(1) Trikkatta or Jyeshta star.--In the month of Chingam. Food is
cooked, and eaten before sunrise by all the married male members,
as well as by every female member of a family. Though not of the
previous day, the food goes by the name of Trikkatta pazhayatu,
or the old food of the Trikkatta day. The import of this festival,
when the specific ordinance of Sankara against food cooked before
sunrise is contravened, is not known.
(2) Makam or Magha star.--In the month of Kanni. On this day, the
cows of the house are decorated with sandal paste and flowers,
and given various kinds of sweetmeats. The ladies of the house
take ten or twelve grains of paddy (rice), anoint them with oil,
and, after bathing in turmeric-water, consecrate the grains by the
recitation of certain hymns, and deposit them in the ara or safe
room of the house. If there are in the house any female members
born under the Makam star, the duty of performing the ceremony
devolves on them in particular. This is really a harvest festival,
and has the securing of food-grains in abundance (dhanyasamriddhi)
for its temporal object.
(3) All the days in the month of Thulam.--In this month, young
unmarried girls bathe every day before 4 A.M., and worship
Ganapathi (Vignesvara), the elephant god.
(4) Gauri puja.--In the month of Vrischigam. This is done on
any selected Monday in the month. The ceremony is known as
ammiyum vilakkaum toduka, or touching the grinding-stone and
lamp. The married women of the house clean the grinder and the
grinding-stone, and place a bronze mirror by its side. They then
proceed to worship Gauri, whose relation to Siva represents to
the Hindu the ideal sweetness of wedded life.
(5) Tiruvatira or Ardra star.--In the month of Dhanu. This is a
day of universal festivity and rejoicing. For seven days previous
to it, all the members of the house bathe in the early morning,
and worship Siva. This bathing is generally called tutichchukuli
or shivering bath, as the mornings are usually cold and intensely
dewy. On the day previous to Tiruvatira, ettangnati, or eight
articles of food purchased in the bazar, are partaken of. Such a
repast is never indulged in on any other day. The Tiruvatira day is
spent in the adoration of Siva, and the votaries take only a single
meal (orikkal). Night vigils are kept both by the wife and husband
seated before a lighted fire, which represents the sakshi (witness)
of Karmas and contracts. (Hence the common term agnisakshi.) They
then chew a bundle of betel leaves, not less than a hundred in
number. This is called kettuvettila tinnuka. As the chewing of
betel is taboo except in the married state, this function is
believed to attest and seal their irrefragable mutual fidelity.
(6) The new moon day in the month of Karkatakam.--On the evening
of this day, various kinds of sweetmeats are cooked, and, before
the family partakes of them, a portion of each is placed in the
upper storey as an offering to rats, by which their divine master,
Ganapathi, is believed to be propitiated.
The Nambutiri's business, which he has in hand, will be concluded
to his satisfaction, should he on starting hear or see vocal or
instrumental music, a harlot, a dancing-girl, a virgin, a litter,
an elephant, a horse, a bull or cow tethered, curds, raw rice of a
reddish colour, sugar-cane, a water-pot, flowers, fruits, honey, or two
Brahmans. Bad omens, which, if seen by a householder the first thing
in the morning, mean trouble of some kind for the rest of the day,
are a crow seen on the left hand, a kite on the right, a snake, a cat,
a jackal, a hare, an empty vessel, a smoky fire, a bundle of sticks,
a widow, a man with one eye, or a man with a big nose. A Nambutiri,
seeing any of these things, when setting out on a journey, will turn
back. Should he, however, at once see a lizard on the eastern wall of
a house, he may proceed. To sneeze once is a good omen for the day; to
sneeze twice is a bad one. An evil spirit may enter the mouth while one
is yawning, so, to avert such a catastrophe, the fingers are snapped,
and kept snapping until the yawn is over, or the hand is held in front
of the mouth. But this idea, and the custom of snapping the fingers,
are by no means peculiar to the Nambutiris.
The Nambutiris look on a voyage across the sea with horror, and no
Nambutiri has ever yet visited England.
A Nayar should not come nearer than six paces to a Nambutiri, a man of
the barber caste nearer than twelve paces, a Tiyan than thirty-six,
a Malayan than sixty-four, and a Pulaiyan than ninety-six. Malabar
is, indeed, the most conservative part of Southern India. The man
of high caste shouts occasionally as he goes along, so that the low
caste man may go off the road, and allow him to pass unpolluted. And
those of the lowest castes shout as they go, to give notice of their
pollution-bearing presence, and, learning the command of the man of
high caste, move away from the road. It is common to see people of
the inferior castes travelling parallel to the road, but not daring
to go along it. They do not want to. It is not because they are
forced off the road. Custom clings to them as to the Nayar or to the
Nambutiri. But even this is undergoing modification.
