abode of these fishermen. In some places, more especially south of
Cranganore, their houses are dotted along the banks of the backwater,
often nearly hidden by cocoanut trees, while at intervals the white
picturesque fronts of numerous Roman Catholic and Romo-Syrian churches
are perceived. These houses are in fact mere flimsy huts, a few of
which, occupied by the members of several families, may be seen huddled
together in the same compound abounding in a growth of cocoanut trees,
with hardly enough space to dry their fish and nets. In the majority
of cases, the compounds belong to jenmis (landlords), who lease them
out either rent-free or on nominal rent, and who often are so kind
as to allow them some cocoanuts for their consumption, and leaves
sufficient to thatch their houses. About ten per cent. of their houses
are built of wood and stones, while a large majority of them are made
of mud or bamboo framework, and hardly spacious enough to accommodate
the members of the family during the summer months. Cooking is done
outside the house, and very few take rest inside after hard work, for
their compounds are shady and breezy, and they may be seen basking in
the sun after midnight toil, or drying the nets or fish. Their utensils
are few, consisting of earthen vessels and enamel dishes, and their
furniture of a few wooden planks and coarse mats to serve as beds.
The girls of the Valans are married both before and after puberty, but
the tali-kettu kalyanam (tali-tying marriage) is indispensable before
they come of age, as otherwise they and their parents are put out of
caste. Both for the tali-tying ceremony and for the real marriage, the
bride and bridegroom must be of different illams or gotras. In regard
to the former, as soon as an auspicious day is fixed, the girl's party
visit the Aravan with a present of six annas and eight pies, and a
few packets of betel leaves, when he gives his permission, and issues
an order to the Ponamban, his subordinate of the kadavu (village),
to see that the ceremony is properly conducted. The Ponamban,
the bridegroom and his party, go to the house of the bride. At the
appointed hour, the Ponambans and the castemen of the two kadavus
assemble after depositing six annas and eight pies in recognition of
the presence of the Aravan, and the tali is handed over by the priest
to the bridegroom, who ties it round the neck of the bride amidst the
joyous shouts of the multitude assembled. The ceremony always takes
place at night, and the festivities generally last for two days. It
must be understood that the tali tier is not necessarily the husband
of the girl, but is merely the pseudo-bridegroom or pseudo-husband,
who is sent away with two pieces of cloth and a few annas at the
termination of the ceremony. Should he, however, wish to have the girl
as his wife, he should, at his own expense, provide her with a tali,
a wedding dress, and a few rupees as the price of the bride. Generally
it is the maternal uncle of the girl who provides her with the first
two at the time of the ceremony.
The actual marriage is more ceremonial in its nature. The maternal
uncle, or the father of a young Valan who wishes to marry, first visits
the girl, and, if he approves of the match for his nephew or son, the
astrologer is consulted so as to ensure that the horoscopes agree. If
astrology does not stand in the way, they forthwith proceed to the
girl's house, where they are well entertained. The bride's parents
and relatives return the visit at the bridegroom's house, where they
are likewise treated to a feast. The two parties then decide on a
day for the formal declaration of the proposed union. On that day,
a Valan from the bridegroom's village, seven to nine elders, and the
Ponamban under whom the bride is, meet, and, in the presence of those
assembled, a Valan from each party deposits on a plank four annas and a
few betel leaves in token of enangu mattam or exchange of co-castemen
from each party for the due fulfilment of the contract thus publicly
entered into. Then they fix the date of the marriage, and retire from
the bride's house. On the appointed day, the bridegroom's party proceed
to the bride's house with two pieces of cloth, a rupee or a rupee and a
half, rice, packets of betel leaves, etc. The bride is already dressed
and adorned in her best, and one piece of cloth, rice and money, are
paid to her mother as the price of the bride. After a feast, the bridal
party go to the bridegroom's house, which is entered at an auspicious
hour. They are received at the gate with a lamp and a vessel of water,
a small quantity of which is sprinkled on the married couple. They
are welcomed by the seniors of the house and seated together, when
sweets are given, and the bride is formally declared to be a member
of the bridegroom's family. The ceremony closes with a feast, the
expenses in connection with which are the same on both sides.
