spouted vessel under the bier.
Shri K. J. Chenappa tells me that the pot represents the affinal
bond which is destroyed at death, while the seed (coconut) is
carried by the son who continues the okka, and the 'cross-nephew'
carries the spouted vessel. He represents another okka which is
152 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

linked to the dead person's by the fact that the dead person was
a sibling of the 'cross-nephew's' parent.
Husband and wife constitute a legal, economic, ritual, and
moral unity among Coorgs, and the sense of this unity is so great
that the surviving spouse plays an even greater part in funeral
rites than the eldest son, who represents the dead person's okka.
The 'cross-nephew' stands for the solidarity of a man with his
sister.
Close relatives of the dead person bring gifts of white cloths
(muri). These cloths are carried by women and are received by a
woman member of the mourning okka who keeps them folded
behind the corpse's head. They are used for certain purposes at
various points in the mourning ritual: for instance, the mourners
of the first and second orders use them for the mourning uniform
of waist-cloth and shoulder-cloth; they are used to cover the
corpse while it is lying in the house; if it is decided to cremate
the corpse, it is stripped of the white gown and then the body
is covered with white cloths; and, finally, some cloths are given
in charity to beggars and servants of the Coorg okka.
Relatives who bring gifts of cloth are usually accompanied by
their band consisting of horn, pipe, and drum. They also bring
a rifle with them. As they near the lane leading to the mourning
okka, all the relatives junior to the dead person dress themselves
in a waist-cloth and shoulder-cloth. In addition, the women
mourners unplait their hair and allow it to fall loosely over the back
and shoulders. They keep the gift-cloths on their heads and they
perform certain stylized movements with their hands which are
suggestive of the beating of breasts and head, a common symbol of
mourning all over India. As they come up the lane leading to the
mourning house, a member of the party fires double shots. The
band, rifle, and gifts of cloth are collectively referred to as kella!i.
Relatives who brought ketiime gifts at marriage are required to
bring kellari at death. The obligations of kinship require the bring-
ing of such gifts at marriage and death, and such obligations are
usually mutual between groups of kindred. In addition, the
bringers of these gifts are honoured according to the traditional
ritual idiom and given small gifts of cooked meat and sweet dishes.
These gifts are not equivalent in economic value to the gifts
brought, but still they embody the principle of reciprocity.
Reciprocity does not mean equivalence of return on every
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 153
occasion: equivalence is usually achieved over a long period
of time.
While other relatives bring white cloths, the dead person's
'cross-nephew' or 'cross-niece' has to bring a gift of a red silk cloth
(kendanolli). Red silk is more sacred than cotton, and the bringers
of gifts of red silk are more important than those who bring cotton
cloths. The 'cross-nephew' or 'cross-niece' is required to bring
a gift of red silk cloth. The funeral song, however, tells us that both
'he who took and he who gave [daughters in marriage]' (kon¢avanu
kot;ltavanu) brought gifts of red silk cloths. The divergence between
current usage and ancient custom can be explained by the sup-
position that cross-cousin marriage was widespread in the past.
The custom of cross-cousin marriage leads to the overlapping of
different kinds of kinship-bonds; and what was to begin with
a cognatic bond becomes later an affinal bond.
When a man marries, his sister's husband acts as his 'best man'
(bojakal'a), and when a woman marries, her brother's wife acts as
her matron of honour (bojakdrati).l This no dou bt gives importance
to affinal kindred, but ultimately it may be looked upon as one of
the numerous expressions of the solidarity prevalent between
brother and sister. Again, it may also be an instance of the over-
lapping of several kinds of kinship-bonds, as the sister's husband
or brother's wife might have been a cross-cousin before marriage.
Sameya gifts are brought by affines at death. These gifts consist
of coconuts, coconut oil, puffed rice (pori), cooked meat, rice
yellowed with turmeric, and three kajjayas (a sweet dish) fried in
castor oil. Mourners going behind the corpse scatter the sameya
articles all the way from the mourning house to the burial-ground.
When a man is dead, representatives of his mother's natal okka
have to bring sameya, and when a woman is dead, representatives
of her natal okka have to bring sameya. Sameya is also prepared in
the mourning house.
Sameya gifts stress the importance of the natal okkas of the
women who have married into the mourning okka. They may also
be regarded as giving importance to cross-cousins, as an affine is
frequently also a cross-cousin.
Affines, when they are not already related to each other, are
expected to be extremely formal towards each other. At marriage
1 I attended a wedding n which the b6jakarati was the bride's mother's
sister's daughter, but I was told this was Dot very usual.
; 154 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

,lhe groom's party are treated with extreme courtesy-warm water

is offered to them to wash their hands and feet, a mat is spread for
them to sit on, and puffed rice, coconut, and parched grams
(hurukulu) are given them to eat. They are also given betel leaves
and areca-nuts to chew. They come accompanied by their band.
As they stand at some distance from the bride's house, a party
from the bride's house goes to them carrying the articles mentioned
already and accompanied by the band of the bride's house. The
leader of the groom's party is asked to cut down a row of six plan-
tain stems, whereas other relatives are asked to cut down only a row
of three stems. The bride's party is treated similarly at the groom's
house later.
The fathers of the bride and groom do not meet at marriage.
Within a year of the performance of the marriage the bride's natal
okka invite the groom's father to a feast and the groom's okka
invite the bride's father to a feast. This is known as 'knowing the
relatives' (bendu ariva).
The formality which surrounds the relations of the affinal groups
lessens with the years. The two groups concerned come together
more and more as the years advance and children are born of the
marriage. But the formality never totally disappears. Distance and
respect may be said to characterize affinal relations for ever. The
earlier occasions in which they come together are covered with
ritual-ritual respect is scrupulously shown, feasts are given, and
gifts are exchanged.
Respect should be shown to parents-in-law, and this is especially
required from a girl towards her mother-in-law. A girl does not
come very much into contact with her father-in-law, whereas she
spends the best part of the day with her mother-in-law, working
under the latter's supervision in or about the kitchen.

XIII

The parents of a girl have a right to recover the presents of cloth

and vessels which they gave their daughter at her marriage if the
girl dies without leaving behind any children in her conjugal okka.
But if children have been born of the marriage, the mother's
personal property goes to them.
The legal position is not, however, as clear as we have made it
out to be owing to the fact that lawyers trained in Hindu law have
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 155
regarded the presents given to the bride by her natal okka as
Strldhana (woman's wealth), according to which the movable pro-
perty presented to a bride by her relatives becomes her own
property absolutely. If such an interpretation is accepted, the
presents given by Coorg parents to their daughter at her wedding
will come to be governed by the same laws as those prevailing among
high-caste Hindus all over India. This seems to be another
instance of the silent and effective transformation of an original
Coorg custom into a similar, though not identical, Sanskritic custom.
A girl ought to get married and become a mother, and a mother
is honoured among Coorgs. The bond between a mother and child
is the most intimate of bonds and this fact expresses itself in ritual.
While other relatives, including the infant's father, become free
from birth-pollution on the twelfth day, the mother becomes free
from pollution only on the sixtieth day. The stronger the bond
prevalent the longer is the period of pollution, and this is so in birth
as well as death.
When an infant whose milk teeth have not appeared dies, it is
buried without ceremony, and a half of a coconut shell containing
milk from the mother's breast is kept over the grave. Only the
mother is required to take a bath and change into pure clothes.
The special importance of the maternal bond is recognized at
marriage also: the mother is the first person to perform murta to
the bride or groom, provided she is not a widow. The mother has
to give her money-gift enclosed in a purse, and this is tied to the
frontal breast-knot of the bride's sari.
It is not only in ritual that the strength of the mother-child bond
is acknowledged: a number of proverbs testify to its strength. One
compares the motherless child to a crop in drought. Another tells
us that the father becomes a firebrand after the mother is dead. In
proverbs the mother is the tender figure and she contrasts with the
father who is comparatively lacking in affection and fickle. He can
be trusted only as long as the mother is alive, and once the mother
dies, his affection for his children decreases. He is likely to take up
another wife who will be the focus of his interest and attention.
The dependence of children on their mother later gives way to
great regard and respect for her, and this fact complicates the
husband-wife relationship. A man does not like his wife's criticiz-
ing his mother, and even if he discovers that his mother does not
treat his wife properly he would be loath to intervene.
156 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

The bond prevalent between a mother and her daughter is

always a very deep one, and has a great poignancy because the
daughter, on marriage, has to leave her natal home for her con-
jugal home. The mother is aware that her sons have all the rights,
privileges, and power in the ancestral house, whereas her daughters
have to leave their natal home and spend their lives among people
who will, to say the least, be critical of her in the first few years.
The daughter looks upon her natal home as a haven of refuge in
the first few years of married life. Her first confinement takes
place In her natal home because it is considered proper for tIle girl
to be with people with whom she Can be at ease.
A proverb tells us that 'the mother's love for her daughter
rendered her unfit to live with her husband, the sitting hen's love
destroyed the egg'. An overfond mother tries to drag her married
daughter away from her husband, and this might eventually break
up the marriage.
The elementary family, which is a part of the okka or joint
family, is weakly structured among Coorgs. This is because the
okka is so strong that it does not permit the elementary families
inside it to be strong units. There is no separate term for the ele-
mentary family.
The solidarity of the elementary family does not obtain expres-
sion in ritual. It is true that the affinal tie is very strongly emphasized
in mourning, and the eldest son is a mourner of the first grade, and
sometimes a younger son or daughter is also called upon to become
a first-grade mourner. But usually the younger children of the
dead person are not distinguished from the other younger members
of the okka.
The fact that the elementary family is weakly structured among
Coorgs does not mean that it has no solidarity; and in the last
120 years its solidarity has been increasing at the expense of the
solidarity of the okka of which it is a part. Coorg ancestral houses
are large, sprawling affairs, and the members of each elementary
family within an okka occupy either a room, or a couple of rooms,
or an entire wing. Sometimes they occupy one of two or three
houses belonging to the okka. A member of the M-okka once told
me, 'When this house was built over seventy years ago tl1ere were
only two or three people in it. But our ancestors were so wise
that they built a large house with a number of rooms so that
all their descendants could live in it.' Now each of the married
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 157
brothers and his children occupy a room or a couple of rooms
inside it.
The unity of the elementary families within the okka appears in
certain non-ritual contexts. For instance, parents take sides with
their own children against the children of another member of the
okka in the frequent quarrels of children. A proverb tells us that
'the okka went to ruin over the children's talk'. Quarrels arise when
'the children of the okka play together, and these children's quarrels
lead to the elders having an argument, an argument which might
later split the okka. Another proverb tells us that 'children's play
leads to the okka's ruin'.
Marriage is very nearly universal among Coorgs, and bachelors
and spinsters are very rare indeed. A man's social personality is
fully developed only when he has married and become a father, and
consequently a bachelor is regarded as one who is not fully
developed.
It is believed that a bachelor dies with many unsatisfied desires
in his heart. While a gold coin is placed in the mouth of the corpse
of a married man, a bitter fruit is kept in the mouth of a bachelor's
corpse. A bachelor's ghost is regarded as mischievous, and the
ghost of a bachelor-warrior as even more mischievous.
During the periodical ancestor-propitiations in a Coorg okka,
songs are sung recounting the deeds of each ancestor. The name
of a bachelor-ancestor is omitted from such a song unless he had
proved an exceptional success in life, or had died while fighting in
battle. Such exceptional qualifications are not, however, required
from a married ancestor. A bachelor's personality is normally
incomplete, and only the achievement of exceptional social impor~
tance can outweigh this fact.
Sanskritic Hinduism prescribes marriage for every adult. And
only a married man may perform certain important rites.l A man
and his wife constitute a single spiritual entity, and a wife shares
in the spiritual merit acquired by her husband. Sanskritic Hindu·
ism also enjoins on the wife the duty of effacing herself completely
for her husband.
The strength of the husband-wife bond and the subservience of
1 A Brahmin friend of mine married soon after the lapse of the required period
of a year after the death of his father because the performance of certain rites like
the periodical offerings to dead ancestors and the worship of the deities tradi-
tionally worshipped by his family required him to be married. He was the eldest
son of his father.
158 RELIGION AND SOC1ETY AMONG THE COORGS

the wife to the husband express themselves in ritual. When a Coorg

couple bathe in the source of the river Kiiveri during the Kaveri
Festival, the ends of their garments are tied together: Hindus in
every part of India observe this custom when they are bathing in
a sacred river or tank.
Until recent years a Coorg bride and groom never sat together
for the performance of murta. Murta was performed separately for
the groom and bride in their respective houses on the first day of
marriage. On the second day the groom's relatives performed
murta to the bride, and the bride's relatives to the groom; and
tinally the groom performed murta to the bride. The groom and
bride sat in different parts of the bride's house while murta was
performed for each, and when this ended the groom walked over
to the bride sitting in the kitchen.
Nowadays, however, on the second day, the bride and groom
are made to sit together in the central hall of the bride's house
while murta is performed for each. Some Coorgs call this 'double
murta' -the English word 'double' is used by them. I learn that
this modification of the original Coorg custom was introduced over
thirty years ago by a Coorg who occupied a high position in the
government of a neighbouring province. This moditication is
clearly an attempt to Sanskritize a Coorg custom.
A Coorg woman whose husband is alive enjoys a higher ritual
and social status than a widow. This is so among high-caste
Hindus all over India, and the Coorg phenomenon may be
regarded as an attenuated instance of the Sanskritic phenomenon.
A Coorg woman whose husband is alive wears a necklace of black
glass beads and black glass bangles, and tllese ornaments have
become the auspicious symbols of the married state for a woman.
No widow may wear them.
There is need to distinguish between a woman whose first and
only husband is alive and another who after being widowed has
remarried. The latter's ritual status is inferior to the former's, but
it is higher than that of a widow who has not remarried.
A widow who decides not to remarry wears a uniform of a white
sari, a white blouse, and a white scarf. None of these garments may
have a coloured border.
In Sanskritic Hinduism a wife is expected to regard her husband
as her deity. Widowhood is the result of evil actions performed in
a previous incarnation. A widow is denied the ritual and social
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 159
privileges of a married woman. She is not permitted to remarry.
She is regarded as an inauspicious person.
Sanskritic Hinduism emphasizes the affinal tie in a variety of
ways, but chiefly rituals. Ritual ideas tend to be all-pervasive. The
worship of symbols of the married state by women, the ritual and
social inferiority of the widow to the sumangali, coupled with the
ban on widow remarriage, and the linking of widowhood to the
idea of karma, all contribute to the strengthening of the marital
bond. It is obvious that among Coorgs, Sanskritic Hinduism has
had such a strengthening effect and has contributed to sub-
ordinating the wife to her husband.

XIV

At any given moment of time the okka is made up of a group of

agnatic ally related males descended from a common ancestor, and
their wives and children. When the older members of the okka die
the younger members take their places. The dynamic element in
the okka consists in the younger members succeeding to the
positions left vacant by the death of the older members. The okka
may be looked upon as a certain configuration of persons bound
together by agnatic and affinal ties, and this configuration remains
more or less constant over a period of time. The generation-depth
of an okka might expand by a birth, or contract by a death, a seg-
ment may cling on or split off, but in the main there is a certain
constancy of configuration which makes it an okka. The members
of an okka come and go, but the okka goes on for ever. They are
like people on an escalator, those on the bottom stairs moving
gradually up to the top and finally disappearing.
An okka not only looks forward to the future but also stretches
back into the past. Each okka has a distinct tradition with which its
living members are acquainted. The 'house song' (mane pat) sung
at the harvest festival and ancestor-propitiation enables the younger
members to learn the 'history' of the okka.
The dead ancestor of a Coorg okka is called karal)ava. Karm;za
in Sanskrit means, among other things, 'the cause, instrument,
origin, principle, the cause of being, a father'. 1 A11 the ancestors are
not of the same rank: the founder of the okka has a higher status
than the others. He is called mula purusha (original man) or adi
1 Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 274.
160 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

guru (first preceptor), or adi karalJava (first ancestor), and his

higher status is reflected in the fact that at the periodical ancestor-
propitiations a pig must be sacrificed to him, while to the other
ancestors a fowl will do. 1 Also the Ba1).l)a oracle dons the upper
part of his tere equipment in the Founder's honour. For the others
he wears only the lower part, which covers him below the waist like
a skirt. The Founder is reverenced more than the other ancestors.
But sometimes the Founder 2 is outshone in importance by one of
his descendants who was a famous fighter, or a commander of the
Raja's armies, or one of the Raja's ministers, or a famous magician,
or was noted for his piety. The Founder has a start over the other
ancestors, but this start does not prevail against a very powerful
descendant. Thus, a Coorg carries the social importance which he
achieves for himself into the world of his ancestors.
People who die on the battlefield, or who die a violent death,
become biras, and biras are regarded as more powerful than other
ancestors. The KaravanQa, BiddanQa, and KaliyatanQa okkas have
separate shrines for biras called bira kote.3
A man who is killed by a tiger or panther becomes a 'tiger
spirit' (nari puda), and at the ancestor-propitiation the Bal)l)a
oracle paints his face yellow and marks it with black stripes or
spots just before he is possessed by the 'tiger spirit'.
The wife of an ancestor is called a karalJachchi or sorjalachchi or
torjapijji. It is believed that ancestresses are particularly liable to
possess children, another instance of the Coorg belief in the
strength of the bond which binds a mother to her children.
Every ancestral house has some place for the worship of the
ancestors of the okka. This might be a separate shrine called
kaimarja, or a low, earthen platform (karalJava tare) built round
the trunk of a milk-exuding tree. The kaimarja is a single-room
1 Pigs are also usually sacrificed to bachelor-ancestors who died a violent
death, and to elderly males who died subsequent to the performance of the
previous ancestor-propitiation. But elderly women who died after the perfor-
mance of the previous ancestor-propitiation are offered only fowl.
2 The Founder is usually a man, but in certain exceptional cases the honour
may fall on a woman. In a certain okka in Niilkniic;l the men were all slaugh-
tered in a fight over 160 years ago, and the only survivor was a pregnant woman
who fled to the shrine of Piiyilrappa in Malabar. This lady gave birth to a son
and returned later to her conjugal okka in Niilkniic.l. She is regarded as the
Founder of this okka, and is propitiated annually at the end of the harvest
festival.
3 Bira is a corruption of the Sanskrit vira, which means a 'hero'. In the Kan-
nac;la country memorial stones called Iragallu were formerly erected for heroes
dying in battle.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 161
shrine usually facing east, the sacred direction. When an ancestor-
propitiation (kiiralJava tere) is performed, wooden figurines repre-
senting each of the ancestors, or crude figures embossed on sheets
of copper or silver, or gold, or even slabs of stone with figures
sculptured on it, are kept before a lamp lighted in the ancestor-
shrine. The Pattama<,ia okka perform an ancestor-propitiation
whenever an elder dies, and on this occasion they have wooden
representations of ancestors made which they deposit in the river
Kaveri at the end of the propitiation. Sometimes personal posses-
sions of the ancestors such as walking-sticks or the small Coorg
sword called pich ekatti are kept in the shrine during the ancestor-
propitiation.
Ordinarily the ancestor-shrine does not contain sculptured
images, or unhewn stones, representing the ancestors of the okka.
But during an ancestor-propitiation wooden or other figurines
representing ancestors might be kept in the ancestor-shrine. In
those parts of Coorg where there are no ancestor-shrines, every
house has an earthen platform built round the trunk of a milk-
exuding tree, and a rough, unhewn stone embedded in the pJat-
form stands for all the ancestors of the okka collectively. An
unhewn stone embedded in an earthen platform might also
stand for a deity like Puda, Gulika, Ketrappa, and Nata (cobra-
deity).l
Some Coorgs consider that the ancestor-shrine or platform is
built over the grave of the Founder of the okka, and that the cobra-
platform is built at a spot where a cobra breathed its last. There is
no evidence to support either of these views.
Ancestor-platforms are the rule in Kiggatna<,i in south-east
Coorg. It has been mentioned that Kiggatna<,i has a great deal in
common with Kanna<,ia culture, and contrasts with Nalkna<,i and
Ka<;!iyetna<,i in the south-west which are influenced by Malabar.
The Balfl1aS and Pal1ikas, masters of the technique of ancestor-
propitiation in a Coorg house, are both Malayalam-speaking castes
and their influence normally does not penetrate as far east as
KiggatnilQ. The elaborate propitiation of ancestors, with the
Baw;as or Pal).ikas acting as oracles of the dead ancestors, does not

1 All over south India village-deities like Mari are frequently represented by
rough unhewn stones. The Coorg instance is only a part of a wider phenomenon
spreading over south India, but there are other features which link up Coorg
especially with Malabar and South Canara.
11
162 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

prevail in Kiggatna<;l: in the latter area propitiation is restricted to

the offer of meat and liquor.
Ancestor-shrines or kaimaeja5 are found in Coorg to the
south-west of Mercara, but they are far from universal. Moegling,
writing in 1855, tells us that only 'seven of the Armeri [village
near VirarajpetJ houses have regular little temples where kola or
bharm:zi is performed'.1 Even today several prosperous and weII-
known okkas such as the Kolandera, Man<;lepan<;la, Maneyapan<;la,
and Koravan<;la have no ancestor-shrines.
Originally, odd stones embedded in earthen platforms built
round the trunks of trees seem to have represented the ancestors
everywhere in Coorg Proper, but later the ancestor-shrine seems
to have replaced the earthen platforms in certain houses. The richer
Coorgs then seem to have increasingly taken to such shrines:
Moegling writes, 'those who cannot afford to build a kaimacja make
a sort of mud bank for the purpose called kola under a tree in the
fields where the family's first house stood'. 2 It is likely that the
possession or lack of an ancestor-shrine soon came to indicate, in
certain areas, the economic and social position of an okka.
The next step in the elaboration of the kaimaeja-complex was
the building of special shrines for ancestors who died on the battle-
field. Yet another step was taken when a sculptured image repre-
senting an ancestor or an ancestor's benefactor was placed in the
ancestor-shrine. For instance, the chieftain Achchu Nayaka was
helped by the KanllaQa ruler of Piriyapat1)a, Nalljun<;la Arasu
(c. 1670), to regain his chieftaincy. The grateful Achchu Nayaka
built a shrine in which sculptured images of himself and his bene-
factor were placed.
In the ancestral house of the Kodan<;la house in Ka<;langa Marilr
village there are two tombs built over the graves of two ancestors
who attained to very high positions in the service of the Rajas.
These tombs have been built just outside the ancestor-shrine, and
are crowned with figures of the Nandi Bull, the 'vehicle' of Shiva.
Tombs, and especially tombs crowned with figures of the Nandi
Bull, are very popular among the Lingayats of south India. Coorgs
who were in the employment of the Lingayat Rajas borrowed the
customs, manners, and ritual oftheir rulers.

1Coorg Memoirs, p. 62.

2Ibid., pp. 62-68. By 'family's first house' Moegling obviously means the
ancestral house.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 163
During festivals like harvest festival, and at marriage, a little
meat curry and rice are offered on a plantain leaf to the ancestors.
A leaf-cup of arrack is also kept on the plantain leaf. The ancestors
consume the essence of the offering and thereby consecrate it. All
over Hindu India food, or ·any article which has been offered to
a deity, is called prasada, and worshippers have to partake of the
prasada. Food which is offered to a deity is later distributed among
the worshippers, who eat it. Where flowers which have been placed
on the image of the deity are given to a worshipper, he or she sticks
them in his hair, or keeps them in his pockets. When such flowers
wither, they are either put in a well or pond or on a tree. They are
not thrown where people are likely to tread on them.
Quite apart from festivals and other occasions when the dishes
cooked in the house are offered to the ancestors before the members
themselves partake of them, there are special occasions when the
ancestors have to be offered food and drink, and these occasions
are the last days (changrandi) of the months of Taurus and Cancer,
and the tenth of Libra.
The propitiation of ancestors with food (invariably non-vege-
tarian) and liquor and lights is called karm;al'a hhiirm;i. There is
also a more elaborate propitiation of ancestors called karm;al'a ((Ire
or kiirm:zava kola, at which Ba1was or Pa1).ikas officiate as priests
and oracles.
This elaborate propitiation of ancestors is prevalent everywhere
except Kiggatnac;1. Also there is no uniform rule as to when the
propitiation should be performed: each okka seems to follow a
different rule in this matter. For instance, the Matan9ra okka
perform it annually in May, while the PattamaQa okka perform it
once every few years, while some other okkas perform it before
a wedding in the house and still others perform it some time after
the death of an elderly male. In ,the Jast case the object of the pro-
pitiation is to convert the spirit of the dead person into a kiirw;ava.
An old sawhasit, 'The eleventh should be added to the group often'.
The propitiation is invariably performed at the ancestral house.
The latter is whitewashed, colour-washed, and the floors washed
with a solution of cow-dung. Nowadays the head of that branch of
the okka which is resident in the ancestral house writes a letter to
the heads of the branches living elsewhere, and to other relatives
informing them of the date of the propitiation. On the appointed
day they all gather together at the ancestral house, bringing with
164 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

them their votive offerings of fowl or pig or both. A daughter of

the house who has married out might bring with her a votive
animal to a kiirar)ara of her natal okka.
The propitiation begins after sundown. Everyone takes a bath,
and the head of the house dresses himself in a waist-cloth and
shoulder-cloth. Ifhe is very pious he even observes a fast.
The Ba1)1)as perform the propitiatory ritual in the central hall of
the ancestral house. One of the Ba1)1)as acts as oracle (tiruva{kara
or boi!chapaej) while another, or two others, beat drums and sing
the house song of the propitiating okka. The song gives us an
account of the life of each ancestor and ancestress. The oracle wears
an elaborate equipment called tere which consists of two bamboo
frames covered with red cloths. One of the two frames covers the
lower part of the oracle's body, and the other, the upper part. The
lower part is really like a skirt, while the upper part, which is flat
and tapers towards the top, is tied to the back by means of a stout
cord going round the waist. The tere is decorated with tufts and
frills of the pith ofpiimba!e.
The Bal)J)a oracle mimics the ancestor who has possessed him.
If the ancestor possessing him had a game leg, the oracle limps
about, and when an ancestress is possessing him he ties a scarf
round his head in the way a woman ties it.
The possession has the quality of drama. Sometimes a certain
incident which occurred in the past is restaged during the posses-
sic)ll. For instance, A of X okka was in the service of one of the
Rajas, and he was put to death by the Raja's order. It is alleged that
this was due to the machinations of B of Y okka. Now, when an
ancestor-propitiation is performed at X okka, the Bal)l)a oracle who
is possessed by A shouts, 'I was betrayed by B of Y. I have
descendants to proclaim my name. B of Y has none.' The okka Y
was about to become extinct through the absence of male heirs
when a girl of the okka Y was married in the okka parije fashion to
a boy of okka Z. Okka Y no doubt continues to exist today, but
through the descendants of a female member and not through an
unbroken line of agnatic kindred. Agnatic continuity has more
prestige than continuity otherwise achieved. Of course, con-
tinuity, however achieved, is better than cessation.l

1 This incident makes it clear that a grave offence against the ethical code
results in the ending of the otfender's ckko. It is surprising to note, especially in
view of the existence of special customary devices like okka parije and makka
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 165
A of X was induced to enter the Raja's service by his father, who
was a renowned magician feared by all on the Wynacj side ofTanQra
river. At the ancestor-propitiation mentioned above, the Bal)J)a
possessed by the son (A of X) accuses the Ba1wa possessed by the
father of being the real cause of the former's death, for, but for the
father's pressure, the son would not have entered the service of the
Raja. 'Father' and 'son' start fighting with swords, and blood is
drawn. The descendants of the X okka who are lookin;; on inter-
vene and stop the fight.
Sometimes the oracle, possessed by a particular ancestor,
inquires into the state of the ancestral estate. He asks the members
of the okka to take him to the paddy-fields, and he might even
sharply criticize them for not paying sufficient attention to the
ancestral estate. He might inquire after the welfare of the members
of the okka. It is said that sometimes these oracles point out
treasure troves.
The living members ask the oracle questions concerning the
various matters affecting them. 'Will my child recover from ill-
ness?' 'Why is a son not born to me?' And so on.
Before a particular ancestor leaves him, the oracle goes to the
ancestor-shrine, where one of his party sacrifices a fowl or pig.
Liquor, parched rice, coconut, and plantains are all offered to the
ancestor represented by the oracle. The latter eats the parched rice
and drinks the liquor, after which the ancestor who is possessing
him leaves him. He gets ready to impersonate the next ancestor
named by the head of the okka.
The last ancestor to possess the oracle is the Founder, in whose
honoUl the oracle wears the upper part of his tim! equipment.
A pig is usually sacrificed to the Founder. The head of the okka
requests the Founder to bless the descendants.
On the next morning the sacrificed animals are cooked and the
entire village is invited to dinner. Thus an ancestor-propitiation is
also an occasion for the expression of the solidarity of the Village.
The Bal)l)aS get as their perquisites the heads of the animals
sacrificed, provisions, some cooked meat, and also a little cash.
This is in addition to the fixed amount of paddy they are paid
annually at harvest. The Bal)1)as in a village serve the Coorg okkas
in that village or nth} during ancestor-propitiations and other occa-

parije, that continuity through a female descendant may be regarded as in-

effective.
166 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

sions when their services are required, and in return for this they
receive a certain amount of paddy annually. The relationship
between a Ba1)I)a family and a Coorg okka has a certain continuity
and members of the former are well acquainted with the history of
the latter. The Ba1}I).a family almost becomes the repository of the
traditions and history of the Coorg okkas it serves.
The Bar,u;a oracle is identified with the ancestor who is possessing
him, and his acts and words are considered to be the ancestor's
acts and words. In fact, an oracle is always identified with the
ancestor or deity whose mouthpiece he is believed to be. But
unbelievers are quite common among Coorgs, and an old man of
sixty-five had not seen a single ancestor-propitiation, which he
described as 'nonsense imported from Malabar'.l A sub-inspector
of police considered both ancestor-propitiation and the worship of
village-deities to be 'superstition'. Several educated Coorgs have
told me they do not believe in ancestors and village-deities. The
worship of fierce deities with pigs and arrack does not find favour
with many, both Sanskritic and Western influences being opposed
to it. Such opposition to propitiation of ancestors and village-
deities frequently goes with a preference for Vedanta of a kind.
But still one comes across elders like Kllttayya who tell you, 'they
(the people) continue to disbelieve in ancestors till they get a knock
on the head'. Repeated failure or illness makes a man go back to
his old beliefs. Sometimes the KaI)iya astrologer who is consulted
says that the trouble is due to the failure to propitiate ancestors.
Sometimes a man or woman is possessed by an ancestor or
ancestress, and while possessed, he or she might demand merely
an offering of meat and liquor, or a full-fledged ancestor-propitia-
tion with oracles, sacrifice of animals, &c. A person is identified with
the spirit or deity possessing him, and consequently the demands
of the person possessed by an ancestor are treated as the demands
of the ancestor who is possessing him.
The offer of meat and liquor to ancestors as well as the elaborate
ancestor-propitiation are non-Brahminical and non-Sanskritic
modes of propitiation involving the offering of non-vegetarian food
and liquor. Also no Brahmin priests are present and no Sanskrit
mantras are chanted. The non-Sanskritic modes of propitiation of
ancestors contrast with the Sanskritic which consists in the offer
1 This particular person was very irreligious. He had not even gone on pil-
grimage to the source of the Kiiveri.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 167
of pinqa, or balls of rice or rice-flour, under the guidance of a
Brahmin priest.
Amma Coorgs, the highly Brahminized section of Coorgs, do
not make offerings of curried meat and liquor to their ancestors.
Instead, on a certain day in the year they offer balls of rice to the
ancestors, and this resembles the annual propitiation of ancestors
with purely vegetarian offerings and Sanskrit mantras, which pre-
vails among Brahmins and other high castes all over India.
Both the Sanskritic and non-Sanskritic modes of propitiation
exist cheek by jowl as far as the bulk of Coorgs are concerned.
The more inquiring of the men see the two modes of propitiation
as mutually inconsistent, but such an inconsistency does not
seriously trouble anyone. All over India Sanskritic and non-
Sanskritic customs, often involving beliefs regarded as mutually
inconsistent, are found existing together. Usually, the non-San-
skritic custom either drops out or is transformed to suit the
Sanskritic custom, but this process takes a very long time. There
is also no doubt, however, that the non-Sanskritic customs of every
caste as well as those of sects and peripheral groups are con-
tinually being Sanskritized. This has been happening for over 2,000
years all over India.
Splinter groups like Amma Coorgs are decades, if not centuries,
in advance of their parent-groups: the former have solved their
problem by Sanskritizing their customs entirely while the latter
are more conservative. Sometimes the splinter groups are so far in
advance of their neighbours that they incur the wrath of everyone.
They might even be ostracized by the other castes.

xv
It has already been mentioned that every okka has a mita, which
is a platform where unhewn stones representing cobra-deities are
embedded. Vegetation is allowed to grow freely around this plat-
form. There is a ban on women approaching the cobra-platform
during their periods as the cobra-deities are extremely sensitive to
impurity of any sort. Though women no longer observe seclusion
during their periods, they are even now afraid of going near the
cobra-platform because of the belief that its defilement would
result in some misfortune to their okka. The angered cobra-deity
may be roused to bite a member. This is clearly seen in the ancient
168 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

saw, 'The deceit of women is very great, 0, Snake, please do not bite
us' (pommakkar/a maya mannaya pambe, ariyafe tiriyate koriyate
pambe): a member prays to the cobra-deity not to bite even though
it has been angered by women going near the cobra-platform
during their periods. Women are likely to conceal such violations
from others, especially males. If they are frank enough to tell what
they have done, purificatory and expiatory rites could be performed
to appease the cobra-deity.
Among Hindus all over India, cobras and the ant-hills in which
they live are worshipped on certain occasions. In south India there
is a belief that a cobra lives to a very great age, and that as it gets
older its tail becomes shorter. During the last period of its life it
is said to develop wings. Coorgs share these beliefs, and some of
them assert that a cobra-platform is built above the spot where
a cobra ended its earthly existence.
Allover India there is a reluctance to kill the cobra even though
it is a dangerous creature. Coorgs abstain from killing cobras
found in temples and believed to be harmless, whereas they do not
hesitate to kill cobras found outside temples.
The following incident is significant: A's brother did not con-
sider it a sin to kill cobras. He one day found two cobras copulating
and shot one of them dead. Several years passed without A's
brother obtaining a son. Some Brahmins told him that he had
committed a great sin in killing a sacred creature like the cobra and
that he would not have a son till he had performed the necessary
expiatory ritual. They further told him that the sin was so great
that even after he had performed the expiatory ritual no more than
one son would be born to him. He duly performed the necessary
expiatory ritual under the guidance of Brahmin priests, and later
he made a pilgrimage to the great cobra-shrine of Subramal;tya in
the Tulu country. Sometime afterwards his wife gave birth to a
son, and together with his wife and son he again visited the shrine
of Subramal;tya to express his gratitude to the deity.
Formerly, in the month of Scorpio, lamps were lit before the
cobra-platform every evening. In addition, in a few Coorg okkas,
a Brahmin priest visited the platform and worshipped the cobra-
deity, using Sanskrit mantras.
In the cobra-worship of Coorgs are to be found certain elements
which are common to Hindus all over India, others confined to
Hindus in Pninsular India, and yet others which are found only
 THE CUL T OF THE OKKA 169
in Malabar, South Canara, and Coorg. The worship of cobras
takes certain forms in Malabat which are very similar to those in
Coorg: in the former area it is common to find in the hOllses of
high-caste Hindus a shrine for cobras in the south-western corner
of the large compound round the ancestral house. The cobra-
deities in a house are intimately associated with it. The vegetation
growing around a cobra-platform may not be cut down, and no one
in a condition of ritual impurity may approach the platform.
In the KannaQa, Tamil, and Telugu countries, on the other
hand, cobra-worship has a different orientation. In each village or
locality, a platform is built round a peepul-tree (ficus religiosa) and
on this platform are kept sculptured images of single snakes, or of
two intertwined snakes. Such a platform is worshipped by all the
people in the locality.
Cobra-worship among Coorgs has the same orientation it has in
Malabar but for one important difference: in Malabar the deity
SubramaI)ya does not seem to be connected with cobras, whereas
everywhere else in south India cobras are identified with Subra-
mal).ya, the second son of Shiva. Shrines dedicated to Subramal).ya,
some of them well-known centres of pilgrimage, are commonly
found in south India.
The identification of cobras with Subramal).ya demonstrates the
way in which Sanskritic Hinduism operates. The worship of
cobras is very popular among all Hindus, and the identification
of cobras with Subramal).ya provides a door for the entry of
Sanskritic Hinduism. People who until then had only been wor-
shipping cobras came to know about Subrama1)ya, the son of
Shiva. They also learn of the story of Subramal).ya's birth, which
is a tiny slice of Hindu mythology; and of Shiva, his relation to
other gods like Vishl).u and Brahma, and so on. Pilgrimages to
shrines dedicated to Subramal)ya became popular, and these
shrines again are a source for the further spread of Sanskritic
Hinduism. There are usually myths about these shrines and each
such myth tells the pilgrim a little more about Sanskritic Hinduism.
Stones representing Puda and Gulika are frequently found in
the compound of a Coorg's house. P-uda is the Tamil corruption of
the Sanskritic bhitta, which means a spirit. P-uda is frequently one
of the deities in a village temple.
GuJika in the Tamil country is the name of one of the eight
serpents supporting the earth in Hindu mythology. In Malabar
170 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

and Coorg, however, he is better known as the son of Saturn. He

is also referred to as Mandi.
Gulika is associated with death: a man is supposed to see
Gulika just before dying. Horoscopes drawn up in Malabar and
Coorg show the position of Gulika, and this is said to indicate
when the native is going to die. When a number of deaths take
place in a Coorg's house it is customary to plant a stone called
Mrityu GuJika (death Gulika). This is believed to put an end to
the deaths.
GuJika is different from Kuli which merely means a spirit or
ghost. Kulis are troublesome spirits which cause illness, possess
people, and have to be propitiated with offerings offood and drink.

