the Guna or Velama Tsakala. Bana is the Telugu name for the large pot,
which the washermen use for boiling the clothes. [64] The Guna Tsakalas
are dyers. In a note on the Velamas, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes [65]
that "some say they form a sub-division of the Balijas, but this they
themselves most vehemently deny, and the Balijas derisively call them
Guni Sakalavandlu (hunchbacked washermen). The pride and jealousy of
Hindu castes was amusingly illustrated by the Velamas of Kalahasti. The
Deputy Tahsildar of that town was desired to ascertain the origin of
the name Guni Sakalavandlu, but, as soon as he asked the question,
a member of the caste lodged a complaint of defamation against him
before the District Magistrate. The nickname appears to have been
applied to them because in the northern districts some print chintz,
and, carrying their goods in a bundle on their backs, walk stooping
like a laden washerman. This derivation is more than doubtful, for,
in the Godavari district, the name is Guna Sakalavandlu, guna being
the large pot in which they dye the chintzes."
Like other Telugu castes, the Tsakalas have exogamous septs or
intiperu, among which chimala (ant) is of common occurrence. Members
of the gummadi sept do not cultivate, or eat the fruit of Cucurbita
maxima (gummadi), and those of the magili pula gotra avoid the fruit
of Pandanus fascicularis. In like manner, sword beans (Canavalia
ensiformis) may not be eaten by those who belong to the thamballa
gotra.
Among the sub-divisions of the caste are Reddi Bhumi (Reddi earth),
Murikinati, Pakanati (eastern country), Desa, and Golkonda. Of these,
some are also sub-divisions of other Telugu classes, as follows:--
Desa or Desur Balija--Kapu.
Murikinati or Murikinadu--Kamsala, Mangala, Mala and Razu.
Pakanati--Balija, Golla, Kamsala, Kapu, and Mala.
Reddi Bhumi--Mala, Mangala.
At the census, 1891, Odde was recorded as a sub-division of
the Tsakalas, and it is noted in the Vizagapatam Manual (1869)
that the Vadde or Odde Cakali wash clothes, and carry torches
in that district. The name Odde Tsakala refers to Oriya-speaking
washermen. Telugus call the Oriya country Odra or Odde desam and
Oriyas Odra or Odde Vandlu.
Like the Tamil Vannans, the Tsakalas prepare for various castes torches
for processional or other ceremonial occasions, and the face cloth,
and paddy piled up at the head of a corpse, are their perquisite. The
Reddi Bhumi and other sub-divisions wash the clothes of all classes,
except Malas and Madigas, while the Desa and Golkonda sub-divisions
will wash for both Malas and Madigas, provided that the clothes are
steeped in water, and not handed to them, but left therein, to be taken
by the washerman. Every village has its families of washermen, who, in
return for their services, receive an allowance of grain once a year,
and may have land allotted to them. Whenever a goat or fowl has to
be sacrificed to a deity, it is the privilege of the Tsakala to cut
off the head, or wring the neck of the animal. When Kapu women go on
a visit to a distant village, they are accompanied by a Tsakala. At
a Kapu wedding, a small party of Kapus, taking with them some food
and gingelly (Sesamum) oil, proceed in procession to the house of a
Tsakala, in order to obtain from him a framework made of bamboo or
sticks, over which cotton threads (dhornam) are wound, and the Ganga
idol, which is kept in his custody. The food is presented to him,
and some rice poured into his cloth. Receiving these things, he says
that he cannot find the dhornam and idol without a torch-light, and
demands gingelly oil. This is given to him, and the Kapus return with
the Tsakala carrying the dhornam and idol to the marriage house. The
Tsakala is asked to tie the dhornam to the pandal (marriage booth)
or roof of the house, and he demands some paddy (unhusked rice) which
is heaped up on the ground. Standing thereon, he ties the dhornam. At
a Panta Kapu wedding, the Ganga idol, together with a goat and kavadi
(bamboo pole), with baskets of rice, cakes, betel leaves and areca
nuts, is carried in procession to a pond or temple. The washerman,
dressed up as a woman, heads the procession, and keeps on dancing
and singing till the destination is reached. At the conclusion of the
ceremonial, he takes charge of the idol, and goes his way. Among the
Panta Reddis of the Tamil country, the idol is taken in procession by
the washerman, who goes to every Reddi house, and receives a present
of money. At a wedding among the Idigas (Telugu toddy-drawers), the
brother of the bride is fantastically dressed, with margosa (Melia
Azadirachta) leaves in his turban, and carries a bow and arrow. This
kodangi (buffoon) is conducted in procession to the temple by a few
married women, and made to walk over cloths spread on the ground by
the village washerman. The cloth worn by a Kapu girl at the time of
her first menstrual ceremony is the perquisite of the washerwoman.