In connection with marriage, three chief rules are observed. The
contracting parties must not be of the same gotra; they must not be
related to each other through father or mother; and the bridegroom
must be the eldest son of the family. It is said that there are seven
original gotras, called after the sages Kamsha, Kasyapa, Bharadvaja,
Vatsya, Kaundinya, Atri, and Tatri; and that other gotras have
grown out of these. Relationship is said by some to cease after
the fourth generation, but this is disputed. The bride's dowry is
always heavy. The wife joins her husband's gotra, forsaking her own
altogether. Women may remain unmarried without prejudice. Needless to
say, this has the reverse of favour with Brahmans outside Malabar. But
the Nambutiri girl or woman, who has not been married, is not allowed
to disappear altogether from the world without at least the semblance
of marriage, for, at her death, some part of the marriage ceremony is
performed on her person. The tali is tied. In like manner, a dead Toda
girl is not allowed to go to her last rest unmarried. Infant marriage,
which is the rule with other Brahmans, is said to be unknown among
the Nambutiris. Mr. Justice K. Narayana Marar, however, writes [95]
that he is "not prepared to assert that infant marriage is unknown
among Nambudris, and that marriages are always celebrated before
puberty. There are instances, though rare, of infant marriages among
them." When a girl is ten years old, or a little more, her father
thinks of finding a husband for her. Property alone is the real thing
to be considered. Every detail bearing on advantage to the family
through the alliance is carefully thought out. Among the Malayalis
generally, the young man with University degrees has command of the
marriage market, but to the Nambutiri these are of no account. When the
girl's father has fixed on a likely young man, he gets his horoscope,
and confers with a Vadhyar concerning the suitability or agreement
of the young man's horoscope with that of his daughter. Should the
decision of the Vadhyar be favourable, the young man's father is
invited to the house on an auspicious day, and the two fathers,
together with some friends, talk the matter over. In the presence
of all, the Vadhyar announces the agreement of the horoscopes of
the pair whose marriage is in prospect. The dowry of the bride is
then fixed. Probably many days have been occupied already, before the
fathers can agree as to the settlement of the dowry. When this has been
done, the Vadhyar consults the heavenly bodies, and appoints the day on
which the marriage ceremonies should be begun. There is then a feast
for all present. A Nambutiri would be in very bad circumstances if he
did not give at least a thousand rupees with his daughter. He should
give much more, and does, if he possibly can. The ceremonies connected
with marriage are supposed to occupy a year, but they are practically
completed within ten days. They open with a party leaving the bride's
illam, to invite the bridegroom and his party to the wedding. At the
house of the bridegroom, the Vadhyar is given about eight fanams [96]
(money) by both parties. The return to the bride's illam is a sort
of noisy procession composed of the bridegroom with his friends,
Nayar women under big cadjan (palm leaf) umbrellas, a number of
Nayars, some of whom indulge in sword play with swords and shields,
and Nambutiris versed in the Sastras. The bridegroom, who is the chief
figure in the crowd, has a string (the usual kankanam) tied round his
right wrist to protect him from evil spirits, and carries a bamboo with
sixteen joints symbolic of the married state, a mirror for good luck,
an arrow to guard the bride against evil spirits, four cloths, and a
tali. At the gate of the bride's illam, the procession is met by some
Nayar women dressed as Nambutiri women, who, being unable to come out
and welcome the bridegroom, do so by proxy. These women wave a light
in front of his face, and offer ashtamangalyam--a plate on which are
plantain, betel leaves, a cocoanut, and other articles. On this day,
the aupasana agni, or sacred fire, is prepared in the courtyard of the
bride's illam. A square pit is made, and fire is made with a piece of
wood of the jak tree and of the pipal. This fire is rendered sacred
by some mystic rites. It is kept burning throughout the marriage,
and is preserved until the death of the future husband and wife in
one of two ways:--
(1) keeping a lamp lighted at the fire burning perpetually;
(2) heating in the fire a piece of wood (plasa or palasa) or dharba
grass. The wood or grass is put away, and, when the aupasana agni
is to be revived, is lighted in a fire of jak and pipal wood,
while certain mantrams (consecrated formulæ) are repeated.
The body of the bridegroom (and, I think, of the bride should she die
first) should be burnt in the aupasana agni prepared on the first
day of the wedding. The aupasana agni is, as it were, a witness
to the marriage. In the courtyard, the nandimukham ceremony is
performed for propitiation of the minor deities and the pitris
(spirits of deceased ancestors). A pot containing sacred or
consecrated water, a piece of sandalwood, a piece of gold, flowers,
raw rice, and some fruits are the apparent object of adoration. It
is called kalas--the kalasam of the Tamil and Telugu countries--and
is a common symbol of the deity. According to Monier Williams, [97]
it should be worshipped thus. "In the mouth of the water-vessel
abideth Vishnu, in its neck is Rudra, in its lower part is Brahma,
while the whole company of the mothers are congregated in its
middle part. O! Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada,
Sindhu and Kaveri, be present in this water." A part of the
aforesaid ceremony (nandimukham) is called the punyahavachana,
for which the bridegroom repeats certain hymns after the Vadhyar,
and is sprinkled with water from the kalas. While all this is being
done in the courtyard, the very same ceremony is performed within
the house in the presence of the bride, whose father does inside
the house what the bridegroom is doing outside. At the conclusion
of the ceremony, the tali is tied on the bride's neck. Then two
of the cloths brought by the bridegroom are sent inside, and are
touched by the bride. After she has touched them, they are again
brought out, and the bridegroom puts them on. He touches the other
two cloths, which are taken inside, and worn by the bride. A feast
(ayanium) is the next item. The bride and bridegroom eat their
share of it in separate rooms. Then comes the marriage proper. The
bride's father washes the bridegroom's feet, while a Nayar woman
waves a light (ayiram tiri or thousand lights) before his face,
and conducts him to the hall prepared for the wedding. In this
is a mantapam, or sort of raised seat, having four pillars and a
covering roof. The pillars of the mantapam, and the ceiling of
the hall, are covered with red cloth (red being an auspicious
colour), and there are festoons of mango leaves. To one side
of the mantapam is a screen, behind which stand the Nambutiri
women of the household, looking at the scene in the hall through
holes. The bride and bridegroom are led to the mantapam, the former
following the latter screened from the general gaze by a big cadjan
umbrella. She hands him a garland, and, in doing so, she should not
touch his hand. He puts on the garland. Vedic hymns are chanted,
and the pair are brought face to face for the first time. This
is called mukhadarsanam, or seeing the face. The bridegroom leads
the bride three times round the fire and water jar, moving round
to the right, repeating a mantram, which is rendered as follows
by Monier Williams. [98] "I am male, thou art female. Come,
let us marry, let us possess offspring. United in affection,
illustrious, well disposed towards each other, let us live for a
hundred years." Each time the bridegroom leads the bride round, he
causes her to mount a mill-stone, saying "Ascend thou this stone,
and be thou firm as this rock. [99]" Then, at a moment supposed
to be auspicious, water is poured on the hands of the bridegroom,