XVI

The ancestral house has a special importance to a Coorg: he

regards it as sacred, he is bound by very powerful ties to it, and he
considers it the proper place where the marriage of a member
should be celebrated and where his funeral should be performed.
Even today the various branches of an okka gather together at the
ancestral house during the harvest festival and during the Kaveri
festival. They also gather together for the festival of the local
village-deity which may be held annually or biennially, and for the
performance of ancestor-propitiation.
The house is swept and cleaned every day, and on special ritual
occasions such as a festival or ancestor-propitiation, its walls are
colour-washed, and the floor washed with a solution of cow-dung,
a common purifying agent all over India. A festival is also a holiday,
and the men abstain from agricultural work and perform festival
tasks such as hanging up festoons of mango leaves on the lintel above
the main door. Everyone has a bath and changes into clean clothes
brought by the washerman. A festival also means a feast and the
feast may be either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. All over south
India the feasts which are a part of calendar festivals may not
include non-vegetarian dishes-this is an idea implicit in Sanskritic
Hinduism. Non-Brahmins usuaJly prepare non-vegetarian dishes
on the day following the feast.
Coorgs follow other Hindus in preparing purely vegetarian
dishes on festival days. Even the ancestors are offered vegetarian
dishes at these calendar festivals. But on those occasions which are
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 171
exclusively devoted to the worship of ancestors meat and pork
dishes and arrack are the preferred offerings to them. Some
village-deities again require offerings of non-vegetarian dishes and
liquor at festivals in their honour.
Another aspect of calendar festivals needs to be referred to here:
festivals such as the festival of arms and the harvest festival include
games like shooting at a target, running a race, throwing a
stone, &c. These games prove an occasion for the expression of
the rivalry that exists between the okkas in a village or nd(i. Such an
occasion also canalizes the rivalry that exists in certain forms that
are not destructive of the social order. Coorgs themselves treat this
part of their calendar festivals as providing an arena for the expres-
sion ofinter-okka rivalry.
Co-operation between okkas also receives emphasis at these
festivals. Every okka in the village (or nd(i) is required to send all
the adult males in it to the collective dances which are held at the
harvest festival. Again, there is a collective hunt at the end of
the harvest festival (and usually at the end of the festivals of the
village-deities) to which every okka has to send all the adult males
in it. Failure to do so would result in a fine being levied on the
defaulting okka.
When the festival of a village-deity is being performed, every
okka(exc1uding okkas of very low castes) has to send a man to help
in festival work such as clearing the weeds growing in the temple
compound and on the road along which the deity will be taken
out in procession.
There is also a minute division of the ritual tasks among the
high caste okkas in the village. For instance, the representative of
one okka carries the image of the deity, while the representative of
another okka carries a lamp and the representative of yet another
okka carries the money-box (cheppu), and so on. Formerly these
tasks were looked upon as privileges, and an okka was jealous of
the privileges to which it was entitled by tradition and custom.
The village is a unity made up of the various okkas in it. The
individuality of each participating okka and the unity of all the
okkas in the villagel are both brought out in Professor Emeneau's
description of a dance held at the festival of BhadrakaH at Karava16
baQga near Mercara. Professor Emeneau writes:
1 Castes like the Poley a are excluded from this unity. It is recognized that
such castes perform extremely useful tasks both in day-to-day living and at
172 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

this dance is performed on several days both at the temple and on the dancing-
green. In this the essential performers are a male member of each sib [okkaj
in the village, carrying each a kogi or staff surmounted by cloth tied in the form
of two cones with their bases together and the apex of one pointing upward.
Each performer has the right arm bare and a fold of the turban hanging down
his back. If all the male members of a sib should be unable to dance because
of age or infirmity, the korji must be carried by a member of another sib along
with that of his own sib. It is the sibs that are represented at the perforrnance and
individuals who dance in the line after the men carrying the staffs are a non-
essential part of the performance, carry no stays, do not wear their dress in the
distinctive manner of the sib-representatives, and may at any time drop out
of the dance which is forbidden for the staff-carriers.'

The calendar festivals as well as the festivals of the village-deity

emphhsize both the solidarity and the individuality of the okka in
a variety of ways. The games which are a part of some festivals
give expression to and canalize inter-okka rivalry. All the okkas
in a village have to co-operate in certain common tasks and games,
but even this co-operation is on the basis of the acceptance of the
okka as the nuclear unit of society. The participation of all the
okkas in the common tasks stresses not only the unity of the
larger groups such as caste, village, and nag, but also of the unity
and individuality of the participating okkas. This is clearly brought
out in the dance at Karaval6baqga.

XVII

Every Coorg okka has a relationship of friendship with another

Coorg okka living not far away. Such friendship is between two
okkas, and not between the individual members of them. It is
traditional and institutionalized. It is usually, though not always,
mutual, and the headman and mistress of the friend-okka have
duties, ritual as well as social, on occasions such as birth, marriage,
and death. These duties are in addition to those derived from
common membership of the village. (See Chapter II, Section XI.)
It has been stated earlier (see Chapter II, Section XI) that the
social stressing of family friendship offset the disadvantage of the

festivals, but their position in the social hierarchy excludes them from certain
positions and tasks. The principle of stratification modifies the idea of the unity
of a village.
1 'Kinship and Marriage among the Coorgs', F.R.A.S. (Bengal), iv, 1938
p.124.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA 173
lack of any real neighbourhood in a village in Coorg Proper. But
isolated as a Coorg okka was, it was not completely without neigh-
bours. Only they were not the right kind of neighbours. The
Poleya or other low-caste servants of the Coorg okka lived in huts
near by, but the few small Poleya families could not give effective
help in beating off a raiding party from another village; and their
caste prevented them from participation in the ritual of a Coorg
house. They could only do menialjobs and carry messages.
The relationship between a Coorg okka and its servant families
has been considered earlier. The economic part of the relationship
was certainly very important, but it was only a part of a total rela-
tionship which had several aspects. In Coorg folklore there are
instances of a servant's great loyalty to his master, and of the
latter's great affection for the former. Achchu Kotta, a Poleya
servant of Kalluma<;la AyyaDDa, threw himself on the funeral pyre
of his master. AyyaDDa was very ill when a caravan from Bengiir
set out for Malabar, and Achchu Kotta joined this caravan against
his master's wishes. Before the caravan had crossed into Malabar,
Achchu Kotta heard that his master had died. Torn with grief and
remorse, Achchu Kotta ran back to B engiir only to see the flames
of the funeral pyre consuming the body of his dead master. With-
out a second thought Achchu Kotta jumped into the fire. The
members of the Kalluma<;la okka erected a stone in memory of
Achchu Kotta outside their ancestor-shrine. When an ancestor-
propitiation is held in the Kalluma<;la okka, offerings of food and
drink are made to Achchu Kotta's stone.1
Formerly, a man and woman from the servant family or families
observed ritual mourning for their dead master or mistress. The
bond between master and servant was strong enough to find
expression in ritual.
The de facto abolition of slavery by the opening of coffee
plantations in the middle of the last century, and the great changes
of the last hundred years, have contributed to the weakening of the
bond between the master-okka and the servant families. But even
now, when a Poleya does a piece of work, the mistress of the house
gives him a small quantity of castor oil in addition to the wages
(kochchi), paid in paddy. The application of castor oil to the head
is supposed to have a 'cooling' effect on the entire body. Hard
work, especially in the sun, brings about 'heat' in the body which
1 PaffJie Pall/me, p. 364.
174 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

needs to be 'cooled' by the application of castor oil to the head.

The giving of castor oil by the mistress shows her concern for the
health and well-being of the servant: it is an act of friendship.

TABLE OF SAMMANDA RIGHTS

Where the
subject had Where
Serial Subiect of rights /lOW
No. Occasion tfte rights originally given Remarks

1. The marriage of Bride. In her natal In the

a virgin (kanni okka. grooms'
mangala). okka.
2. The marriage of a
widow:
(a) To her dead No right, are
husband's given as the
brother. widow already
has rights in
her new hus-
band's ckka.
The recent ten-
dency to give
her rights anew
in her newhus-
band's okka
shows that the
elementary fa-
mily is becom-
ing more im-
portant among
Coorgs.
(b) When the new Widow In her dead In the new The widow's
husband belongs bride. husband's husband's connexion with
to a different okka. okka. her dead hus-
okka from her band's okka is
dead husband's. first of all seve-
red and this
restores her to
her natal okka.
At her remar-
riage she is
given rights in
the new hus-
band's okka.

3. Divorce Divorcee. Her connexion

with her hus-
band's okka is
severed and she
then reverts to
her natal okka.
 THE CULT OF THE OKKA

Where the
subject had Where
Serial Subject of rights now
No. Occasion the riglzts originally given Remarks

4. Kale aljanga sam- Widow or In their In their Children nor-

IIlmlda muripa: divorcee's father's mother's mally "rle
when, in excep- children. okka. okka. j' members of
tional circums- their father's

"
tances, it is in- okka, and only
tended to give under excep-
the chiidren of tional circum-
the widow or stances are
divorcee mem- they trans-
bership of their ferred to their
mother's natal mother's natal
okka. okka. Such
transference re-
quires the un-
animous con-
sent of the
adult males of
both the con-
cerned okkas.

5. Legitimization of
a pre-or extra-
marital liaison:
(a) bendu par(ie, The The In the okka
when both the woman woman is of the genitor.
parties are alive. concern- a member
ed and of her
her chil- natalokka,
dren. whereas
her child-
ren do
not have
member-
ship any-
where.

(b) kUf{a parl]e, do do do (b) The perfor-

when one of the mance of kutta
parties to the parye enabies
liaison is dead. the surviving
partner to the
liaison and the
children to
take part in
the funeral
rites for the
dead person.
176 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Where the
subject had Where
Serial Subject of rights nOw
No. Occasion the rights originally giren Remarks

6. (a) Okka parije. Son-in In his natal In his wife's (a) The consent
law. okka. natalokka of the son-in
law and of all
the adult males
in his okk a is
necessary to eff-
ect the transfer.

(b) makka parije. do do do (b) The son-in-

Jaw retains his
membership of
his natal okka
in makka pari-
je. The child-
ren of both
okka parije
and makka
parije are
members of
their mother's
natal okka.

(c) Adoption. The boy In his na- In the Only when there
to be tal okka. adoptive are no agnati-
adopted. okka. ca lly-re la ted
males may a
stranger be ad-
opted to con-
tinue the okka
t h rea t e ned
with extinction
owing to lack
of heirs. The
adopted son
loses his mem-
bership of his
natal okka and
becomes a
member of his
adoptive okka.
The consent of
all the adult
males of the
natal okka of
the adoptive
son, and the
consent of the
caste-elders is
necessary for
the adoption
to be valid.
 CHAPTER SIX

THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL

UNITS

THERE is a considerable body of ritual directly referring to

the okka, but this is not the case when we come to larger
social units such as the village (iir), niir;l (each consisting of a few
villages), and sime or desha (each consisting of a few nticjs). These
large social units were never as closely-knit as the okka. The
festivals of the village-deities constitute an important source of
information on these units, even though only a small part of each
festival refers directly to them. Of the calendar festivals, only the
harvest festival is important. The festivals of the village-deities,
the harvest festival, and folklore are the chief sources for this
chapter.
A 'village-deity' docs not necessarily mean the deity of a single
village. In fact it is common to find two or three villages combining
to celebrate the festival of a village-deity. There is usually more
than one deity at the festival of a village-deity. Every temple in a
village usually contains more than one deity, one chief deity from
whom the temple derives iis name, and the rest secondary. For
instance, the Kundat Bhadrakiili temple in Kuklur derives its
name from the fact that the chief deity in the temple is Bhadrakali.
There is a shrine containing her image, and the other deities in
this shrine are Ga1}esha, Sart[wu (Ayyappa), and a linga (represent-
ing Shiva) said to have been brought from Eenares. Outside the
shrine, but inside the temple compound, are stones representing
Ayyappa, Pattu Kut Patiqa (literally, ten spirits of the under-
world), and Kuttatamme (the mother of Kutta).! Besides these, the
Poleyas of Kuklur keep representations of some deities worshipped
exclusively by them, outside the temple compound on an impro-
vised platform. All the deities in KuklUr are considered to be sub-
ordinate to Bhadrakali. Very frequently there is more than one
1 Kuttatamme has a temple to h~rself in Kutta in South Coorg. She is a
famous deity and an annual festival is held in ber honour.
12
178 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

temple in a village. In Armeri in Beppuna<;i, for instance, there are

several temples: one dedicated to Bhagavati, another to Mahadeva,
two to Ayyappa, and six to Rakteshwari (identified with Chamunc;li).
The temples dedicated to Bhagavati, Mahadeva, and Ayyappa have
Brahmin priests who worship the deities by using Sanskrit mantras,
whereas those dedicated to Rakteshwari do not have Brahmin
priests, and pigs are sacrificed annually to her. There are two
modes of worship, the Sanskritic and non-Sanskritic, and in the
festival of a village-deity these two modes are found mixed in
varying proportions.
Usually there is more than one temple in a village, and a temple
contains more than one deity. The temples in a village might be
either Sanskritic or non-Sanskritic, or might represent varying
degrees of compromise between the two elements. Finally, a village-
deity might also be the deity of more than one village.
The festival of a village-deity requires a certain amount of co-
operation between the various temples in a village, and not in-
frequently between villages. For instance, the festival of the various
deities in a village are so arranged that they do not clash if not
actually dovetail. The festivals of the deities Ketrappa and Chaun<;ii
in Bengur occur at the same time, but they dovetail remarkably
considering the elaborateness of the ritual that is performed. A
kind of offering known as teremurji (usually a man wearing the
equipment) is sent by both the Bhagavati (in common parlance,
Povvedi) and Chaunc;li temples to the Ketrappa temple on the
eighteenth day (which is also called the namme or 'festival day') of
the biennial Ketrappa festival.
A few miles from Bengur is Balmavti, which has an important
temple dedicated to Bhagavati (Povvedi). This deity also has a very
elaborate biennial festival, similar to Ketrappa's, but the interest-
ing point is that the two festivals are performed in alternate years.
When the 'big festival' of Ketrappa is being performed, Bhagavati
of Balmavti has a 'small festival', and vice versa. That is to say,
this arrangement implies some co-operation between Beguna<;i and
Ballatna<;i. This is all the more surprising as formerly there was a
feud (maradali) between these two niirjs, and this feud seems to
have been a long and bitter one.
There is another type of co-operation to which reference must be
made here. The Bar.u)as and Maleyas who officiate as oracles and
dancers (wearing tere) at the festival of Ketrappa come from the
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 179
villages Sa1)l).a Pulik6tu and Balmavti respectively. The services of
Bal)llaS and Maleyas are in demand in surrounding villages, but
they manage to fulfil all their ritual engagements. Similarly,
Pal)ikas from the village BiJigunda officiate at the festival of
Kundat Bhadrakali. These Pal)ikas too are very busy people, serv-
ing as they do a number of villages. But the people of KuklUr have
ensured their services by giving them, in the past, an advance (idu)
of Rs50 and two gold bangles. This is paid in addition to the
customary fees paid after every festival. The payment of the ad-
vance guarantees the Pal!ika's attendance and service at the festival.
It is clear that the Pal!ika or Bal)l!a or Maleya can only fulfil his
engagements if the festivals do not clash with each other. The
Bal)l;a is essential at the festival of a village-deity, and it is perhaps
his list of engagements which ensures co-operation between the
villages he serves.
The saying 'ketrappang patrado<;lan6', meaning 'the entire pot
of toddy for Ketrappa', testifies to the deity Ketrappa's great liking
for toddy. Part of the ritual of the festival of Ketrappa consists in
fetching toddy from the Kopatti hills, about seven miles from
Bengur. The Ku<;liyas (a tribe) in the Kopatti hills tap the toddy,
and the festival-priests go to the Kopatti hills on the seventh day
of the festival carrying new earthen pots (kaleyas) filled with
paddy, which is the perquisite of the Ku<;liyas. These pots are
brought back on the sixteenth day, and toddy is offered to Ketrappa
and other deities in Bengur on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and
nineteenth days. The Ku<;liyas visit the Ketrappa temple on the
eighteenth day to offer their homage to the deity, watch the ritual,
and receive a share of meat and toddy.
Every priestly (kavukiira) okka in Bengur sends at least one
representative to the Kopatti hills on the seventh day. They all
leave the village at about 4 a.m., after taking a bath in cold water
and donning ritually pure robes. They are in a condition of purity
and other villagers may not look at them till they have crossed the
boundary of the village. Both when they go to deposit the pots and
to bring back the pots full with toddy some esoteric ritual takes
place in the Kopatti hills. The festival-priests are very secretive
about it, but I learn that all the ritual centres round the possession
of a Ku<;liya oracle by Ayyappa, a deity of the Ku<;liyas in the
Kopatti hills.
The festival necessarily implies co-operation between Bengur
180 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

people and a hill tribe living in inaccessible hills covered with

heavy jungle. A festival of a vi)Jage-deity usually implies co-
operation with the people of another village or ndcj, or with certain
castes or tribes living in different villages or nacjs.

II

Vi11age-deities are an All-India phenomenon. By this it is

meant that the deities who are worshipped in villages in various
parts of India have more or less the same character and attributes,
and that the technique of propitiating them is broadly similar.
These statements no doubt sound vague and general, but any
attempt to make them more precise will have to take account of
exceptions at every point.
While the phenomenon is broadly similar aU over India, there
are important regional variations. Generally speaking, within India,
each region or district has a greater unity than the larger area of
which it is a part. Inside peninsular India, for instance, each lin-
guistic area represents an area of greater cultural homogeneity and
social solidarity. But there are also cultural forms which are com-
mon to two or more linguistic areas. Malayalam and 'Tamil areas
have certain cultural forms in common; and similarly Kannac,la,
Telugu, and Marathi areas have some cultural forms in common.
Within each linguistic area too there are differences: cultural forms
present in the centre of a linguistic area might not be present in
the peripheral regions or present only in an altered form. Geo-
graphical barriers also usually represent cultural barriers. For
instance, cultural forms found in the Malabar littoral stripe have
great difficulty in spreading into the mainland of peninsular
India. A country like Coorg, which lies at the periphery of three
linguistic areas, Kannaga, Malaya}am, and Tulu, has certain
cultural forms in common with each of them.
'Throughout peninsular India village-deities are represented by
unhewl1 stones or by crude images of stone or wood. They are
either housed in shrines which are usually not very elaborate, or
simply embedded in the earth without any roof above them. A
shrine dedicated to a village-deity is frequently found either at
thefootofa tree or in the shade ofa grove. Worship mayor may not
be offered daily at these shrines. There is no uniform rule appli-
cable in this matter. Practice varies from village to village, and
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS. 181
even from temple to temple: in some temples worship (puja) is
offered every day, in others once a week, while still others come to
life only annually or once every few years, when the festival of the
deity is being celebrated. Such a festival usually lasts several days
and culminates in the sacrifice offowl, sheep, goats, and buffaloes.
Devotees walk barefoot across fire, gash themselves \vjth swords,
and so on, on the last day of the festival.
While the priests at the Sanskritic temples are usuallyl Brahmins,
men belonging to one of the non-Brahmin castes are frequently
priests at the temples dedicated to village-deities. Here again
practice vaTies from region to region, village to village, and temple
to temple. For instance, in Coorg, Brahmins from South Canara are
commonly priests at temples dedicated to village-deities. In Mysore
and the 'ramil country, on the other hand, a member of a non-
Brahmin caste is normally priest at the tempie of a village-deity.
Throughout peninsular India, excluding Kerala, Mari is a
common village-deity. She presides over epidemic diseases such as
plague, smallpox, and cholera, which usually occur in summer.
The propitiation of Mari with offerings and festival takes place in
summer, and also whenever plague or cholera or smallpox breaks
out.
Village-deities in peninsular India are frequently females. This
is specially true of the area east of the Western Ghats. Ellamma
(literally 'boundary-mother') is a familiar deity in Telugu and
Tamil villages. KaU is another familiar goddess.
All village-deities are 11ot, however, goddesses: there are also
gods. Ayyanar, for instance, is a very popular god in Tamil
villages and he keeps watch on the village when the villagers are
asleep. Biredevaru is a popular god in Kannac;la villages.
All over peninsular India, with the exception of the Malayalam-
speaking areas, bull buffaloes are favourite animals for sacrifice to
village-deities. In the Malayalam-speaking areas, however, the
favourite animals for sacrifice are the pig, goat, sheep, and fowl.
The south-western part of Coorg shares numerous cultural forms
with Malabar, and there the bull buffalo is not sacrificed to
village-deities. In the eastern and northern parts, however,
buffaloes are sacrificed to village-deities, especially Mari. But
1 I say 'usually' and not 'invariably' because sometimes there are non-
Brahmin priests at the shrines of Sanskritic deities. For instance, in many temples
dedicated to Shiva in one or other of his numerous forms there are Lingayat
priests.
182 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

several years ago, in some villages near Mercara, Coorgs success-

fully opposed the sacrifice of bull buffaloes to Mari on the ground
that buffaloes were the same as cows and the slaughter of cows
(and oxen) should not be allowed under any circumstances. It is
interesting to note that elsewhere in south India a similar reverence
for cattle did not prevent the sacrifice of bull buffaloes to village-
deities. Very recently, however, the local leaders of the Indian
National Congress have been everywhere more or less successfully
opposing the propitiation of village-deities with blood-offerings.
The most common village-deities in Coorg are Bhagavati
(Povvedi) and Ayyappa (or Shasta). The former is female and the
latter male. Several other deities such as Chaunc;li or Chamunc;li (f.),
Kali, (f.), and Ketrappa (or Kshetrapala(m.) are also occasionally
found as village-deities.
All the above deities are also commonly found in Malabar and
South Canara. The traditional songs which are sung in Coorg at
the festivals of village-deities make the latter out to be immigrants
from Malabar or South Canara.l In these folksongs an important
deity corning from Malabar or South Canara into Coorg usually
brings with him a few minor deities who meet him on the way and
beg of him to find them shelter in Coorg. Sometimes deities who
come from Malabar go round to the established temples in Coorg
such as the source of the river Kaveri, and Sartabu( Ayyappa) temple
in Makki, the SubramalJya temple at Pac;li, &c., and beg one of
these latter deities for shelter.
The song sung at the festival of Ketrappa tells the story of the
coming of Ketrappa into Bengur from Malabar: a party of Bengur
youths led by Kallumac;la AyyalJlJa go in a caravan to Mac;layi in
Malabar, and the leader is possessed by the deity Ketrappa while
returning to Coorg after selling the rice carried by the caravan.
The song tells us that a number of deities, viz. Pattu K<;lt Patala,
Povvedi (or Bhagavati), Chaunc;li, and Puda request Ketrappa
(represented by his oracle Kallumac;la Ayyalflfa) to grant them
shelter. Ketrappa promises them shelter and settles them in
Bengur and surrounding places such as Ivattu-okkalu, Heravanac;l,
and the Kopatti Hills.
It is obvious that these folksongs cannot be treated as accurate

1 Frequently the songs tell us that a group of deities set out from the mythical
Milk Sea. It is interesting to note that in such cases they reach some town on the
Malabar Coast first and then proceed to Coorg.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 183
historical records. Contradictions occur quite frequently in them.
And it is also clear that they are Coorg attempts at 'explain-
ing' the fact of the existence of a number of deities in the villages
with which they deal. These various deities and their festivals are
brought into relation with each other, and one of the deities made
out to be the leader of the rest. In another song this leadership
might be claimed for a different deity in a different village.
It is clear from these songs that not only do Coorg, Malabar, and
South Canara share certain common cultural and ritual forms, but
that some of these have come from Malabar and South Canara
into Coorg. The fact that Tu!u-speaking Brahmins from South
Canara are priests at very many temples in Coorg, and that Coorgs
had (and have) considerable respect for them, helped the spread of
Tu!u and Sanskritic cultural and ritual forms in Coorg. Similarly,
the Kal}iya (astrologer) and Bar,lI)a and Pal)ika were responsible for
the spread of Malayajam and Sanskritic cultural and ritual forms
in Coorg. This does not mean that Malaya!am and Tu!u areas do
not have some cultural forms in common. Nor does it mean that the
cultural and ritual forms found among Coorgs should always, or
even in the majority of cases, be attributed to diffusion from
without.
Formerly, Coorgs used to go to Malabar to learn medicine and
magic, and such Coorgs, on their return, seem to have exercised
considerable influence and power over their countrymen. The
ancestor of the Ajjikuttira okka, Kaliyatanc;Ia Ponnappa (alias
Ajjappa), and Chendappanc;Ia Kungu are all reputed to have learnt
magic and medicine in Malabar, and after their death they became
culture-heroes. It should be remembered in this connexion that
formerly a few Coorgs from every village in south-west Coorg
went annually in caravans to Malabar to sell their rice in exchange
for goods which they wanted. These trade expeditions also re-
sulted in the spread of cultural forms from one area to another.
A deity is commonly known by reference to the village in which
he has a shrine. For instance, Pannangalatamme is the 'Mother cf
the village PannangaIa', Pahirappa is the 'Father of the village
PaIur', Tumbemaledera is the 'Lord of the Tumbe hill', and so on.
Even where a deity is referred to by his or her name, a prefix is
usually added stating to which village the particular deity belongs:
for instance, Povvedi ofBallatnac;I is usually referred to as Ballatnac;I
Povvedi, Bhadraka!i of Kunda is referred to as Kundat Bhadrakaji,
184 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Sartavu of Makki is referred to as Makki Sartavu, and so on.

Frequently, the name by which a deity is popularly known gives no
clue as to his Sanskritic affiliations: the deity Palurappa is said to
be 'really' Vishl).u, but he is ordinarily referred to by the former
name. Kuttatamme means the 'Mother of Kutta' (a village in south
Coorg), and this is the name by which the deity is popularly
known. The deity's 'real' name is Karin Ka}i (Black Ka}i), who is
identified with one of the manifestations or forms of Parvati, wife
of Shiva.
But it is not always that the popular name hides the Sanskritjc
affiliations of a deity: 'BhadrakaJi, ChamunQi, Povvedi (Bhaga vat i),
Madeva (Mahadeva), &c., have obvious Sanskritic affiliations,
though such affiliations may not be known to all or even most of
the devotees.
Nowhere in India are the village-deities regarded as gentle.
This applies to Coorg too. The deity Maderappa settles down in
the village Made, and immediately flowers wither, sown seeds
fail to sprout, and babies die in cradles. Another village-deity says
that s11e will reward those who propitiate her and shoot an arrow
at those who refuse to. In return for propitiation the deities keep
away from the village and THicJ epidemics such as plague, cholera, and
smallpox, and grant children, good crops, and longevity. They also
offer protection from ghosts and minor spirits who possess and
harm human beings. The oracle of the deity acts as exorcist at the
festival of the deity.
Sanskritic Hinduism, which is also AH-InGia Hinduism, makes
out village gods to be manifestations of Shiva, and village god-
desses to be manifestations of Shiva's wife, Parvati. The implica-
tions of such a systematization will be considered later.