The tribal deity of the Tsakalas is Madivalayya, in whose honour a
feast, called Mailar or Mailar Pandaga, is held in January immediately
after the Pongal festival. Small models of pots, slabs of stone such
as are used for beating the wet clothes on, and other articles used
in their work, are made in rice and flour paste. After they have been
worshipped, fruits, cooked vegetables, etc., are offered, and a sheep
or goat is sacrificed. Some of its blood is mixed with the food, of
which a little is sprinkled over the pots, stones, etc., used during
washing operations. If this ceremonial was not observed, it is believed
that the clothes, when boiling in the water pot, would catch fire, and
be ruined. The festival, which is not observed by the Desa and Golkonda
Tsakalas, lasts for five or seven days, and is a time of holiday.
At the first menstrual ceremony, the maternal uncle of the girl has
to erect a hut made of seven different kinds of sticks, of which one
must be from a Strychnos Nux-vomica tree. The details of the marriage
ceremony are very similar to those of the Balijas and Kammas. The
distribution of pan-supari, and the tying of the dhornam to the pandal
must be carried out by an assistant headman called Gatamdar. On the
last day, a goat or sheep is sacrificed to the marriage pots. Liberal
potations of toddy are given to those who attend the wedding.
The Tsakalas have a caste beggar called Mailari, or Patam, because
he carries a brass plate (patam) with the figure of a deity engraved
on it. He is said to be a Lingayat.
Tsalla or Challa (butter-milk).--An exogamous sept of Mala.
Tsanda or Chanda (tax or subscription).--An exogamous sept of Kamma
and Medara.
Tulabharam.--In his description [66] of the Tulabharam or
Tulapurushadanam ceremony performed by the Maharajas of Travancore,
Mr. Shungoony Menon explains that the latter word is a compound
of three Sanskrit words, tula (scales), purusha (man), and danam
(gift, particularly of a religious character). And he gives the
following description of the ceremonial, for the performance of
which a Tulamandapam is erected, wherein the scales are set up,
and the weighing and other rites performed. On the eighth day
"after worshipping and making offerings, the Maharaja proceeds to
the Tulamandapam, where, in the south-east corner, he is sprinkled
with punyaham water. Then he goes to the side room, where the 'nine
grains' are sown in silver flower pots, where the acharya anoints
him with nine fresh-water kalasas. Thence the Maharaja retires to
the palace, changes clothes, wears certain jewels specially made
for the occasion, and, holding the State sword in his right hand
and the State shield in his left, he proceeds to the pagoda; and,
having presented a bull elephant at the foot of the great golden
flagstaff, and silks, gold coins, jewels and other rich offerings in
the interior, he walks round by the Sevaimandapam, and re-enters the
Tulamandapam. He walks thrice round the scales, prostrates himself
before it, bows before the priests and elderly relatives, and obtains
their sanction to perform the Tulapurushadanam. He then mounts the
western scale, holding Yama's and Surya's pratimas in his right and
left hand respectively. He sits facing to the east on a circular heavy
plank cut out of fresh jack-wood (Artocarpus integrifolia), and covered
with silk. He repeats mantras (prayers) in this position. The opposite
or eastern scale then receives the gold, both coined and in ingots,
till it not only attains equality but touches the ground, and the scale
occupied by the Maharaja rises high. The Maharaja then comes down, and,
sitting facing to the east, places the gold, the Tulupurusha pratima
and other pratimas, with flowers, sandal paste, etc., in a basin of
water, and, meditating on Brahma or the Supreme Being, he offers the
contents to Brahmans generically." Of the gold placed in the scale,
one-fourth is divided among the priests who conduct the ceremony, and
the remaining three-fourths are distributed among Brahmans. For use
in connection with the ceremony, gold coins, called tulabhara kasu,
are specially struck. They bear on one side the Malayalam legend Sri
Padmanabha, and on the other a chank shell.