signifying that the girl and her dowry have been handed over to
him. The Nambutiri women behind the screen, and the Nayar women
in the hall, utter a shrill cry "like that of the Vaikura." The
fire here mentioned is probably taken from the original aupasana
agni. Holding the bride by the hand, the bridegroom leads her
seven steps--one for force, two for strength, three for wealth,
four for well-being, five for offspring, six for the seasons, and
seven as a friend. He tells her to be devoted to him, and to bear
him many sons, who may live to a good old age. This ceremony is
called the saptapadi (seven steps). A homam is then performed. It
is said that the fire used on this occasion must be preserved
until the death of the bridegroom, and used at the cremation of
his body. A feast is the next thing. When it is over, the bride's
father takes her on his lap, asks his son-in-law to treat her well,
and formally hands her over to him. The bridegroom promises to do
so, and takes his wife by the hand. Then there is a procession
to the bridegroom's illam, the bride being carried in a litter,
and the bridegroom walking and carrying the sacrificial fire. So
ends the first day. It seems that the newly-married couple live
apart for the next three days, during which the bride is initiated
into household duties. The only daily ceremony is the homam, which
is done by the pair after bathing, and before taking food. On
the fourth day there is a ceremony, in which the bride plants
a jasmine cutting, by way of symbolising help to her husband in
the performance of his religious duties. At night the couple are
conducted to the bridal chamber by the Vadhyar. The bed is merely a
grass mat, or a common country blanket, covered with a white sheet,
and having a little ridge of rice and paddy, signifying plenty,
round the edge. The Vadhyar withdraws, and the bridegroom shuts
the door. [100] The Vadhyar outside cites appropriate passages from
the sacred writings, which are repeated by the bridegroom. On the
fifth day, the bride and bridegroom anoint each other with oil,
and the latter combs the hair of the former. Then, before bathing,
they catch some little fish called manatt kani (eyes looking up)
which are found in pools, with a cloth used as a net. While this is
being done, a Brahmachari asks the bridegroom "Did you see a cow and
a son?" Pointing to the fishes caught in the cloth, the bridegroom
replies "Yes, they are here." This is said to be suggestive of progeny,
fishes being emblematic of fertility. Homam is then done. At night,
the bridegroom adorns the bride with flowers, and makes her look into
a mirror, while he recites mantrams suitable to the occasion. From
the sixth to the ninth day there is practically nothing in the way
of ceremonial. And, as that proper to the tenth day is invariably
done on the sixth day, the ceremony may be said to conclude on the
night of the sixth day. A few Brahmans are fed to please the pitris,
and the couple go to a jak tree, under which some rice, curds, and
ghi are placed on kusa grass, and an offering is made of flowers and
sandalwood or powder. The kankanam, bamboo staff, arrow, and mirror
are given to the Vadhyar, and the wedding is over.
Sir W. W. Hunter [101] speaks of the Nambutiris as "a despised class,"
they having had fishermen ancestors. The little ceremony of catching
fish, which is a very important item in the marriage rites, may look
like preservation in meaningless ceremonial of something real in the
past, but it only shows that, in an endeavour to interpret ceremonial,
we must be far from hasty. Among the Shivalli Brahmans of South Canara,
the marriage mat is taken to a tank in procession. The bride and
bridegroom make a pretence of catching fish, and, with linked fingers,
touch their foreheads. It is recorded, in the Manual of South Canara,
that "all Tulu chronicles agree in ascribing the creation of Malabar
and Canara, or Kerala, Tuluva, and Haiga, to Parasu Rama, who reclaimed
from the sea as much land as he could cover by hurling his battle-axe
from the top of the western ghauts. According to Tulu traditions,
after a quarrel with Brahmans who used to come to him periodically
from Ahi-Kshetra, Parasu Rama procured new Brahmans for the reclaimed
tract by taking the nets of some fishermen, and making a number of
Brahmanical threads with which he invested the fishermen, and thus
turned them into Brahmans, and retired to the mountains to meditate,
after informing them that, if they were in distress, and called on
him, he would come to their aid. After the lapse of some time, during
which they suffered no distress, they were curious to know if Parasu
Rama would remember them, and called upon him in order to find out. He
promptly appeared, but punished their thus mocking him by cursing them,
and causing them to revert to their old status of Sudras."
A more detailed account of the marriage ceremonial is given in
the Gazetteer of Malabar, which may well be quoted. "The first
preliminaries in arranging a Nambudiri marriage are the inevitable
comparison of horoscopes, and the settlement of the dowry. When
these have been satisfactorily concluded, an auspicious day for the
wedding is selected in consultation with the astrologer. On that day,
the bridegroom, before he starts from his illam, partakes with his
relatives and friends of a sumptuous repast called the ayani un. A
similar feast is held simultaneously at the bride's house. On leaving
the illam, as he crosses the threshold, and indeed on all occasions
of importance, the bridegroom must be careful to put his right foot
first. He also mutters mantrams of an auspicious nature, called mangala
sutrangal. As he passes out of the gate, he is met by a bevy of Nayar
ladies, carrying the eight lucky articles (ashtamangalyam). These
are a grandha, a washed cloth, a cheppu or rouge-box, some rice,
a val kannadi or metal hand-mirror, some kunkumam (crimson powder),
chanthu (ointment of sandal, camphor, musk and saffron), and mashi
(bdellium or any eye salve). On his journey to the bride's illam,
he is preceded by a noisy procession of Nayars, armed with swords and
lacquered shields, who constitute his agambadi or body-guard, and by
Nambudri friends and relatives, one of whom carries a lighted lamp. At
the gate of the bride's illam he is met by a band of Nayar women,
dressed like antarjanams, and carrying the ashtamangalyam and lighted
lamps. The bridegroom enters the inner court-yard (nadumittam), and
takes his seat in the usual eastward position. The bride's father comes
and sits opposite him, and, clasping his right hand, formally invites
him to bathe and wed his daughter, an invitation which he formally
accepts. After his bath, he returns clad in fresh clothes, and wearing
a ring of dharba or kusa grass (Cynodon Dactylon), and takes his seat
in the room adjoining the porch (pumukham), called purattalam. He
then makes an offering of a few fanams (money) to his family deities,
performs Ganapathi puja (worship of the elephant god), and presents
four or five Nambudris with a few fanams each, and with betel leaf
and areca nut. This is called asramapischetha prayaschittam, and is
in expiation of any sins into which he may have been betrayed during
his bachelor days. Similar gifts are also made first to two Nambudris
of any gotra considered as representing the deities called Visvadvas,
and then to two others of different gotras representing the deceased
ancestors or Pitris. The last gift is called Nandimukham. Meanwhile,
within the house the bride is conducted to the vadakkini room,
veiled in an old cloth, and carrying a piece of bell-metal shaped
like a hand-mirror (val kannadi). Her father, after washing his feet
and putting on a darbha ring, comes and performs Ganapathi puja,
and repeats more or less the same ritual that has been performed
without. The bride is then sprinkled with holy water by her father
and four other Nambudiris. The tali or marriage symbol is brought
in a brass vessel containing holy water, and laid near the idol to
which the daily domestic worship is paid; and, after further offerings
to Ganapathi, the bridegroom is summoned to enter the illam. Before