III

The domestic and temple architecture of Coorgs seems to have

been modelled on that of Malabar. This is only natural as most of
the artisan castes in Coorg Proper are immigrants from Malabar.
While Coorg houses are extremely substantial structures, temples
dedicated to village-deities are usually small and unimpressive
buildings. But the well-known temples dedicated to Brahminical
or Sanskritic deities are substantial, as formerly rich devotees
liked building solid and massive temples for their patron-deities.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 185
Lucky indeed were the deities who could count the Rajas of Coorg
as their devotees. 'The Bhagan<;1eshwara temple in Bhagaman<;11a,
Omkareshwara temple in Mercara, the Kundat BhadrakaV temple
in Kuklllr, and many others have benefited from the munificence
of the Rajas.
The construction of a temple is accompanied by elaborate
ritual, and the Tantri Brahmins of South Canara are masters of
this ritual. The folksongs frequently refer to a Tantri Brahmin
being sent for to supervise the performance of the ritual surrounding
the construction of a temple. The Tantri himself knows how t(J set
images more firmly in their bases, revivify deities who have lost
power, and so on.
It is usually a Brahmin from either South Canara or Malabar
who is priest at temples dedicated to Bhagavati (Povvedi). Worship
is offered to the deity at least once every day in temples where
Brahmins are priests. There are, however, temples in which a
member of one of the non-Brahmin castes is priest. For instance,
a Kanna<;1a-speaking Okkaliga is priest at the temple of Kuttatamme
in Kutta; and similarly, the deity Ketrappa has a Coorg priest.
Quite apart from this, in almost every village the very low castes
(Meda and Poleya) have their own deities who are not usually
worshipped by the higher castes. The latter refer to such a deity as,
for instance, 'Medara A yyappa , (Medas' Ayyappa), 'Poleyara
devaru' (Poleyas' deities), and so on.
The position may be summed up thus: (1) there are nrst of all
temples dedicated to Sanskritic deities, with Brahmin priests, at
which only vegetarian offerings are made, and these deities are
worshipped by all the high castes.1 Until recently, Untouchables
were not being admitkd to such temples. Now, legally, they are
entitled to enter them. (2) There are temples where Brahmins are
normally priests, the offerings normally vegetarian, and the mode
of worship Sanskritic, but on certain occasions such as the festival of
the deity the Brahmin withdraws and animals are decapitated
before the deity by a non-Brahmin. The Brahmin priest re-enters
the temple only after purifying it. (3) Temples where non-Brahmins
are priests. Brahmins usually do not have anything to do in such a
temple, but lay Brahmins may propitiate such a deity during an

1 This ignores, however, the distinction into Shaivism and Vaishnavism,

and the fact that the orthodox followers of the one do not generally go to the
temples of the other.
186 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

epidemic or other disaster. Brahmins make only offerings of fruits

and flowers even when propitiating such a deity,l (4) Deities pro-
pitiated by one or other of the lowest castes who are rarely propi-
tiated by the upper castes. Such a deity is identified with the caste
habitually propitiating him (or her).
Every temple has a headman called de va takka, belonging to one
of the high castes, who generally looks after the temple and its
property. 'The okkas belonging to the high castes annually pay him
a contribution in paddy and cash towards the maintenance of the
temple. He, together with the village headman, organizes the
elaborate festival of the deity. He has also certain ritual duties at
the festival, which vary from village to village. His relation with the
village headman too varies from village to village.
Formerly every important temple in a village seems to have had
three permanent officials, Mukkati, NeravanQa, and Cheng6la.
Of tllese three the last two are defunct today, and only the first-
mentioned Mukkati still continues to exist. These offices were
hereditary in certain okkas and these okkas generally belonged to a
high caste hke Coorg, Gauga smith, and cowherd. The Chengola
looked after the accounts, and the Mukkati swept the temple and
lit the lamps, but we do not know what the duties of the NeravanQa
were. Mukkati and Neravan<;ia occur occasionally as surnames of
certain Coorg okkas.
Every temple has pipers and drummers. These may belong to a
high caste like Marayas, or a low caste like Medas or Poleyas.
In addition to the above, every temple of a village-deity has a
number of kdvukdras or festival-priests who are active only during
the periodical festival. All the high-caste 2 okkas in a village are
usually festival-priests at the festival of their village-deity. This
priesthood, like other offices, is attached to the okka and not to the
individual members thereof. Both the men and the women of the
priestly okkas have duties and roles at the festival. The men have
such tasks as carrying the idol of the deity, bathing it, and holding
swords before it while it is being carried in state, while the
1 It is possible, however, that in exceptional circumstances a Brahmin might
make an offering of a fowl through a non-Brahmin friend. He might also take a
wife, sister, or daughter, possessed by a ghost, to a non-Sanskritic temple for
cure.
2 As far as I know the Brahmin is nowhere festival-priest. He is either priest
at the temple or performs only purificatory rites during the festival. In the latter
case, there is another temple dedicated to a Sanskritic deity, where he performs
all the priestly duties every day.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 187
women carry the sacred dish-lamp and the p6[iya box. 1 Again,
each festival-priest may be required to provide a certain votive
offering like kudure ('horse'), clzit!e ('prostitute'), ettu porata
(bullock loaded with rice), and so on. The oracles (tiruva!a) also
run traditionally in certain okkas.
The entire work of the festival is distributed among the various
high-caste okkas in the village. (The Medas and Poleyas, though
they may have important roles, are nowhere festival-priests.) The
work is divided meticulously: for instance, at the Ketrappa
festival, a man belonging to one okka carries Ketrappa's image up to
the temple compound and then hands it over to another belonging
to a different okka who carries it for about 12 feet and places it on a
bench. Division of festival labour is thorough and minute, and
formerly a duty was looked upon as a privilege.
According to the song sung at the festival of Ketrappa, the okkas
which are festival-priests today all formed part of the original
caravan which went to Malabar and brought the deity to Bengur.
Incidents which form part of the festival are 'explained' by refer-
ence to this caravan: for instance, the Ketrappa image is brought
from its normal resting-place which is the Tattan<;la house on the
seventeenth day of the festival and deposited in the Areyan<;la house
for three days, after which it is taken back to the Tattanda house.
This is explained in the song by reference to the fact that the deity
stayed in the Areyan<;la house while a temple was built for him
when he first came to Bengiir. The important fact for us is that
the song refers to this incident. The song provides a charter and an
explanation of the incidents taking place in the festival.

IV

The festival of Kundat Bhadrakali of KuHur, near Virarajpet in

south Coorg, now briefly described, may be regarded as typical
of the festivals of village-deities. These festivals last for several
days, involve very elaborate and complicated ritual, and imply the
co-operation of several castes, and frequently of two or three
villages.

1 The po!iya box is a box of plaited cane, containing an odd number of meas-
ures of rice, odd number of coconuts, plantains, jaggery cubes, and betel leaves
and areca-nut. It is carried by a married woman on auspicious occasions such
as marriage.
188 REUGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE coo:aGS

Steps
[J 81r6t1f'lltlli
Shr'll. •

~ 3 /t,lly" Of'4Clo~
~i dlfl(;ohere
..'
IStone pole

Rough sketch of the T~

of Kiindat Bhadraki.li of
Kukliu', near V-Jrar.ijpet
4. Plan of the temple of Bhadrakali of Kunda
190 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

On the first of kadiyar (Taurus), at about 8 a.m., the members

of Kuklur village gather together before the temple of Kundat
Bhadrakii)i. The Brahmin priest of the temple worships the deity,
and then the Bhadrakali oracle, Shri Tatanqra Karyappa, becomes
possessed by the deity and, while possessed, he issues instructions
as to how to conduct the festival. He allots the work of the festival
among the various Coorg okkas in the village and decides the dates
of the fast and festival days. These days as well as the work which
each okka has to do have already been decided by custom, and
one might say that the oracle only decides according to custom.
Sometimes, however, he makes minor alterations to suit special
circumstances.
An elder of the MOI}lJanQra okka then administers the festival
vows to the assembled villagers. The headmanship of the Bhadra-
kali temple runs in the MOIJJJanqra okka, and to him as deva takka
belongs the right of administering oaths. A member of the KuttanQa
okka then dances the 'peacock dance' before the temple, carrying a
bundle of peacock feathers. The dancer dances to the beat of the
Poleya's drum.
No ritual is performed on the second day. On the third, fourth,
fifth, sixth, and seventh days, the representatives of the Kuttanqa
okka dances the peacock dance a hundred and one times round the
stone post before the temple. Four Coorgs sing the Bhadrakali
song to the beat of a big drum (dO[u).
On the eighth day a partial fast is observed till dusk when a horn
is blown which puts an end to the fast. At night, after dinner, there
is a fancy-dress (b6r;lu) show in which Coorg men take part. They
dress themselves as sanyasis, Mapilla traders from Malabar, Meda
drummers, and so on. The ways and customs of different castes
and people from different parts are satirized in the fancy-dress
show. In 1941 (when I witnessed the festival) the marriage of a
Coorg girl with a Tamil Mudaliar man was satirized. Coorgs do
not approve of marriage with non-Coorgs and this disapproval
expresses itself in a variety of ways.1 Such marriages are still
unusual.
After the fancy-dress show at the threshing-yard (kala) of the
1 I remember an attempt to pass a formal resolution of censure against a high-
placed Coorg gentleman who had married a non-Coorg. This was during the
harvest festival when the various branches of the okka are expected to assemble
at the ancestral house. The attempt failed conspicuously as a very important
branch of the okka living outside Coorg failed to turn up.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 191
NandiyancJa okka, those taking part in the fancy-dress as well as
the spectators go to the temple along with the Polcya oracles.
The latter dance outside the temple, before the platform where
representations of their deities are kept. After this dance the fancy-
dress men proceed to every high-caste house in Kukhlr, beginning
with the house of the nai-headman and ending with the house of
the Brahmin priest of the Bhadrakali temple. The order in which
they should proceed to the various houses has been fixed by custom.
At each house the fancy-dress men are treated to coffee, coconut,
plantains, and cooked rice dough (putt).
The duties, contributions in cash or kind, and offerings which
each Coorg okka in Kuklur has to make are clearly laid down.
These duties run in the okkas concerned, and they may not be
altered except with their consent. When an okka dies out or mi-
grates to a different part of Coorg and a new okka from outside
buys its property, the latter steps into the rights and duties of the
former. 1
The performance of the festival of Kundat Bhadrakali requires
the co-operation of several castes. In the case of all the co-operat-
ing castes except Coorgs the contribution to the work of the festival
is on the basis of caste. In the case of Coorgs, however, it is on the
basis of okka. Every Coorg okka in Kuklur is a priestly okka at the
festival of Kundat Bhadrahili.
The Malettira, M01)J)ancJra, and NandiyancJa okkas are each
required to make offerings of an ettu porata (rice loaded on a pair
of bullocks), chute ('prostitute'), and kudure ('horse'). These offer-
ings are made on different days towards the end of the festival.
A young boy from each of the three okkas is dressed as a girl and he
is called a 'prostitute'. On the eleventh afternoon the three 'prosti-
tutes' run a race and this is followed by a race of the three 'horses'.
A hollow 'horse', minus legs and tail, is made with plaited split
bamboo, and in the middle of its back the 'horse' has an opening
large enough to allow a man's head and shoulders to pass through.
One man sits on the shoulders of another and the head and
shoulders of the top man are made to pass through thc opening
in the bamboo 'horse'. The lower man's head is hidden by the
bamboo frame. The frame is decorated with garlands of flowers.

1 At the Ketrappa festival the immigrant PattamiiQa okka now perform all the
duties which once belonged to the Ayyan9a okka. The latter died out and the
Pattama9a bought their lands and settled down in Bengur.
192 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

On the ninth afternoon the villagers go in state to the Bhadrakali

temple, accompanied by the three 'horses'l. The latter run round
the inner shrine thrice. After this is over, Coorg men dance the
'torch dance' (bolakd{)-actually they hold in their hands swords
(kagatales) or chauris (yak-tail whisks). Four Coorg drummers
stand in the centre of the circle formed by the dancers, beating
their small drums. As they beat the drums they sing the Bhadra-
kali song. The outer circle of dancers do not, however, sing this
song, but a different one which consists mostly of the names of
deities interspersed with short interjections such as 'ho!', 'ha!',
and 'he!': people dancing the torch dance always sing such a song.
After the dance is over, the Brahmin priests treat the Coorg
devotees to coffee, and a dish made of parched rice mixed with
jaggery and grated coconut. Coorgs sit on the steps all round the
shrine and the Brahmins serve them, taking care, however, not to
touch them. Only the priests may enter the kitchen or the inner
shrine. 2
The Poleyas who stand outside the temple compound then
light reed torches in honour of one of their deities. They frequently
shake the torches and this sends forth a shower of sparks. This is
called tug namme (torch festival). They then let fly twenty-five
chickens which perch on the roof of the temple compound. The
upper-caste people who are inside the temple 110W climb up the
roofs and catch the chickens, which belong to those who catch
them.
The Poleya is normally the servant of the Coorg. He works for
his master in the latter's field and house, and in return for this he
is paid in paddy and straw annually. Usually the Poleya, like the
Brahmin, is the receiver of goods from the Coorg.
At the Kundat Bhadrakali festival the live chickens offered by
Poleyas ultimately reach their Coorg masters. It is like a gift by
Poleyas as a caste to Coorgs as a caste, and such a gift empha-
sizes inter-caste solidarity. Caste has a natural tendency to stress

1 Any other okkas which have vowed to make offerings of 'horses' also join the
procession.
2 The Brahmins usually receive material goods in exchange for the ritual
services they perform. Every okka in the village annually gives the local Brahmins
a certain amount of paddy and straw during harvest. This is in addition to pay-
ments for specific services. During the festival the Brahmin gives the members of
the village some cooked food which has been earlier consecrated by being
offered to the deity.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 193

horizontal ties and this has to be balanced by stressing vertical

ties periodically.
In the case of the Brahmin the dishes prepared for offering to
the deity also become gifts to people who normally contribute to
the upkeep of the temple and its priest. The Brahmin and Poleya,
though they stand at either extreme of the social scale, are similar
in this, that they are normally receivers of goods at the hands of
Coorgs and others. During the festival they make token returns
which, while negligible economically, are enough to stress the
goodwill prevalent between the various sections of a village com-
munity.!
The tenth day, the festival day, is the most important day of the
festival. Visitors come from surrounding villages to witness the
ritual that is performed on this day at the temple. A ritual fast is
observed till about 10 p.m., and adult villagers subsist till then on
pancakes and payasa.
The morning is devoted to making preparations for the rites in
the evening, and for cooking. Sometime in the afternoon the vil-
lagers go in procession to the Bhadrakali temple. The proccssion is
led by Poleya oracles who walk with their faces to the Bhadrakali
oracle and the crowd. Pack-bullocks carrying votive offerings of
rice (ettu p6rata) form part of the procession.
The Poleya oracles stop outside the temple, before the wooden
platform on which an image and representations of their deities are
placed. The villagers go into the temple driving their pack-
bullocks before them and walk round the Bhadrakali shrine thrice.
They then dance the torch dance in the temple yard, holding
yak-tail whisks or swords in their hands.
Drummers belonging to the Maraya caste beat big drums called
chan#s while the Brahmin priests worship Bhadrakali inside the
shrine using Sanskrit mantras. Devotees, Coorgs as well as others,
who pay the requisite fees, can have worship performed by the
priest to the deity in their names.
Meanwhile, the Bhadrakali oracle stands behind the shrine and
people put questions to him on matters concerning their welfare:
one wants to know whether his wife will recover from an illness,
another why he has suffered from a series of misfortunes in the last

1 They are alike in that both are excluded from the activities of the middle
castes. Extreme purity excludes the Brahmin while extreme impurity excludes
the Untouchable.
13
194 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

few years, a third man whether he should go ahead with a business

or other venture he has been contemplating for some time, and so
on. (He answers questions again that night.)
Outside the temple compound Poley a oracles are possessed by
their deities. They run about possessed, and their possession
comes to an end when the possession of the Bhadrakali oracle
comes to an end. While possessed, the Poleya oracles may be called
upon to exorcise evil spirits from people.
After the possession stops, devotees make offerings of money
(kii~like) to the deity.1 Miniature silver representations of a human
being, of any part of the body, and of a cradle are made by those
who had vowed to make such offerings on recovery from an illness,
or recovery of the normal use of an organ, or the birth of a child,
respectively.2
The afternoon concludes with the Brahmin priests' offering to
the devotees parched rice sweetened with jaggery and coffee. The
villagers then disperse.

At about 9 p.m. the people of KuHOr and sightseers from other

villages gather together at the threshing-yard of the Nandiyan<;la
okka. Medas and Poley as play on their drums and pipes, and Coorg
men and boys dance to their music. Four villagers beat the big
drum (d6fu) , singing the drum song which is about Bhadrakali.
Votive animals, to be offered to Bhadrakali, are all assembled here
before being driven to the temple. In 1941 there were twenty-
three sheep, three goats, and fifty fowls. This was exclusive of one
'village goat' (itriitju) and two 'village fowls' (itru ki5!i) which are
subscribed for by the entire village. 3
With a brass mask of Bhadrakali as nucleus, a Pal)ika builds a
circular tere-a framework of bamboo covered with thin sheets of
the pith of the piimba! e plant. This tere is leaned against two pegs
and then the Pal)ika worships it. He kills a chicken and cooks it in

1 Collections are also made on the ninth and eleventh days. The expenses of the
festival are met out of the money raised at the collections. Rs 110 was collected
on the tenth day.
2 This custom prevails all over south India.
a It is known that formerly between 300-400 animals were annually sacrificed
to Bhadrakali. The number has fallen off very greatly now. A very small section
of Coorg opinion would like to do away with animal sacrifice altogether.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 195
the immense fire that is burning several yards from the Bhadrakali
tere. The chicken and a little toddy are offered to the tere repre-
senting Bhadrakali.
The Pal)ika dancer gets ready for his performance which begins
an hour later. He wears tiny bells (gaggaras) round his ankles,
paints his face red and yellow, wears a turban, and ties an elaborate
red skirt round his waist. He stands there waiting for the Bhadra-
kali oracle to arrive and give him permission to place the circular
tere on his head. The tere is kept flat 011 the head and held by one
hand while the Pal)ika dances and sings a song in praise of Bhadra-
kali.
Three Poleyas, oracles of deities worshipped only by Poleyas,
also wait for the Bhadrakaji oracle to arrive. The latter rushes into
the Nandiyan<;la threshing-yard, stamps on the roaring fire with
bare feet, and then touches the Bhadrakali tere, signifying that the
Pal)ika may now place it on his head. He then rushes to the temple,
where he starts dancing a very vigorous dance before the shrine of
Bhadrakali.
A change is noticeable in the Poleya oracles as soon as the
Bhadraka!i oracle rushes in. The deities of the Poleyas are regarded
as subservient to, and dependent upon, Bhadrakali, who is the
deity of the higher castes. And the oracles, who are Poleyas of the
deities of the Poleyas, are also regarded as inferior to, dependent
upon, the oracle of BhadrakaJi, who is a Coorg. Thus the struc-
tural distance between Coorgs and Poleyas expresses itself in every
sphere.
Two Poleya oracles run to and fro, with swords in their hands,
while the third, the oracle of the deity Piida, writhes on the ground
and groans, while the Bhadrakali oracle is stamping on the fire with
bare feet. He stops groaning and writhing as soon as the Bhadra-
ka!i oracle leaves the threshing-yard.
The villagers place the tere on the Pal)ika's head. The latter
starts singing a song in Maylaya!am in honour of Bhadrakaji. The
entire body of villagers, headed by the Poleya oracles marching
with their face'> to the crowd, then run to the temple. The Poleyas
stop outside the temple while the others go in. The votive sheep
also may not go in, and they remain outside the temple. They are
later sacrificed outside the temple.
The villagers go into the temple and walk round the shrine
thrice. The village goat heads the procession inside the temple.
 196 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Once the third round is completed, the Pal)ika dances before the
shrine. The villagers let off fireworks, the Marayas beat drums,
and there is general tumult and shouting.
The Bhadraka!i oracle executes a vigorous dance for about forty-
five minutes before the shrine. After the dance is over he selects
two swords out of a number offered by the Brahmin priest and then
proceeds to the roofed platform at the entrance to the temple,
where he declares how many of the votive animals may be sacri-
ficed to the Poleya deities. Then he proceeds to place one sword on
his head and hit it with the other. Soon his head is covered entirely
.with blood. The Poleya oracles gash themselves following the
Bhadraka!i oracle. The latter then proceeds to the veranda of the
shrine, whcre he gashes himself more. This gashing is called
narahuti (human sacrifice). After the oracle has stopped gashing
himself he answers questions. He orders the Pal)ika to cease danc-
ing and remove the tere. The Brahmin priest then offers him con-
secrated water which he drinks. The l1riest begs the oracle,
identified with BhadrakaJi, to pardon the lapses which might
have occurred through ignorance and to leave the village without
inflicting any harm. The oracle orders those present to conduct the
festival properly, and then the possession ceases.
The oracle is completely identified with the deity supposed to be
possessing him. Even the Brahmin priest believed that the oracle
of Bhadraka!i was really the deity herself. It was temporarily
forgotten that he was a Coorg by caste. There was a look of fear on
the priest's face when he was requesting the deity (the oracle) to
leave the village without harming anyone. But though the oracle is
identified with Bhadraka!i, he does not enter the innermost room
where Bhadrakali's image is kept. That is to say, the implications
of the identification of the oracle with Bhadrakali are not fully
worked out. Only the priest may go into the innermost room, and
this rule is not relaxed in favour of the oracle who is temporarily
identified with Bhadrakali.
After the Bhadrakali oracle returns to his normal condition, the
priest shuts the door of the shrine and goes home. Women,
children, and a good many spectators also leave. Only the festival-
priests and other functionaries remain, along with those who have
brought the votive animals, to witness the decapitation that follows.
The Pal)ika, whose duty it is to sacrifice the animals brought by
. devotees, makes a small incision in the little finger of his left hand
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 197
before decapitating the animals. As soon as a few drops of blood
drip from his finger, he sacrifices the 'village fowls'. Then he
decapitates the 'village goat' before the shrine. The decapitation of
the other animals takes place only after the decapitation of the
'viIIage fowls' and 'village goat'. The PmJika receives as his per~
quisite the heads of the 'village goat' and of all the fowls.
After all the animals have been cut, the assembled villagers turn
their backs on the scene of carnage and remain silent for a few
minutes. This is to enable the deity to consume the essence of the
sacrificed animals in peace. They then turn round and sing the
dnanda pd! (the song of joy), after which the villagers depart for
their homes with the headless carcasses. The headless 'village
goat' is tied to a high branch of the deva kmJiga!e (oleander) tree
ncar the temple. It remains suspended there till noon of the twelfth
day, when it is taken down and cooked for the communal dinner.
It is said that vultures and kites do not touch the carcass of the
'village goat', nor does the flesh go bad as it normally would in
the heat of summer. This is attributed to the power of Bhadraka)i.

VI

On the eleventh morning a representative of the Kan)anc:}ra

okka cleans the temple yard of bloodstains and he is paid three
pal]as (about nine annas) for performing this duty. The Brahmin
priest then ritually purifies the temple and temple yard by sprink~
ling consecrated water everywhere and uttering the appropriate
Sanskrit mantras.
Races are held on the eleventh afternoon for 'prostitutes' (chille)
and for 'horses' (kudure). The Malettira, MOJ::U)aDdra, and Nandi~
yan<;la okkas are each required to send one 'prostitute' and one
'horse' for the races. 'Prostitutes' and 'horses' are regarded as
votive offerings. For instance, when a boy is ill, his parents might
make a vow to the effect that they will dress him up as a 'prostitute'
at the coming festival.
Getting the 'prostitute' and 'horse' ready in time is not very easy,
and clear, if elaborate, rules are laid down requiring certain okkas
to help each of the three okkas charged with the responsibility of
making the offerings. For instance, the Tatan<;lra okka is required
to help the Malettira okka, the Kuttanc:}ra okka (now split into
two) to help the MOl;l1;anc;lra okka, and the MaleWra okka to help
198 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

the Nandiyan<;la okka to get the 'prostitute' ready. Elaborate rules

are again laid down as to which akkas should help each of the three
okkas concerned to get the 'horse' ready. The punctilious regard for
detail is characteristic of the festivals of village-deities.
The MOl!l)anqra 'prostitute' and 'horse' are conducted by the
Poleya oracles to the MOl.llJan<;lra rice-fields, and after leaving
~hem there, the Poleya oracles accompany the BhadrakaF oracle
to the Malettira house. Together they escort the Malettira 'pros-
titute' and 'horse' to the MOI:I1).andra rice-fields. Finally, the entire
body proceed to the threshing-yard of the Nandiyan<;la akka,
wrere they meet the latter's 'prostitute' and 'horse'. At first, the
three 'horses' run a race and then the 'prostitutes' follow
suit.
The villagers, oracles, 'horses', and 'prostitutes' then proceed
to the temple, where they walk round the shrine thrice. The
'prostitutes' and 'horses' perform a dance and this is followed by
the villagers dancing the 'torch dance'.
Tenge pore or 'coconut scramble' takes place afterwards. The
nacj-or temple-headman holds a coconut aloft in his right hand,
and this is a signal for youths to gather round him. He then lowers
his right hand and stretches it horizontally before him. This is a
sign for the youths to try and snatch it from him. After snatching
the coconut, the man in possession of it has to run a few yards to a
stone where he should break it, but before he does this, anyone
may pounce on him and snatch the coconut from him. He who
breaks it on the stone is the winner. He is given a prize.
The Brahmin priest then worships the goddess, using Sanskrit
mantras, and this brings the proceedings to an end on the eleventh
day.
On the twelfth morning there is an elaborate purification rite
which the priest performs before the assembled villagers. The
accounts of the money-offerings made on the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh days are checked. Out of this sum fees are paid to the
priest, oracles, cooks, Maraya drummers, Pal)ika, and Meda, and
Poleya musicians. The BhadrakaJi oracle then decides how much
money should be spent on the evening's dinner.
The 'village goat' is brought down from the tree, cut up, and
cooked into curry along with the 'village fowls'. There is a huge
dinner at which all the villagers take part. Toddy is also served at
this dinner, as at other village dinners.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 199
VII

The Bhadrakali oracle plays a most important and, to the out-

sider, rather puzzling role in the festival. He directs the festival at
every stage and these directions are given while he is believed to be
possessed by the deity whose oracle he is.
It should be remembered here that the tasks which each okka
has to perform in the festival and the contributions it is required
to make are all determined by custom. The oracle rarely sets aside
or countermands these tasks and contributions, and he does so only
when there are good reasons: for instance, if the sole adult male
representative of one of the concerned ok k as is seriously ill during
the festival the oracle will ask another okka to take over the duties
of the sick man.
Sometimes the oracle is given the discretionary power to act with
some latitude. For instance, he is required to allot some of the
votive animals brought by the upper-caste devotees to the deities of
the Poleyas. In 1941, when I witnessed the festival, he did not allot
any goat to the Poleya deities as only three goats had been brought
as offerings. The Poleya deities had to rest content with a few sheep
and fowls.
The oracle also decides which day of the festival should be the
fast-day or paHti. He usually chooses the eighth day, but if it is
unsuitable for some reason or other, he chooses an earlier or later
day.
The point to note is that all these instructions are issued while
the oracle is believed to be posses5ed by the deity. The oracle's
words are regarded as the deity's words. Coorgs commonly talk
about 'the deity said this', and 'the deity did that', and it is only
after a while that the outsider understands that they are referring
to the oracle's acts and words. The oracle no doubt issues in-
structions while possessed, but these instructions only restate,
confirm, and support what has already been decided by custom.
The oracle exercises his discretionary power only in certain known
and definite contexts.
The villagers know every step of the Bhadraka!i oracle before-
hand. They tell you that 'he will be running in a minute', or that
'he will be gashing his head', and so on. It is like a play which they
have seen before and you have not.
Shri Tatan<,ira Karyappa is the oracle of Bhadrakali and unlike
200 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

other Coorgs he is a vegetarian and teetotaller. PeopJerespect him

greatly for his piety. He is frequently contrasted with other oracles,
who, in their day-to-day lives, are neither conspicuol1slypious nor
virtuous.
Poleyas may not enter the temple of Bhadrakali. Images and
representations of their deities are placed on an improvised plat-
form outside the temple compound. The Poleya oracles dance
before this platform.
Some of the duties performed by the Poleyas, however, require
them to exercise power over people belonging to the higher castes,
and this has the effect of compensating them for the low position
they normally occupy fn the caste structure. The Poleya oracles
who dance before their deities have the power to spot any stranger
trying to enter the temple. They also exorcise evil spirits from
possessed persons who may frequently belong to a high caste.
Votive animals are brought on the tenth day to Bhadraka}i
mostly by the members of the high castes. A few of these are allotted
to the Poleya deities by the oracle of BhadrahQi. While half of each
decapitated animal before Bhadrakali is shared by okkas belonging
to the high castes in Kuklur, the animals decapitated before
Poleya deities are not so shared. The Poleyas share among them-
selves the animals decapitated before their deities. The allotment of
some of the animals brought by members of the high castes to the
Poleya deities constitutes a gift by the high castes to Poleyas. This
might be regarded as a return gift for the twenty-five chickens
which were <given' on the ninth day by the Poleyas to the high-
caste people.
The position of the Poleyas varies from festival to festival. In
some festivals the exclusion aspect seems to be stressed to the
neglect of other aspects, whereas in certain others, along with the
exclusion-aspect, the solidarity-aspect and the compensation-
aspect are all stressed, but with the first mentioned predominating
over the others.

VIII

The village is a social unit of considerable strength, and this is

in spite of the fact that caste-ties are always tending to stretch
beyond the village (and even nag). A village is a multi-caste associ-
ation and the unity of the village always demands that caste-ties
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS: ' ··~·201··

are checked sufficiently to prevent their overflowtrrg the village.

and that unity with other castes occupying different positions in
the hierarchy is stressed. This was easier in the past because the
hierarchy was tacitly accepted by the people, and low castes like
Medas and Poleyas did not object to participating;With the .other.
castes in the village at a lower level, or even b~g;~c9mpletely.
excluded on certain ritual occasions. Again the widespread preva,-
lence of feuds between villages and between niicjs tended toempha-
size the unity of the village and check the segmentary action of
caste.
At the tappacjaka ritual, the members of the village or nacj
celebrating the festival of the local village-deity undertake to
observe certain dietetic and other restrictions while the festival
lasts. The villagers may not kill an animal or break an egg or
coconut for the table; and toddy may not be tapped -within the
village. Villagers who want to consume these articles Jla ve to import
them from outside. The festival-priests, who are more important
than ordinary villagers, may not consume even imported meat and
toddy. They have to observe strict vegetarianism and teetotalism.
They are also required to observe strict continence and avoid
touching laymen.
In the Ketrappa festival, women in their periods are required to
leave the village and return to it only after the festival is over. Such
a woman is in a condition of pollution; and her presence in the
vj1lage is regarded as inconsistent with the ritual status of the
village. People in a condition of birth-or death-pollution are also
not allowed to participate in the festival.
No marriage may be performed during the festival. If a person
dies in the village he has to be buried quietly, without the custo-
mary firing of guns and band.
These restrictions serve to show that the village (or nag) is the
concerned entity in the festival. The restrictions increase as
concern increases-the festival-priests have to observe more
restrictions than the laymen. The village (or niicj) 0 bservin g the
festival is marked off from other villages by these restrictions.
Every villager knows that failure by anyone of them to observe the
restrictions might result in some misfortune to the entire village.
The unity of the village is projected to the 'mystical' plane and is
supported by ritual sanctions.
A brief account of a part of the ritual of enumeration (If restric-
202 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

tions at the harvest festival is necessary here. The headman of the

most important temple in the village begins by asking whether
everyone (every adult male, that is to say) is present.
The village-headman replies,l 'Yes, according to old usage.'
Village-headman: 'Has the okka which has committed the wrong,
the one who stays outside (Poleyas), the one who heats and
beats (Airis or smiths), the one who lifts and beats (MaQivalas or
washermen), without a single absentee, is everyone assembled
hereT
Temple-headman: 'Yes, according to old usage.'
Temple-headman: 'He who knew how to sing, but refused to
sing or dance at the festival, or when the villagers went singing and
dancing to his house, he did not open the closed door, or he did
not remove the bell-metal dining-dish leaned against the wall, or
he did not light the sacred wall-lamp, or he did not mix with
another, or he abused another villager during the festival, or he
beat another villager all over the body, such a man shall pay a fine
of forty-eight palJas for violating the injunctions of god.' Saying
this the temple-headman extends his palm towards the village-
headman who strikes it as witness to the statement.
The above rite makes it clear that the members of every caste
in the village, including the Poleyas, attended the meeting of the
village-assembly, and that everyone in the village had to observe
certain rules and restrictions during the festival. The villagers had
to keep their houses dean, with the doors open to receive a party of
singers and dancers, with the sacred wall-lamp lit, they had to join
in the singing and dancing, and finally they had to refrain from
quarrelling, whatever the provocation. Failure to observe these
rules was punished with a heavy fine.
At the festival of a village-deity tapparjaka ritual is performed in
the beginning and the restrictions enumerated to the members of
the village (or ndrj), whereas in the harvest festival tapparjaka
is an occasion for meting out punishment to those guilty of
misdemeanour durjng the festival. Again, the latter maybe regarded
1 I have given above a translation of the formulas as they occur in Pa!!6Je
Pa/umi, pp. 239-40.
In Kadiyetniid the temple-headmen, or a temple official, opens the proceed-
ings, whereas near Mercara the village-headmen does it. The person who has to
reply again varies from region to region: it may be the village or temple-head-
man, or some elder.
The date of the ritual of the enumeration of restrictions also varies from region
to region.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 203

as more secular than the former: at the festivals of the village-

deities the members of the village take a vow in the name of god
to keep the rules and restrictions, whereas at the harvest festival
no such vow is taken.
At the end of the harvest festival there is a village dance C{ir
kolu) in which all the adult males in the village have to take part;
and on the following day, or two days later, there is a dance for the
entire mit! to which every village belonging to the particular narj
sends its representatives. Each village makes a special point of
sending its best dancers to the ndrj dance.
The village dance is followed by a collective hunt by the villagers.
(A collective hunt may also be organized by a nat!.) Every adult
male in the village is required to be present at the hunt, and a
successful hunt implies a co-ordination of the activities of numer-
ous individuals. Lack of proper co-ordination has to be paid for
with life or limb.
The festivals of village-deities, the harvest festival, and the festi-
val of arms all terminate with a dinner for the entire village (or
mit!). The boar that is killed in the collective hunt is cooked on this
occasion. If the game is not enough to go round, then one or two
domesticated pigs or goats are slaughtered in addition. Each house
brings its own cooked rice-flour to the dinner. The headman
selects five men to serve food to the men.
The men bring halves of coconut shells or leaf-cups for liquor:
a young man is given only one cup of liquor while an elder is en-
titled to more. The singers get an extra share of meat and liquor.
The Poleyas do not sit with the rest, but are given a quantity of
meat and liquor which they consume by themselves.
Both the village dance and the village hunt stress the unity of the
village. In the case of the village hunt, there is the additional element
of the threat of danger from the boar or tiger or other wild animal.
The village dinner is rightly called {irorme or 'village harmony', as
it maintains and increases the harmony of the village.