In connection with the tulabharam ceremony as performed at the temple
of Kali, the goddess of cholera and small-pox at Cranganore in the
Cochin State, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes as follows. [67] "When
a man is taken ill of any infectious disease, his relations generally
pray to this goddess for his recovery, solemnly covenanting to perform
what goes by the name of a thulabharam ceremony. The process consists
in placing the patient in one of the scale-pans of a huge balance,
and weighing him against gold or more generally pepper (and sometimes
other substances as well) deposited in the other scale-pan. Then
this weight of the substance is offered to the goddess. This is to
be performed right in front of the goddess in the temple yard."
In connection with weighing ceremonies, it may be noted that, at Mulki
in South Canara, there is a temple of Venkateswara, which is maintained
by Konkani Brahmans. A Konkani Brahman, who is attached to the temple,
becomes inspired almost daily between 10 and 11 A.M. immediately after
puja (worship), and people consult him. Some time ago, a rich merchant
(a Baniya from Gujarat) consulted the inspired man (Darsana) as to what
steps should be taken to enable his wife to be safely delivered. The
Darsana told him to take a vow that he would present to the god of the
temple silver, sugar-candy, and date fruits, equal in weight to that of
his wife. This he did, and his wife was delivered of a male child. The
cost of the ceremonial is said to have been five thousand rupees.
Tulabina.--The Tulabinas are a class of cotton-cleaners, who are
scattered over the Ganjam district, and said to be more numerous in
Cuttack. It is suggested that the name is derived from tula, the beam
of a balance, and bina (or vina) a stringed musical instrument. The
apparatus used by them in cleaning cotton, which bears a fanciful
resemblance to a vina, is suspended by a rope so that it is properly
balanced, and the gut-string thereof struck with a dumb-bell shaped
implement, to set it vibrating.
Tulasi (Ocimum sanctum, sacred basil).--A sub-division of Velama,
and gotra of Komati. The tulsi plant is planted in Hindu houses and
worshipped by women, and the wood is made into beads for rosaries.
Tulukkar (Turks).--A Tamil name sometimes applied to Muhammadans.
Tuluva.--Tulu, Tuluva, or Tuluvan occurs as the name of a sub-division
of the Tamil Vellalas, and of the Agasas, Billavas, Gaudas, Kumbaras,
and other classes in South Canara. The equivalent Tulumar is recorded
as a sub-caste of Mavilan, which speaks Tulu.
Concerning the Tuluva Vellalas, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes [68] that
these are immigrants from the Tulu country, a part of the modern
district of South Canara. Mr. Nelson is of opinion that these are
the original Vellalas, who were invited to Tondamandalam after its
conquest by the Chola king Adondai Chakravarti. [69]
Tunnaran (tailor).--An occupational sub-division of Nayar.
Tupakala.--Tupakala or Tupaki (gun) has been recorded as an exogamous
sept of Balija, Kavarai, and Yanadi.
Turaka.--Recorded as a sept of Kuruba. It is further a Telugu name
sometimes applied to Muhammadans. There is also a thief class, known
as Bhattu Turaka. (See Bhatrazu.)
Turuvalar.--Recorded in the Salem Manual as a caste name, by which
some of the Vedans call themselves. "The Turuvalar are distinguished
as the Kattukudugirajati, a name derived from a custom among them
which authorizes informal temporary matrimonial arrangements."
U
Udasi.--A few members of this Central India sect of religious
mendicants and devotees have been returned at times of census. It is
said to have been founded three hundred years ago by one Gopaldas.
Udaiya.--Udaiya, meaning lord, is the title of many well-to-do
Lingayats and of some Jains, and Udaiya or Wodeiyar occurs as the name
of a Lingayat sub-division of the Badagas of the Niligiri hills. The
Maharajas of Mysore belong to the Wodeiyar dynasty, which was restored
after the Muhammadan usurpation of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. The
name of the present Maharaja is Sri Krishna Raja Wodeiyar Bahadur.
Udaiyan.--It is noted in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that "the
four Tamil castes Nattaman, Malaiman, Sudarman (or Suruthiman), and
Udaiyan are closely connected. The last is probably a title rather
than a caste, and is the usual agnomen of the Nattamans, Malaimans,
and Sudarmans, as also of the potter caste (Kusavan). Nattaman means a
man of the plains, Malaiman a man of the hills, and Sudarman one who
does good, a hero. Nattampadi is another form of Nattaman. Tradition
traces the descent of the three castes from a certain Deva Raja,
a Chera king, who had three wives, by each of whom he had a son,
and these were the ancestors of the three castes. There are other
stories, but all agree in ascribing the origin of the castes to
a single progenitor of the Chera dynasty. It seems probable that
they are descendants of the Vedar soldiers of the Kongu country,
who were induced to settle in the eastern districts of the Chera
kingdom. Additional evidence of the important position they once
held is afforded by the titles Pandariyar, Pandarattar (custodians
of the treasury), which some of them still use. Some of them again
are locally styled Poligars (Palayakkaran) by the ordinary ryots,
and the title Kavalgar is not infrequent."