A man may marry more than one wife, but no woman may enter into
conjugal relations with more than one man. A widow may, with the
consent of her parents, enter into wedlock with any member of her caste
except her brothers-in-law, in which case her children by her first
husband will be looked after by the members of his family. Divorce
is effected by either party making an application to the Aravan,
who has to be presented with from twelve annas to six rupees and a
half according to the means of the applicant. The Aravan, in token of
dissolution, issues a letter to the members of the particular village
to which the applicant belongs, and, on the declaration of the same,
he or she has to pay to his or her village castemen four annas.
When a Valan girl comes of age, she is lodged in a room of the house,
and is under pollution for four days. She is bathed on the fourth day,
and the castemen and women of the neighbourhood, with the relatives
and friends, are treated to a sumptuous dinner. There is a curious
custom called theralikka, i.e., causing the girl to attain maturity,
which consists in placing her in seclusion in a separate room, and
proclaiming that she has come of age. Under such circumstances, the
caste-women of the neighbourhood, with the washerwoman, assemble at the
house of the girl, when the latter pours a small quantity of gingelly
(Sesamum) oil on her head, and rubs her body with turmeric powder,
after which she is proclaimed as having attained puberty. She is
bathed, and lodged in a separate room as before, and the four days'
pollution is observed. This custom, which exists also among other
castes, is now being abandoned by a large majority of the community.
In respect of inheritance, the Valans follow a system, which partakes
of the character of succession from father to son, and from maternal
uncle to nephew. The self-acquired property is generally divided
equally between brothers and sons, while the ancestral property,
if any, goes to the brothers. The great majority of the Valans are
mere day-labourers, and the property usually consists of a few tools,
implements, or other equipments of their calling.
The Valans, like other castes, have their tribal organisation, and
their headman (Aravan or Aravar) is appointed by thitturam or writ
issued by His Highness the Raja. The Aravan appoints other social
heads, called Ponamban, one, two, or three of whom are stationed
at each desam (village) or kadavu. Before the development of
the Government authority and the establishment of administrative
departments, the Aravans wielded great influence and authority,
as they still do to a limited extent, not only in matters social,
but also in civil and criminal disputes between members of the
community. For all social functions, matrimonial, funeral, etc.,
their permission has to be obtained and paid for. The members of the
community have to visit their headman, with presents of betel leaves,
money, and sometimes rice and paddy (unhusked rice). The headman
generally directs the proper conduct of all ceremonies by writs issued
to the Ponambans under him. The Ponambans also are entitled to small
perquisites on ceremonial occasions. The appointment of Aravan, though
not virtually hereditary, passes at his death to the next qualified
senior member of his family, who may be his brother, son, or nephew,
but this rule has been violated by the appointment of a person from
a different family. The Aravan has the honour of receiving from His
Highness the Raja a present of two cloths at the Onam festival, six
annas and eight pies on the Athachamayam day, and a similar sum for
the Vishu. At his death, the ruler of the State sends a piece of silk
cloth, a piece of sandal-wood, and about ten rupees, for defraying
the expenses of the funeral ceremonies.