IX

Like the village and okka, the ndij is a real social unit and not a
mere administrative division imposed from above by the Rajas. In
fact, before the political integration of Coorg by the Rajas, the
maximum political unit seems to have been a union of two or three
204 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG T'HE COORGS

nat}s under a chief called Nayaka, who was usually at feud with
other similar chiefs. For some time even after the country had
been effectively brought under the control of the Lingayats Rajas,
feuds between ndt}s continued to occur.
The play of Kungu which is enacted in the south-western parts
of Coorg during the harvest festival gives us a picture of Coorg in
the days when inter-nat} feuds were common. Maradalri (feud)
was prevalent between Beppuna<;l and Kadiyetnii<;l, and it was so
bitter that there was no intermarriage between them. 'they con-
ducted raids on each other constantly. In one of these raids an
arrow from a Beppuna<;l man lodged itself in the body of a
Ka<;liyetna<;l man. The injured fighter was carried by his friends to
Chendappan<;la Kungu, a famous doctor in E<;lenalkna<;l. Kungu
agreed to treat the injured man because E<;lenalkna<;l and Ka<;liyet-
nag were friendly to each other. But Kungu's mother was born in
Beppuna<;l and she persuaded her son to neglect the injured man,
who belonged to a nat} which was the traditional enemy of her natal
niit}. The injured man died as a result of Kungu's neglect.
It was common for deities to be identified with their nat}s.
Temples were always chosen for attack. The story of Chengettira
Appa1)l).a stealing the wooden pins belonging to the see-saw of the
Bengur Povvedi temple has already been narrated. The most
successful way of rousing the wrath of a nat} or village was by
attacking one of its temples.
A patriot was also a devotee. The story of Kaiyandira Appayya
brings out this point clearly. Appayya, a mere boy, whose ear-
boring mangala had not yet been performed, was cut to the quick
when he learnt that the well-known fighter, Kullachen<;la Ch6ndu,
had tried to prevent the offer of worship at the temple of Ch61i
Povvedi in Arapat village in Ka<;liyetna<;l. Appayya persuaded the
elders of Ka<;liyetnaq to permit him to fight ChOndu, whom he
killed by resorting to unfair means. Appayya's action, instead of
meeting with disapproval, earned him great rewards. Mangala
ceremony was performed for him, and a number of privileges were
conferred on him by a grateful ndt}. These privileges later became
hereditary in the Kaiyandira okka.
When a hero was born in a hostile nat}, all the people in the nat}
suffered from headache. The tower of its most important temple
was damaged, guns hanging from the roof fired of their own accord,
babies sleeping in cradles suddenly woke up, frightened, and so on.
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 2l
When the fortunes of a nih} were at a low eob, the elders of that'
niif}went on a pilgrimage to the patron-deity of the niif} and prayed
to him for the birth of a hero in their midst.
Legends grew up about a hero. Chcgettira Appa:tfl)a is supposed
to have accomplished everything he did before he was sixteen days
old. The hero had power to curse. After he died, he became a
powerful spirit, a bira.
The boundary of a lldf} obtains importance on some ritual occa-
sions. A groom passing in state through a ndf} to the bride's
village is given the 'plantain honour' at the boundary of the
ndf}.
Richter describes a custom which brings out the ritual impor-
tance of the niif}- boundary:

In cases of sore ailiictions befalling a whole village or narj such as small-pox,

cholera, cattle-disease, the ryots [peasants] combine to appease the wrath of
Miiriamma [the goddess Miiri who presides over these epidemics] by collecting
contributions of pigs, rice, coconuts, bread and plantains, from the different
houses and depositing them at the mandu [green]; whence they are carried in a
procession with tomtoms. In one basket there is some rice, and the members
of each house on coming out bring a little rice in the hand, waving it round the
head, throw it into the basket, with the belief that the dreaded evil will depart
with the rice. At last the offerings are put down on the narj-boundary, the animals
are killed, their blood is offered on a stone, the rice and basket are left, and
the rest of the provisions consumed by those composing the procession. The
people of adjoining villages and narjs repeat the ceremony, and thus the epidemic
is supposed to be banished from the country. In still greater calamities, a flock
of sheep is driven from naif to narj and, at last, expelled from the country.l

x
There is no social unit among Coorgs which is without a head.
Every okka has a headman and the headman's wife is the head of
the womcn in the okka. A temple has a headman with a number of
officials under him. A village has a village-headman, and above the
village is the niif}, and every niif}has at least one niif}-headman, and
frequently more than one. The highest category of headmen are,
however, the headmen of simeor desha, of whom there are eight inal!.
Coorgs have a keen sense of discipline, which is associated in
their minds with leadership and precedence. In their folksongs, not
only a group of men, but also a herd of cattle and a bunch of
1 Manual of Coorg, p. 170.
 ,206 "-, RELJ.G.ION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS
~.

flowers have tl:reh,· leaders. And there the usual epithet by which
_. a headman is" referred to is mupayanda, which means 'having
precedence'. Th~,' sense of precedence js ubjquitous: formerly,
"when caravans bom every niigwent to Malabar every summer, the
senior headman's pack-bullocks marched ahead of the pack-
J:}unocks o(y.:.e others.
l;,t;jrleas.&ut precedence are expressed on ritual occasions. For
instance, most festivals of Coorgs include the sport of shooting
at a target (kuri): a coconut and, on either side of it, a plantain
spathe are tied to the high branch of a tree, and the competitors
have to shoot at the coconut from a distance. The headman of the
village has the right to shoot first at the target. Again, at the village
dance held during the harvest festival, the village-headman, or an
expert dancer selected by him, leads the dance. The temple-head-
man comes next after the village-headman.
At the nac;l dance, which is held a day or two after the village
dance, precedence is very important. The dancers of each village
forming part of the nag gather together at their headman's house,
whence they proceed to the nag green with band. When the senior
ndc;l-headman arrives with his men everyone present has to stand
up. A mat is spread for him, and others may sit down only after
him. If nag-headmen from other nags come to the dance, they sit
to the left of the host nac;l-headman, observing a strict order of
seniority between them. Every dancer is provided with a pair of
sticks. The host nag-headman leads the dance, with the guest nac;l-
headmen occupying positions immediately next to him. The
temple-headman comes after the guest nag-headmen, and the
various village-headmen who are gathered there take up positions
after the temple-headman.
The guests are received with band when they arrive, and after
the dancing and sports are over, they are given refreshments
which nowadays consist of coffee, soft drinks, fruits, and betel
leaves and areca-nut. Each guest nac;l-headman pays a palJa to the
hosts before leaving. The hosts accompany each guest a little
distance, the host's band proceeding ahead of the party, When all
the guests have left, the villagers conduct their own nd{i-headman
in state to his house. They dine in his house, after which they
disperse.
During the harvest festival a party of villagers go from house to
house, and at each house they visit they sing the 'house song',
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 207
which gives an account of the ancestors of that house. After the
song is sung, the singers are treated to refreshments and given
gifts of money.
The singers are required to visit the village-headman's house
iirst. Similarly, the people who put on fancy dress during the
harvest festival have to visit the village-headman's house first.
For a week before the beginning of the harvest festival all the
adult males in the village gather together at the village-headman's
house every evening before proceeding to the green to practise the
dances and play some games. The guests are treated to a light
repast, after which the headman asks someone to take up a dU(;li
(small drum) and sing. The person who is asked to sing may not
refuse, and refusal is punishable by fine. Even the temple-headman
is not exempt from this rule.
At the Kundat Bhadrakali festival, the villagers frequently move
about in processions during the last few days of the festival. At the
head of these processions walks the na{i-headman's wife carrying
a dish-lamp. A dish-lamp has ritual value, and it is essential on
every ritual occasion, and it is the privilege of the naif-headman's
wife to carry it at the festival of Kundat BhadrakaJi.
The political 'ind economic forces set in motion in the last 120
years have been responsible for certain structural inconsistencies
coming to the surface during festivals. It was not always the
headman's okka which benefited from the new economic and
educational opportunities. The okkas which benefited from the
latter could ignore with impunity the headman's position and
authority. Frequently the headman accepted the changed situation,
and this not only failed to solve the conflict for supremacy between
him and the newly rich okkas but instead accentuated it. The
latter, having secured wealth and official positions, tried to secure
headmanship too. Disputes became frequent.
The breakdown of the traditional economy meant that fre-
quently the headman could not fulfil the duties of hospitality
periodically required of him; and when the headman was unable
to perform his duties, he found it difficult to insist on others
performing their duties towards him. People began to gravitate to
the new centres of power, the officials and rich men.
Formerly, people used to take their disputes to their headman
on the occasion of the festival of the local village-deity. Such a
festival ensured the presence of a large number of elders, a fact
208 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

which added to the weight and authority of any decision given by

the headman. Even more important was the fact that people were
generally afraid to perjure themselves before a deity, and this was
specially so in the case of some deities like Appangiriyappa of
Katakeri, well known for the severe punishment which he inflicted
on perjurors.
The success with which a headman was able to settle disputes
also depended on his wealth, the spread of his kinship ties, and his
reputation for impartiality. The impoverishment of some headmen
in recent years and the breakdown of the traditional way of life
have been responsible for undermining the authority of the head-
men.

XI

Formerly, two or three neighbouring niirjs came together occa-

sionally to discuss matters of common concern. A folksong
contains an appeal (eyi korj) to an assembly of the elders of two
niie}s from an assembly of the elders of a single niie}. Another folk-
song refers to the elders of three ndrjs meeting together.
The performance of certain calendar festivals such as the harvest
festival requires the co-operation of several niie}s. The ritual cutting
of paddy sheaves constitutes the most important rite of the festival,
and this has to be performed during a particular period on a parti-
cular day. Both the date and time of performance of the rite are
decided only a fortnight before the festival by the astrologer ofihe
Pa<ii SubramaJ;lya temple in Pa<ii village, who informs the assem-
bled headmen of Pa<;linalkna<;l of his decision. This is later con-
veyed to every niie}, village, and okka.
Coorgs everywhere in Coorg, with the exception of KacJiyetna4
people who performed the rite on a different day, accepted the
decision of the astrologer of the Subrama~ya temple in Plf<ii. The
acceptance produced uniformity in very many nae}s. Such ritual
uniformity provides common values and makes possible the inte-
gration of several narfs into a single community.
But it is chiefly Sanskritic Hinduism which provides Coorgs and
other Hindus in Coorg with common values which transcend the
barriers between ndej and niie}. and between caste and caste.
Sanskritic Hinduism also integrates Hindus in Coorg with Hindus
in other parts of India. Coorgs and other Hindus in every part of
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 209
Coorg worship Sanskritic deities like the Kaveri. Hindus outside
Coorg also go on pilgrimage to the source of the Kaveri on the
first of Libra. This makes clear to Coorgs that they are part of a
wider community which worships the Kaveri. Similarly the pil-
grimages of Coorgs to certain famous centres of pilgrimage outside
Coorg brings them into contact with Hindus speaking different
languages and observing different customs, but who all worship
certain common deities.
Sanskritic Hinduism gives, then, certain common values to all
Hindus, and the possession of common values knits people to-
gether into a community. The spread of Sanskritic rites, and the
increasing Sanskritization of non-Sanskritic rites, tend to weld the
hundreds of sub-castes, and tribes all over India into a single
community. The lower castes have a tendency to take over the
customs and rites of the higher castes, and this ensures the spread of
SanskIitic cultural and ritual forms at the expense of others.
Th.e majority of village-deities in Coorg have Sanskritic names:
Bhagavati (Povvedi), Chamun<;li, Chaun<;li, Kaji, Shasta or Ayy-
appa, and Kshetrapala (corrupted into Ketrappa) are all Sanskritic.
It is possible that these deities were originally non-Sanskritic and
known by different names.
There is a passage in the ancient folksong, desha kett pat.
which may be translated as 'there is a Madeva for every ndcj, a
Povvedi for every village, an Ayyappa for every keri (section of a
village), a Nata (cobra-deity) for every 6/Ji (lane leading to a Coorg
house), and a Puda for every okka'. The arrangement mentioned is
too neat to be true, but it is not without a germ of truth. Usually,
a cobra-deity is found in an okka while Povvedi and Madeva are
deities worshipped by a caste, or village, or narj. The important
point, however, is that every intelligent and educated Coorg
interprets the above passage as meaning that the various village-
deities are forms of Shiva or his wife Parvati. This rule enables
the chaos of the actual pantheon to be reduced to some kind of
order. A similar rule prevails everywhere in India, and this has
enabled Sanskritic Hinduism to absorb non-Sanskritic deities.
It is wrong, however, to imagine that it is always Sanskritic
Hinduism which bridges the gap between narjs. The harvest -
festival, for instance, is in the main non-Sanskritic even though it
touches Sanskritic ritual idiom at several points. There is also the
classic instance of KaliyatanQa Ponnappa (alias Ajjappa), the
14
 t~~'is;:~-.- ~-::"
";r' , - '
·~ur
"r~'
l! /'1
, ,.,__.-.... ,I"

-_·;",;'tro
~
~LIGION ~
AND SOCIElY AMONG THE COORGS
"
J' fighter,' fu((gician, and doctor, whose apotheosized spirit is nowa-
I
days worshipped by Coorgs in every part of Coorg.
k' t. The story of K.aliyatanQa Ponnappa is not entirely fictitious, but
, ,has a basis of fact. He was a descendant of the Kaliyat okka in
"l' \ Kunjala vill.age in NalknaQ, and very early in his life he seems to
':"'; have gone to Malabar to study medicine and magic. After his
~eturn to KlJllJala he became famous for his magical powers: he was
sai~'"fo have under his control the 'ten spirits of the underworld'
(puttu kilt patara) which did what he wanted them to do. He was
also a fighter, and he actually died while fighting the soldiers of
Kara1).embahu, the chief 0 f Bhagaman<,1lanaQ at that time. His
friend and companion Boltu committed suicide after Ponnappa's
death.
The spirit of Ponnappa caused headache in everyone. A famous
magician was sent for and he had the spirits of Ponnappa and
BoJtu and the 'ten spirits of the underworld' 'imprisoned in a
conch-shell. The conch-shell was buried under a stone in Malabar.
But some time later an accident released the spirits from the
conch-shell, and subsequently the spirits of Ponnappa and Boltu,
and their common friend Kuttapala Mayila, all found shelter in
the well-known temple of Sartavu (Ayyappa) of Makki.
Ponnappa and his companions have found shelter in several
temples in south-west Coorg. There are Ponnappa's oracles every-
where in Coorg Proper, but none may practise as an oracle unless he
has been authorized by the chief oracle ofPonnappa in Makki.
People in every part of Coorg vow to make offerings to Ponnappa
when they are suffering from bodily aches. It is believed that
Sartavu (Ayyappa) has conferred on Ponnappa the power to cure
aches. There is an annual festival in honour of Ponnappa at the
Sartavu temple in Makki.
Educated Coorgs point out that Ponnappa is not a deity, but
only the very powerful spirit of a great magician and doctor who,
in addition, died while fighting. The spirit of Ponnappa was, to
begin with, guilty of anti-social conduct, giving headaches to every-
one. That was the reason for its imprisonment in a conch-shell.
After its release, it sought and obtained the protection of Sartavu of
Makki. It then no more caused headaches, but cured them instead.
It was subordinated to a well-known deity before being worshipped.
It is important to remember that Sartavu is Ayyappa, the son
of Shiva an d Vishl).u in the form of M6hini. The lawless spirit
 THE CULTS OF THE LARGER SOCIAL UNITS 211
of a magician-cum-fighter is tamed by making it subordinate to a
deity who has been completely Sanskritized.

XII

The hierarchical idea inherent in caste expresses itself in a variety

of ways at the festival of a village-deity. For instance, at the
Ketrappa festival in Bengur, the fowls brought as offerings to
the deity by members of the higher castes are decapitated by a
Coorg, and the pigs brought by them, by a PaI_lika. But neither the
Coorg nor the PaI_lika decapitates the animals brought by the
lower castes like the Meda and Poleya. The animals brought by
the latter are decapitated by a Meda.
Usually, the man who sacrifices the animal gets its head as his
perquisite. The animal is then divided into two halves, one half
going to the owner and the other to the village. Each okka in the
village gets a share in the half which goes to the village. But the
animals offered by Medas and Poleyas are not divided in this
manner, nor do they get a share in the animals brought by the
higher castes. That is to say, in this context, the village does not
include the Meda and Poleya. Nor does it include the Brahmin who
does not sacrifice animals to deities.
The deities Kakk6t Achchayya, and Akkavva, according to the
folksong, leave Malabar to seek shelter in Coorg. After crossing
into Coorg they meet a Poleya deity, Karyappa, whom they take as
their servant. The three deities then go to Kakk6t village where they
see some children playing. Kiikk6t Achchayya and Akkavva
possess Coorg children, whereas Kiiryappa possesses a Poleya boy.
In this instance, the caste-idiom is completely projected into
mythology and religion.
The deities Ketrappa (m.) and Koqli Povvedi (f.) are both
recipients of offerings of non-vegetarian dishes and liquor. Coorgs
explain this by saying that both the deities lost their caste on
coming into Coorg. In fact there is an incident in the Ketrappa
song giving an account of the change in the dietetic habits of the
deity: while returning to Bengur from Malabar, Kallumii<Ja
AyyaI_ll}a, who was possessed by Ketrappa, put everyone to sleep
while he climbed a baine (caryota urens) tree and drank toddy from
the pot at the top. His followers woke up before he had climbed
down and demanded an explanation from him. Ketrappa (i.e.
212 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Ayyal}.l}.a) repI ed that until then he was only receiving sandalwood

paste and flowers, 1 but from then on he would receive instead 'blue-
bubble toddy and crowing cocks'.
Deities have a tendency to adopt the customs of their devotees.
It is natural then for the deity from Malabar to switch over to
the Coorg's diet on reaching Bengur. But this diet is not the diet of
the Brahmins. Coorgs explain the dietetic preference of their deities
by saying that they 'lost their caste': a certain ambivalence can be
detected in this attitude, an attitude which presumably prevails
towards their own diet. They like non-vegetarian food and liquor,
but at the same time consider vegetarianism as more ethical.

1 Brahmin priests in Coorg, Malabar, and South Canara use sandalwood

paste and flowers, among other things, for the worship of deities.
 CHAPTER SEVEN

HINDUISM

ATTEMPTS to define an enormously complex and amorphous

phenomenon like Hinduism have usually ended in failure. No
definition will be attempted here, but instead some important
characteristics will be mentioned.
Hinduism has a long history, in the course of which it has spread
over the whole of India. Buddhism, in origin a Hindu schism, is
now the religion of a great part of Asia.
The structural basis of Hinduism is the caste system which
occasionally even survives conversion to Christianity or Islam.
The hierarchical system, with the Brahmin and Untouchable at
either end, represents a fusion of Sanskritic and non-Sanskritic
systems of ritual and beliefs. Each caste has both Sanskritic and
non-Sanskritic ritual and beliefs, but the proportions in which
the two are found together vary from caste to caste, and also from
region to region. It is now possible to understand how Hinduism
is able to include within itself the worship of trees, rivers, and
mountains, and cults of ancestors and village-deities, as well as the
profound philosophy of the Upanishads and Vedanta, and the
mysticism of the Bhakti Schools. Reformist sects like the Jaills
and Lingayats ended by becoming castes which resulted in walls
being built round them, while, at the same time, they remained
within the fold of Hinduism. The caste system has enabled a vast
number of tiny groups with distinct cultures, occupations, and
systems of belief to live side by side, the autonomy of each being
respected while at the same time co-operation was ensured between
them. But in the history ofIndia the idea of hierarchy has occasion-
ally been questioned, and unsuccessful attempts have been made to
overthrow the caste system. More frequent, however, has been
the effort of lowly placed groups to raise their status as a group
by Sanskritizing their ritual and belief.
Rites and beliefs have been constantly undergoing a process of
Sanskritization. This is going on both inside and outside Hinduism.
214 RELrGlON AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

The rites and beliefs of the castes occupying the lower rungs
of the caste-ladder as well as the rites and beliefs of outlying
communities hidden away in the forest-clothed mountains of
India have been subjected to Sanskritization. The presence of
completely Sanskritized worship of rivers, trees, and mountains
in Hinduism, and their incorporation in the vast mythology of
Hinduism, make easier the assimilation of the ritual and beliefs of
the lower castes and of communities remaining outside Hinduism.
Hinduism is not static. Like every living religion it has contin-
ually reacted to the political and social forces of the time, both
influencing them and being influenced by them. In the last
hundred years it has produced reformist movements like the
Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, and the Ramakrishl)a Mission.
Mahatma Gandhi himself in his fight against Untouchability and
in the many other reforms he advocated provides us with an
instance of the dynamic nature of Hinduism.
While the intellectual has all along concentrated on the Upani-
shads, Bhagavad Gita, and the Philosophical Systems, to the
ordinary Hindu the innumerable feasts, fasts, vratas (rites and
austerities performed to achieve certain ends), pilgrimages, and
occasional visits to nearby temples constitute the stuff of religious
life. The puriilJas (stories illustrating the works and powers of the
gods), itihiisas (consisting of the two epics, the RamayalJa and
Mahabharata), and stories about local saints and the songs sung
by them, all have a conspicuous place in day-to-day living.

II

The concept 0 f 'spread' has been used throughout this book:

Hinduism has been split up, for purposes of analysis, into 'AII-
India Hinduism', 'Peninsular Hinduism', 'Regional Hinduism',
and finally purely 'Local Hinduism'. All-India Hinduism is
Hinduism with an All-India spread, and this is chiefly Sanskritic
in character. Peninsular Hinduism spreads over the entire penin-
sular part of India, while Regional Hinduism has a more restricted
spread. A 'Region' has to be defined in every case, and in this book
Malabar, South Canara, and Coorg Proper may be said to con-
stitute a Region. Local Hinduism is Hinduism with its spread
confined to Coorg Proper, or even a smaller area within it. In
a very broad sense it is true that as the area of spread decreases,
 HINDUISM 215
the number of ritual and cultural forms shared in common
increases. Conversely, as the area increases, the common forms
decrease.
'Spread' might vary for different castes in the same village or
town: Brahmins everywhere have much Sanskritic ritual in com-
mon, and this we call 'horizontal spread'. A linguistic area is a
culturally homogeneous area, relatively speaking, and the Brahmins
in any linguistic area share some cultural and ritual forms with all
the castes, including the lowest, in that area. This type of spread,
common to all the castes in an area, has been termed 'vertical
spread'.
It is essential to distinguish here between the possession of
common ritual and cultural forms, and of common deities and
other objects of worship. The latter is more directly productive of
solidarity than the former. The possession of common cultural
and ritual forms is also a factor making for solidarity, but not as
directly as the possession of common deities. It is possible to
imagine situations in which the strength of the latter bond might
result in a denial of the former. Members of two different religions •
living in the same area sharing the same language and other
cultural and ritual forms might be involved in a mutually destruc-
tive conflict.
All-India Hinduism, as mentioned earlier, is chiefly Sanskritic
and it spreads in two ways: by the extension of Sanskritic deities
and ritual forms to an outlying group, as well as by the greater
Sanskritization of the ritual and beliefs of groups inside Hinduism.
Both these processes are at work, and the first results in Sanskritic
deities assuming different forms in their travels all over India,
while the second results in local deities assuming Sanskritic labels
and fOlms. The Vedic deity Kshetrapala becomes Ketrappa in
Coorg, while the local cobra-deity becomes identified with Sub-
ramaJ)ya, the warrior-son of Shiva.
All-India Hinduism possesses certain features which make easy
the absorption of local elements. The worship of the river Ganges
which is one of the features of Sanskritic Hinduism makes easy the
absorption of river-worship in every part of India, including the
worship of the River Kaveri which rises in, and flows through,
Coorg. The Kiiveri is sacred to Hindus all along its course from
the source to the estuary. Temples are built along its course, and
especially where other rivers join it, and on islands formed by the
 216 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

river. Bathing in rivers is productive of spiritual merit (pulJya) and

destructive of sin (papa). Bathing in the Kavcri on certain days
such as the first of Libra and Shivaratri is specially productive of
pUlJya.
The Kaveri is called 'dakshiua ganga' or 'southern Ganges', and
the Kaveri myth (see Appendix) tells us that waters of the Ganges
and other sacred rivers and seas are present in the source of the
river on the first of Libra at the moment of the river's birth. The
faithful believe that there is an underground passage connecting
the source of the river with the Ganges at Benares. Pilgrims to the
Tala Kaveri, like pilgrims to Benares, return with the water of the
sacred rive r in sealed copper pots. This water is used for ritual
purification and drinking on certain days. Coorg pilgrims sprinkle
the holy water on members 0 f their okka, and on the house,
granary, and cattle.
Offerings of balls of rice-flour are made to dead relatives on the
banks of the Kaveri; and the ends of the garments of the husband
. and wife are tied together while bathing in the river and in the
larger of the two springs of Tala Kaveri. Both these concepts are
common to Hindus all over India.
The Kaveri Myth, whose authorship appears to be Brahminical,
has the Ganges Myth for its model. As is well known, the Ganges
meets the Jumna at Allahabad, and to this, Hindu mythology adds
a third river, the Saraswati, which is said to flow underground and
join unseen the first two rivers. The confiuence of the Ganges,
Jumna, and the mythical Saraswati is called 'trivelJi sangama' or
'union of three rivers'.
At Bhagaman<;lla, about three miles from the source of the
Kaveri, it meets the Kanakt~. But to this the Kaveri Myth adds a
third river, the Sujyoti, which is said to flow underground and
join the first two.
There is a myth about practically every river in India. and in
everyone of these myths some Sanskritic deities, and sages and
characters from the epics and the puralJas, take part. Each myth in
time becomes a part of the vast corpus of Hindu mythol03Y. Each
myth makes sacred certain features of local geography by associating
deities, and characters from the epics and pura1Jas, with them.
The myths abound in inconsistencies which, however, do not
bother the bulk of the Hindus.
On certain occasions Coorg women are required to worship the
 HINDUISM 217
domestic well, and this is referred to as 'ganga puja'. A similar
custom exists everywhere in south India among Hindus. Water
is identified with the holy Ganges, and such an identification teaches
a Hindu to regard the Ganges as a deity. It opens a window on
Sanskritic Hinduism.
On the way to Tala Kaveri from Bhagamanc;ila there is an
immense boulder called 'Bhima's pebble'. It is said that Bhima,
one of the Panc;iava brothers, found a tiny 'pebble' in his dinner
which he picked up and threw away. What was a tiny pebble to
Bhima is an immense boulder to ordinary human beings. Bhima's
strength was prodigious, and his strength, enormous appetite, and
chivalry have made him the most lovable of the five PanQ_ava
brothers, the heroes of the epic, Mahabharata. 'Bhima's pebble'
makes the epic more immediate to Coorgs and other Hindus in
Coorg.
The mountain in which the Kaveri rises is called Brahmagiri,
and it is said that the god Brahma has settled down on top of the
mountain. Brahma was in two minds as to whether he should
settle down on top of the Brahmagiri mountain or a neighbouring
one, and he finally decided on the former as it was higher than the
latter by a rice grain.
While ideally the Kaveri is sacred to every Hindu, actually it is
mostly Hindus from various parts of south India, especially
Mysore, Malabar, and the Tamil country who go on pilgrimage to
the river-source on the first of Libra. Similarly the shrine of
Subramallya is sacred to every Hindu, though actually only Hindus
from the Kanna<,la-and Tulu-speaking areas visit it. But there are
centres ofpilgimages such as the Temple 0 fVenHtachala at Tirupati
in the Telugu country visited by Hindus from practically every
part of south India. The temples of Minakshi at Madura and
Rameshwara at Rameshwaram in south-east India are visited by
Hindu pilgrims from every part of India.In continental India, too,
there are several places of pilgrimage for Hindus from every part of
India.
rt Deities too have varying 'spreads' even though ideally they are
sacred to all Hindus. In fact, over a period of time 'spread' shows
a dynamic quality: a deity who commanded the devotion of a king
enlarged his 'spread' to include the territory ruled by the king.
Peninsular India is an area of enormous cultural diversity, but it
forms a loose unity viewed in relation to continental India, just as
218 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

India itself exhibits some unity when viewed in relation to the rest
of the world. Certain ritual and cultural forms are found widespread
over peninsular India: the tii!i or marriage badge tied by the groom
to the bride is found everywhere except among Coorgs. A married
woman wears a vermilion mark on her forehead, and only she is
entitled to a necklace of tiny black beads and black bangles and
to wear flowers in her hair. The cult of the village-deities too is
broadly similar.
Coorg Proper forms a 'Region' along with MaJabar and South
Canara. The three areas mentioned have many similar rites, beliefs,
customs, and habits. But within this 'Region', Coorg Proper seems
to have more in common with Malabar than with South Canara.
The ritual forms which Coorg shares with Malabar and South
Canara, and the deities worshipped by them, usually come under
Regional Hinduism, while the ritual forms and deities shared in
common with Kanna4igas and Tamilians usually come under
Peninsular Hinduism.
Local Hinduism has a more restricted 'spread' than Regional
Hinduism. The people of a village or na¢ share a great many ritual
and cultural forms in common, though membership of a caste
frequently cuts across these alinements in the case of the top and
immigrant castes. Castes like the Bal)l)a, Pal)ika, and Kal)iya share
certain ritual and cultural forms with not only their counterparts
in Malabar but with all Malayalis. Similarly with castes like the
Poleyas and Medas who are immigrants from the Kanna4a country.
The length of the period of residence of an immigrant caste, and
its position in the caste system, are factors which influence the extent
to which it has preserved its traditional culture.
The River Kaveri is a manifestation of Parvati, the wife of Shiva,
and the devout refer to it as Mother Kaveri in certain contexts.
Coorgs regard the Kaveri as their patron goddess: the Kaveri
Myth associates the river specially with Coorgs. Coorg women
pleat their saris at the back instead of in the front as in the rest of
India, and this feature of their dress is attributed in the Myth to
the force of the floods which pushed the pleats of the assembled
Coorg women to the back. This happened when Parvati first
assumed the form ofa river, and Coorgs, men and women, were
waiting for their patron goddess to appear at Balmuri, a few miles
from the source.
Regional Hinduism often contains some Sanskritic elements, in
 HINDUISM 219
which case it directly stresses Regional ties and, indirectly , All-India
ties. The identification of Subramal)ya with cobras in Coorg, and
in the TuJu, Telugu, and KannaQa countries is a case in point.
Subramal)ya or Skanda, the warrior-son of Shiva, is a Sanskritic
deity having an All-India spread. Cobras are reverenced through-
out India by Hindus and their worship takes different forms in
different parts of the country. But the identification of cobras with
SubramaI;ya is confined to certain areas in peninsular India, and
such an identification marks them offfrom other areas. At the same
time such an identification draws the Regional phenomenon into
the All-India complex:
A linguistic area is a culturally homogeneous area, relatively
speaking. All the castes in such an area possess in common certain
cultural and ritual forms. This type 0 f 'spread' has been called
'vertical spread'.
The upper castes in every part of India have a certain amount
of Sanskritic ritual in common, and this has been called 'horizontal
spread'. Thus a Brahmin in Coorg will have a certain amount of
Sanskritic ritual in common with a Brahmin in Kashmir.
Every caste in practically every linguistic area in India shares
in both horizontal and vertical spreads. Generally speaking, the
higher castes have more of the former than the lower, and the
lower castes share more of the latter than the upper castes.
The systematic reconstruction of Indian history which has
taken place in the last seventy years, the all-round improvement in
communications, newspapers, radio, films, and books have all
contributed to greater and greater Sanskritization of Hinduism.
The various reformist movements in Hinduism, while conducting
propaganda for the removal of what they considered to be 'defects'
in Hinduism, tended to stress the value of Sanskritic Hinduism.
The greatness of Sanskrit literature and the vitality of Indian
philosophical thought in Sanskrit have also contributed to the
increasing importance of Sanskritic Hinduism.

III

The complete absorption of any group of people into the Hindu

fold is indicated by their becoming a caste. The exact position
which such a group occupies in the hierarchy might be a matter of
dispute, but that is not important. Once the popular idea of caste
 '"
1rR£Ll.GlON
220 '..." , , "
AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

as a r,ig\d~~~~~f~d hierarchy is given up and it is thought of as

cOJ1.sisjj~g of i)l.n\\merable groups, each of which has a certain
amount of cultur" and ritual autonomy, then it is realized that
,v any.attempt to fit~hem into a hierarchy results in disputes as to
, " relative status. "hen it is further remembered that the caste
_.~ <,\ system includes,#ects which began originally by rejecting the idea
,:%-; ofhierq.r«>hY2:,.pitt which subsequently became castes, it is seen that
. " 4W!utes-wt(') relative status are inevitable.
. ':In''S;;'~th India disputes as to relative status are a feature specially
of castes of the middle region. The Brahmins and Untouchables
are known to belong to either extreme, though even here the
presence of some subdivisions of Brahmins who are said to
be inferior to practically every other caste comp1icates matters.
The group claiming to be Kshatriya might be a local peasant or
artisan caste which has acquired political power. Sometimes it
might even be an outlying group or tribe. This gives rise to dis-
putes. There are always people who point out that a particular
ruling family which has been governing a certain part of India for
several centuries are not Kshatriyas but belong to a low caste.
Similarly the claims of local trading castes to be called Vaishyas
are frequently questioned by others.
The fivefold system does not do justice to the complexity of the
caste system as it exists, but it makes intelligible the castes of
various parts of India by reference to an All-India framework.
Coorgs are a handsome, well-to-do, and powerful people with a
martial tradition behind them, and it is quite natural for them to
claim to be Kshatriyas. It may be recalled here that members of
rich and influential Coorg okkas occasionally married rda,tives of
the Lingayat Rajas. The Lingayats of the Kanna<;1a country occupy
a high position in the caste hierarchy, and they are also very strict
vegetarians and teetotallers. The fact that relatives of the Rajas
married Coorgs over 130 years ago is testimony to the high position
of Coorgs in the caste hierarchY,and to their physical and mental
qualities.
The K!lveri My~h makes out Coorgs to be Ugras, the offspring
of a Kshatriya prince and his Sh-udra wife. Certain sins committed
by the prince in a previous existence prevented him from having
children by a wife of his own caste, and he had to take a Shadra
wife for children to continue hi5> line.
Why does the Kaveri Myth make out Coorgs to be Ugras and
 HINDUISM 221
not Kshatriyas? It is probably due to the fact that the Brahminical
authors of the Myth saw an inconsistency between Coorg dietary,
plus their failure to resort to Vedic ritual on certain occasions of
life, and their high economic position and the profession of arms.
The last two factors favoured their being considered Kshatriyas,
while the first two factors did not. The situation was resolved
ingeniously by their being considered the descendants of an inter-
caste marriage.
Educated Coorgs are, however, certain that they are Kshatriyas.
In 1902, Shri K. Appayya, a Coorg doctor in the employment of
the Mysore Palace, wrote a book on Coorg customs in Kannaqa,
entitled Ko£jagara Kuliichiiradi Tatvojjivini, and in this book he
tried to derive every Coorg custom from the customs of the Vedic
Kshatriyas. This tendency is a common one: educated Coorgs
regard themselves as Indo-Aryans, descendants of the original
Indo-Aryan immigrants into India.