doing so he purifies himself, taking off the darbha ring, making the
'caste marks' with holy ashes (bhasmam), washing his feet, replacing
the ring, and being sprinkled with holy water by four Nambudiris--a
form of ritual which recurs constantly in all ceremonies. He enters
the nadumittam, preceded by a Nambudiri carrying a lighted lamp, and
takes his seat on a wooden stool (pidam) in the middle of the court
where the bride's father makes obeisance to him, and is given four
double lengths of cloth (kaccha), which the bridegroom has brought
with him. They are taken to the bride, who puts on two of them, and
returns two for the bridegroom to wear. The bridegroom then goes to the
kizhakkini, where he prepares what may be called the "altar." He smears
part of the floor in front of him with cow-dung and then, with a piece
of jack-wood (Artocarpus integrifolia), called sakalam, draws a line
at the western side of the place so prepared, and at right angles to
this line five more, one at each end, but not actually touching it,
and three between these. He then places the pieces of jack-wood on
the altar, and ignites it with fire brought from the hearth of the
bride's illam. He feeds the flame with chips of plasu or chamatha
(Butea frondosa). This fire is the aupasana agni, regarded as the
witness to the marriage rite. It must be kept alight--not actually,
but by a pious fiction [102]--till the parties to the marriage die,
and their funeral pyre must be kindled from it. Three pieces of plasu
called paridhi, and eighteen pieces called udhmam, tied together by
a string of darbha, are placed on the northern side of the altar on
two pieces of jack-wood; and there are also brought and placed round
the altar four blades of darbha grass, a small bell-metal vessel,
an earthenware pot full of water, a pair of grind-stones (ammi and
ammikuzha), a small winnowing fan containing parched paddy (malar),
and a copper vessel of ghee (clarified butter) with a sacrificial ladle
made of plasu. Meanwhile, the bride's father ties the tali round her
neck in the vadakkini, and her mother gives her a garland of tulasi
(Ocimum sanctum). She is conducted to the kizhakkini, preceded by a
Nambutiri carrying a lamp called ayyira tiri (thousand wicks), and is
made to stand facing the bridegroom on the north or north-east of the
altar. This is called mukha-dharsanam (face-beholding). She gives the
garland to the bridegroom. Now comes the central rite of this elaborate
ceremonial, the udaga-purva-kannyaka-dhanam, or gift of a maiden with
water. The bride and her father stand facing west, and the bridegroom
facing them. All three stretch out their right hands, so that the
bride's hand is between those of her father and the bridegroom,
which are above and below hers respectively. A Nambutiri Othikan or
ritual expert pours water thrice into the father's hand. The latter
each time pours it into his daughter's hand, and then, grasping her
hand, pours it into the bridegroom's hand. The dowry is then given
to the bride, who hands it over to the bridegroom. She then passes
between him and the fire, and sits on an amana palaga [103] on the
east of the altar, while the bridegroom sits on another palaga on her
left, and burns the udhmams (except one piece of plasu and the darbha
string used to tie the bundle), and makes an oblation of ghee called
agharam. The next rite is called Panigrahanam. The bridegroom rises
from his seat, turns to the right, and stands facing the bride, who
remains seated, holding the mirror in her left hand. She stretches
out her right hand palm upwards, with the fingers closed and bent
upwards. He grasps it, and sits down again. A brother of the bride
now comes and takes the mirror from the bride, puts it on a palaga,
and professes to show her her own reflection in its surface. Then
the bridegroom pours a little ghee into her joined hands, to which
the bride's brother adds two handfuls of paddy from the winnowing
basket, and the bridegroom then brushes the paddy from her hands
into the fire. This is called the Lajahomam. At its conclusion,
bride and bridegroom perform a pradakshinam round the fire, passing
outside the water-pot but not the grindstone and fan. Next comes
the important piece of ceremonial called Asmarohanam, symbolising
immutability. The bride and bridegroom stand west of the grindstones,
and the bridegroom, taking her feet one by one, places them on the
stones, and then grasps feet and stones with both hands. Lajahomam,
pradakshinam, and asmarohanam are each repeated thrice. Then comes the
rite called Saptapadi or seven paces. The bridegroom leads his bride
seven steps towards the north-east, touching her right foot with his
right hand as he does so. They then pass between the grindstones and
the fire, and seat themselves on the west of the earthen pot facing
east, the bride behind the bridegroom; and the latter performs a
somewhat acrobatic feat which it must be difficult to invest with any
dignity. He bends backwards, supporting himself by placing the palms
of his hands on the ground behind him, until he can touch with the top
of his head that of the bride, who bends forward to facilitate the
process. After this, the bridegroom sprinkles himself and the bride
with water from the earthen pot. They then return to their seats
west of the altar, and face north, ostensibly looking at the pole
star (Druvan), the star Arundati, and the Seven Rishis (Ursa Major),
which the bridegroom is supposed to point out to the bride, while he
teaches her a short mantram invoking the blessing of long life on
her husband. The bridegroom then makes two oblations, pouring ghee
on the sacred fire, the first called Sishtakralhomam and the second
Darmmihomam. He then places on the fire the paridhis, the remaining
udhmams and dharba grass, and the rest of the ghee. A start is then
made for the bridegroom's illam, the bridegroom carrying the chamatha
branch used in making the aupasana agni in the bride's house. On
arrival, an altar is prepared in much the same manner as before,
the chamatha branch is ignited, and darbha and ghee are offered. The
bride and bridegroom next spend a few moments closeted in the same
room, she lying on a skin spread over a new cloth on the floor,
and he sitting on an amana palaga. In the evening, aupasana homam,
or offerings of chamatha in the sacred fire, and Vaisyadeva homam,
or offerings of boiled rice, are made. These, which are known as a
second homam, may be postponed till next afternoon, if there is no
time for them on the actual wedding day. They have to be performed
daily for ten months. The first three days on which these homams are
performed (viz., the wedding day and the two following it, or the
three days after the wedding as the case may be) are regarded as days
of mourning (diksha), and clothes are not changed. On the fourth day,
the newly married couple have an oil-bath, and the diksha is considered
to be at an end. After the usual homams and worship of Ganapathi,
the bride is led to the bridal chamber at an auspicious moment. Her
husband joins her, carrying two garlands of jasmine, one of which
he puts on the lamp placed in the south-east corner of the room, and
one round his wife's neck. He then smears the upper part of her body
with the ointment known as chanthu, and she herself smears the lower
part. Tum vir penem suum fæminæ ad partes pudendas admovit, vestibus
scilicet haud remotis. They then bathe and change their clothes, and
sit near each other, the wife screened behind an umbrella. Her husband
gives her water, and after some further rites they eat from the same
plantain leaf. Actual cohabitation commences from that night. The pair
are conducted to the bridal chamber by the Vadhiyar. The nuptial couch
is but a grass mat or a common country blanket covered with a white
sheet, with a little ridge of rice and paddy signifying plenty around
the edges. The final ceremony is the homam called stalipagam. It is
performed on the day after the first full moon day after the second
homam. If the moon is at the full 3/4 nazhiga before sunset or earlier,
the ceremony may be performed on the full moon day itself."