The Valans profess Hinduism, and Siva, Vishnu, and the heroes of the
Hindu Puranas are all worshipped. Like other castes, they entertain
special reverence for Bhagavathi, who is propitiated with offerings
of rice-flour, toddy, green cocoanuts, plantain fruits, and fowls,
on Tuesdays and Fridays. A grand festival, called Kumbhom Bharani
(cock festival), is held in the middle of March, when Nayars and
low caste men offer up cocks to Bhagavathi, beseeching immunity from
diseases during the ensuing year. In fact, people from all parts of
Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore, attend the festival, and the whole
country near the line of march rings with shouts of "Nada, nada"
(walk or march) of the pilgrims to Cranganore, the holy residence of
the goddess. In their passage up to the shrine, the cry of "Nada,
nada" is varied by unmeasured abuse of the goddess. The abusive
language, it is believed, is acceptable to her, and, on arrival at
the shrine, they desecrate it in every conceivable manner, in the
belief that this too is acceptable. They throw stones and filth,
howling volleys of abuse at the shrine. The chief of the Arayan caste,
Koolimuttah Arayan, has the privilege of being the first to be present
on the occasion. The image in the temple is said to have been recently
introduced. There is a door in the temple which is apparently of stone,
fixed in a half-opened position. A tradition, believed by Hindus and
Christians, is attached to this, which asserts that St. Thomas and
Bhagavathi held a discussion at Palliport about the respective merits
of the Christian and Hindu religions. The argument became heated,
and Bhagavathi, considering it best to cease further discussion,
decamped, and, jumping across the Cranganore river, made straight for
the temple. St. Thomas, not to be outdone, rapidly gave chase, and,
just as the deity got inside the door, the saint reached its outside,
and, setting his foot between it and the door-post, prevented its
closure. There they both stood until the door turned to stone, one
not allowing its being opened, and the other its being shut.
Another important festival, which is held at Cranganore, is the Makara
Vilakku, which falls on the first of Makaram (about the 15th January),
during the night of which there is a good deal of illumination both
in and round the temple. A procession of ten or twelve elephants,
all fully decorated, goes round it several times, accompanied by
drums and instrumental music.
Chourimala Iyappan or Sastha, a sylvan deity, whose abode is Chourimala
in Travancore, is a favourite deity of the Valans. In addition, they
worship the demi-gods or demons Kallachan Muri and Kochu Mallan, who
are ever disposed to do them harm, and who are therefore propitiated
with offerings of fowls. They have a patron, who is also worshipped
at Cranganore. The spirits of their ancestors are also held in great
veneration by these people, and are propitiated with offerings on
the new moon and Sankranthi days of Karkadakam, Thulam, and Makaram.
The most important festivals observed by the Valans in common with
other castes are Mandalam Vilakku, Sivarathri, Vishu, Onam, and Desara.
Mandalam Vilakku takes place during the last seven days of Mandalam
(November to December). During this festival the Valans enjoy
themselves with music and drum-beating during the day. At night,
some of them, developing hysterical fits, profess to be oracles,
with demons such as Gandharva, Yakshi, or Bhagavathi, dwelling in
their bodies in their incorporeal forms. Consultations are held as
to future events, and their advice is thankfully received and acted
upon. Sacrifices of sheep, fowls, green cocoanuts, and plantain fruits
are offered to the demons believed to be residing within, and are
afterwards liberally distributed among the castemen and others present.
The Sivarathri festival comes on the last day of Magha. The whole day
and night are devoted to the worship of Siva, and the Valans, like
other castes, go to Alvai, bathe in the river, and keep awake during
the night, reading the Siva Purana and reciting his names. Early on
the following morning, they bathe, and make offerings of rice balls
to the spirits of the ancestors before returning home.
The Valans have no temples of their own, but, on all important
occasions, worship the deities of the temples of the higher castes,
standing at a long distance from the outer walls of the sacred
edifice. On important religious occasions, Embrans are invited to
perform the Kalasam ceremony, for which they are liberally rewarded. A
kalasam is a pot, which is filled with water. Mango leaves and dharba
grass are placed in it. Vedic hymns are repeated, with one end of the
grass in the water, and the other in the hand. Water thus sanctified
is used for bathing the image. From a comparison of the religion of the
Valans with that of allied castes, it may be safely said that they were
animists, but have rapidly imbibed the higher forms of worship. They
are becoming more and more literate, and this helps the study of the
religious works. There are some among them, who compose Vanchipattu
(songs sung while rowing) with plots from their Puranic studies.