IV

Sanskritic Hinduism has a vast mythology. There are the itihiisas

which consist of the epics, Ramayal).a and Mahabharata. There are
also the pura~as which 'celebrate the powers and works of positive
gods and represent a later and more extravagant form of Hinduism,
of which they are in fact the Scriptures. The pura~las are 18 in
number, and in addition to these there are 18 upa-purii~1as or
subordinate works .... None of them is devoted exclusively to one
god, but Visill;lU and his incarnations fill the largest space.'l
The puralJas are religious stories in which figure deities, and
many semi-divine characters, and the public reading of the
pura~1as and epics is even now popular. The pura1)as have played
a great part in the sprea.d of Hinduism as ordinary people became
familiar with deities and ideas of Sanskritic Hinduism through
them, Even more important is the fact that the purii~as facilitated
the absorption of local myths and legends. (The Kaveri Myth is
part of the Skanda PUral)a.) The pur(1)as have been continually
expanding, absorbing local myths and legends, and also weaving
myths round great historical figures and events. Another importance
of the purti~las is that they bring purely local myths into the main
stream and thus charge them with All-India significance. Thus,
1 J. Dawson, Hindu Classical Dictionary. Kegan Paul, 1914, pp. 255-7.
222 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

through the puriir.zas, a local community becomes acquainted with

the mythology of All-India Hinduism, and also its myths and
legends are Sanskritized and made the property of Hindus all over
India. Thus the Kaveri Pur~ilJa becomes a part of the mythology
of All-India Hinduism.
The epics, Ramayal}a and Mahabharata, too, play an impor-
tant part in the spread of Hinduism. The existence of 'Bhima's
pebble' near the source of Kaveri has been mentioned earlier. The
Lakshmal}atirtha river which rises in the plateau of Brahmagiri in
the extreme south of the province is named after Lakshmal)a,
brother of the hero of the older epic, Ramayal}a. It is said that
Rama and Lakshmal}a passed through Coorg in the course of their
wanderings. Lakshmal}a, the younger brother, whose obedience
to Rama is proverbial, and who is held up as a model for all younger
brothers, disobeyed Rama as soon as he (Lakshmal}a) left Coorg
and entered Malabar. He realized the enormity of his sin when he
returned to Coorg and tried to atone for it by jumping into a
fire which he made by shooting an arrow against the foot of the
Irpu rocks. Rama at once created a river to save his brother. This
river he called Lakshmal}atirtha and it joins the Kaveri in Mysore
State. Rama established a linga (symbol of Shiva or Ishwara) at the
spot where Lakshmal}a tried to commit suicide. The temple built
there is called the Rameshwara temple (Ishwara established by
Rama), and it is probable that this temple is an imitation of the
famous temple of Rihneshwara, in the extreme south-eastern
corner of India. Coorgs and others go on pilgrimage to the temple
at Irpu during Shivaratri, an All-India festival in honour of Shiva.
Mountains, rivers, lakes, and trees become associated with
characters and incidents in the epics and purdr.zas. Such local myths
are found in every part of India: Rama built a temple here, Sita
bathed in this river near that rock, Shiva and Parvati live in Kailasa
in the Himalayas, Agastya the sage meditated on top of that moun-
tain, and so on. One's country becomes the home of one's gods.
Patriotism acquires a religious quality.
Certain restrictions observed by Coorgs in common with other
Hindus serve to mark them off from members of other religions.
Occasionally these restrictions refer to certain incidents and
characters in popular Hindu mythology. For instance, Coorg
children are told to wash their feet and hands thoroughly before
coming into the house from the street. The story of King Nala is
 HINDUISM 223
told them as a warning: Nala one day left an unwashed spot on his
ankle and this enabled Saturn to possess him. Subsequently Nala
lost his throne, was separated from his beloved wife, became defor-
med owing to serpent-bite, and finally ended up as cook to a king.
It is said in Coorg that Saturn jumped on Nala while the latter
was standing under a tandi tree. Coorgs usually utter NaJa's name
when they have to pass under a tandi tree, and this is said to have
the effect of warding off Saturn.
The above restrictions make the story of Nala, which is known
to ,dl Hindus, more immediate to Coorgs. The observance of
common restrictions frequently marks off one community from
another. Such observance can become a symbol of the community's
solidarity and identity.
Coorgs, like other Hindus, regard the cow as sacred, and are
opposed to killing it. They also abstain from eating beef. The cow
has recently figured prominently in Hindu-Muslim relations and
has come to be a symbol for Hindu solidarity and identity. Ortho-
dox Hindu opinion regards the killing of cattle with abhorrence,
even though the refusal to kill the vast number of useless cattle
which exist in India today is detrimental to the economy of the
nation.
Reverence for the cow unites Coorgs with other Hindus. It
marks both off from other communities living in India.
Certain Sanskritic theological ideas have profoundly affected
the lives of Coorgs. Ideas about karma and dharma are widespread
among Coorgs, not only amongst the educated but also amongst the
uneducated peasantry. TheCoorg funeral song abounds in San-
skritic theological ideas: a man dies 'when the ration of rice kept
for him by God Narayal).a is finished'. After death, a bad man
goes to hell (naraka) and a good man to heaven (swarga). A man is
continually reborn till he attains salvation (moksha). The surviving
relatives pray that the dead man may not be reborn either as man
or beast, because being implies suffering. They pray that he
may go to heaven and not return to earth any more.

v
Sanskritic Hinduism has a plasticity which enables it to absorb
local religious phenomena. Sanskritic deities frequently undergo
changes in the process of being localized. An example will make
224 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMO'KG THE COORGS

clear what is meant. The deity Ketrappa of Bengiir is identified

by knowledgeable Coorgs and others with the Vedic deity Kshetra~
pala (protector of the field). Whether there are any justifiable
grounds for identifying Ketrappa and Ksherrapala is a minor
matter. What is of importance is that the two deities are so identi-
fied. Such an identification of a local deity with an All-India,
Sanskritic deity, is very common.
In the Vedas, Kshetrapala is a deity presiding over every field,
and he is invoked to grant cattle and horses, and to fill heaven and
earth and plants and waters with sweetness. People pray to him
for prosperity and wish to have him as a neighbour. An ox is
sacrificed to him.l
In the course of 2,500 years Kshetrapala has travelled to every
part of India, and he has different attributes in different parts of
the country. In Bengal he even changes his sex: he becomes
Kshetnldevi, or the 'goddess presiding over fields', and is regarded
as a. manifestation of Lakshmi, the wife of Vishl:;lU. As the goddess
presiding over fields she ensures a good harvest. 2
It is not necessary to give here an account of the transformations
undergone by Kshetrapala in the various parts of India. It is
sufficient to note that in Coorg he loses all touch with the land. He
is referred to as Ketrappa; 'appa', which means 'father', being a
common suffix to the names of gods all over south India, jast as
'amma' or 'mother' is a common suffix for goddesses. In Coorg,
Ketrappa takes to a diet of 'blue-bubble toddy and crowing cocks'.
People explain this by saying that he 'lost his cas~e' while travelling
from Malabar to Coorg. The Brahmin priest of the Kac;lupalappa
temple does not act as a priest to a deity who has 'lost his caste' .
Ayyappa is a Sanskritic deity who is very popular with Coorgs
and it is clear that his character has changed in the process of
becoming acceptable to his worshippers. In Sanskritic mythology
he is Shasta, the son of Shiva and M6hini (feminine form tem-
porarily assumed byVisl11!u). Shasta is also referred to as Harihara~
putra, or the son of Shiva and Vishl!u, and he is a very popular
deity all along the Malabar coast.

1 Macdonnell and Keith, Vedic Index, vol. i, p. 211; Vedic Mythology,

Macdonnell, p. 138; W. Crooke, Religion and Folklore of Northern India, vol. ii,
p. 227. The absolute prohibition on the killing of a cow or ox is a post-Vedic
development.
• C. Chakravarti, 'The Saivite Deity Ksetrapala', Indian Historical Quarterly,
vol. ix, 1933, p. 237.
 HINDUISM 225
In Coorg, Shasta is referred to as Ayyappa, or Sartavu, and he
inhabits the jungles in which he wanders at night with his favourite
pack of dogs. At night, in the jungle, he can be heard whistling to
his pack. Votive offerings of representations of dogs and bows and
arrows are made to his shrines. Some jungles are reserved for
Ayyappa exclusively, and nobody may hunt or cut down trees
there. Coorgs do not hunt on Wednesdays and Saturdays because
Ayyappa hunts on those days. Formerly, liquor and fowl were
offered to him by Coorgs after a successful hunt. At some Ayyappa
shrines non-vegetarian offerings are made, whereas at others only
vegetarian offerings are made. Brahmins are usually priests at the
latter shrines.
Coorgs are fond of hunting, and every ancestral house has a pack
of dogs which accompany their master during hunting. Ayyappa
is extremely popular with Coorgs as the deity presiding over
hunting, and very many Coorgs are named after him. His San-
skritic ancestry is not, however, recalled frequently.
Another Sanskritic deity who has undergone modification in
the process of becoming acceptable to his devotees is SubramaIJya.
who is, in Sanskritic mythology, Skanda, the warrior-son of Shiva.
But, as we have earlier mentioned, in Coorg and in the Tulu.
Kanna<;la, and Telugu countries, SubramaJJya is identified with
the cobra which is regarded by orthodox Hindus as a deity.
Ant-hills inhabited by cobras are worshipped at SubramalJya's
festival.
The absorption of local cults, rites, and beliefs colours every-
where Sanskritic Hinduism, which varies, in certain particulars,
from one local area to another. The initial synthesis usually makes
easier the later complete absorption of the local phenomenon in
Sanskritic Hinduism.
In this connexion it is instructive to consider the attitude of the
Brahmin, the representative of Sanskritic Hinduism, to the village-
deities. His attitude is not something fixed and unalterable. It
varies from region to region, village to village, and, frequently
enough, from deity to deity in the same village, but when we
consider a number of instances his varying attitudes fall into a
pattern.
It was remarked earlier that the Brahmin priest of the KacJupa-
lappa (KrishlJa as churning buttermilk) temple does not have any
duties at the Ketrappa temple. But such complete non-co-operation
15
 226 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

with a village-deity (we are not thinking of deities of the

Poleyas here) is comparatively rare.
At the Kundat Bhadrakali shrine a Brahmin normally acts as
priest, and offerings of fruit and flowers are the rule except on one
day in the year when animals are sacrificed outside the Bhadrakali
shrine, when the Brahmin priest has left, locking the door of the
shrine after him. The Brahmin re-enters the temple next morning
only after the front of the shrine has been thoroughly cleaned. He
subsequently performs two purificatory rites in order to restore
the temple to its normal ritual status.
The Brahmin priest is more co-operative at the festival of the
Bhagavati temple at Armeri. In addition to performing certain
ritual at the festival, he acts as oracle, a role usually reserved in
Coorg for a member of a non-Brahmin caste.
The Rameshwara temple at Irpu and the Tala Kaveri shrine
are instances of almost complete Sanskritization. They are among
the strongholds of Sanskritic Hinduism in Coorg and act as
centres for its spread.
It is not always the Brahmin priest who is the agent of Sanskritic
Hinduism. In every part of the KannaQa country, and in Coorg,
the Lingayat sect, consisting exclusively of non-Brahmins, have
exercised in the past a Sanskritizing influence. Lingayat ritual is
Sanskritic (though not Vedic), and the Lingayat Rajas of Coorg
have been responsible for the Sanskritization of the customs,
manners, and rites of Coorgs. Customs like marking the forehead
every morning with three stripes of sacred ashes (vibhiiti), celebrat-
ing the festival of Shivaratri, and erecting tombstones, surmounted
by the figure of the Nandi Bull, over the graves of important
persons reveal Lingayat influence. Lingayatism had its origin in
the Kanna9a country, and it was-and is-a predominantly
KannaQa sect, and the Lingayats transmitted to Coorgs some
purely KannaQacustoms like Ugadi (lunar New Year).
As mentioned earlier, Lingayatism made headway amongst
Coorgs more easily because it was the religion of the rulers. Coorgs
I holding important posts in the service of the Rajas took over some
()f the customs and rites of their masters, and this had a chain re-
action, which is natural in a highly stratified society.
The Brahmin too has been influenced by non-Sanskritic modes
of worship, and impressed with the power of the village-deities.
In south India it is common to find Brahmins making votive
 HINDUISM 227
offerings of flowers and fruit and, very rarely, through a non-
Brahmin friend, of an animal to the village-deities like Mad
during an epidemic of smallpox or plague or cholera. It is wrong to
assume, as some do, that in the contact between Brahmins and non-
Brahmins, Brahmins have always influenced non-Brahmins, while
they themselves have remained uninfluenced.

VI

The presence, within Sanskritic Hinduism, of a vast and ever-

growing mythology, the worship of trees, rivers, and mountains,
and the association of deities and epic heroes with local spots
everywhere in India, makes easy the absorption of non-Sanskritic
cults and deities. The caste hierarchy plays no small part in the
spread of Sanskritization: not only do outlying communi6es
signalize their entry into the Hindu fold by becoming a caste, but
the existence of a sharply structured hierarchy which also permits
groups to move up the social ladder acts as a powerful inducement
for the lower castes to borrow the customs and habits of the top-
most castes. The adoption of vegetarianism, teetotalism, and
Sanskritization enables a low caste to rise in status in course of time.
The pantheistic bias in Hinduism also contributes to the
Sanskritization of the deities and beliefs of low castes and outlying
communities. The doctrine that everything in the universe is
animated by God, and that all the various deities are only forms
assumed by the same Brahma, makes the process of absorption
easier. The village-deity who wants the sacrifice of animals and
toddy is also one of the myriad manifestations of the formless
Brahma whom the philosopher contemplates. The gods of the lower
castes are not denied, but affirmed, and affirmed in such a way
that their subsequent Sanskritization is rendered easier.
Another point that needs to be remembered is that the presence
of Sanskritized local cults and village-deities in Hinduism makes
easier the further absorption of local phenomena. Sanskritic
Hinduism may be thought of as consisting of several layers, and
the similarity of the lower layers to local cults and village-deities
everywhere enables the latter to be absorbed. Once inside Sanskritic
Hinduism the local rites and beliefs undergo Sanskritizatioll rapidly
and in a thoroughgoing manner.
The spread of Sanskritization being a matter of spontaneous

.'
228 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

growth produces certain inconsistencies. For instance, the main

body of Coorgs propitiate their dead ancestors by offering meat
and liquor with the Ba1).I).a acting as oracle, as well as by offering
balls of rice-flour under the guidance of a Brahmin priest. Amma
Coorgs, a Sanskritized division of Coorgs, make the inconsistency
in the customs of the main body of Coorgs all the more glaring
by observing annual shrddhas (propitiation of ancestors with
balls of rice using Sanskrit mantras) after the manner of Brahmins,
and by completely eschewing the other mode of propitiation.
Many village-deities who are made out to be forms of Mahiideva
(or Shiva), and goddesses who are made out to be Povvedi (i.e.
Bhagavati, wife of Shiva), are offered meat and toddy. Side by side
with these deities, Coorgs offer worship at the temples of Tala
Kiiveri, Rameshwara in Irpu, and Omkareshwara in Mercara,
where the priests are Brahmins and Sanskrit mantras are used, and
where only offerings of fruit and flowers are permitted.
Inconsistencies are also seen on the plane of belief. It has been
mentioned earlier that the Coorg funeral song says that the man
died because the ration of rice kept for him by God Naraya1).a was
finished; and the survivors pray God not to cause the dead man to
be reborn as living is synonymous with suffering. These ideas are
entirely consistent with Sanskritic theology. But at another place
in the funeral song the mourner says, 'Naraya1).a's thieving horde
(kalla pa¢cj came to kill you. Had I known it, I would have hacked
the horde to pieces.' This is entirely consistent with the m<1rtial
idiom of Coorgs, but inconsistent with the ideas of Sanskritic
theology mentioned earlier.
As a rule, educated Coorgs turn more and more to Sanskritic
deities, rites, and beliefs. The RamakrishI).a Mission is active in
Coorg, and in recent years it has been responsible for carrying the
message of philosophical Hinduism to Coorgs. In the last thirty
years four Coorgs have become sanyasis, dedicating their lives to
prayer and meditation and the active service of their fellow men.
One of these sanyasis has a hermitage (ashrama) appropriately
called Kaveri Ashrama.
 CHAPTER EIGHT

RELIGION AND SOCIETY

COORG is primarily an agricultural country, and the bulk of

the Coorg community is directly dependent on the land. Even
those who are employed in the government have one or more
branches of their okkas living in the ancestral house and attending
to the cultivation of their ancestral lands.
There was no coffee in Coorg over a hundred years ago, and rice
was then the most important crop in every way. A Coorg okka, and
the family (or families) of Poleyas who were its slaves, cultivated
the ancestral rice-fields. The Poleyas did much of the actual manual
work on the estate under the close supervision of their Coorg
masters; and every member of the Coorg okka directly or indirectly
contributed to the work on the estate.
A Coorg was completely preoccupied with the cultivation of
rice from May to January, beginning with the first ploughing of
the fields in May and ending with the harvesting of the crop in
January. The surplus rice was sold in Malabar every summer, and
this necessitated the organization of an annual caravan in which
every okka in the village (or nii4) participated. The festivals of the
village-deities and weddings were performed in the summer
months, after the men had returned from Malabar. Thus the
social activities of a Coorg revolved round and adjusted themselves
to the cultivation of rice and the sale of the surplus in Malabar.
The ancestral estate on which rice is grown, the ploughing, sow-
ing, transplanting, and harvesting of the crop, the granary in which
paddy is stored, and the measures used for measuring paddy and
rice all receive ritual attention.
The ancestral estate, the most valuable part of which is the rice-
field, is regarded as sacred. A Coorg is not allowed to walk in it
wearing his sandals, just as he is not allowed to enter the inner
parts of the ancestral house, or a temple, with his sandals on. He
is also not allowed to whistle, or hold an umbrella over his head,
while walking in the ancestral estate: both these acts are not con-
sistent with the ritual respect which the estate has to be accorded.
230 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMO:t>;G THE COORGS

The entire rice-field (varga) is cut up into a number of small

rectangular plots ridged up on all the four sides. Each plot (leva)
is referred to by a distinct name, and one of these plots is regarded
as the main plot and it has the same name as the entire rice-field.
The traditional association between an okka and its ancestral
estate is symbolized in the custom of burying the umbilical cord
of the eldest son of the head of the okka in the main plot of the
ancestral estate. The eldest son is the one who is going to become
the head ofthe okka in course of time, and as head of the okka he will
have to look after the ancestral rice-field. The main plot stands for
the entire rice-field, and it is entirely proper that the umbilical cord
of the future head of the okka should be buried in the main plot.
It may be recalled, in this connexion, that during the periodical
ancestor-propitiation, the Bal,llJ.a oracle, possessed by an ancestor,
may demand to be shown round the rice-field in order to see for
himself whether it is looked after properly. Thus a Coorg continues
to take an interest in the affairs of his okka even after his death,
which means that he continues to care for the rice-field on which
the prosperity and happiness of the okka and thus, indirectly, of
the total society depends.
Every stage of the cultivation of the. rice crop is marked by
ritual. The main plot of the ancestral rice-field is ritually ploughed
on the first of Aries, the beginning of the new year according
to the solar calendar. Either the head of the okka, or a younger
member who is considered to be specially suitable by the astro-
loger, ritually ploughs the main plot during an auspicious period
of time. Regular ploughing of the rice-fields commences only after
the ritual ploughing on New Year's Day.
Paddy is sown in the nurseries at an auspicious period of time.
When the plants are 10-12 inches high, they are transferred to the
various plots in the rice-fields. The plucking of the young plants
and their transplantation are both begun during auspicious periods.
The transplantation of the young plants is a highly complicated
task requiring the co-ordination of the work of a number of people.
It is especially so if the estate is a big one.
The Kaveri festival includes a rite called bottu (lit., fear) and
this is intended to protect the growing crop, the woods on the
estate, and the domestic well.
One of the most important calendar festivals of Coorgs is
the putri (lit., new rice) when the paddy sheaves are ritually cut.
 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 231
This latter rite is the crucial point of the festival which lasts nine
to ten days, the seven days previous to the sheaf-cutting being
spent in singing, dancing, and playing games. On the day following
the cutting of sheaves there is a domestic feast, a dance, and sports
for all the villagers. This is followed by a dance for the entire naif,
and a collective hunt and dinner for the entire village (or naif).
The rite of cutting the sheaves takes place on the full-moon day
in the month of Scorpio under either of the constellations, krittike
or rohil:Ii. Formerly the hereditary astrologer of the Subramal)ya
temple in Pa<;li in Nalkna<;l used to decide the day and time for
the ritual cutting of sheaves for the whole of Coorg Proper ex-
cluding Kiggatna<;l. The local astrologer then decided for each
high caste okka in his village the member who was most suitable
for performing the rite of cutting the sheaves. The member
selected for this honour had to wear the white gown.
On the festival day, very early in the morning, vadous leaves and
creepers are gathered for the rite of nere katfuvudu. The trees
and creepers most common locally are chosen for this purpose, and
they frequently vary from naif to naif. They seem to symbolize the
principle of fertility in vegetable nature. A wish for growth is also
indicated in another rite, and such a wish is commonly indicated
in harvest festivals in south India.
A part of the kitchen floor is cleaned with a solution of cow dung
and a new mat is spread on it. A tripod-stool is made to stand on
the mat, and a dish-lamp is placed on the stool. A harvest-basket
containing the leaves, and short lengths of creepers, is kept near
the dish-lamp. Later, at an auspicious time, a leaf of each variety
is taken, arranged one upon the other, a short length of inyo!i
creeper crowning the pile of leaves. The leaves are then rolled
round the creeper and the roll is secured with a length of achchi
fibre. A number of such rolls are made.
A harvest-basket is filled with paddy and this is placed on the
mat near the dish-lamp. Two measures and a small pot, filled
with paddy, rice, and rice-flour respectively, are arranged one upon
the other on the paddy in the basket. The new bam boo vessel
(kutti) which the Meda brought in the morning is stood near the
basket on the mat. A little milk, honey, and ghi are poured into the
vessel. Bits of coconut, fresh ginger, and green rattan cane, and a
small quantity of gingelly grains are also put into it. Finally, the
new sickle which the blacksmith brought is left in it.
232 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

The members of the okka then eat a dish of cooked harvest yam
(putri gel)asZl, which ripens at the time of the harvest festival)
mixed with honey and ghi.
At the auspicious time fixed by the astrologer, the sheaf-cutter
leaves the house carrying the bamboo vessel in his hand. Before
him goes a girl carrying a disll-lamp. A band marches farther
ahead.
As soon as he reaches the rice-field, the sheaf-cutter salutes the
sacred eastern direction and the fie1d. He ties a leaf-roll to the
bottom of a rice plant and pours a little of the contents of the bam-
boo vessel on it. Everyone shouts 'poli, poli, deva' (increase,
increase, 0 god), and a shot is fired from a gun. The sheaf-cutter
cuts a number of plants, taking care to see that each time he cuts
an odd number.
After the party reaches home, the sheaf-cutter's feet are washed,
and he is given milk to drink. He deposits the bamboo vessel in
the kitchen.
He then prepares ye!akki putt (seven rice-pudding), kneading
together a quantity of rice-flour, a few plantains, some milk and
honey, and seven of each of the following: new rice grains from the
sheaves, gingelly grains, tiny stones, and bits of coconut, ginger,
and green rattan cane. Small balls are made of this mixture and
offered to the lamps in the south-western room and ancestor-shrine.
Later everyone eats a little of the mixture.
Leaf-rolls (ned) and sheaves are tied to every part of the house.
The sweet, liquid dish, piiyasa, is prepared and into this are put
seven new rice grains.
The rites performed at the harvest festival stress, directly or
indirectly, the great value of rice to Coorgs. The astrologer decides
not only when the sheaves should be cut but who should be chosen
for this important task. New articles are used for this ritual. Elabor-
ate taboos surround the person of the sheaf-cutter, and solidarity
rites, in which valuable articles like milk and honey are used, are
performed towards the sheaves before cutting them.
Some of the rites performed, like tying plants and creepers locally
prolific to every part of the house, and uttering a prayer for increase
before cutting the sheaves, express a desire for plenty. The ritual
eating of the new rice, and the eating of the yams and vegetables
which ripen at this time, are another aspect of the harvest
rites.
 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 233
On New Year's Day a clod of ploughed earth is brought home
and deposited in the granary. When a man sees paddy in the ear
for the first time, he goes home, stands before the granary, and
says, 'I saw paddy in the ear, I saw paddy in the ear, do 110t be
startled, do not be astonished, 0 granary.' He tells the granary
that there is going to be a. bumper harvest, a harvest that will burst
the granary. At the Kaveri festival, pilgrims carry home a handful
of rice from the granary (called' akshaya plitra', the mythical vessel
of increase) in the BhaganQeshwara temple. This rice is put into
the domestic granary to ensure a bumper harvest.
Rice is essential to the Coorg's survival, and formerly it was
also the chief source of wealth. Its cultivation is the most important
activity in which the okka, the nuclear unit of Coorg society, is
engaged, and the axis round which revolve other activities. A long
drought as well as excess of rain is likely to ruin the crop. Rain is
a friend only if it comes when wanted and keeps away when not
wanted. Proper rains in sufficient quantities mean a good crop, and
abundance of rice means food, wealth, and the ability to make
sacrifices to ancestors and festivals in honour of deities. It gives
one the means with which one can get one's sons and daughters
married, to keep one's servants, to give the feasts which have to be
given, and to perform other obligations. It is because of its enor-
mous social importance that rice, and everything associated with
it in any way, receives ritual attention.

II

In Coorg folklore, Malabar is referred to as the 'land of ignor-

ance' (ajnlina bhiimi), and this is presumably due to certain matri-
lineal castes living there. All the patrilineal peoples of south India
seem to have regarded matriliny as a very odd custom. The people
of the Kanna<;la and Tamil countries occasionally refer to Malabar
as 'stri malayala', which means 'Malabar which is dominated by
women'. There are myths which try to account for the oddness of
Malabar: according to a myth which is widespread over the whole
of south India, the entire Malabar coast was created by Para-
shurama, the great Brahmin enemy of Kshatriyas till he was finally
defeated by the Kshatriya prince, Rama, the hero of RamayaJ;la,
and an avatar of Vishr.tu. The folktale on p. 221, which gives
an account of a solitary act of disobedience on the part of Laksh-
234 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

malfa towards his eldest brother Rama, testifies to the utter

strangeness of Malabar. It is so strange that people setting foot in
it behave in an unpredictable way. This is doubly proved by Laksh-
malfa's great act of contrition immediately on returning to Coorg.
In the folksongs, deities are frequently reported as having
migrated from Malabar or South Canara into Coorg. It is true that
the deities are created 'beyond the Seven Seas, on the shore of
the Milk Sea', but they subsequently migrate to a town on the
west coast, whence they proceed inland, towards Coorg, to seek
shelter. In the story of the two deities, Achchaiah (m.) and
Akkavva (f.), brother and sister, at first wander all over Malabar
seeking shelter. They are directed to Coorg by some deities whom
they went to in their search for shelter, and as soon as they cross
into Coorg, Akkavva tells Achchaiah, '0 elder brother, when
people see us wandering about together they will think that we are
husband and wife, and not brother and sister. Let us take an escort
with us'. Achchaiah accepts his sister's advice and takes a Poleya
servant. This incident raises the question, 'why did not Akkavva
think of taking an escort before crossing over into Coorg'? It
assumes that a person need not be particular about what he does in
Malabar.
Educated Coorgs assert that Achchayya is a popular name for
Vishlfu, and Akkavva for Lakshmi. This makes out Achchaiah and
Akkavva to be husband and wife, and not brother and sister-the
precaution taken by Akkavva in the story was in vain! It is only one
instance ofSanskritization producing an inconsistency. According to
the general rule mentioned in the'desha kett pat', there is a'Miideva
(Mahiideva or Shiva) for every nii(f and Povvedi (Bhagavati) for
every village'. This rule is interpreted in such a way by Coorgs
that every male village-deity who is not said to be a form of Vishl!u
is said to be a form of Miideva, and every female village-deity who
is not said to be a form of Lakshmi is said to be a form of Bhaga-
vati, wife of Miideva. After giving the popular name of a village-
deity, Coorgs frequently take care to add that 'he is really Vishlfu
(or Shiva)'.
The story of the seven deities is relevant here. Seven deities,
six brothers and a sister, wandered all over Malabar in search of
shelter. The first three deities, Kanyaratappa, Tirchembarappa,
and Bendrukolappa, found shelter in Malabar villages alone, while
the remaining four went to Coorg in search of shelter. They crossed
 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 235
the mountains separating Coorg from Malabar by following the
Paqitora Pass. The pas~ brought them to a mountain to the south-
west of Nalkna<,1, and standing on top of the mountain they saw the
whole of Coorg stretching before them. One of the four suggested
that they should aU shoot arrows from the mountain-top and find
out which of them shot farthest. The arrows shot by the brothers
fell in Ammangeri village while the sister's arrow fell in Pannang-
ala. The sister had beaten the brothers decisively.
The sister then asked the brothers, 'Will you eat without salt if
I cook food without fire?' Calculating that it was impossible to
cook food without fire, the brothers readily agreed to the sister's
suggestion. The sister put some rice into a bamboo vessel contain-
ing milk and buried the vessel in sand which was very hot from the
midday sun. By the time the brothers and sister had bathed and
changed into ritually pure robes, the rice had been cooked in the
boiling milk.
The sister served the insipid rice to the brothers who sat before
the disagreeable food looking up and down. The brothers then
took the rice in their hands and threw it up into the air saying, '0
younger sister, this is how hailstones fall during the monsoon.' The
sister hit the brothers on their jaws with her ladle saying, '0
elder brothers, this is how lightning crashes in the monsoon.' The
infuriated brothers got up from their meal at once, and washed
their hands and mouths.
The brothers, beaten in the two contests with their sister, seem
to have decided to take revenge by underhand means. I deliberately
say 'seem to have', as in the version of the folksong I have
secured there is no reference to any premeditated plan on their part.
But their subsequent actions make such an inference necessary.
There was another contest between the brothers and sister after the
unsuccessful meal at the end of which the sister was tricked into put-
ting back into her mouth betel stuff which she had taken out to show
everyone. (For details see p. 104). The brothers then told the sister
that she had lost her caste because she had put back into her mouth
something she had spat out. The sister was beside herself with grief:
she beat her head, rolled on the floor, and wept bitterly. The eldest
of the brothers then told her, 'Listen, younger sister, we did
not deceive you, you are yourself responsible for your present
plight. We are unable to help you. I advise you to settle down in
Pannangala village and become the deity of Poleyas, who will have
236 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

a festival in your honour every year on the first of Aries. They will
perform a dance, and offer you fowls. You possess them, and grant
children to the childless.' The sister was inconsolable, and said
that she could not bear the smell of Poleyas. But the eldest brother
was adamant, and the reluctant sister closed both her eyes and
assuming the form of a. crane flew away to Pannangala. In the latter
village s1le possessed the Poleya servant of the Kartanqa okka who
tried to catch the crane. This deity is now known as Pannanga-
latamme (amme means 'mother').
The eldest of the three brothers settled down on a mountain
near the Pa<,iitora Pass, and he is known as Iggutappa. It is said that
on the first of Aries, when the festival of Pannangalatamme is
being observed, Iggutappa's hill is covered with clouds, and it
rains a little on the hill. Iggutappa, it is said, is very sorry for his
poor sister who was forced to become a deity of the Poleyas, and
he sheds tears for her fate. (Iggutappa is identified by educated
Coorgs with Subramalfya.)
The elder of the two remaining brothers settled down in
Paliir and is known as Paliirappa. He is identified with Vishl).u.
The last of the brothers settled down in the southern frontier
of Coorg in Tirnelli and he is known as Tirnelli Pemmayya.
He guards the frontier from Mari, the goddess presiding over
epidemic diseases, and from thieves. He, too, is identified with
Vishr.1U.
Certain features of this myth may be noted. (1) The deities
setting out from Malabar are related as brothers and sister. (2)
They have a sense of seniority, common to both Malabar and
Coorg. (3) As soon as the brothers and sister cross over into Coorg,
conflict arises between them. The sister proves supreme, but the
brothers manage to defeat her in the end by adopting unfair means.
(4) The sister's defeat expresses itself in the caste idiom-a
familiar idiom in Coorg folklore. (5) The transition from matri-
lineal Malabar to patrilineal Coorg results in the overthrow of the
sister by the brothers. The brothers adopt unfair means to over-
throw the sister, but having overthrown her, are not happy about
her degradation. Iggutappa's mountain is covered with clouds
which dissolve into rain on the first of Aries: the tears he sheds are
not crocodile's tears, as the situation is essentially ambivalent.
(6) Finally, the brothers all undergo Sanskritization. The eldest of
them is identified with Subramalfya, while the two younger brothers
 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 237
are identified with Vishl).u. This is no doubt inconsistent, but.
Sanskritization frequently produces inconsistencies.
Pannangalatamme is only one of several instances of deities'
losing their caste. KHrappa (m.) and Povvedi Cf.) of Bengur lost.
their caste too. The case of Povvedi of Bengur is interesting as her
namesake in Balmavti, a village three miles away, retains her caste,
has a Brahmin priest, and accepts only offerings offruit and flowers.
The ubiquity of the caste idiom deserves notice: the deities of the
lowest castes like Poleyas and Medas are not worshipped by the
higher castes, and these deities bear the same relation to the dei.ties'
of the higher castes which the lower castes themselves bear to the
higher. The habits of some deities are occasionally explained by
reference to the caste idiom. A deity who accepts animal-sacrifice
and liquor has lost his original high caste; and sometimes such an
explanation enables a Sanskritic deity to become the deity of castes
which consume meat and liquor.