In a note on the Udaiyans, Malaiyamans, Nattamans, and Sudarmans of the
Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. "Though,
in the Census Report, 1901, they are shown as separate castes, in this
district they are endogamous sub-divisions of one and the same caste,
namely the Udaiyans. The three sub-divisions are unanimous in saying
that they are the descendants of the three Paraiyan foster-daughters
of the poetess Auvaiyar, all of whom became the wives of the king
of Tirukkoyilur in South Arcot, a certain Daivika, who was warned
that only by marrying these women could he save his family from
disaster. The Chola, Pandya, and Chera kings were present at the
wedding, and, on their blessing the bridegroom and his brides, they
were themselves blessed by the poetess, to whom the Chera kingdom
owes its unfailing rain, the Chola country its rice fields, and the
Pandyan realm its cotton. The poorness of the last blessing is due to
the fact that the Pandya king was slow to offer his good wishes. The
three sub-divisions eat together, and recognise the tie of a common
descent, but do not intermarry. The section called Arisakkara
Nattaman is looked down upon by the rest, and may not intermarry
with any of them. All have well-defined exogamous sub-divisions,
called kanis, derived from places where their different ancestors
are supposed to have lived, e.g., Kolattur, Kannanur, Ariyalur. The
Udaiyans put on sacred threads at marriages and funerals, and some
of them have recently begun to wear them always. They are generally
cultivators, and, with the exception of the Sudarmans, who are
supposed to have a turn for crime, are law-abiding citizens. One
section of the Sudarmans, the Muppans of Kapistalam in Tanjore,
have a bad reputation for criminality. A curious practice is that,
before arranging a marriage, it is customary for the bride's party to
go to the bridegroom's house, to dine with him, and test his health
by seeing how much he can eat. They allow a boy, whose suit for the
hand of a girl within certain degrees of relationship is refused by
her parents, to marry the girl, notwithstanding, by tying a tali
(marriage emblem) round her neck. They also permit the betrothal
of infants, the form observed being to present the child with a new
cloth and a mat, and to apply sacred ashes to its forehead. At their
funerals, the mourning party has to chew some rice and spit it out
on the return from the burning-ground, and, on the sixteenth day,
the widow is made to worship a light, and to touch a salt pot. The
Nattaman women do not, as a rule, cover their breasts. The lobes of
their ears are very distended, and they tattoo their chins and cheeks
in the Paraiyan fashion. This is supposed to be in recollection of
their origin. The Malaiyaman women wear their tali on a golden wire
instead of on a thread."
"The Udaiyans," Mr. Francis writes, [70] are a caste, which is
specially numerous in South Arcot. Most of them are cultivators, and
in Kallakurchi many are also money-lenders on a large scale. They
adopt numerous different titles in an indiscriminate way, and four
brothers have been known to call themselves respectively Nayak, Pillai,
Mudali, and Udaiyan. They have three sub-divisions--Malaiyaman,
Nattaman, and Sudarman--which all admit that they are descended
from one common stock, will usually dine together, but do not
intermarry. Some of the caste, however, are now turning vegetarians,
and these will not only not eat with the others, but will not let
their girls marry them. They do not, nevertheless, object to their
sons taking brides from the meat-eating classes, and thus provide
an interesting, if small, instance of the (on this coast) uncommon
practice of hypergamy. In all general matters the ways of the three
sub-divisions are similar. Sudarmans are uncommon in this district,
and are stated to be chiefly found in Trichinopoly and Tanjore. The
Udaiyans say that the three groups are the descendants of a king
who once ruled at Tirukkoyilur, the first of whom took the hilly
part of his father's country, and so was called Malaiyaman; the
second the level tracts, whence his name Nattaman, and the third was
the scholar of the family, and learned in the holy books (srutas),
and so was called Sudarman. These Udaiyans are the caste from which
were drawn some of the kavalgars (watchmen) who, in pre-British days,
were appointed to perform police duties, and keep the country clear
of thieves; and some of the descendants of these men, who are known
to their neighbours as poligars, and still have considerable local
influence, are even now to be met with. The connection of the members
of the caste with the Vepur (criminal) Paraiyans, which is of course
confined to the less reputable sections among them, seems to have had
its origin in the days when they were still head kavalgars, and these
Paraiyans were their talaiyaris, entrusted, under their orders, with
police duties in the different villages. It now consists in acting as
receivers of the property these people steal, and in protecting them
in diverse ways--finding and feeing a vakil (law pleader) for their
defence, for instance--when they are in trouble with the police. It
is commonly declared that their relations are sometimes of a closer
nature, and that the wives of Veppur Paraiyans who are in enforced
retirement are cared for by the Udaiyans. To this is popularly
attributed the undoubted fact that these Paraiyans are often much
fairer in complexion than other members of that caste."