It will have been seen already that the Nambutiris are not strict
monogamists. Some stated that a man may have four wives, and that the
same ceremony as that described must be performed for wedding all four
wives. Moreover, there is no restriction to the number of Nayar women,
with whom a man may be associated.
Hamilton, writing concerning Malabar at the end of the seventeenth
and beginning of the eighteenth century, says that "when the Zamorin
marries, he must not cohabit with his bride till the Nambutiri or
chief priest has enjoyed her, and, if he pleases, may have three
nights of her company, because the first fruit of her nuptials must
be an holy oblation to the god he worships: and some of the nobles
are so complaisant as to allow the clergy the same tribute; but the
common people cannot have that compliment paid to them, but are forced
to supply the priest's place themselves."
Of ceremonies after marriage, and those performed during pregnancy
and subsequent to the birth of a child, the following may be noted:--
(1) Garbhadhanam, performed soon after marriage. There is a
homam, and the husband puts the juice of some panic grass into
his wife's nostrils.
(2) Garbharakshana secures the unborn child from dangers. It is
not considered important, and is not always done.
(3) Pumsavana, performed in the third month of pregnancy for the
purpose of securing male offspring. The desire of the Hindu for
male rather than female children need not be dilated on. Putra
(a son) is the one who saves from hell (put). It is by every
religious text made clear that it is the duty of every man to
produce a son. The Nambutiri may have practically any number of
wives in succession, until he begets a son by one of them, and he
may adopt a son through the sarvasvadanam form of marriage. On
the day devoted to the pumsavana ceremony, the wife fasts until
she is fed by her husband with one grain of corn, symbolising
the generative organs of the male.
(4) Simantonnayana is the next ceremony performed for the benefit
of the unborn child. It is done between the sixth and eighth
months of pregnancy, and consists in a burnt sacrifice to the
deity, and the husband parting the hair of his wife's head with
a porcupine quill, or with three blades of the sacred kusa grass,
repeating the while Vedic verses.
(5) Jatakarma is the name of the birth ceremony, and is performed
by the father of the child. Honey and ghi are introduced into the
mouth of the infant with a golden spoon or rod, to symbolise good
fortune. Then the ears and shoulders are touched with the spoon
or rod, while Vedic texts are recited.
(6) Medhajananam, rarely done, is for inducing intelligence.
(7) Ayusha, for prolonging life, is the next in order. The father
gives the child a secret name, having an even number of syllables
for a male and an uneven number for a female, which is never
revealed to any one except the mother.
(8) Namakarana is the ceremony, at which the child is named, and
is said to be done on the tenth day after birth. The naming of a
child is an important religious act, which is supposed to carry
consequences throughout life. The parents, assisted by a Vadhyan,
make a burnt sacrifice to the deity.
(9) Annaprasana is the ceremony at which food other than that from
nature's fount is first given. It is done in the sixth month after
birth. The father carries the child to a group of friends and
relations. The Vadhyan or purohit is present and repeats Vedic
texts, while the father places a little rice and butter in the
child's mouth.
(10) Chaula is the ceremony when the hair is cut for the first
time in the Nambutiri fashion.
(11) Karna vedha is the occasion on which the ears are bored.
On the Vidyadasami day, the tenth of Asvayuja, when a male child is
five years old, the father goes through the form of initiating him
into the mysteries of the alphabet.
The following details of some of the above ceremonies are given in the
Gazetteer of Malabar. "The chief ceremonies connected with pregnancy
are Pumsavanam or rite to secure male offspring, at which the husband
puts a grain of barley and two beans, to represent the male organ,
into his wife's hand, and pours some curds over them, which the wife
then swallows, and also pours some juice of karuga grass into her
right nostril; and Simantham, a ceremony usually performed in the
fourth month of pregnancy, at which the husband parts the wife's hair
four times from back to front with a sprig of atti (Ficus glomerata),
a porcupine quill which must have three white marks on it, and three
blades of darba grass, all tied together, after which mantrams are
sung to the accompaniment of vinas. The first ceremony to be performed
on the birth of a child is jathakarmam. A little gold dust is mingled
with ghee and honey, and the father takes up some of the mixture with
a piece of gold, and smears the child's lips with it, once with a
mantram and once in silence. He next washes the gold, and touches the
child's ears, shoulders and head with it, and finally makes a gift
of the bit of gold and performs nandimukham. The ceremony of naming
the child, or namakarmam, takes place on the twelfth day. The father
ties a string round the child's waist, and marks its body with the
sacred ash (bhasmam). Then, after the usual 'gifts' he pronounces
thrice in the child's right ear the words 'Devadatta Sarmmasi,'
or if the child be a girl, 'Nili dasi.' He then calls out the name
thrice. Then, taking the child from its mother, he again calls out
the name thrice, and finally gives the child back to its mother, who
in turn calls out the name thrice. Gifts and nandimukham complete
the ceremony. In the fourth month, the child is ceremonially taken
out of doors (nishkramana or vittil purapattu) by the father, who
carries it to a cocoanut, round which he makes three pradakshinams."