III

Marriage is a preferred condition among Coorgs, and a married

man has a higher ritual and social status than a bachelor. A
bachelor's social personality is not regarded as fully developed.
In the case of women, however, the contrast is not so much
between spinsters and married women as between the latter and
widows. A widow wears only white clothes, and these clothes may
not have a coloured border. The clothes and ornaments worn by a
married woman may not be worn by a widow. Certain ornaments
which are associated with a married woman, like black glass bangles,
necklace of black glass beads, and rolls of palm leaves worn as
ear-ornaments, have become symbols of the married state. As
such they receive ritual respect.
It is usual for young Coorg widows to remarry, and a remarried
widow has a higher social and ritual status than a widow who does
not remarry, though she does not have the same status as a woman
whose first and only husband is alive.
Coorgs do not differentiate between a married woman and widow
as thoroughly as, for instance, the Brahmins. Amongst the latter
marriage and patriliny are bound up with certain theological ideas:
a woman's husband is her god, and a son not only continues the
lineage but releases his ancestors from a particular kind of hell
!38 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

to which people without sons go. Widowhood is the result of sins

committed in a previous incarnation. Formerly, a widow's head
was shaved, and she was not allowed to remarry. A married woman
is regarded as an auspicious person, and articles associated with her,
like flowers, vermilion, turmeric powder, glass bangles, and the
marriage badge (tiili), are regarded as sacred and worshipped on
certain occasions. A widow is more or less completely excluded from
ritual.
It is necessary to note that the Coorg attitude to the widow is
similar to the Brahmin's though the differentiation between married
woman and widow is not as thoroughgoing as among the Brahmin.
But the similarity does make possible greater Sanskritization sub-
sequently.
A married woman is a preferred type of person among Coorgs.
Motherhood is a preferred condition and formerly the mother of
ten children was entitled to have mangala performed in her honour.
Other types of preferred persons are the strong man who is also
skilled in athletic sports, dancing, and fighting, and the magician
who is usually also a doctor. Frequently several preferred traits
were combined in the same man, making him doubly or trebly
preferred. The preference expresses itself in custom and ritual.
It might be said that the general orientation of Coorg culture is
martial. Frequently, customs and rites which appear to be taken
over from neighbouring cultures are given a martial twist in Coorg.
Competitive games like shooting at a coconut, and fighting for the
possession of a coconut, and a collective hunt are introduced into
every festival.
The harvest festival and the 'festival of arms' are both very
significant in this connexion. It has been pointed out that the
most important rites of the harvest festival are the cutting of
sheaves, the eating of new rice grains, and the expression of a wish
for plenty, but around these central rites are organized dancing and
singing, competitive games, and a collective hunt. The incidental
elements of the festival take up ten or eleven days while the main
elements do not take up more than a day.
The completion of transplantation marks the end of a very
arduous period in the cultivation of rice. Thereafter both the men
and the oxen are relatively free till the beginning of harvesting.
The 'festival of arms' comes at the end of the field season, and at
this festival a Coorg resumes his contact with his weapons which
 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 239
he had put away at the beginning of the rainy season. The break
in the continuity of the relationship between a man and, say, his
gun, creates some 'awkwardness' and so the weapons are wor-
shipped before being used. Later, a collective hunt is held.
The KaJ:liya astrologer decides what periods of time are auspi-
cious for worshipping the weapons and for cutting branches of the
poyyakalJe tree. He also decides when the village or nag should
have the collective hunt, in which direction the hunting party
should go if they want the hunt to be successful, and, finally, the
man who should lead the hunt.
The branches of the poyyakalJc tree are used for making barriers
which are erected in the rice-fields a few weeks after the end of
transplantation, in order to catch the small fish which abound in
the waterlogged fields during this part of the year. These fish are
regarded as a great delicacy, and catching them is a favourite sport.
An improvident man is described in a proverb as one who lives on
fish caught in the fields and on rice borrowed from neighbours at
a ruinous rate of interest.
The weapons are cleaned and kept either in the sacred central
hall or in the south-western room. They are marked with sandal-
wood paste. (Some Coorgs, like Brahmins on the western coast,
mark their foreheads with sandalwood paste before worshipping a
deity.) The weapons are worshipped with flowers, and a favourite
flower used for worship on this occasion is the t6ku which derives
its name from the fact that it looks like a gun. Curried meat and
cooked rice-flour are offered on plantain leaves to the weapons.
After dinner, the men put on their gowns, and assemble in the
south-western room, or central hall. The head of the okka hands
over to each his weapons and the latter salutes the former after
receiving his weapons. 1 The headman says, as he stands over the
weapons, 'Fight a tiger and boar by stepping aside the charging
beast [i.e. avoid standing in the direct line of the charge], do not
underrate your enemy, fight him face to face, stand by your friend,
be obedient to the king, and do not forget God.'
The headman of the okka feeds the domestic dogs with cooked
rice-flour. Then, just before the men of the okka leave the house
for the village green he says, 'Let the horned deer and tusked boar
cross my path.' Finally, he fires a shot in the direction of the
jungle.
1 A boy who is old enough to hunt receives his first gun on this occasion.
240 RELIGION AND SOCIETY AMONG THE COORGS

Several competitions are held on the village green. The men

are asked to shoot at a target (kuri). A variant of this is shooting at
a target while running (6{u bo4i). Three stout plantain stems are
planted very close to each other and men are invited to cut through
them with one stroke of the Coorg sword. Coorg youths struggle
for the possession of a coconut (tenge pore). There is a high-jump
competition, and then there is a form of putting-the-shot: the
competitors are required to throw a round stone backwards over
their heads. He who throws it farthest wins.
All the adult males in every okka in the village or nd4 have to
co-operate in the collective hunt that is held after the 'festival of
arms.' Each okka takes its dogs to the hunt. Every dog gets a portion
of the meat of the animal killed. Every man taking part in the hunt
gets a share, and those who hit the game first and second get an
extra share each. He who first hit the game is also entitled to the
animal's head, while the one who was the first to touch the kiHed
animal's tail is given one of the front legs in addition to his ordinary
share.
A man who shoots at an animal must not only hit it, but must
draw blood as well. Blood, in this context, is referred to as nambige,
which means evidence. Failure to draw blood is punished: thorns
are drawn across the bare buttocks of the unfortunate hunter
before the assembled members of the hunt.
It was mentioned earlier that a man who kjJled a panther was
entitled to have nari mangala performed on the village green
whereas he who killed a tiger was entitled to have it done on the
nci4green.
It was pointed out earlier that Ayyappa, the son of Vishl).u and
Shiva, becomes the hunting god par excellence in Coorg, roaming
the forests at night, whistling to his pack of dogs. Vows are made
to him before a hunt, and offerings of clay images of dogs and
horses are made before his shrines in the jungle.
The general preference for the martial way of life expresses
itself in beleif, ritual, and myth. For instance, the Sanskritic belief
that an eclipse is caused when the serpent Ruhu tries to devour the
sun or moon provides the basis for a characteristically Coorg story.
A one-eyed cobra lived in an anthiU and near by was a creeper which
had put forth an enormous gourd in which lived a hare. A strong
wind blew the gourd off the creeper, and it broke when it hit the
ground, setting the hare free. The cobra went after the running hare,
 RELIGION AND SOCIETY 241
trying to catch it. It chased the hare round the world. The moon
was watching the chase from above and he dropped a rope to help
the poor hare. The latter promptly climbed up the rope and settled
down in the moon's lap. The cobra tries to catch its prey periodi-
cally, and whenever it does so, an eclipse occurs. When an eclipse
is in progress Coorgs shout, '0 one-eyed Siddappa (cobra), set
free, set free.' They shoot at the sky io make the cobra disgorge the
hare.
The martial orientation of Coorg culture is not a recent pheno-
menon, nor does it seem to be in danger of dying out: in the last
war over 1,300 Coorgs enlisted as soldiers, and the first Indian
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, General K. M.
Cariappa, is a Coorg.
The sanyasi, the man who has renounced the world to pursue a
life of prayer and contemplation, commands very great respect
among Coorgs. He leads a celibate life, and in his case bachelor-
dom does not constitute a drawback. The rules which apply to
ordinary men do not apply to him. Preference for the sanyasi is
found everywhere in India among Hindus.

16
 APPENDIX

THE KAVERI MYTH

THE myth woven round the River Kiiveri forms part of the Skiinda Puriil)a. 1
in 18M· the Kaveri Myth, called Kereri Maht'itmya or 'the greatness of Kaveri'.
was translated into Kannaga from the original Sanskrit by one Srinivasa Iyengar
at the instance of an influential Coorg official, Nanjappa, of the Biddan<;\a of,_ka.
The Myth has also been translated i;]to Kodagi, presumably from the Kannada
translation of the Sanskrit original.
The Kiivcri M{lhiitmya as it is found in the Skiind,2 Pura(w is an extremely
complicated story, containing many stories within it after the manner of purriilic
tales. it is inconsistent in many places, but then a pllrii(Ja is intended for the
faithful laity who have no disbelief to suspend. Richter, exasperated by the
inconsistencies of the Kaveri Mdhatmya, has written,

'the extraordinary anachronism of Parvati's blessing given to Chandravarma,

the founder of the Coorg people, who is thereby rendered victorious over the
Mlechchas or Turks [Muslim invaders of India], who made their first ap-
pearance about 500 years ago, transgresses even the thoughtless audacity of a
plIraf,la; for the puraf,la belongs according to its own account to the age of the
Rishis (or the sages) who were long extinct when the Turks appeared. The
numerous passages, inculcating the duty of the valiant Coorgs, to offer to the
Brahmins the honours and gifts due to them, have met with singularly bad
success. The Coorgs, it would appear, never troubled themselves much abuut
the contents and admonitions of the Kaveri book, and though the translation
of it was designed to make it accessible to them, it is so highly spiced with
Sanskrit and Old KannaQa expressions, that few do understand it."

Richter's understandable irritations and prejudices prevented him from com-

prehending the true function of the pura(Ja, which is to account for certain
inconsistencies in the culture of Coorgs, and to 'place' them in the caste system.
Also the weaving of a puriilJa round a local river or mountain represents only
an initial step in the Sanskritization of the beliefs, customs, and rites of a people.
{t prepares the way for subsequent complete Sanskritization. Certain theological
and moral ideas come initially with the pura(Jas.

1 • "The Skiinda Purii?1a is that in which the six-faced deity (Skanda) has
related the events of the Tatpurusha Kalpa, enlarged with many tales ... Tt is
said to contain 81,800 stanzas ... " "it is uniformly agreed," says Wilson, "that
the Skiinda PUrii!Ja, in a collective form, has no existence; and the fragments, in
the shape of Sanhitas, KhanQas, and Miihatmyas, which are affirmed in various
parts of India to be portions of the Puraf,la, present a much more formidable mass
of stanzas than even the immense number of which it is said to consist." 'J.
Dowson, Hindu Classical Dictionary, pp. 300-01.
• Op.cit.,pp.216-17.
244 APPENDIX

Richter is right in saying that few Coorgs could have understood a purci(la
written in a mixture of Sanskrit and literary Kunnacja. He could not have
foreseen that it would become a folksong several decades later.
The Kaveri Mahatmya describes the story of the divine origin of the river,
enumerates the sacred bathing places along its course from source to estuary,
and some of the temples on its banks. It deals with Coorg, the country in which
the river has its origin, and Coorgs, who are its most distinctive, numerous,
and important inhabitants. It gives the story of the origin of Coorgs.
Long ago, Kavera Muni, a sage, retired to Brahmagiri (the present source
of the River Kaveri) mountain in order to meditate on Brahma, the Creator.
Kavera's devotion was so great that in the end four-headed Brahma appeared
before him and asked him what he wanted. Kavera told Brahma that he wanted
.children. Brahma replied that Kavera could not have any children of his own
because of sins committed in a previous life, but as Kavera had shown excep-
tional devotion, Brahma presented him with Lopamudre, Brahma's adopted
daughter, and a manifestation of Parvati. The sage was pleased with the boon.
Lopamudre informed Kavera that she regarded herself as his daughter, and
that she wanted to become a holy river, a bathe in which would rid people of their
sins.
The girl lived with her foster-parents, Kavera and his wife, till they both died.
Some time after their death she met a great sage Agastya,l who had gone to the
Brahmagiri mountain in order to meditate on Shiva. Agastya fell in love with
Kaveri, as the foster-daughter of Kavera was called, and asked her to marry
him. She agreed on condition that she would leave him for good if she was
ever left alone even for a little while.
One morning Agastya wanted to bathe in Kanake, a river which rises in the
Brahmagiri mountain, a mile from the source of the Kaveri. He put his wife
into a vessel and handed the vessel to his young Brahmin disciples for safe
keeping during his absence. Kaveri, annoyed at being left alone, made the boy
carrying the vessel stumble and fall. The vessel rolled on the ground and Kaveri
escaped from it and flowed away as a river. The disciples then stopped the
river which promptly went underground. (The Kaveri flows underground
from the source till Bhagamandla, where the Kanake joins it.)
Agastya returned from his bathe and learnt of what had happened in his
absence. He ran after his wife who was swiftly flowing away as a river. He
caught up with her and expressed his regret at having left her alone and begged
her forgiveness. As a result of his entreaties, Kaveri decided to split herself into
two halves, one half flowing away as the River Kaveri, and the other half be-
coming Lopiimudre, the wife of Agastya. Agastya then told the river-half the
course it should take to the sea, and enumerated the centres of pilgrimage
along the course.

1 Agastya is a famous rishi, the son of the Vedic gods Mitra and Varul)a by
Urvashi. He is said to have been born in a water-jar, and was very short of
stature. He once drank up the oceans, and compelled the Vindhya mountains to
prostrate themselves before him. Tradition accords him a great place in Tamil
literature, and also credits him with the introduction of Sanskritic Hinduism
and Sanskrit literature into the South. He is also associated with mountains.
 APPENDIX 245
II

Long ago a Brahmin sage named Suyajnya settled down on the Brahmagiri
mountain and meditated upon Vishl)u with great devotion. His devotion was
so great that Vishl)u appeared in person before him and asked him what he
wanted. Suyajnya replied that he wanted children, and Vishl)u gave his own
daughter Sujyoti to the sage. The deity asked the sage to take the girl to Kanake,
servant of Indra, living on top of the Agni Mountain, near the source of the
Kaveri. Suyajnya did as Vishl)u had instructed him, and took Sujyoti to Kanake.
The two girls decided to meditate together. They did so for several centuries,
giving up food and water. At last Indra appeared before them, and he at once
fell in love with Sujyoti. He married her.
Some time after marriage Sujyoti informed her friend Kanake that she was
dissatisfied with the life she was leading, and that she wanted to do good to
mankind. She suggested to Kanake that both of them should become rivers
and join the KflVeri. Kanake fell in with Sujyoti's suggestion and the two flowed
away as rivers. Indra became indignant when he saw that his wife had left him
to become a river. He cursed her, 'You have become a river without my per-
mission. May your waters dry up.' Sujyoti was so distraught with grief when
she heard the curse that lndra felt sorry for her and modified his curse, 'You
will flow without water till you join the Kaveri at Bhagamanc,Ua, and then in the
company of Kiiveri and Kanak<~ join the sea. '
The Rivers Kaveri and Kanake meet at Bhagamangla, and to these two which
actually meet there the Kavcri Mahafmya adds a third, Sujoyti, which is said to
meet the two unseen. Apropos of this Richter writes, 'The story of the invisible
river Sujyoti,joining the Kanake and Kaveri is a lame imitation of the northern
tale, that Saraswati, a stream of great renown among the Brahmins, is not lost,
as it seems, in the desert sands, but joins the Jumna and Ganges at Prayaga
(Allahabad)." The Kaveri Mahatmya is an attempt to produce a southern
parallel to the northern model. Here again is an instance of the way in which the
Sanskritic idiom extends over the whole of India.

III

Another, and a very important, part of the Kaveri Mahatmya brings the river
Kaveri, the country of its origin, and the most distinctive inhabitants of the
country, Coorgs, all into relation with each other. A special and intimate bond
is created between the three.
Siddhaxta, the King of Matsyadesha, had four sons, the youngest and most
gifted ofwhom was Chandravarma. Some time after he had come of age Chandra-
varma left his father and went on a pilgrimage to various holy places in south
[ndia. In the course of his pilgrimage he went to the Brahmagiri mountain
where he meditated on Parvati, the wife of Shiva. When the goddess presented
herself before Chandravarma and asked him what he wanted, he replied that
he wanted a kingdom, a wife of Kshatriya caste who would bear him children,
and a place in heaven after death. Parvati told him that owing to sins com-
mitted in a previous life, he could not have children from a wife belonging to
his own caste, but would have to be content with children from a Shtidra wife.
246 APPENDIX

The goddess herself presented him with a Shiidra bride, and told him that his
wife would bear him eleven sons, who would be called ugras. They would be
courageous and righteous, and respectful to Brahmins. They would be equal
to Kshatriyas in every respect except one, viz., they would not be entitled to
the performance of Vedic ritual. They would be devoted to the worship of
Shiva and Parvati.· The goddess assured Chandravarma that she would be
born in course of time as the River Kaveri, and confer prosperity and other
blessings on the children (Coorgs) of Chandravarma. She asked him to go
forth and clear the land of Mlechchas (Muslims). She gave him a victorious
sword, a white horse quick as the wind, and an army to drive the Mlec:hchas
out of the country.
C11andravarma overcame the Mlec:hc:has and married a woman of his own
caste according to Vedic rites. The coronation ceremony was performed by
Brahmins to whom he gave houses and lands. He invited other castes to settle
down in Coorg, called Matsyadesha after the country ruled by his father. He
had ekven sons from his Shudra wife, and Vedic rites were performed for each
of them on occasions like the conferment of name, performance of tonsure,
and investment with the sacred thread. In this respect they were treated like
Kshatriyas and other twice- born castes.
When they came of age, the eleven sons married the hundred daughters of
the King of Vidharbadesha, the eldest son Devakanta marrying twenty girls,
the second son, sixteen, the third, twelve, and so on.
Chandravarma retired with his two wives to the Himalayas to meditate
on Shiva and ParvatL Before his departure he told his children that Piirvati
would be reborn in Coorg as the River Kiiveri and that they would be happy
as long as they continued to worship Shiva and Parvati, and the Brahmins.
Each of the sons of Chandravarma had more than a hundred sons. They were
all very strong men, with nails as sharp and powerful as the tusks of boars.
With their nails they levelled the ground and tore up the forests, and generally
reclaimed land.

'Then they settled themselves anew in the country, the face of which they
had changed by the strength of their own arms. Around them they planted
houses and families of Brahmins and other castes. Because this re-establish-
ment of the country resembled the renowned deeds of the varahavatdra (the
boar-incarnation of Vishl)u),l the country of Chandravarma's sons was
henceforth called Krodadesha, and its inhabitants 'KrOda people'. The
word Kr6da is said to have been changed and corrupted by degrees in to
K09agu, which is the present, and probably was the original name of thl"
country. '2

Two days before the first of Libra, when the Kaveri festival is celebrated
annually, Parvati appeared in a dream to Devakanta, the King of Coorgs, and
ordered him to assemble his people in a place called Balmuri, where she would
lOp. cit.,p. 216.
2 The Skiinda Pural,1a, of which the Kareri Miihiilmya is only a part, has a
Shaivite orientation. The River Kaveri is identified with Lopamudre, a mani-
festation of Parvati.
 APPENDIX 247
meet them. Accordingly, all Coorgs assembled there to greet Parvati in the
form of a river. The river came rushing down the valley, and the violence of the
flood pushed the frontal knots of the women's saris to their b?cks, and even
now Coorg women push the frontal knot to the back in memory of their first
bathe in the Kaveri. Parvati appeared in person before the assembled Coorgs,
and told them to ask a boon of her. Coorgs asked for children, wealth, a king-
dom for themselves, and a priest, and Kaveri granted them everything they
asked for.
H is dear from the brief summary of the Ktireri Mtihtitll1ya given above that
it is Brahminical in origin. Brahmins are praised in it, conferred wealth and
other privileges, and Coorg kings are told that they should 'establish holy
Brahmins' in their Jand.
The Kal'eri Mahtitmya brings the River Kaveri and its worship into the main
stream of the puralJas which have an .b"lI-lndia spread. It also makes Sanskritic
deities and ideas familiar to the inhabitants of Coorg. A special and intimate
relation is established between Coorg, Coorgs, and the river as a result of it.
A distinctive feature of the dress of Coorg women is associated with the Kaveri.
Coorgs regard the Kaveri as their patron goddess. At least one in ten girls is
named Kaveri.
The account of the origin of Coorgs in the Kiil'eri MahiilJilya is an mlempt
to reconcile certain facts which are not easy to reconcile. While it is true that
Coorgs are a wealthy and powerful group with a martial outlook, they do not
perform certain Vedic rituals which are performed by Kshatriyas elsewhere
in India, and their dietary includes domestic pork and liquor. The myth finds
a way out of the difficulties by suggesting that they are Ugras, the descendants
of a Kshatriya father and Shiidra mother.

1 A demon named HiralJ.yaksha dragged tIle earth to the bottom of the sea.
Vishl}u assumed the form of a boar (val'aha) and rescued the earth after slaying
1he demon at the end of a contest lasting a thousand years.
2 Op. cit., p. 224. Krodha means 'anger, wrath, and passion'.
 GLOSSARY
Afmara. One of several sacred benches in the outer veranda or central hall
of a Coorg house.
Aruva. Family friend. Traditional relationship of friendship, frequently mutual,
between twookkas.
Baine palm. Caryo/a urens. Palm from the spathe of which toddy is drawn by a
Kudiya, or low-caste man, for the consumption of himself and others, including
Coorgs.
Bhiira(1i. Offering of cooked meat, liquor, puffed rice, &c., to village-deity or
ancestor-spirit.
Bhatti. Measure equal to eighty seers. A rice-field was taxed according to the
numberof Ma!!is it yielded annually.
Bira. Spirit ofa man dying a violent death.
Dikshe ultHl'a. Ritual, usually performed a few weeks after the death of a person,
which completely frees the first-grade mourners from mourning.
Ganga puja. \Vorship of the sacred river Ganges. Water in any river, pond, or
well is identified with the Ganges on certain ritual occasions.
Jaggery. Crude brown sugar made from the juice of sugar-cane, or the saps of
various palms, either in the form of square blocks or small round cakes.
Jagir. An assignment of the king'S or government's share of the produce of a
village or several villages to an individual for services rendered.
Jamma. Concession tenure under which Coorgs and certain others held land.
A jamma landholder was formerly liable to be called up for military and
other service by the state whenever necessary.
Jangama. Lingiiyat priest who wears ochre robes. Occasionally, a mendicant.
Jail. Subcaste. One of the innumerable, tiny, endogamous, and occupational
groups which constitute the effective units of the caste system. A j(lti has
only a regional application while var!lll has an All-India application.
Kailpo!ud. Festival of arms.
Kaimatja. Ancestor-shrine near the ancestral house of a Coorg.
KaralJal'a. The apotheosized spirit of the dead ancestor of a Coorg akka.
KaralJavanlja aimara. Literally it means 'ancestors' bench '. One of the benches in
the outer veranda, or a portion of it, so called. It is regarded as more sacred
than other benches in the veranda.
KaralJava kola or KtiralJava tere. The elaborate propitiation of the ancestors
ofa Coorg okka. Translated in the bookas 'ancestor-propitiation'.
Karanava tare. Raised platform round the trunk of a milk-yielding tree, in which
stones representing ancestors are embedded. Translated in the book as 'an-
cestor-platform' .
Kavukara. One of several high-caste okkas having well-defined rights and duties
at the festival of the local village-deity. Translated as 'festival-priest' in the
book.
K€kanga!a. Portion of the ancestral estate where the dead members of the okka
are buried. When it is decided to cremate a dead person, an adjoining portion
of the estate, called t uranga/a, is used.
250 GLOSSARY

Killc/i, Bell-metal vessel with a long spout at the side,

Kuc/upi. Hostility between two okkas. Maradule is hostility between two villages
or f1iic/s.
Kupya. A gown, like a dressing"gown, worn by Coorgs on ritual occasions.
KU/'llljupoJe or Tinga pole. Pollution caused by menses.
Lilzgayaf. Non-Brahmin sectarian caste devoted exclusively to the worship of
Shiva and Piirvati in their various manifestations.
Mada. Ritual performed on twelfth or sixteenth day of death which frees all
except first-grade mourners from ritual mourning.
Mat;li. Ritual purity.
Makka parije. Custom by which a man raises up seed for his wife's natal aHa,
in addition to his own.
Alailige. Normal ritual status which is really a mild form of impurity.
Mandu. Cleared, open space in village or nalj for dancir,g, or holding meetings
&c.
!llangala. Auspicious ceremony performed on certain occasions in the life of an
individual.
Mantra. Hymn, sacred text, mystical verse, incantation or spell.
Miirta. The most important part of the ritual of mangala.
N iic/. Territorial unit consisting of several villages.
Ncllakki bO!l!k. Lamp burning in a niche in the western wall of the sacred central
hall. Translated as 'wall-Iamp' in the book.
Okka. Patrilineal, and patrilocal joint family, the basic kin-group among C oorgs.
It is also a co-residential, commensal and property-owning group.
Okka parije. Custom by which a man lives with his wife and raises up seed
exclusively for her natal oJ..ka.
Palla, Unit of money equal to two annas and eight pies. There are six pallaS
in a rupee.
Pandal. Decorated shed or booth erected in front of the house at marriage
or other occasion.
Pat11i. Day of fast during the festival of a village-deity.
Petta pole or Purulju. Pollution caused by birth.
Pil1lja. Balls of rice or rice-flour, mixed with gingelly grains and other things
offered to the spirit of a dead person or ancestor.
Pole. Ritual impurity of any sort.
Poleya. Untouchable caste.
Piija. Worship.
PI/ril/la. One of eighteen mythological works treating chiefly of cosmogony
and divine genealogy.
Putri pallid. Harvest·festival.
Saflll11alida. Ritual conferring or withdrawing membership of an o/..ka.
Seer. A grain measure of capacity or weight, varying in different parts of India.
In the Kanna<,la country it is equal to the weight of twenty-four rupees or
0.6067 lb.
Tai!yakki boluk. Lamp kept on a sheet of rice spread in a bell-metal dining-dish
(tali) .
Takka. Headman.
Tappa4aka. Ritual enumeration of the restrictions to be observed during a
 GLOSSARY 251
village-deity's festival.
Tire. Elaborate equipment, made principally of split bamboo, and coloured
cloth of pith, worn by low-caste oracle at an ancestor-propitiation in a Coorg
house, and at the festival of a village-deity.
Tike. Extreme form of pollution from which mourners and the house in which
they live suffer until the celebration of Mada ceremony.
Ti/l(!11 pote. Pollution caused by a low-caste man coming too near.
Tiruvalkara (m.), Tirul'a!kci/,chi (f.). Oracle.
Ugra. A mixed caste, result of the marriage of a Kshatriya father and Shudra
mother.
Vartla. Traditional scheme of classification of castes. According to this scheme
there are four castes, three of which are 'twice-born', and the Untouchables
are outside the pale of the caste system.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. H. MOEGLING, Coorg !vIemoirs. Bangalore, 1855.
2. R. A. COLE, Manual of Coorg Law. 1861.
3. Report 011 the Administration ofCoorg, from 1868-9 to 1936-7.
4. Lt. CONNOR, Memoir 0/ the Codagu Survey, pts. i and ii. Bangaiore, 1870.
S. G. RICHTER, Manual o/Coorg, a Gazt'tteer. Mangalore, 1870.
6. L. RICE, Mysore and Coorg, 3 volumes. Bangalore, 1878.
7. L. RICE, Coorg Inscriptiolls. Bangalore, 1886.
8. G. RICHTER, Castes and Tribes/oulld ill Coorg. Bangalore, 1887.
9. SIR T. HOLLAND, 'Coorgs and Yeravas', l.R.A.S. (Bengal), vol. lxx, pt
iii, 1901.
10. K. ApPAYYA, Kocjagara Kulacharadi Tattrojjirini (in KannaQa). Mysore,
1902.
11. Article on Coorg in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. xi. Oxford, 1908.
12. N. CHINNAPPA, Pa(f6ie Pa!unll? (partly in KOQagi and partly in Kanna<;!a).
Bangalore,1924.
13. P. M. MUTHANNA, CoorgandCoorgs. Siddapura, Coorg,1931.
14. B. G. KANTY, Coorg and its Rulers, a thesis submitted for M.A. of the
University of Bombay in 1931.
15. M. B. EMENEAU, 'Kinship and Marriage among the Coorgs', l.R.A.S.
(Bengal), vol. iv, 1938.
16. Census of India, 1931: vol. xiii, Coorg, Report and Tahles. Madras, 1932.
17. Census of India, 1941 : vol. xv, Coorg, Tables. Delhi, 1942.
18. Various ethnographical articles on Coorg in the Indian Antiquary, vol. i,
p. 322; vol. ii, pp. 38, 47,168,182; vol. iv, p. 12; vol. x, p. 363.
19. Letter of Virarajendra Wo<;leyar, Raja of Coorg, in the Mysore Archaeologi-
cal Report for 1941, pt. v. Mysore, 1942.
 INDEX

Achchu Kotta, 173. Ancestral estate, see unclei" Okka and

Achchu Nayaka, 162. Sacred.
Active mourners, see under Mourners. Ancestral house, see under Sacred.
A<,iatalt~, see under Gifts. Ancestral rice-field, see under Sacred.
A<,iiyas, see under Castes. Andamall Islanders, 72 n.
Agastya, the sage, 222, 243. Annadani Mallikiirjuna, deity, 11 n.
-curses Amma Coorgs, 34-5. Appangiriyappa (deity), see Village-
Agni, god of fire, 91. deities.
Aimaras, see IInder Sacred. Appayya, K., 221.
Ain mane (ancestral house), see under Areyanc)a house, 187. . '.
Sacred. Armeri, village, J62; several temples
Airis, see under Castes. at, 178; role of Brahmin in Bhag-
Aiyappan, Dr. A., 27. vati festival at, 226.
Akshaya Parra ('vessel of increase'), Arura (family friend), 56, 95, 102,
see under Bhagaman<,ila. 114, 115, 120, 121, 125, 127, 132-4,
Alcoholic drinks, 27, 28, 33, 62, 116, _ 135, 136,137-8,141, 144, 151, 172.
119, 121, 163, 166, 198, 201, 203, il.rya Samaj, 214.
227,228,237,247. Astrologer, astrology, 39-40,44,49,72,
-offered 10 dead man's spirit. 115; 75, 232, 239; date of harvest
to ancestor, 165; the deity Ketrap- festival decided by astrologer at
pa's fondness for toddy, 179, 211- Pac)i SubramaQya temple, 208, 231.
2, 224; sce also Offerings. -horoscopes, 39, 170; see also Kal).i-
Allahabad, sec Prayaga. yas.
All-India Hinduism, see IInder Spread. Auspiciousness, see under Sacred.
Amba/a, see under Mandu. Ayyanar (deity), see Village-deities.
Amma Croogs, see under Coorgs. Ayyanc)a okka, 191 n.; see also Patta-
Ammangeri (village), 235. mada okka.
Ancestors (Kara(1aI'as), 89, 104, 106, Ayyappa (deity), see under Hunt and
124, 125, 136, 156, 157, 159-67, Village-deities.
170,171,213, 22R, 230, 233. A! rupa, see under Offerings.
-intimately associated with the okka,
51. Bachelor, 71, 96, 157, 237, 241;
-ancestress, 160,164,166. bachelor-ancestor, 160 n.; disabili-
-biras, 160,162. ties of, 81; may not chew betel, 120.
-founder of the okka (adi guru or Baine palm (car)'ota urens), 119,
adi karalJava or mula purusha), 159- 211.
60,165. Bake, Dr. A. A., xiv
-nari pi/da (tiger spirit), 160. Ballatna<,i Povvedi, see IInder Village-
-ancestor-platform ('kara~laFG tare'), deities.
49,50,77,160,162. Balmavti (village). 178.
-ancestor-shrine (kaimarja) , 49, 50, Balmuri (place of pilgrimage), 218,
77, 103, 160, 161, 165, 173, 232; 246.
bira kotas, 160, 162; no ancestor- Band, 61,62,97, 150, 152, 154,206,
shrines in some okkas, 162. 232; accompanies bride and groom
-kara!7Gva bMraFi (periodical offer- to bathroom, 82; before mangala
ings to ancestors), 77,115, 163,165, house,72-3; at the festival ofKundat
228. Bhadraka!i, 193; Meda beats tom-
-kiira(lava ten! (ancestor-propitiation), tom at festival, dance, or hunt, 41;
40, 42, 43, 49, 77, 115, 124, 157, no funeral bal)d if person dies dur-
161,163-7, 170, 173. ing village-deity's festival, 201.
-pi(lda (offerings of balls of rice to Bal)l)as and Pal)ikas, see under Castes.
ancestors), 34, 38, 84, 106, 122-3, Barber, see under Castes.
166-7,216,228. Ba!ek mangala, see under Mangala.
-shriiddhas, 157 n.; Amma Coorgs Be<,iniir, Nayakas of, 11, 12, 13.
perform, 34, 228. Bellitan<,ia okka, lOS.
 INDEX