The Valans either burn or bury their dead. The chief mourner is
either the son or nephew of the dead person, and he performs the death
ceremonies as directed by the priest (Chithayan), who attends wearing
a new cloth, turban, and the sacred thread. The ceremonies commence
on the second, fifth, or seventh day, when the chief mourner, bathing
early in the morning, offers pinda bali (offerings of rice balls)
to the spirit of the deceased. This is continued till the thirteenth
day, when the nearest relatives get shaved. On the fifteenth day,
the castemen of the locality, the friends and relatives, are treated
to a grand dinner, and, on the sixteenth day, another offering (mana
pindam) is made to the spirit of the departed, and thrown into the
backwater close by. Every day during the ceremonies, a vessel full
of rice is given to the priest, who also receives ten rupees for his
services. If the death ceremonies are not properly performed, the
ghost of the deceased is believed to haunt the house. An astrologer
is then consulted, and his advice is invariably followed. What is
called Samhara Homam (sacred fire) is kept up, and an image of the
dead man in silver or gold is purified by the recitation of holy
mantrams. Another purificatory ceremony is performed, after which
the image is handed over to a priest at the temple, with a rupee or
two. This done, the death ceremonies are performed.
The ears of Valan girls are, as among some other castes, pierced
when they are a year old, or even less, and a small quill, a piece
of cotton thread, or a bit of wood, is inserted into the hole. The
wound is gradually healed by the application of cocoanut oil. A piece
of lead is then inserted in the hole, which is gradually enlarged by
means of a piece of plantain, cocoanut, or palmyra leaf rolled up.
The Valans are expert rowers, and possess the special privilege of
rowing from Thripunathura the boat of His Highness the Raja for his
installation at the Cochin palace, when the Aravan, with sword in hand,
has to stand in front of him in the boat. Further, on the occasion
of any journey of the Raja along the backwaters on occasions of
State functions, such as a visit of the Governor of Madras, or other
dignitary, the headman leads the way as an escort in a snake-boat
rowed with paddles, and has to supply the requisite number of men
for rowing the boats of the high official and his retinue.
The Katal Arayans, or sea Arayans, who are also called Katakkoti,
are lower in status than the Valans, and, like them, live along the
coast. They were of great service to the Portuguese and the Dutch in
their palmy days, acting as boatmen in transhipping their commodities
and supplying them with fish. The Katal Arayans were, in former times,
owing to their social degradation, precluded from travelling along the
public roads. This disability was, during the days of the Portuguese
supremacy, taken advantage of by the Roman Catholic missionaries,
who turned their attention to the conversion of these poor fishermen,
a large number of whom were thus elevated in the social scale. The
Katal Arayans are sea fishermen. On the death of a prince of Malabar,
all fishing is temporarily prohibited, and only renewed after three
days, when the spirit of the departed is supposed to have had time
enough to choose its abode without molestation.
Among their own community, the Katal Arayans distinguish themselves by
four distinct appellations, viz., Sankhan, Bharatan, Amukkuvan, and
Mukkuvan. Of these, Amukkuvans do priestly functions. The castemen
belong to four septs or illams, namely, Kattotillam, Karotillam,
Chempotillam, and Ponnotillam.
Katal Arayan girls are married both before and after puberty. The
tali-tying ceremony, which is compulsory in the case of Valan girls
before they come of age, is put off, and takes place along with the
real marriage. The preliminary negotiations and settlements thereof
are substantially the same as those prevailing among the Valans. The
auspicious hour for marriage is between three and eight in the morning,
and, on the previous evening, the bridegroom and his party arrive at
the house of the bride, where they are welcomed and treated to a grand
feast, after which the guests, along with the bride and bridegroom
seated somewhat apart, in a pandal tastefully decorated and brightly
illuminated, are entertained with songs of the Velan (washerman)
and his wife alluding to the marriage of Sita or Parvathi, in the
belief that they will bring about a happy conjugal union. These are
continued till sunrise, when the priest hands over the marriage badge
to the bridegroom, who ties it round the neck of the bride. The songs
are again continued for an hour or two, after which poli begins. The
guests who have assembled contribute a rupee, eight annas, or four
annas, according to their means, which go towards the remuneration of
the priest, songsters, and drummers. The guests are again sumptuously
entertained at twelve o'clock, after which the bridegroom and his
party return with the bride to his house. At the time of departure,
or nearly an hour before it, the bridegroom ties a few rupees or a
sovereign to a corner of the bride's body-cloth, probably to induce
her to accompany him. Just then, the bride-price, which is 101 puthans,
or Rs. 5-12-4, is paid to her parents. The bridal party is entertained
at the bridegroom's house, where, at an auspicious hour, the newly
married couple are seated together, and served with a few pieces of
plantain fruits and some milk, when the bride is formally declared to
be a member of her husband's family. If a girl attains maturity after
her marriage, she is secluded for a period of eleven days. She bathes
on the first, fourth, seventh, and eleventh days, and, on the last
day the caste people are entertained with a grand feast, the expenses
connected with which are met by the husband. The Katal Arayans rarely
have more than one wife. A widow may, a year after the death of her
husband, enter into conjugal relations with any member of the caste,
except her brother-in-law. Succession is in the male line.