The village of Mangalam in the South Arcot district is "chiefly
interesting on account of its being the only village in the
district where buffalo sacrifices on any scale are still regularly
made. Buffaloes are dedicated to the Kali shrine in Mangalam even
by persons in the Salem, Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts, and the
village is commonly known as Maduvetti Mangalam, or buffalo-sacrificing
Mangalam. When a man or any of his belongings gets seriously sick,
he consecrates an animal to this shrine, and, if the illness ends
favourably, it is sent to its fate at the temple on the date of the
annual sacrifice (May-June). When the buffalo is dedicated, a piece
of saffron-coloured cloth, in which is placed some small coin and
a cadjan (palm) leaf containing an announcement of the dedication,
is tied to its horns, and it is allowed to roam wherever it likes
through the fields. On the day of the sacrifice, fourteen of the
best of the animals which have been dedicated and brought to the
temple are selected, and seven of them are tied to an equal number
of stone posts in front of the goddess' shrine. The pujari (priest),
who is an Udaiyan by caste, then walks down the line, and beheads
them one after the other. The goddess is next taken round on a car,
and, on her return to the temple, the other seven buffaloes are
similarly killed. The animals which are not selected are sold, and
the proceeds paid into the temple treasury. There are two images in
the temple, one of Kali, and the other, which is placed at the back
of the shrine, of Mangalayachi. The latter goddess does not approve
of animal sacrifices, and, while the above ceremonies are proceeding,
a blanket is hung in front of her so that she may not see them." [71]
It is noted by Bishop Whitehead that, a few years ago, an untoward
event occurred in connection with a Pidari festival at a village in the
Trichinopoly district. "The festival had commenced, and the pujari had
tied the kapu (cord dyed with turmeric) on his wrist, when a dispute
arose between the trustees of the shrine, which caused the festival
to be stopped. The dispute could not be settled, and the festival was
suspended for three years, and, during all that time, there could be
no marriages among the Udaya caste, while the poor pujari, with the
kapu on his wrist, had to remain the whole of the three years in the
temple, not daring to go out lest Pidari in her wrath should slay him."
It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "the Nattamans
say they originally settled in South Arcot, and then spread to Tanjore
and Trichinopoly, and finally to Madura, and this theory is supported
by the fact that they have fifteen exogamous sub-divisions called
kanis or fields, which are all named after villages (e.g., Ariyalur,
Puththur) in the first three of these districts. A man has a right
to marry the daughter of his father's sister, and, if she is given
to another man, the father's sister has to return to her father or
brother the dowry which she received at the time of her marriage,
and this is given to the man who had the claim upon the girl. The
same custom occurs among the Kuravans and the Kallans. The eldest
son in each family has to be named after the god of the village which
gives its name to the kani or sept to which the family belongs, and
the child is usually taken to that village to be named. Marriage is
infant or adult. Widow marriage is forbidden. Brahmans are employed
for ceremonies, but these are not received on terms of equality by
other Brahmans. Both cremation and burial are practised. Vellalas will
eat with Nattamans. The caste title is Udaiyan." Another title is
Nayinar, which is also used by Pallis and Jains. There is a proverb
"Nattumuththinal Nayinar", i.e., when the Nattaman ripens, he is a
Nayinar. At the census, 1901, some Nattamans returned themselves as
Natramiludaiyan, meaning the repository of chaste Tamil; and Ur-Udaiyan
(lord of a village) was given as their caste name. Nattaman also
occurs as a sub-division of the Pallis.