Henares, Ill, ITQ.. ~ .. Bill/fa (Spirit or ghost), 169; see also

Bendrukolappa (deity);~ee under Vil- Spirits of dead persons.
lage-deities. :" Biddanga okka, exogamy and, 146;
Bendu-Parije, see under Pre-and extra have bira kot-a, 160; Biddanga Nan-
marital alliances. jappa,243.
Bengal, deity Kshetrap<l,la changes his Bier, lIS.
sex in, 224.' ." Bi!ngunda (village), 179.
Bengur (J,<iUage), 173/'
19jn,211,2.12.7~"L '
79, 182, 187, Biras and Bira Kotas, see lIllder An-
cestors.
Bengiir P..wV-05l.i. ,)~~;178, 204, 237. Biredevaru (deity), see under Village-
Betel leaves1aD<,lilfcca-nut, 46, 66, 74, deities.
80, 92, 94,,105, 113, 115, 120-2, Birth, 64 n., 92, 125, 172.
154; W6~ -birth-pollution, 117; see also under
Bhadraka!i of Karavalebilgga, see un- Pole and pollution.
der Okka, and Village-deities. Blood sacrifice, see under Indian Na-
Bhadraka)i of Kunda, 183,226. tional Congress and Offerings.
-annual festival of, 187-200,207. Bo<;l<;lu Coorgs, see unda Coorgs.
- - attitude towards PoJeyas at, 42. Bodily emissions, see IInder Ritual im-
- - Karnal)dra okka representative purity.
cleans temple-yard during, 197. Bolichapiig, see Oracles.
--KuklUr, 177, 179, 190, 191, 194, B6jakara (best man) and B6jakiirati
200. (matron of honour), see under Mar-
- - Kuttan<;la okka, 190, 197. riage.
- - Ma\ettira okka, 191, 197-8. Brahma (deity), 217, 227, 244.
- - MOl)l)angraokka, 190, 191,197-8 Brahmagiri, in the west, 3, 123, 217,
--Nandiyanga oHa, 191, 197-8. 244, 245, in the extreme south, 1, 3,
- _- Offerings made during the festi- 222.
val: chu{e ('prostitute'), 187, 191, Brahmo Samaj, 214.
197-8; ettu p6ra(a (bullocks loaded Brahmins, see under Castes.
with rice), 187, 191, 193; kudure Bridal pair, see under Marriage.
('horse'), 187, 191, 192, 197-8; 'vil- Bride, see under Marriage.
lage fowls' (iiruko!i), 189, 194, 197; Bridegroom, see under Marriage.
'village goat' (11ra4u), 189, 194, 195, British Power, annexation of Coorg
197; see also Offerings. by, 15.
- - oracles: Pal)ika oracles at, 179; -changes following annexation by,
Poleya oracles at, 191, 193, 194. 18; caste under, 30-31; communica-
- - Tatangra Karyappa, 190, 193-4, tions improved under, 6; important
195,196,198,199-200. officials cai! themselves takkas un-
- - Tatangra okka, 197. der, 59.
- - (ilg namme ('torch festival'), - -progress of administrative inte-
192-3. gration under, 20; number of nags
-temple benefits from the Rajas' reduced by, 57.
munificence, 185; number of deities - -slavery abolished by, 19.
in the temple, 178. - -slaughter of cattle banned by, 33.
Bhagangeshwara temple, see under Brother and sister, see under Kinship.
Bhagaman<;lla. Buddhism, xi, 30, 213.
Bhagavad Glta, see under Hindu philo- Buddhists, 8.
sophy. Burial-ground, see under Funeral.
Bhagvati (Povvedi), see under Village- Burridge, Mr. K. O. L., xiv.
deities. Byturappa (deity), see under Village-
Bhakti Schools, 213. deities.
Bharti (measure of paddy), 12, 16, 17,
55, 132. Calendar festivals, 171-2, 177, 208,
Bhagamangla, 3, 7, 14, 35, 216, 217, 233, band necessary at, 97; see also
244; Brahmin Priests at, 38; purifi- Festival of Arms, Harvest festival,
catory rites performed at, 64, 84, Kaveri festival,andNew Year's Day.
122-3. Canara rebellion, 18, 52.
-Bhagangeshwara temple at, 84, 185. Cariappa, General K.M., Commander-
- -akshaya palra ('vessel of in- in-chief of the Indian Army, 241.
crease') at, 233. Carnegie Research Fund, Oxford, xiv.
 INDEX 255
Caste, viii, ix, x, 92, 104, 208, 211- Castes (contd.):
12, 213, 219-20, 224, 227, 233, 236, Brahmins, Malabar Brahmins, 37,
237,245-7. 185; Namblidris, 27, 49.
- ban on contact between, 102-3, -- . Marka Brahmins, 28.
109. --- Sri Vaishnava Brahmins, 30.
-and British power, 30-31. -- -- Tu1u (oi- South Canara) Brah-
-caste elders and Rajas, 17. mins: divisior;s among, 37-38;
--caste Hindus, 33. priests at temples of village-dei-
-Christians and Muslims regarded ties, 181,183, ISS.
as, 31. -- - - Havik Brahmins, 38; Shi.
--excommunication from. 26, 28, 31, valli Brahmins, 37; Tantri Brah-
46,6 4 -65. mins, 38-39, 185.
--and feuds, 69. Brahminization, 30, 167.
--general account of, 24-31. Brahmin monastcries and Amma
-and harvest festival, 44-5. Coorgs, 35.
-horizontal ties stressed by, 31-2, Holcyas, 103
43, 44, 61, 62. Jamma Ko<;lagas, 9.
-and hypergamy, 30. Kat)iyas (astrologers), 38, 166, 183,
-importance for Indian society of, 31. 218, duties of, 39-40; and festival
-and ja{i, 24, 25, 30, 98. of arms, 239; and harvest festival,
--and occupation, 28-29. 44; select an auspicious time for
-sanctions of, 31. murta, 72.
- and slavery, 22. Kanna<;la Okkaligas, 9, 16, 22, 32,
- and 'spread', 215, 218, 219. 36,37,75,185.
- 'twice-born' castes, 24, 25, 30, 33, Kolla (blacksmith), duties of, 40; at
246. harvest festival, 44, 231; see also
- var(lU, 24, 25, 219-20. Airi.
- and vegetarianism, 27-8, 170; see K6mti (merchant), 32.
also Offerings. Kshatriyas, 24, 25, 28., 86 n., 220-
- and village, 60-61, 64,98. 21, 233, 245-7; Coorgs claim to
- - and festival of village-deity, 180, be, 33; see also Rajputs.
187, 191, 192-3, 200-201. Ku<;liyas, 22; duties of, at the
Ketrappa festival, 179_
Castes: Kumbaras (potters), given land on
P. <;Iiyas, 22, 38. jamma tenure, 16; role at harvest
Airis (smiths), 75, 202; duti~s of, festival, 44.
40; given land on ;amma Kurubas, divided into Betta and
tenure, 40-41; see also Kalla, Jenu divisions, 22. ..
Tattan, and Tachchayiri. Ma<;livaJa(washerman), 75,83,84 n.,
BalJl:las and Pat)ikas, 40, 75, 183, 107, 170, 202; duties of, 41,
218; oracles at ancestor-propitia- 85.
tions, 42-43, 161-2, 164-6, 230; Madiga,38.
at Kakk6t Achchayya's festi- Maraya( drummers at some temples),
val, 108 n.; at Ketrappa's festival, 186; at the Kundat Bhadraka!i
178-9, 211; at Kundat Bhadra- festival, 193, 196, 198.
kaji's festival, 194-7. Medas, 22, 72, 75, 185-7, 189 n.,
Barber, 105, 113; defiled by contact 190,194,198,201,211,218,237;
with, 79; duties and privileges of, duties of, 41; and harvest festival,
41,80; inauspicious nature of, 89. 44, 61, 231; and Ketrappa festi-
Brahmins, ix, x, 24-7, 29, 32- val, 62.
34,38,41,43-4, 47,78 n., 83 n., Nayars, 27, 47,49.
85, 87, 92 n., 100, 103, 108 n., Non-Brahmins, 25, 28, 170, 226-7;
122-3, 157 n., 166-8, 178, 181, non-Brahminical, 166; non-Brah-
185,186,190,192-4,196-8,211-3, min priests, 181, 185,
215, 219, 220, 224-8, 233, 237, Paleyas, 22, 38.
239,244-7. Poleyas, 14 n., 19, 22, 72, 75, 103,
- excluded from village activities, 126 144, 171 n., 173, 177,
62; non-vegetarian Brahmins, 28; 185-7, 189 n., 190, 191-6, 198-
priests at the big temples in Coorg, 203, 211, 218, 226, 229, 234-7;
38. duties of, 41-2; and death, 61,
256 INDEX

Castes (coli/d.): C/lll{e ('prostitute'), see under Bhadra-

112; and harvest festival 44, 62; ka1i of Kunda alld Offerings.
and Ketrappa festival, 62-3, 116; Climate, 5.
subdivisions among, 38. Coffee plantations, 18, 92, 229; effects
Pulayans, 103. of the coming of coffee, 19,
Rajputs, 33; see also Kshtriyas. 173.
Shiidras, 24, 27, 220, 246, 247. Cole, R. A., 36, 52.
Tachchayiri (carpenter), 44; see also Commcnsality, 55, 90, 98-9.
Airi, Kolla, and Tattan. Confinement, principle of, see IInder
Tat\an (goldsmith), 40-1; see also Mourning.
Airi, Kalla, and Tachchayiri. Connor, Lt., 52.
Tulu Gauc;las, 9, 16, 22, 32, 36-7, Coorg gown (kupya), see under Ritual
75. garments.
Ugras, Coorgs said to be, 33-4, Coorg .Memoirs, 37 n., 38 n., 52 n.,
220,246,247. 162 n.
Untouchables, x, 22, 24-8, 32, Coorg Proper, 57, 59, 162, 184, 189,
62, 63, 103, 110, 126, 138, 185, 214, 231; centre of Coorg culture,
213-4, 220; subdivisions among, 7; cooler than other parts of Coorg,
38; see also Ac;liyas, Holeyas, Ma- 5; Haleri Ruler extends his control
digas, PaJcyas, PoJeyas, and Pula- over, 12.
yas. Coorgs, 239; Amma Coorgs, 34 .. 5,
Vaishyas, 24, 25, 220; see also 38, 167; aristocracy under the
Komtis. Rajas, 32; Boc;lc;lu Coorgs, 36-7;
Wynac;l'Chettis, 9; some taken into claim to be Kshatriyas, 34, 220-21;
the Coorg fold, 36. concentrated in Coorg Proper, 7;
Caste ill India, 27 n. and contact with neighbours, 6;
Caste and Race ill Illdia, 24 n. divisions among, 34-7; earliest re-
Castes and Tribes/oulld in Coorgs, 36 n. ference to, 10; fight Muslim rulers
Cattle, reverence for, 182, 223; slaugh- of Mysore, 13-4, 17; influence of
ter of, forbidden, 33; sacrifice of, in Lingayatism on, 18; and Kiiveri
the Vedas, 224. Myth, 243-4, 245-7; keen sense of
Census 0/ India, XIII, 1931, 8n., 9 n. leadership, 63; Malla Coorgs, 3'5-
Central hall (nellakki nagubtide), see 36; pilgrimages of, 3, 6; proficiency
under Sacred. in languages of, 9; non-Coorgs re-
Chakravarti, Shri C., 224 n. ceived into the fold of, 37; other
Chandravarma, mythical ancestor of castes imitate, 9; return from Serin-
Coorgs, 243, 245-6; see also Kaveri gapatam of, 15; Sal)l)a Coorgs, 35-
myth. 36; south Coorgs claim superiority
Changalva rulers, 9-11. to north Coorgs, 33, 36; strength of,
Chamunc;li or Chaunc;li (deity), see 8; takkas (headmen) in Coorgs Pro-
under Village-deities. per, 59.
Chendappam_ia Kungu, 183,204. Competitive sports, at festivals, 66,
Chengappa, Dewan Bahadur K., 20. 170-2, 198, 238, 240; coconut
Chengappa, Shri K. J., xiii, 47, 76,138 scramble (tenge pore), 198, 238, 240;
n.,151. shooting at a target (kuri), 206, 238,
Chengola, see under Village-deity's 240.
temple. Corpse, 61, 71, 78, 82, 86, 88, 94,
Child, rite of giving rice and milk to, 95, 97, 100, 106, 113-5, 118-9,
93; naming ceremony of, 93-6, 122,130,141,150-1; see also Death,
100. Funeral, alld Mourning.
Children, see under Kinship.
Chinnappa, Shri N., author of Par(o!e Courtesy, 46, 97-9, 120, 207; elabo-
Palume, xiii, 14 n., 34-5, 59, 135 rate between affines, 154; at har-
n.,173n. vest festival dance, 20 , plaintain
Chojas (of the Tamil country), 10. honour (bale birudu), 66, J5\); see
Choli Povvedi, see under Village- also Betel leaves and areca-nutt, alld
deities. Salutation.
Christianity, xi, 213; Christian Coun- Cow-dung solution, see under Ritual
tries, pagan survivals in, ix; Chris- purification.
tians, 8, 31. Crooke, W., 224 n.
 INDEX 257
Cross-cousin marriage, see under Mar- Eldest son, see IInder Kinship.
riage restrictions (Kinship). Elementary family, see under Kinship .
• Cross-nephew' and 'Cross-niece', see Ellamma (deity), see under Village-
under Kinship. deities.
Crow, offerings to, 114-5; ritually Emeneau, Prof. M. B., xiii, 8, 171-2.
impure, 106; see also under Mourn- Endogamous restrictions, sec ul1der
ing, Offerings, awl Ritual Impurity. Marriage.
Cult, of the okka, Chapter V; Cults of English, spoken in Coorg, 8-9.
the larger social units, Chaper VI. Enji, see under Ritual impurity.
Cultural diversity of Coorg, 6-7, 65, Ethical code, the effects of violation of,
180. 164 n.; killing a cobra a great sin,
168; see also Hindu theology.
DakshiI:la Ganga, see under Ganges. Ettlll1langala, see under Mallgala.
Dance, 7, 41, 55, 62-3, 107. 112, Etru po rata (bullocks loaded with rice),
172, 238; at death, 41, 152; at see under Bhadraka!i of Kunda, alld
harvest festival, 62, 66, 68, 202-3, Offerings.
206, 231, 236; at Kundat Bhadra- European, vii.
ka!i festival, 189, 192-3, 198; at Evans-Pritchard, Prof. E. E., xiii.
mallgala,73. Exogamous restrictions, see ullder Mar-
Daughters, see under Kinship. riage restrictions (Kinship).
Death, 33, 56, 61, 65, 76, 78, 84, 87,
89, 94-6, 97-8, 102-4, 106, 125,
130,136, 150-5, 157, 159-60, 173, Family friend, see Arum.
201,223; and GuJika, 170; and pol- Fancy-dress (b6t/.u), at harvest festival,
lution, 64 n., 76,107-9; and Yama, 207; at Kundat Bha<.\raka[i festival,
god of death, 79; see also Corpse, 190-91.
Funeral, alld Mourning. Father, see under Kinship.
Desha keff pdr (folksong describing Fauna, 6.
the social organization of Coorg), Fertility rites, 231, 232, 238; see also
59,209,234. harvest festival.
Devakanta, son of Chandravarma, 246; Festival of arms (kail polud), 171-2,
see also Kaveri Myth. 238-9.
Dem takka, see under Village-deity's Festival-priests (kdvukaras), see u/lder
temple. Village-deity's festival.
Dharma, see under Hindu theology. Feuds (kUrjllpi, maraciale), 8, 56, 68-9,
Dining dish (tali), 74, 80, 90, 151, 204; between Ballatna<;\ and Ben-
202. guna<;l, 178; and caste, 43-4, 203,
Dish-lamp, see under Lamp. and play of Kungu, 204.
Disputes settled at vil!age-deity's festi- - kaNa parje (surprise raid), 50, 56,
val,207-8. 228.
Divorce, 135-40, 144, 174; grounds of, - kuejupi, 50, 68.
126, 138; jural consequences of, - maradale 8, 50, 56, 60, 68,
129-31, 134; status of divorcee, 88. Films Division, Ministry of Informa-
Dikshe uttul'a, see under Mourning. tion,xiv.
Domestic deities, 136, 167-70. Firishta, 12.
- cobra-deity (Nata), 161, 167-9, First-grade mourners, see lInder
209, 215, 219, 225; platforms for, Mourners.
50,77-8,103. First of Aries, New Year's Day, see
- Gulika (or Mandi), 40, 50, 78 n., Ritual calendar.
170; unhewn stones symbolizes, Flora, 5.
161; Mrityu Gu!ika, 170. Folksongs, 46, 59, 66, 82, 182-3,
- Puda, 50, 78 n., 161, 195, 209. 202-3, 205, 208, 211-2, 231,
Domestic granary, 233. 234; atmJ,;phere of, 68; funeral
Domestic lamps, see under Lamps. song, 153, 223, 228; house song
Domestic well, 45, 50, 92, 93, 143, 230. (mane pat), 159, 164, 206; Kundat
Dowson, J., 221 n., 243 n. Bhadraka!i song, 190, 192, 194, 197;
Dravidian languages, 8, 32, 89, 102, at mangala, 73; women sang in
146. public formerly, 46; see also Desha
kerr pdr.
Eclipse, see under Hindu mythology. Fortes, Prof. M., xiii.
17
 INDEX
258
Harvest festival (contd.):
Founder of the okka, see under An- _ sheaf-cutter respected 49.
cestors. _ solidarity between va~ious castes at,
Fraser, Col., 21 n. 44,56,61.
Funeral, 7, 60-1, 97, 125, 175, _ tappa(iaka, rite of, 202-3.
201; and duties of the aruva oHa, _ ye!akki plitt (seven-rice pudding),
56; and services of various castes, 41.
_ burial-ground, 49, 78, 90, 94, 102, rite of, 232.
Havik Brahmins, see under Castes.
115, 119, 121, 141, 153; funeral Hindu Classical Dictionary, 221 n., 243
pyre, 90, 118-9, 130, 173; grave,
94, 114, 118-9; see also Corpse, n.
Hinduism, ix, x, xi, 31,75, 106n.,
Death, and Mourning. 184, 213-28; see also Hindu law
Hindu mythology, Hindu philo:
Gal}esha(deity),l77. sophy, Hindu theology, Sanskritic
Gangas of TalkaQ, 9-10. Hinduism, and Spread.
Ganges (Ganga), 84, 91, 143, 215; Hindu law, 52, 154-5.
triVe(li-sa/Tgama (union of three Hindu mythology, 169, 214, 216, 221-
rivers, Ganges, Jumna, and the 5, 233-4, 240-41; eclipse in, 240;
mythical Saraswati at prayaga or Hiral)yaksha,247 n.; Milk Sea, 182
Allahabad), 216,245. n.,234.
_ Kaveri regarded as dakshina gallga _ Epics (Mahabharata and Rama-
(southern Ganges), 84, 216. yaDa), 214, 216-7,221-2.
_ Gangapuja, 91, 143, 216-7. _ _ Mahabharata, akshaya pei/ra,
Garati (married woman), 91, 94, 127, 233; 'Bhima's pebble', 217, 222;
143, 218, 237-8; privileges of, 73- Na\a, story of, 222-3,' Pandavas
217. . ,
4,79,82,88, \59;
_ sumangali, 159. _ _ RamaYaJ:la, LakshmaDa, 222,
Ghurye, Prof. G. S., xiii, 24. 233-4; Para~hurama, 233; Rama,
Gifts, 121; to Barber, 80. 222,233-4; Slta, 222.
_ at death: aejata/e, 150, 153; sameya, _ Puraf)as, 214, 216, 221-2, 243-7.
153; of white cloth (muri), 87, 152. _ _ Skanda PuraDa, 221, 243, 246 n.
_ exchange of, at harvest festival, 44. _ _ _ Kaveri Myth (Kaveri Ma-
_ at marriage, 150, 152. hatmya), 243-7.
_ of money, 94-96. Hindu philosophy: Bhagavad Gita
_ to Poleyas, 41. 214; Philosophical systems, 2,4:
Gluckman, Prof. M., xiii. Upanishads, 213-14; Vedanta, 166'
Gold coin, 95, 96, 147, 157; see also 213; see also Hindu theology. '
Money-gifts. Hindu theology; dharma, 25-6, 223'
Gough, Dr. Kathleen, xiv. heaven (swarga), 223, 245; hell (na:
Grave, see under Funeral. raka), 223, 237-8; karma, 25-6,
Groom, see Bridegroom. 75, 84, 13?, 159, 223, 228, 238,
Gulika, 170; see also under Domestic 244; salvatIOn (moksha), 223, sin
deities. (papa),216; spiritual merit (punya)
n6. . ,
Haider Ali, Ruler of Mysore, 12-4, Hindus, 3, 8, 24,31,75,79-81,85, 87,
17. 123,155,157-9, 167-70,208-9, 215-
Haled, former capital of Coorg, 12- 7,219,222-3,241.
13. Hindusthani, 8, 32.
Harvest festival (putri), 7,65,108,160 Holeyas, see IInder Castes.
n., 170-72, 177, 190 n., 203-4,206- Horizontal spread, see Spread.
10,230-32,238. Horoscopes, see Astrologer, Kal}iyas.
_ Brahmin's deities at, 38, 44. House song, see under Folksongs.
_ cutting the sheaves, rite of, 44, 108, Hoysala Rulers of Mysore, 10.
230-2,238. Hukum Nama, see under Lingayat
_ and dance for BaIlatnaQ men, 68. Rajas.
_ green for dances during, 63. Hunt, 7, 41, 45, 55, 61,171,203,231,
_ house-song sung at, 159. 238-40; and deity Ayyappa, 225.
-mire katruvudu, rite of, 44, 231-2, Hutton, Prof. J. H., 27 n.
238. Rypergamy, see under Caste.
_ offerings to ancestors at, 163.
 INDEX 259
Identity, principle of, see under Mourn- KappaJ)oa, the hero, see under Ndcj.
ing. KaraJ)embahu, Nayaka (chieftain),
199utappa (deity), see under ,Subra- 210.
maJ)ya. Karavanga okka, ancestors' bench in,
Imperia{ Gazetteer of IndIa, vol. xi, 10 77; have a M'a ko(a, 160; twice re-
n., II n., 12 n., 14 n.; vol. xviii, 11 move headmen, 51.
n. Karma, see IInder Hindu theology.
Inauspiciousness, see under Sacred. KarnanQra okka, see under Bbadrakiiji
Indian National Congress, local leaders of Kunda.
of, oppose blood-sacrifice, 182. KaJdwt Achchaiah and Akkavva (dei-
Indo-Aryan languages, 8, 32. ties), see under Village-deities.
Indo-Aryans, educated Coorgs regard Kii!appa, Shri K., xiii.
themselves as, 221. Kal[ and Karin Kaji (deities), see under
Inversion (or reversal), principle of, Villa;;e-deities.
see IInder Mourning. KalJYWtat kayi, 96,157.
lrpu, Brahmins, priests of the temple Kaoyaratappa (deity), see under Vil-
at, 38; Rameshwara temple at, 222, lage-deities.
226,228. Kt'ira~JQva,Kdra~lOva bhi'iralJi, Kara-
Islam, see under Muslims. ilara tare and KarafJava tere, see
halation ofCoorg, 6. under Ancestors.
Iragallus, see under Kanna<;!a. Kaveri Ashrama, 228.
Ishwara, see Shiva. Kaveri Brahmins, 34.
Kiiveri festival, 158, 170, 230, 233.
Jains, 8, 10,30,213. Kiiveri myth (or Kiiveri Pural)a or
Jamma KOQagas, see under Castes. Kaveri Miihiitmya), 33-4, 216, 21S,
Jamma tenure, see under Land tenure. 220-2, 243-7; see also Hindu
Jat; see under Caste. mythology.
Joint family, see Okka. Kiivukaras (festival-priests), see under
Jumna, 216, 245. Village-deity's festival.
Kemmi kutti mangala, see under Man-
KaQupalappa (Krishoa temple in gala.
Bengilr, 225-6. Keraja (Malabar coast), 181; created
Kail Polud, see festival of arms. by Parashurama, 233.
Kailasa, abode of Shiva and Parvati, Ketrappa (deity), see under Village-
222. deities.
Kaimada see under Ancestors. Kikkararu, see under Okka.
Kaiyandira Appayya, hero, honoured Kinship, 87, 92-4, 97, r03, 124-
by his nacj, 48,66,81,86, 101, 108, 76.
204. - affinal reLations, 97, 129, 148-50,
Kaliyaianqa okka, have a bira kola, 153-4, 156-7; between aruvo okkas,
160. 125; husband deified among Brah-
- Ponnappa or Ajjappa of, 183, 209-10 mins, 237; husband and wife, 48,
Ka!/a paqe, see under Feuds. 65, 84, 98-9, 112-3, 120, 128-9,
KallumaQa okka, 173. 133, 138-9, 142-4, 148, 150-2,
- AyyaJ)oa of, 182,211-2. 155-9,216,234.
KallulJJbara kaipa, see under Okka.
Kanake river, 3, 35, 64, 84, 122,216, - bride's brother's wife, as bojakarati
244-5. (matron of honour), 153; performs
Kaoiyas, see under Astrologer and kiirangodi muripa, SO.
Caste. - brother and sister, 148, 153; in
Kanna9a, 8, 9, 33, 35, 94, 103, 105, folklore, 105, 234-7; mourning for
107,147, 161-2, 169, 180, 217-20, each other, 112.
225-6, 233, 243. - children, 130-31, 135-6, 138 n.,
- Kannaqa country, iragallus (mel!l0- 140-41, 145-9, 154, 156-7, 159,
rial stones) in, 160 n.; Lingaya!lsm 175-6, 184; desire for, in mytho-
born in, 10; lunar calendar in, 189 n. logy, 244-7.
- KannaQa culture, 7, 17,47. -'cross-nephew', 87, 150, 151-3;
Kannada Okkaligas, see under Castes. 'cross-niece',S7,153.
Kanlli ;nanga/a, see under Mangala. - daughters, 112, 126-7, 130-31,
KanniaQa Kamayya, 140 n. 147-9,154,164.
 260 INDEX

Kinship (contd.) Ko!jagara Ku{ac!zoradi TattvNjivini,

- elementary family, 157; emerging 221.
as a strong unit, 53-5, 174; poten- Ko¢agi, 8-9, 33,35, 89, 10'2, lOS, 112,
tial fission group, 125. 128,132,241.
- father, 130-1, 135, 140-1, 175; Ko!jagu (Coorg), name of the country
in folklore. 155. of the Coorgs (Ko!java) , 246.
Kinship, father, father's sister (pater- Ko(ia kukk UJ'a (pot-breaking ritual).
nal aunt), 150. 87,92,150-51.
- - father's sister's daughter, 146-7. Kale a!janga sammanda muripa, see
- - groom's sister's husband, as bO- under Okka.
jako/'a (best man), 153. Kolla, see under Castes.
- marriage restrictions, 124, 146-7. Kombus, division of the country into,
- - cross-cousin marriage, pre- 57, shadowy nature of, 67.
ferred, 126 n., 146-50, 153. Kongalvas,10.
- -leviratic unions preferred, 48, Konkal)i, ~2.
50-51,112,124,127,129,136,139, Koru)'ukara, see under Dkka.
148,174. K6danQa house, 11i2.
- - okka, an exogamous unit, 124, K6m(i, see under Castes.
146-7. K6tera okka, 61.
- - sororatic unions, 149. Krishna as KaQupala, 225.
- mother, 130-31, 140-41 n., 143-7, Kshatriyas, see under Castes.
150,153-6,160,173-4. Ksi1etradevi and Kshetrapala, see Ke-
- - birth-pollution for, 83, 91, 107, trappa in Village-deities.
111,117,155. Ku<;liyas, see under Castes.
- - duties and rights of, at son's or Ku!jupi, see under Feuds.
daughter's wedding, 74, 94, 156. Kudure (horse), see under Bhadrakali
- - and mother's brother, 149-50. of Kunda and Offerings. .
- - mother's sisters identified with, Kuklur (village), see under Bhadrakali
146,149. of Kunda. .
- - respected highly, 100, 155, 238. Ku!iyamme mangala, see under Man-
- - ta mane (mother's home), 127, gala.
140, 141 n., 142-3, 145, 148, 153, Kullachenda Chondu, 48, 66-7, 101,
155-6. 204.
- parents, 149, 154, 157-8. Kumbaras, see under Castes.
- relation between women in okka, Kundat Bhadraka)i, see Bhadraka!i of
53-4,124,144-5,147,154. Kunda.
- - mother-in-law-daughter-in-law Kupya, see Ritual garments.
relationship, 54-5, 90, 126-7, 144- Kuri, see under Competitive sports.
5,147-8,154. Kurubas, see under Castes.
- - - solidarity rites performed by Kuru!ju pole, see under paM and Pollu-
mother-in-law towards daughter-in- tion.
law, 94,145. Kuga, 177.
- - woman and her husband's bro- Kuttatamme (deity), see ul1der Village-
thers' wives, 54,148. deities.
- - woman and her husband's sis- KUfra parije, see under Pre-and extra-
ters, 54, 148. marit<..: alliances.
- sisters, 124, 146, 150. KuttanQa aHa, see under Bhadrakaji
- sons, 45, 126, 141-2, 156, 165, 168, of Kunda.
176, 233, 244-5; importance of, 45, Kulis (ghosts), 170.
126,237,238. Kurango¢i muripa, rite of, 80.
--eldest son, 94,112,156,157 n.
length of mourning for, 82, 110- Lakshmal)a, see under Hindu mytho-
11; takes part in pot-breaking rite, logy.
Lakshmanatirtha river. 222.
87,150-51; umbilical cord of,78, 230,
Lakshmi,' Akkavva identified with,
- son-in-law, 176; see also Okka pa- 234; Kshetradevi identified with,
riji and Makkaparije. 224.
Kitchen, see under Sacred. Lamp, 114; dish-lamp (tafiyakki bo-
Kitchen-stove, 89-90. Juk), 73-4, 88, 187, 207, 231-2.
Kochchi (wages in grain), 173. . standing lamp (kuttum bo!icha), 73;
 INDEX 261
Lamps (contel.) Malabar (contd.)
- domestic lamps, 62, 88-91, 161. known in folklore as ajnana bhumi,
- - wall-lamp or central hall-lamp 233; see also Bal)l)a, Kal)iya, Ke-
(nellakki bo!uk), viii, 76, 79-80, 82, rala, Malayajam, Nambiidri, alld
88,143,202. Nayar.
Land tenure: jamma tenure, 9, 19, 23; Malabar Brahmins, see ullder Castes.
confers prestige on holder, 17; in- Malaya!am, 8, 50, 102, 105, 161, 180-
cludes ba!lI? (highland) and barike 81,183,195.
(pasturage), 16; related to martial Malavalam culture, its influence on
tradition of Coorgs, 15-6; sagu Coorgs, 7,17-18,47,87.
tenure, 17. Malayas, see under Oracles.
Languages spoken in Coorg, 8. Malia Coorgs, see lInder Coorgs.
Larger social units, cults of, Chapter Mandll (green for dancing, &c.), 62;
VI. ambala (roofed enclosure on green).
Leveratic unions, see under Marriage 63.
restrictions (Kinship). Mane mangala, see under l'vlangala.
Lienhardt, Mr. R. G., xiv. Mallepauii<arli, see under Okka.
Linga, symbol of Shiva, see IInder ~Malle par (house song), see Folksongs.
Shiva. Mangala, 46, 70-101; for Kaiyandira
Lingayatism, 10, 226; influence on Appayya, 66,101,204.
Coorgs, 34; number of lIlalhas in - baJek (plaintain) mangaia, 71.
Coorg, 18; rejects idea of inequality, --- kanni (virgin) mallgala, 71, 129,
30; see also Lingayats and Lingayat 135, 174; see also Marriage.
Rajas. - kemmi kulli (ear-boring) mangaaf,
Lingayat Rajas, 6, 12, 15, 32, 59-60, 71,81,100,204.
86 n., 142,185,220; and caste, 69; - ku!iyamme (pregnancy) mangafa,
changes introduced by, 17-8; favour 71,100.
partition of okkas, 52; influence - mane (house) mangafa, 71, 100.
of, on Coorg ritual, 162, 226; divide - paitallrjek a/apa (for mother of ten
kingdom into twelve kombus, 57; children), 71, 100,238.
ofTer land to outsiders, 16; subjugate - pole kanga (puberty) mangala, 71,
chieftains (nayakas), 60. 100.
- Doc;!<;la VIrappa (VIra Raja If), 11- - subject of, 72-4, 80-1, 86, 88,
3,57,59. 93,99-101,118.
- Linga Raja II, hukum nama of, Mantras, 167, 168, 178, 193, 197-8,
17. 223.
- Muddu Raja, 13, 57, 59. Manual of Coorg, 3 n., 37 n., 40 n.,
- VIra Raja IV, 14-5. 52 n., 68 n., 99 n., 205 n.
Local Hinduism, 214, 218. Manual of Coorg Law, 36, 52 n.
Lopamudre, see under parvati. Mapillas (Muslim traders), 16, 190.
Maradate,see under Feuds.
Macdonnell, A. A., 128 n. 11aralhi,32,180.
- and Keith, B., 224 n. Marriage, 7, 18, 71-2, 94-5, 97-
Maderappa (deity), see under Village- 100, 112, 117, 125-9, 138, 142-
deities. 50, 152-3, 158-60, 170, 187 n., 190,
Magi (ritual purity), 102-23; see also 229,233,237-8.
Ritual purity. - and astrologer, 39-40.
Mac;!ivala, see under Castes. - and best man (b6jakara), 82, 86,
Madras presidency, 1. 153.
Magicians, 183,238. - bridal pair, 38, 41,143.
Mahabharata, see under Hindu mytho- - bride, 66, 72, 77, 80, 85, 87, 92-93,
logy. 95, 98-99, 127-8, 132-5, 138, 141-3,
Mahatma Gandhi, 214. 153-4,157-8,174.
Mailige (normal ritual status), 107-10; - - bride's trollsseall, ':is, 126, 133,
see also Ritual impurity. 135,137-8.
Makkaparije, see under Okka. - bridegroom, see groom.
Malabar, 1, 6, 7, 8, 29, 39-40, 47, 49, - co-operation between castes at, 41,
103, 105, 108, 160 n., 161, 166, 60-61.
169-70, 173, 180, 182-3, 187, 190, - and endogamous restrictions, x,
210-2, 214, 218, 224, 233-6; 32-4,37.
262 INDEX

Marriage (contd.) Mother Kaveri, 35, 88,142,216,246-7.