The Katal Arayans have headmen (Aravans), whose duties are the
same as those of the headmen of the Valans. When the senior male or
female member of the ruling family dies, the Aravan has the special
privilege of being the first successor to the masnad with his tirumul
kazcha (nuzzer), which consists of a small quantity of salt packed
in a plantain leaf with rope and a Venetian ducat or other gold
coin. During the period of mourning, visits of condolence from durbar
officials and sthanis or noblemen are received only after the Aravan's
visit. When the Bhagavathi temple of Cranganore is defiled during
the cock festival, Koolimutteth Aravan has the special privilege of
entering the temple in preference to other castemen.
The Katal Arayans profess Hinduism, and their modes of worship,
and other religious observances, are the same as those of the
Velans. The dead are either burnt or buried. The period of death
pollution is eleven days, and the agnates are freed from it by a bath
on the eleventh day. On the twelfth day, the castemen of the village,
including the relatives and friends, are treated to a grand feast. The
son, who is the chief mourner, observes the diksha, or vow by which he
does not shave, for a year. He performs the sradha (memorial service)
every year in honour of the dead.
Some of the methods of catching fish at Cochin are thus described by
Dr. Francis Day. [99] "Cast nets are employed from the shore, by a
number of fishermen, who station themselves either in the early morning
or in the afternoon, along the coast from 50 to 100 yards apart. They
keep a careful watch on the water, and, on perceiving a fish rise
sufficiently near the land, rush down and attempt to throw their nets
over it. This is not done as in Europe by twisting the net round and
round the head until it has acquired the necessary impetus, and then
throwing it; but by the person twirling himself and the net round and
round at the same time, and then casting it. He not infrequently gets
knocked over by a wave. When fish are caught, they are buried in the
sand, to prevent their tainting. In the wide inland rivers, fishermen
employ cast nets in the following manner. Each man is in a boat, which
is propelled by a boy with a bamboo. The fisherman has a cast net,
and a small empty cocoanut shell. This last he throws into the river,
about twenty yards before the boat, and it comes down with a splash,
said to be done to scare away the crocodiles. As the boat approaches
the place where the cocoanut shell was thrown, the man casts his net
around the spot. This method is only for obtaining small fish, and
as many as fifteen boats at a time are to be seen thus employed in
one place, one following the other in rapid succession, some trying
the centre, others the sides of the river.
"Double rows of long bamboos, firmly fixed in the mud, are placed
at intervals across the backwater, and on these nets are fixed at
the flood tide, so that fish which have entered are unable to return
to the sea. Numbers of very large ones are occasionally captured in
this way. A species of Chinese nets is also used along the river's
banks. They are about 16 feet square, suspended by bamboos from each
corner, and let down like buckets into the water, and then after a
few minutes drawn up again. A piece of string, to which are attached
portions of the white leaves of the cocoanut tree, is tied at short
intervals along the ebb side of the net, which effectually prevents
fish from going that way. A plan somewhat analogous is employed on a
small scale for catching crabs. A net three feet square is supported
at the four corners by two pieces of stick fastened crosswise. From
the centre of these sticks where they cross is a string to pull it
up by or let it down, and a piece of meat is tied to the middle of
the net inside. This is let down from a wharf, left under water for a
few minutes, and then pulled up. Crabs coming to feed are thus caught.