The death ceremonies of the Nambutiris are commenced shortly before
death actually takes place. When death is believed to be unmistakably
near, some verses from the Taittirya Upanishad are spoken in the dying
man's ears. These are called karna mantras, or ear hymns. A bed of
kusa grass, called darbhasana, is prepared in the verandah or some
convenient place outside the foundations of the house, and the dying
man is placed on it. When life is extinct, the body is washed, dressed
in a new white cloth, and placed on a bier made of bamboos covered
with a new white cloth. The bier is then carried on the shoulders of
four of the nearest relatives to the place of cremation within the
compound of the illam, and laid on a pile of firewood, which must
include some sandalwood. This should be done by brothers or sons if
there are such; if not, by more distant relatives or friends. The
pyre need not of necessity be prepared by Nambutiris. Properly
speaking, according to the sacred texts, which govern almost every
act of the Nambutiri's life, relatives and friends, male and female,
should accompany the bier to the place of cremation, but, as a rule,
women do not join the little procession. The bier is laid on the
pyre, and the corpse is uncovered. Rice is scattered over the face
by the blood-relations present, and small pieces of gold are thrust
into the nine openings of the body, while mantras are recited by the
Vadhyayar or priest. The gold is said to be used on this occasion as
part of the offering in the yagam--the last sacrifice, as the burning
of the body is called--and not in any way to assist the deceased in
his journey to "the undiscovered country." Soon after the bier is
laid on the funeral pyre, a homam is made. Fire taken from it is
placed on the chest of the deceased, and then the pyre is lighted
in three places. The performer of the crematory rites carries an
earthen pot round the pyre. The officiating priest punctures the pot
with a knife, and receives the water in another pot. He throws this
water on the pyre, and the pot is then smashed and flung away. This
part of the ceremony is said to symbolise that the deceased has had
his ablution in the water of the Ganges, and the fire god, Agni,
represented by the homam, was witness to the same. The fire god is
supposed to witness every ceremony enjoined by the Vedas. After the
body is burnt, those who attended go away and bathe. The disembodied
soul is supposed to enter a body called Sukshma Sarira, and eventually
goes to heaven or hell as it deserves. But, before it can reach its
destination, certain ceremonies must be performed. These consist
chiefly of oblations on each of the ten days following death, for the
purpose of causing the preta (spirit) to grow out of the Dhananjaya
Vayu, which causes deformities and changes in the deceased after
death. Each day's ceremony completes a limb or part of the preta,
and the body is complete in ten days. On the third day after death,
the ashes of the deceased are collected in an urn, and buried at the
place of cremation or close to it. This is called ekoddishta. On the
eleventh day, all the members of the family go through a purificatory
ceremony, which consists in swallowing the panchagavya, and changing
the sacred thread. They then perform a sraddha, offering balls of
rice, etc., to the deceased and three of his ancestors, and give a
dinner and presents of money and cloths to Brahmans. Twelve sraddhas
must be performed, one in each month following, when water and balls
of rice (pindas) are offered to the spirit. The twelfth sraddha is
the sapindi karana, which elevates the spirit of the deceased to
the rank of an ancestor. Following this, there is only the annual
sraddha, or anniversary of death, calculated according to the lunar
or astronomical year, when not less than three Brahmans are fed,
and receive presents of money and cloths.
Concerning the death ceremonies, Mr. Subramani Aiyar writes as
follows. "After death, the blood relations of the deceased bathe, and,
with wet clothes on, place two pieces of the stem of the plantain
tree, one at the head and the other at the feet of the corpse. The
hair of the head and face is shaved a little, and the body is bathed
with water in which turmeric and mailanchi, a red vegetable substance,
are dissolved. The Vaishnavite gopi mark is drawn vertically, as also
are sandal paste marks on various parts of the body, and flowers
and garlands are thrown over it. The corpse is then covered with
an unbleached cloth, which is kept in position by a rope of kusa
grass. It is carried to the pyre by Nambutiris who are not within
the pollution circle of the deceased, the eldest son supporting the
head and the younger ones the legs. A cremation pit is dug in the
south-east portion of the compound, and a mango tree, which has been
felled, is used as fuel. In all these ceremonies, the eldest son is
the karta or chief mourner and responsible ritualist, with whom the
younger ones have to keep up physical contact while the several rites
are being gone through. When the body is almost reduced to ashes, the
principal performer of the ceremonies and his brothers bathe, and,
taking some earth from the adjoining stream or tank, make with it a
representation of the deceased. Throughout the funeral ceremonies,
the Maran is an indispensable factor. The handing of the kusa grass
and gingelly (Sesamum) seeds for the oblation must be done by a member
of that caste. Sanchayanam, or the collection and disposal of the
burnt bones of the deceased, takes place on the fourth day. On the
eleventh day the pollution ceases, and the daily sraddha begins. A
term of diksha or special observance is kept up for three fortnights,
but generally for a whole year. On the twelfth day is the sapinda
karana sraddha, or ceremony of what may be called joining the fathers,
after which the dead person passes from the stage of preta to join
the manes or spirits. There are then the monthly ceremonies (masikas)
and ashta sraddhas (eight sraddhas). The abdika or first anniversary,
known in Malabar by the name of masam, is a very important ceremony,
and one on which unstinted expenditure is the rule."