-groom, 41,66,72,77,85,87,92- Mother's brother, see under Mother
93, 95, 118, 127-8, 132-5, 141-5, (Kinship).
154,158-9,174,205. Mother's sisters, see under Mother
- and mangala, 70, 99; see also lv/an- (Kinship).
gala. Mourners, 82, 84, 86, 87, 90, 94, 102,
- and matron of honour (bOjakarati), 104, 107, 109-15, 118-23, 151, 153.
82,86,135,153. - active mourners, 112.
Marriage and membership of an okka, - first-grade (kutik nippad) mourn-
50-51; see also Okka and Sam- ers, 112-4, 117, 120-3, 152, 156;
manda. second-grade (mellgate) mourners,
- offerings to ancestors at, 163. 112, 115, 121-2, 152; third-grade
- wearing a veil, 86 n. mourners, 112-3,122.
- widow, marriage of, 54; see also Mourning, 41, 61, 64, 73, 79, 81-2,
Widow. 84, 94, 98, 104, 111, 115, 118-23,
Marriage restrictions, see under Kin- 151,152,156,173.
ship. - dress during, 82, 87, 112-3, 152,
Married man, 96, 237. 158.
Married woman, see Garati. - mourning house (tike mane), 97,
Martial orientation of Coorg culture, 102,109-12,120,152-3.
238-41,247; see also Preferred types. - mourning rites: dikshe uttUl'a (free-
Matriliny, 233-7; see also Brother- dom from mourning), 84, 111, 115,
Sister relation under Kinship. 122-3.
Matsyadesha, 35, 246. --mtida, 84, 110-11, 113-5, 119-
Mada, see under Mourning. 23.
Madeva or Mahadeva, see under Vil- - - menguva rites, 121.
lage-deities. - - obsequies for a living person,
Maletlira okka, see under Bhadrakali of 119.
Kunda. - - pannan(i(eleventh day), 115.
Mandi, see Gu!ika. - - principles underlying: Confine-
Maraya, see under Castes. ment, 86, 92, 97, 118-20, 151;
Mari, see under Village-deities. Identity, 119-20; Inversion or Re-
Marka Brahmins, see under Castes. versal, 86,118-20,151.
Matan<;lraokka,163. - - sacrifice to crows (ka befi), 114-
Memoir of the Cocjagu Survey, Part ii, 5; sacrificial post (beli mera), 114,
52n. 119-20; shore sacrifice (kare beli).
Mercara, xiv, I, 3, 5-8, 12, 78, 86 n., 114; water-sacrifice (nir be/i), 114,
162, 171, 182, 202 n., 203-4, 228; Mrityu Gujika, see Gujika.
capital moved to, 13; Coorgs north Muluirta, 72.
and south of, 33, 36; Muslim garri- Mukkati, see under Village-deity's
son at, 14; population of, 8. temple.
Medas, see under Castes. Muri, see under Gifts.
Menguva, see under Mourning. Muslims, 8, 31; Hindu-Muslim rela-
Milk in ritual, 96, 113-4, 144-5, 231- tions, x, 223, 243, 246; Islam, 213
2; mother's milk over infant's grave, Murta, 70, 72-4, 79-88, 91-5, 100-
155; at milrta,74, 80, 92-95. 101, 128-9, 142-3, 158; 'double
Milk-exuding tree, 72, 80, 94,161. murta, 158; see also Mangala and
Milk Sea, see under Hindu mythology. Marriage.
Mlechchas, 243, 246. Mysore, 1, 3, 5-7,9-11, 13-5, 19-20,
Moegling, H., xiii, 37-40, 52, 65, 162. 35,89,147,181,217,222.
Moksha (salvation), see under Hindu Mysore and Coorg, vol. iii, SO n, 52 n.
theology.
Money-gifts, see under Gifts. Nail and hair parings, see under Ritual
Monier-Williams, M., 33 n., 72 n., impurity.
159n. Nambudris, see IInder Castes.
MOJ)J)andra okka, see under Bhadra- Naming ceremony, see under Child.
kali of Kunda. Namme (festival), 102, 107, 110;
Mother, see under Kinship. namme day at the Ketrappa festival,
Mother-in-Iaw-Daughter-in-Iaw rela- 178; namme day at the Kundat
tion, see under Kinship. Bhadraka!i festival, 189,193-7.
 1NDEX 263
Nandi Bull, see under Shiva. Okka (eollld.)
Nandiyanqa okka, see under Bhadra- 124-76, 186-7, 208-9, 211, 216,
Hji of Kunda. 229-33,240.
Nanjanaguq, Shrikanteshwara temple - and aruva (family friend) okka, 56,
at,6. 172.
Nanjunqa Arasu of Piriyapatna, 162. - and birth-pollution, 91.
Naraka (hell), see ullder Hindu theo- - cleavages within, 54-55.
logy. Okka, continuance oi, 125, 139,
Nari piida (tiger spirit), see under 141-2,164,176.
Ancestors. - - adoption, 130, 136, 142, 176.
NM, 44, 48, 57-60, 63, 165, 171- - - makka parije, 45, 127, 130-31,
2, 177, 184, 200-209, 218, 229, 139,141-2,164 n., 176.
23 J, 234, 239-40. - - okka parije, 45, 127, 130, 136,
- assembly, 45,59; appeal from, 59, 139,141-2,164,176.
208. - and illegitimate children, 54, 124,
- and festival of village-deities, 180. see also Pre-and extra-marital rela-
- green, 101,240. tions, and Membership of an okka.
- headmen (mi4 takkas), 57, 59-60. - and individual responsibility,S 5.
- and KappaDDa, the hero, 68, - and kikkararu (juniors), 51.
204-5. - and koruvukara, 51, 125, 163, 165,
- number of villages in a, 57, 59. 205,239.
N(j(js, 12, 21, 57-60, 65-9, 124-5, - and manepa!likarti (mistress of the
132,201,203-4,208-11. okka), 54, 127, 138,205.
- change of boundaries of, 13. -membership of, 93, 99,124, 126-
-earliestreferenceto, 10. 44.
- traditional number of, 13 n., 35; - - sammal1da rights, 127-42, 147-
reduction of the number of, 57, 59. 8; kole arjanga sammanda muripa,
NarayaDa (deity), 223, 228. 175; table of sammanda rights,
Nata (cobra-deity), see under Domestic 129, 174-6.
deities. - - twelve pebbles (pal1naran,{ach-
Nayakas, 12 n., 35, 60,204; Karal}em- ehi pOll), 53, 127, 133-7, 174-6;
bahu, 210; UUu Nayaka, 13. kallumbara kaipa (giving up the
Nayakas of Be\!nur (or Ikkeri), 12-13, pebbles), 135-8, 174-6.
36. - and property, 18; ancestral estate
Nayars, see under Castes. impartible, 124, 148; changes in
Neravanqa, see under Village-deity's traditional law, 52-4, 129; indi-
temple. vidual property, 52, 127, 129.
Nere ka((uvudu, see lIflder Harvest - and servant families, 19, 20-3,
festival. 41-2,172-3; see also Poleyas.
New Year's Day, see under Ritual Okkas, duties of, at Kundat Bhadra-
calendar. ka1i festival, 190; rivalry between,
Non-Brahmins, see under Castes. 66.
Normal ritual status, see lInder Ritual Omkareshwara temple, 185,228.
status. Oracles (bo!ichapiirj or tiruva!k iira),
40,108 n., 184, 187.
- - at an ancestor-propitiation, 42-
Odd numbers, 71,73-74,80,82 n, 85, 43, 159-60, 163-7.
94,118-19,143,151,232. - Brahmin oracle, 226.
Offerings (parakes), 34, 38, 40, 51, 76- - of Kaliyatanqa Ponnappa, 210.
77, 84, 93-96, 109, 110, 114-5, - at Ketrappa's festival, 178-9.
120-4, 163-4, 166-7, 170, 173, - at Kundat Bhadrakali's festival
179; to Village-deities, ix, 40, 181- 190-91,193,195-6,198-200.
2, 185-6, 191, 194,196-200, 211-2, - Maleyas as oracles, 178-9; see also
224-8, 236-7, 239; see also under Bal)J)as and Pal)ikas.
Ancestors and Mourning rites. - women oracles, 46.
- ii! riipa (man form), 123, 194.
- move for the abolition of animal Paitan4ek a(apa, see under Mangala.
sacrifice, 194 n. Panchanga, see under Ritual calendar.
Okka (joint family), viii-xi, 59, 88-90, PaDikas, see under Castes.
95,97-8, 103-4, 107, 111-2, 115, Pannand, see under Mourning.
264 INDEX

Pannangala (village), 235; Pannanga- Pollution (contd.)

latamme, 183, 236-7. ~ death-pollution, 102-4, 106-8, 110-
Pannaran(iachchi pall, see under Okka. 11,117,201.
Parashurama, sec ullder Hindu mytho- - menstrual pollution, 76, 102-4;
logy. women may not approach cobra-
Parents, see under Kinship. platform during their periods, 78,
Parsis,8. 167-8; such women have to leave
Patel, 59. Bengur during Ketrappa's festival,
Paternal aunt, see ul/der Kinship. 115-1i,201.
PatFi (ritual fast), see under Rice, Pollution and occupations, 28.
Ritual fast, and Village-deity's festi- - the waiving of, in certain cases, 67.
val. ~ wrongdoer treated as polluted per-
Pa!pma9a Okka, 160-61, 163, 191 n.; son. 64.
Ponnappa, P. M., xiii, 68. Population of Coorg, 8.
Parris (appellate courts), 13,59. Prasada, 163, 192 n.
Par{o/e Pa!lIl11e, 14 n., 34 n., 35 n., 173 Prayer, 228, 244-7; to ancestors, 115;
n., 202 n. purificatory rites before, 83, 104,
PaNt! KZlt Pcila!a (deities), see under 110.
Village-deities. Precedence, sense of, 206-7.
Paleyas, see under Castes. Pre-and extra-marital alliances, 46,
Palurappa (deity), see under Village- 65,130,138,140-41,175.
deities andVishJ;u, - bendu paniC and ku{{a parzjC, 130,
Papa (sin), sec under Hindu tbeology. 140,141,175.
Parvati, ix, 184, 209, 218, 222, 228, ~ children of, 54, 124, 130, 139-41,
243, 245-7; Lopamudre, a mani- 175.
festation of, 244, 246 n. Preferred types among Coorg<;, 238.
Peepul tree, 169. Pulayans, sec under Castes.
Peninsular Hinduism,see under Spread. PUF),a (spiritual merit), see under
Pella Pole, see under Pote. Hindu theology.
Pilg,irnages,3, 64, 84, 122-3, 168-9, PuraDas, see under Hindu mythology.
214, 245; see also Hinduism, Sans- Putri, see Harvest festival.
kritic Hinduism. Puda, see under Domestic deities.
Pilleja, sec IInder Ancestors.
Plaintain honour (bale birudu), 66, 150, Radcliffe-Brown, Prof. A. R., xi, xiii 72.
154,205,240. Rainfall, 3, 5.
Play of Kungu, see ullder Feuds. Rakteshwari (deity), see under Village-
PO{eVaejll (fine), 63, 126, 171. deities.
Po!dpoUution), 102-3. Rajas of the Ikkeri dynasty, 36; see
~ kllruejll pole (blind pollution), same also Bec,iniir.
as tinga po/e(monthly pollution), 102. Rajputs, sec under Kshatriyas.
- petla (or PllI'UejU) pole (birth-pollu- Rama, see under Hindu mythology.
tion), 102-3, 106-7, 111, 117, 155, RamakrishDa Mission, 214, 228.
201. RamayaDa, sec under Hindu mytho-
- ringa pole (menstrual pollution), logy.
102. Reciprocity, principle of, 148, 152.
- (fnt/a pole (distance pollution), 103, Red colour, ritual superiority of, 87,
109; see also Pollution. 153.
Poh! kaneja l1Iangaia, see under Man- Reformist movements in Hinduism,
gala. 214,219.
Po16yas, see under Castes. Regional Hinduism, sec under Spread.
Poliyabox, 187. Relation between women in okka, see
Pollution, x-xi, 76, 79, 82-3, 102- under Kinship.
23,201. Religion and Folklore ill Northern Illdia,
- birth-pollution, 85,91,155. vol. ii, 224 n.
- and burial-ground (keka!a or turan- Report of the Indiall Law Commissioll
ga/a),78. (volume containing appendixes), 21
- the concept of, 26. n.
- by contact, 27, 41, 79, 102-3; see Respect for elders, 47-9, 51, 55, 67,
also Ti;uJu pole (distance pollution), 97, 104, 111-2, 142, 144, 146-
under PolC. 7,236.
 INDEX 265
Reversal (or inversion), principle of, Ritual garments (confd.)
.see under Mourning. -turban,85,87,172.
Rice, 12, 229-33, 235, 238. - waist-cloth (munrju) and shoulder-
- and fast diet, 117. cloth (11i/1(;lu), 87, 113, 123, 152,
- ritual marks the cultivation of 79
229-30. ' , 164.
- staple crop, the, 19,229. Ritual idiom, tbe concept of, viii, and
Rice, surplus sold in Malabar, 6, 182-3, Cl1apterstll. and IV.
229. Ritual impurity, 26-28, 41-2, 49, 64-
- used in ritual, 114-5. 5, 76, 82-85, 91, 102-23, 167-9,
--cooked rice, 90, 93,122,144-5, 193 n.
165,232. - bodily emissions and wasle matter,
- - raw rice, 91-2, 119, J5J, 153, 104-7.
229-31. - e/iji,105.
Rice, Lewis. 14 n.; on the fighting - nail and hair parings, 106.
- SeX intercourse, 104.
tactics of Coorgs, 15; on imparti-
bility of aHa's property, 52 n.; - spittle (!!lpnir), 105; see also Pole
size of an okka, 50. and Pollution.
RIchter, G., xiii, 14, 17, 18, 40 n., Ritual purification, 41, 106, 168, 226.
99,205,243-6. -- and cow-dung solution, 88,163,170,
- on Bo44u, Malla, and Sanna 231.
Coorgs,35-6. -. - of grave, 115.
- on break-up of great houses, 18-9. _- of house, 38, 75-6, 79, 88, 197-8.
- describes Coorg, 3. - of persons, 26, 64, 82-4, 100, 235.
- onfeuds, 68. ---- and water ofKiiveri, 216.
- on impartibility of okka's property, Ritual Purity, 26, 76, 78, 82-5, 97,
52. 102-23,193 n., 201.
- onjamma tenure, 16,23 n. Ritual respect. 229, 237.
- on strangers being received into the Ritual restrictions (taboos), 117, 118
Coorg fold, 37. n., 120; tappacjaka (enumeration of
Ritual bath, 91, 104, 107, 110, 113, restrictions), 116, 189-90, 201-3.
116,122-3,155,164,170,179,215- - food restrictions, x, 112-4, 117,
6,2.35. 118n.,121.
- for subject of mangala, 73, 79,81- --fast (patJ)i) day, 110, 112, 117-
5,100. 8,163,189-90,193,199-200.
Ritual calendar (pal/changa), 75; lunar Ritual sanctions, 131,136.
New Year's Day (Ugadi), 226; solar Ritual shave, 73, 79-82, 94, 100, 112,
New Year's Day (First of Aries), 122.
230,233. Ritual status: normal ritual status 84
Ritual circumambulation, 73, 118, 85,91,107-9,226,237. "
151. Ritual value, 79, 87; synonymous with
Ritual concern, 82, 103, 117, 155, 201. 'Sacred', 75; see also Sacred.
Ritual fast (parlJi), see under Rice,
Ritual restrictions, alld Village- Sacred, 75-7, 78,102,118,170, 238.
deity's festival. - places and objects, 68,104.
Ritual garments, 82-3, 87-8, 91, 100, -- - aimaras (sacred benches), 77,
104,105,106,110,112,114, 122-3, 143; ktira(lavamja aimara(ancestors'
152,J55,179,231,235. bench), 77.
- for subject of mangala, 73, 79-81, - - ancestral estate, 7, 45, 49-50,
85-88. 78,104,125,165,229.
-- kupya (Coorg gown), 49, 79-80, --rice-field, 78, 93, 143, 165,
85-87,113,118,152. 229-30,232.
- redsilk, 85, 87, 152-3. - - ancestral house (ain mane), 49-
-scarf,87. 50,75, 79, 125, 132, 136, 143, 156.
266 INDEX

Sacred (contd.) Sanskritization, ix, 30-1, 38-9, 183,

162 n., 164, 170, 190 n., 229. 209, 211, 213-5, 222, 226-8, 234,
- - central hall (nellakki naqubaf/e'), 235-7,243.
73,76,83, 85, 87, 120, 137, 143, - and Amma Coorgs, 34-5.
158,239. - of Coorg customs, 154-5; of Coorg
- - kitchen, 76-77, 83, 85,133,143- rites, 85,159,166-7.
4,154,158. - and pantheism, 221; see also Hindu-
- - south-western piilar (kanlli kam- ism, Sanskritic Hinduism, and
ba), 76, 80, 120, 143 n.; south- Spread.
western room (kanni kombare Sanyasis, 190,228,241.
k6I,li), 75-6, 80,83,143 n., 232, 239. Saraswati, river, 216, 245.
- - kineji (spouted vessel), 74, 150- Saturn, 170, 223.
1. Savitar, see Sun-god.
- - nlllkkali (tripod stool), 73, 80, Sagu tenure, see under Land tenure.
88,231. Sakshi pal,la (witness-money), sec Wit-
- auspiciousness, 73-4, 88, 92, 102, ness-money.
158,238; auspicious periods oftime, Sartavu (deity), see Ayyappa under
39-40, 44, 72-5, 119, 187, 229, Village-deities.
231-2, 239; see also Astrology, Scarf, see under Ritual garments.
KaI).iya, }v[aeji, Ritual purity, and Sceptics among Coorgs, 166.
Sacred. School of Economics and Sociology,
- bad-sacred, 75, 78-9, 94, 102,107- Bombay,xiii.
8,120. Second-grade mourners, see under
- good-sacred, 75, 94, 102, 108. Mourners.
_ inauspiciousness, 75, 89, 92, 102, Seringapa!am (in Mysore), 11,14.
118-9, 159; see also Pole, Pollu- Sex intercourse, see under Ritual im-
tion, Ritual impurity, Ritual status, purity.
and Sacred. Shasta, see Ayyappa under Village-
- some points of the compass, 79, deities.
232; 5ee also Ancestor-platform, Shiva (or Ishwara), ix. 10, 18, 83 n.,
Ancestor-shrine, Bad-sacred,Buria1- 88,162,169,177,184,209,210,219,
ground, Domestic deities, Good- 222, 225, 228, 234, 240, 244, 245-6.
sacred, Lamps, Rltual impurity, - - Linga, symbol of, 177, 222.
Ritual purity, Ritual status, and -- Nandi Bull of, 162,226.
Ritual value. - Shaivism, 185 11.
Sacrifice, see under Mourning and - Shivaratri, 216,222,226.
Offerings. - Skanda (or SubramaI).ya), son of,
Sacrificial post, see under Mourning. 225.
Shiva!!i Brahmins, see IInder Castes.
Salutation, see IInder Solidarity
Shots fired: during eclipse, 241.
rites.
- during festivals: of arms, 238-9;
Sambhanda,128. harvest festival, 232.
Sanu!ya, see under Gifts. - - of village-deities, 116, 201.
Sammanda, see under Okka. - during funeral, 61, 114, 152.
SaI).I).a Coorgs, see under Coorgs. Shraddha, see IInder Ancestors.
SaI).l)a Pu1ikotu, 179. Silk, ritual superiority of, sec under
Sanskritic Hinduism, 34, 75, 79, 84, Ritual garments.
89-91,96, 106 n., 166-9, 178, 184- Sister and brother, see IInder Kinship.
6, 208-9, 213-28, 237-8, 240-41, Sisters, see under Kinship.
244 n., 247; and husband and Shiidras, see under Castes.
wife bond, 157-9; and prasada, 163; Simi! or Desha, 59, 177, 205; Sime or
see also Hinduism, Sanskritization, Desha Takkas, see under Takkas.
andSpread. Sita, see under Hindu mythology.
 INDEX 267
Skanda, see under Shiva and Subra- Subramanya (conld.)
mal).ya. - and Iggutappa, 81, 236.
Skanda Pural).a, see under Hindu - temple for: in PaQi, 182, 208, 231;
mythology. in South Canara, 6, 169,217; see
Slavery, 14 n., 19-23, 126,229. also Shiva.
Slaves on Rajas' farms (palJyas), 20,22 Sujyoti, river, 216.
Social stressing of sex-difference, 45- SlImal1gali, See under Garali.
46,55,104, 1l3, 120,125,144,160 n. Sun-god (Chiiriya or Savitar or Siirya),
Solidarity rites, 145; at milrta, 74, 91- 74,79, 91.
97,99-100,128; at harvest festival, Swarga (Heaven), see under Hindu
232. theology.
- giving a money-gift, 74, 92, 94-6, Symbol of a woman's married state,
142-3,155. 159,218,237-8; (ali, the marriage
- salutation, 47-9, 67, 70, 74, 88, badge, 218, 238.
91-2,97,112-5.
-- sprinkling of rice, 74, 91. Taboo,72 n.
Son-in-law, see under Kinship. Tachchayiri, see under Castes.
Sons, see IInder Kinship. Takkas (headmen), 13, 57,59-60,198,
Sororatic unions, see under Marriage 206-8; against partition of okka's
restrictions (Kinship). property, 52; office hereditary, 125.
South Canara, 161n., 169, 182-3, 212 -nalj-fakka, 57, 59-60, 63, 191.
n., 214,218,234; see also Tulu. - sime or desha takka, 59-60, 67.
South-western pillar and room, see - ill' (village) fakka, 57, 59, 62-3,
under Sacred. 186-202.
Spirits of dead persons, 78, 114-5, Tala Kaveri (Source of the Kaveri), 1,
121-3, 160 n., 160, 163; bachelor's 3,10,14,38,64,84,122-3,158,182,
ghost, 157; Kii!is, 170; see also 209,216-7,222,226,228.
Bhiita and Mourning. Tamil, 8, 105, Ill, 169, 180-81,
Spittle (tllpnir), see under Ritual im- 217-8,233; and Agastya, 244; solar
purity. calendar in Tamil country, 189.
Spread, 214-9, 226, 247; horizontal, Tamme (mourning), 102.
215,219; vertical, 215, 219. Tantri Brahmins, see under Castes.
- all-India Hinduism, 214-19, 222-4, Tappaljaka, see under Ritual restric-
247. tions and Village-deity's festival.
-local Hinduism, 214, 218. Tagan<;ia house, ] 87.
- peninsular Hinduism, 214, 217, Tattan, see limier Castes.
218-19. Ta mane, see under Mother (Kinship).
- regional Hinduism, 214, 218-9; Tatan<;ira Karyappa, see under Bhadra-
see also Hinduism, Sanskritic Hin- kali of Kunda and Oracles.
duism, and Sanskritization. Tatan<;ira okka, see under BhadrakaJi
Sprinkling of rice, see IInder Solidarity of Kunda.
rites. Te!i IllY, 90.
Srinivas, Dr. M. N., vii·xi, 145 n. Telugu, 102, 107, 180-81, 217, 219,
Srinivasa Iyengar, 243. 225; lunar calendar in Telugu
Sri Vaishl)ava Brahmins, see under country, 189 n.
Castes. Tenge pore, see under Competitive
Standing lamp, see limier Lamp. sports.
Terangai and Terango!li, 118.
Story of seven deities, 105, 234-7. Ten}, at ancestor-propitiation, 160-1,
Stridhana, 154-5. 164.
Stri malayala ('Women's Malabar'). - at Ketrappa festival, 178.
233. - at Kundat Bhadrakali festival, 195.
Subramal)ya (or Skanda), 169, 215, Third-grade mourners, see IInder
219,225. Mourners.
268 INDEX

Tinga pate, see under Pate and Pollu- Vibhuti (sacred ashes), 83, 226.
tion. Vijayanagar Kingdom, 11-12.
Tippu Sultan, 13-5, 17, 50-2, 108. Village (Or), viii-xi, 7-8, 17, 57, 59-
Tirchembarappa (deity), see under 64, 66, 68, 93, 111, 125, 165,
Village-deities. 178, 184, 198, 200-204, 2e8-9,
Tirne!li Pemmayya (deity), see under 211,218, 229, 231, 234, 239, 240.
Village-deities. - assembly, 45, 57, 59-60, 62-64,
Tirumala Char, Shri. H., xiv. 202.
TirlH'a{kara, see Oracles. -and caste, 29, 31,32, 43-4, 61-2,
Tike mane, see under Mourning. 64.
TlIII;lu pole, see under Pule and Pollu- - co-operation between villages, 180,
tion. 187.
Tit, 102. - green, 101,240.
TriveJ;li sangamQ at Prayaga, 216. - and akka, 170, 172.
Tulu, 7-8,168,183, 217, 219, 225; - ritual purity of, 115-9.
solar calendar prevails in Tulu - stressing of the unity of, 97-9.
area, 189. -- iirorme (village harmony), 98,
Tulu Brahmins, see uilder Castes. 203.
Tulu Gau<;las, see under Castes. - nru patti (village dinner), 98.
Tumbemaledeva (deity), see ullder Village-deities, x-xi, 161 n., 166,
Village-dei ties. 170, 177-213, 218, 226-8, 234-7:
Turban, see under Ritual garments. Appanagiriyappa, 208.
Tug namme (torch festival), see under Ayyanar, 181.
Bhadrakali of Kunda. Ayyappa (Sartavu or Shasta), 177-
Twelve pebbles, see under Okka. 8,182,209,210,224-5,240; Makki
Twice-born castes, sec wIder Caste. Sal'tavu, 182, 184,210.
-- Hariharaputra, 224.
Ugadi, lunar New Year's Day, see Ballatna<;l Povvedi (Bhagavati), 6B,
Ritual calendar. 178,183,237.
U gras, see under Castes. Bendruk6lappa, 234.
University of Bombay, xiii. Bengur Povvedi (Bhagavati), 68,
University of Oxford, xiii. 178,204,237.
Untouchables, see under Castes. Bhadrakali, 39, 177, 184.
Upanishads, see under Hindu philo- Bhadrakiili ofKaravalebac,lga,171-2.
sophy. Bhagavati (Povvedi), 39, 178, 182,
Or (vi!lage), Ororme, and Orupatti, 184-5,209,226,228,234.
see under Village. Biredevaru, 181.
Byturappa, 109.
Vaishyas, see under Castes. Chamundi or Chaunc,li, 178, 182,
Vanza, see under Caste. 184,209.
Vedas, 24-5, 33, 91. Choli Povvedi (Bhagavati), 67, 204.
Vedic deities, 224; indra, 245; Mitra Ellama, 181.
and VaruJ:la, 244 n.; see also Kshe- Iggutappa, 236.
trapala. Kakk6t Achchayya, 108 n., 211,234;
Vedic Jndex, 224 n. Kakk6\ Akkavva, 211, 234.
Vedic Mythology, 224 n. Ka!i, 181-2, 209.
Vedic rites, 30, 221, 226, 246, 247. KarIn Kali (Black Ka!l) , 184; see
Vegetarianism, see under Caste, and also KuHatamme.
Offerings. Kanyaratappa, 234.
Veil, see under Marriage. Ketrappa or Kshetrapala, 41, 104,
Venka!achala, temple of, 217. 161, 182, 185, 209, 215, 224-6;
Vertical spread, sce under Spread. festival of, 62, 115-6, 178-9,
Vedanta, see under Hindu philosophy. 182,187,211-2,237.
 INDEX 269
Village-deities (colltd.) with, 236; Varalziivatiira (boar-in-
Kocjli Povvedi (Bhagavati), 211 . see carnation) of, 247.
also Ketrappa. ' - VaishIJavism, 185 n.
Kshetradevi, 211; see also Ketrappa vtrarajpet, 8, 162, 187.
Kuttatamme, 184-5; in Kundat Vratas, 214.
BhadrakaJi temple, 177.
Maderappa, 184.
Waist-cloth and shoulder-cloth see
Madeva (Mahadeva), 178, 184,209, IIllder Ritual garments. '
228,2l4.
Wall-lamp, see under Domestic lamps
Mari, 161 n., 181-2, 205 227 (Lamps).
236. ' ,
Western influence: on dress, 80-81.
Pannangalatamme, 183, 236-7. - and elementary family, 55.
Pattu Kilt PiitaJa, 177, 182, 210. - and headman's authority, 207-8.
Palilrappa, 183; identified with - on length of mourning-period, 122.
VishIJu, 184, 236; see also under - on religion, 166.
VishIJu. - and Sanskritic Hinduism, 219.
Rakteshwari tidentified with Cha- -and women, 47, 144n., 167.
muneji), 178.
Widow (and surviving spouse), 88-9,
Tirchembarappa, 234. 110-5, 118, 128-9, 131, 135-41,
Tirnelli Pemmayya, 236; see also 137-8, 142 n., 144, 150-51 158
under VishIJu. 175. ' ,
Tumbemaledeva, 183.
- children of, 129.
Village-deity's temple, 180-81, 184-5. _- excluded from auspicious ritual,
- co-operation between sev(.'ral tem- 73-4.
ples, 178.
- and leviratic unions 48 "0
_ and feuds, 204. - marriage of, 53-4,100. ' ~ .
_ organization of, 185-6.
- - banned in Sanskritic Hinduism
- - cheng6la, 186. 159. '
- - devatakka (temple headman), - - status of remarried widow 158
186,198,202,206-7. - rights of. 53. ' .
- - J/lukkati, 186. Widower (~nd surviving spouse), 82,
- - neramncJa, 186. 110-5, 118, 149-51; marriage of
- several deities in one, 177. 100. '
Village-deity's festival, 7, 55, 63, 115-
Witness-money (stikshi pa~la), 95, 135.
8, 170-72, 177-212, 229, 233. 138,141. . .
- band necessary at, 97. Woejeyars of Mysore, 11.
- and BalJIJas, 40. Women, 103-4, 127, 141, 143, 157·
- disputes settled during , 207-8. 9,160n.
- and festival-priests (kclvuktiras) 42. - and Kaveri river, 218, 246-7.
104:116,186-7,201; at Ketr;pp~ - l7langa/as exclusively for, 71.
festIVal, 179; at Kundat Bhadrakali -position of, 45-7, 91, 93.
festival, 191, 196. .
- and rights in the okka, 53-4, 126·
- and Poleyas, 61.
7.
- and ritual restrictions, 63.
- unattached women, 139.
- - tappaqaka at Balmavti Povvedi's
- and veranda, 77.
festival,68-9. .
Wyna<,i Chettis, see IInder Castes.
- and women, 45.
VishIJu, :210. 221, 224, 233,245,247'
Achchaiah identified with, 234; as: Yama,79.
sumes form of Mohini, 210, 224, Yerava, 8, 22.
240: Piiliirappa identified with 184 Yelakki Put!, see under Harvest festi-
236; Tirnelli Pemmayya ide~tified val.