A further account of the death ceremonies is given in the Gazetteer
of Malabar. "When death is believed to be near, the dying man is
taken to the west of the hearth of the sacred fire (aupasana agni),
and laid with his head to the south on a bed of sand and darbha grass,
while the ottu mantram is whispered in his ear. When life is extinct,
the body is washed and covered with a plantain leaf. The mourners dress
themselves in tattu fashion, and tear up a new cloth breadthwise into
pieces called sesham, which they each wear round their waist. The
body is then dressed in an undercloth; the forehead is smeared with
the pounded root of the creeper mettoni, and tulasi flowers are put
on the head; the kudumi (hair knot) is untied, and the punul (sacred
thread) arranged to hang round the neck in front. The body is tied
on to a bamboo ladder and covered with a new cloth, and then carried
by four of the nearest relatives to the place of cremation within the
compound of the illam. A trench is dug on the north-east of the pyre,
and some water put into it, which is sprinkled on the pyre with twigs
of chamatha and darbha. The body is then laid on the pyre with the
head to the south, and the fire is kindled. The ladder is thrown away,
and a homam performed of ghee and darbha grass made to represent the
deceased, while mantrams are recited. Then comes the ceremony called
kumbhapradakshinam. The mourners go round the pyre three times,
the eldest son leading the way, carrying an earthen pot of water on
his left shoulder. The water should run through the bottom of the
pot, one hole being made for the first round, two for the second,
and three for the third, and other mourners should sprinkle it on
the pyre. At the end of the third round the pot is thrown on to the
pyre, and all the mourners come away, the eldest son leaving last,
and being careful not to look back. After bathing and shaving,
the sons and other persons entitled to celebrate the obsequies,
each perform an oblation of water (udagakriya) to a piece of karuga
grass stuck up to represent the spirit of the dead, concluding the
ceremony by touching iron, granite, a firebrand, cow-dung, paddy and
gold three times, throwing away the sesham, and receiving a clean cloth
(mattu). They then return to the nadumittam, when they make offerings
(bali or veli) of rice balls (pindams) to a piece of karuga grass. Both
these ceremonies have to be repeated twice daily for ten days. On
the fourth day after death, provided it is not a Tuesday or Friday,
the ceremony of collecting the bones (sanchyanam) is performed. The
eldest son goes to the pyre with a pala (pot made of the spathe of an
areca palm) of milk, which he sprinkles on the pyre with a brush of
chamatha tied with karuga grass. Three palas are placed on the west
of the pyre parallel to the places where the feet, waist and head
of the corpse rested, and bones are removed from the feet, waist and
head with tongs of chamatha, and placed in the respective palas. The
bones are then washed in milk, and all put into an earthen pot (kudam)
with some karuga grass on the top. The pot is covered with a cloth,
taken to a cocoanut tree and buried in a pit, the cloth being removed
and the top filled with mud. A plantain is planted in the trench that
was dug near the pyre. On the eleventh day, all the members of the
family purify themselves, and perform oblations of water and balls
of rice. This constitutes the first sraddha, which must be repeated
on each anniversary of the eleventh day."
"The funeral rites of women are similar; but, if the woman is pregnant
at the time of death, the body has first to be purified seven times
with pounded kusa grass, cow-dung, cow's urine, ashes and gold, and
to receive mattu. The belly is cut open four inches below the navel,
and, if the child is found alive, it is taken out and brought up;
if dead, it is put back in the womb with a piece of gold and some
ghee. Children not more than ten days old are buried with little
ceremony, but all others are burnt." [104]
When a Nambutiri is believed to have been guilty of an offence against
the caste, or when there is a caste dispute in any gramam, the proper
course is to represent the matter to the king (in Malabar the Zamorin),
who refers it to the Smarta having jurisdiction over that particular
gramam, ordering him to try the offender after holding a proper
enquiry. Minor offences are punishable by infliction of penance,
fasting, or doing special puja to the gods. Graver offences are dealt
with by excommunication from the caste. Against the decision of the
Smarta there is no appeal. Adultery between a Nambutiri woman and a man
of inferior caste is perhaps the most serious of all caste offences.
The enquiry into cases of adultery is described as follows by
Mr. Subramani Aiyar. "It is conducted by the Smarta, and hence
arises the name (smartavicharam) by which it is known. Whenever a
Nambutiri woman's chastity is suspected, she is at once handed over
to society for enquiry, no considerations of personal affection or
public policy intervening. The mother or brother may be the first and
only spectator of a shady act, but feels no less bound to invite, and
generally pay very heavily for a public enquiry by society according
to its recognised rules. The suspect is at once transferred to an
isolation shed in the same compound, variously called by the name of
anchampura or fifth room (outside the nalukettu or quadrangle), or the
pachcholappura, a new shed with green thatch roofing put up for the
occasion. She may be seen here by her husband, his father and uncles,
her father, father's father, father's maternal grandfather, and their
sons, but by none else. Once a prohibited member sees her, the brand of
infamy indubitably settles on her, and the smartavicharam is considered
foreclosed. For beginning a smartavicharam, the sanction of the ruling
Raja has to be obtained. The matter is carried to his ears, after a
preliminary enquiry, called dasivicharam, has been gone through. For
this, the woman's male relations, in conjunction with the Brahmans of
the neighbourhood, interrogate the Dasi or Nayar maid-servant attached
to the suspected woman. Along with the application for royal sanction
in Travancore, a fee of sixty-four fanams or nine rupees has to be sent
in, and is credited to the treasury of Sri Padmanabha Swami, as whose
deputy the Maharaja is supposed to rule the country. The Maharaja
then appoints a Smarta (judge), two Mimamsakas, an Akakkoyimma,
and a Purakkoyimma. The office of Smarta is hereditary. If a family
becomes extinct, the Yoga or village union nominates another in its
place. The Mimamsakas are Nambutiris learned in the law, and their
office is seldom hereditary. They are appointed to help the Smarta
in his enquiries. The Akakkoyimma, or person whose business is to
preserve order, holds his appointment by heredity. The Purakkoyimma is
the proxy of the sovereign himself. In ancient days, and even so late
as the time of the great Martanda Varma, the ruling sovereign himself
was present during the trial, and preserved order. Now a deputy is sent
by the Maharaja. He is generally the magistrate of the taluk, who, if
he finds it inconvenient to attend the meeting, delegates the function
to the chief village officer. The Smarta, when he receives the royal
commission (neet) for holding the enquiry, receives from the woman's
relations a small tribute of money (dakshina). The Mimamsakas, it may
be observed, are selected by the Smarta. In Travancore alone is the
Smarta's authority supreme, for no Vaidika lives in this territory,
and none are generally invited. In other parts of Malabar, where
Vaidikas live permanently, one of the six recognised Vaidikas has to
accompany the Smarta to the place of the vicharana (enquiry), and the
Smarta merely conducts the enquiry as the proxy of, and authorised
and guided by the Vaidikas. Generally the council assembles at some
neighbouring village temple. The suspected woman is placed within the
anchampura, and her maid-servant stands at the door. All questions
are addressed to her, as the gosha of the suspect has to be honoured
in its entirety until the pronouncement of the final verdict. The
procedure begins, not by the framing and reading out of a charge-sheet,
but by arranging for the suspicion being brought to notice by the
accused person herself. For this purpose, the Smarta makes a feint
of entering the isolation shed, as if in ignorance of everything that
has transpired. The maid-servant stops him, and informs him that her
mistress is within. The Smarta, on hearing this, affects astonishment,
and asks her the reason why her mistress should not be in the main
building (antahpuram). With this question, the enquiry may be said to
have actually begun. The next morning by eleven o'clock, the Smarta
and his co-adjutors again go and stand beside the isolation hut, and,
calling for the maid-servant, commence the regular enquiry. After about
five o'clock in the afternoon, the Smarta, in the presence of the
Akakkoyimma, relates the whole day's proceedings to the Mimamsakas,
and takes their opinion as to the questions for the next day. The
enquiry often lasts for months, and sometimes even for years. It is
the most expensive undertaking possible, as the whole judicatory staff
has to be maintained by the family, unless the sadhanam or subject
gives a circumstantial confession of her guilt. It is not enough
to plead guilty; she must point out all the persons who have been
partakers in her guilt. Thus every day the Smarta asks "Are there any
more?" After the completion of the enquiry, the council re-assembles at
the village temple. The guardian of the suspect presents himself before
the assembled Brahmans, and makes the customary obeisance. The Smarta
then recounts the details of the enquiry, and ultimately pronounces his
verdict. If the woman is declared innocent, she is re-accepted amidst
universal rejoicings, and the head of the family feels amply repaid
for the expenditure he has incurred in the reputation for chastity
secured for a member of his family under such a severe ordeal. If
things do not end so well, all the Brahmans come out of the temple and
re-assemble, when a Brahman, who is usually not a Nambutiri, as the
Nambutiris do not desire to condemn one of their own caste, stands
up, and in a stentorian voice repeats the substance of the charge,
and the judgment as given by the Smarta. The guardian of the woman
then goes away, after she has been handed over by the Smarta to the
custody of the Purakkoyimma. The guardian bathes, and performs all the
funeral ceremonies for his ward, who from this moment is considered
dead for all social and family purposes. The persons meanwhile, whose
names have been given out by the woman as having been implicated in the
offence, have to vindicate their character on pain of excommunication.
In connection with a case of adultery, which was tried recently in
Malabar, it is noted that the Purakkoyimma kept order in the court
with sword in hand. Iswara puja (worship of Iswara) was performed
in the local temple on all the days of the trial, and the suspected
woman was given panchagavya (five products of the cow) so that she
might tell the truth.
I am informed that, in the course of an enquiry into a charge of
adultery, "it sometimes happens that the woman names innocent men as
her seducers. Two courses are then open to them, in order that they
may exculpate themselves, viz., ordeal by boiling oil, and ordeal
by weighing. The former of these ordeals is undergone, under the
sanction of the Raja, by the accused person dipping his bare hand in
ghi, which has been boiling from sunrise to midday, and taking out
of it a bell-metal image. The hand is immediately bandaged, and if,
on examination of it on the third day, it be found unharmed, the man
is declared innocent. In the other ordeal, the man is made to sit for
a certain time in one of a pair of scales, and is declared innocent
or guilty, according as the scale ascends or descends. But these
practices do not now prevail." In former days, the ordeal of boiling
ghi was undergone at the temple of Suchindram in Travancore. This
temple derives its name from Indra, who, according to the legend,
had illicit intercourse with Ahalya, the wife of Gautama Rishi,
and had to undergo a similar ordeal at this place.
In connection with a case which came before the High Court of Madras,
it is recorded [105] that "an enquiry was held into the conduct of
a woman suspected. She confessed that the plaintiff had had illicit
intercourse with her, and thereupon they were both declared out-casts,
the plaintiff not having been charged, nor having had an opportunity
to cross-examine the woman, or enter on his defence, and otherwise to
vindicate his character. Held by the High Court that the declaration
that the plaintiff was an outcast was illegal, and, it having been
found that the defendants had not acted bonâ fide in making that
declaration, the plaintiff was entitled to recover damages."
In order to mitigate to some extent the suffering caused by turning
adrift a woman proved guilty of adultery, who has hitherto lived in
seclusion, provision has been made by the Raja of Cherakkal. A Tiyan
named Talliparamba possesses a large extent of land granted by a former
Raja of Cherakkal, on condition of his taking under his protection all
excommunicated females, if they choose to go with him. He has special
rank and privileges, and has the title of Mannanar. Whenever an inquiry
takes place, Mannanar receives information of it, and his messengers
are ready to take the woman away. It was the custom in former days
for Mannanar's agents to lead the woman to near his house, and leave
her at a certain place from which two roads lead to the house--one to
the eastern gate, and the other to the northern. If the woman happened
to enter the house by the eastern gate, she became Mannanar's wife,
and, if she went in by the northern gate, she was considered to be
his sister by adoption. This rule, however, is not strictly adhered
to at the present day.
The Nambutiris are stated by Mr. Subramani Aiyar to "belong to
different sutras, gotras, or septs, and follow different Vedas. The
most important of the sutras are Asvalayana, Baudhayana, Apastamba, and
Kaushitaka. The best-known gotras are Kasyapa, Bhargava, Bharadvaga,
Vasishta, and Kausika. There are a few Samavedins belonging to
the Kitangnur and Panchal gramams, but most of them are Rigvedic,
and some belong to the Yajurveda. The Rigvedic Brahmans belong to
two separate yogas or unions, namely, Trichur Yoga and Tirunavai
Yoga. It appears that three of the most renowned of the disciples of
Sankaracharya were Nambutiri Brahmans, who received their initiation
into the sanyasasrama at the great sage's hands. They established
three maths or monasteries, known as the tekkematham (southern),
natuvile matham (middle), and vatakke matham (northern). Succession
having fallen in default in regard to the last, the property that
stood in its name lapsed to the Raja of Cochin. Out of the funds
of this matham, a Vedic pathasala (boarding school) was established
at Trichur. A certain number of villagers became in time recognised
as being entitled to instruction at this institution, and formed a
yoga. Trichur then became the centre of Brahmanical learning. Later
on, when the relations of the Zamorin of Calicut with the Raja of
Cochin became strained, he organised another yoga at Tirunavai for
the Nambutiris who lived within his territory. Here there are two
yogas for Rigvedic Brahmans. In these schools, religious instruction
has been imparted with sustained attention for several centuries. The
heads of these schools are recruited from the houses of Changngavot
and Erkara, respectively. To these two yogas two Vadhyars and six
Vaidikas are attached. There are also six Smartas or judges attached
to these bodies. The Vadhyars are purely religious instructors,
and have no judicial duties in respect of society. The Vaidikas and
Smartas are very learned in the Smritis, and it is with them that
the whole caste government of the Nambutiris absolutely rests."